The Recovery Room

NO LONGER THE RECOVERY ROOM HAS CHANGED TO MILE 17!!!
Love the staff and food, however with the price increase and removing the pool table I think I’ll only be there to watch the games.

Went here for lunch with some coworkers. Service was good, but some of the entrees are just disappointing. The wings are fine; 12 pieces of wings with blue cheese, celery, and carrot sticks. This did not disappoint, but did not impress either.
I had the «Not your mom’s meatloaf» which describes itself as meatloaf wrapped in bacon with a brown sugar glaze. They give you two slices of meatloaf, some mushrooms on it along with some gravy, and two slices of bacon. The bacon was soggy from the gravy, and I could not taste the brown sugar. I would not say the bacon is wrapped around the meatloaf in any form at all. It just sits on it kind of sadly. The bacon may have been wrapped on top of the meatloaf prior to them cutting two slices and serving it to me, but that is my own conjecture at this point.
One of my coworkers had the «Prime Buffalo Burger,» and it came with a side of sweet potato fries. These fries were so overcooked, it resembled strips of dried leaves, but had the consistency of crackers. The burger itself was a sad display to be sure. A single, small patty sitting with some lettuce, tomato, and onion on a bun. For something called a Prime Buffalo burger, and for the price (13 dollars), this was about a bump up from the dollar menu at McDonald’s.
Come here for the drinks, don’t expect much from the food (appetizers are probably an exception if the wings are any indicator). Two stars because meh, I’ve experienced better.

Had some beers here with a few friend. Liked the ambiance very much. Very loud and energetic.

I’ve been here twice and both times «HORRIBLE SERVICE EVERYWHERE!» Employee’s looked unhappy to have customers!!! Came with a good size group and had to leave due to waitress being rude. The atmosphere looks like a scene from the walking dead. Good luck!

Great local dive bar! Cheap drinks and a great regular crowd. One of my favorite places to go for football.
I love their chicken tenders and it’s great that their kitchen doesn’t close till midnight. Their spaghetti bolognese is also excellent, very filling and not at all too salty.
As far as drinks go, the beers on tap are all fairly fresh. There is a pool table in the front and darts in the back and a jukebox.
Bartenders are awesome, especially Duncan and Ian.

I really first want to say. This restaurant /​Pub is amazing… Their food is great, home cooked and you would expect less considering its a pub at first glance. So you would ask… Why are they getting a fair for OK?! If you are reading this, I will have to recommend you go to this gem, just ask the right questions as I was in for a surprise.
Rating on food was AAA++ everything I have ever had here is expertly done. From their Tuna club to Grilled Cheese (can I say its tantalizingly scrumptious delicious?), Turkey club, amazing chili (can rival JG Melons when you add slight tabasco), to the Chicken Parm pizza (dont let pizza deter you its Italian Chicken/​veal parm meets Joes Pizza off bleeker/​carmine).
Service: So /​So t’s a good sign when you are slammed, either it be for trivia night, or anything else. However, I had to set my table myself, waited 10 minutes for water, went to the bar for my beer then the server brought out the second on queue. She did this all with a smile, it’s not her fault she was understaffed. I would not let the service deter you even with what happened to me. During lunch there is a blonde woman, shes the wild wild west takes NYC. No frills «yes maam, no» but its her character that adds flavor to the Recovery Room. By the time you are done she has you talking with a slight twinkle in her eye when she warms up to you.
Cleanliness: It’s a pub all things considered its clean, not much to add
What went wrong then??? My blog friends asked me to finally write this as I do food tours all over NYC and rarely write on public sites. So to be concise… I was charged $ 3.95 /​$ 4.50 (with tax) for a few «chips» It’s not the price its the principal of charging without asking.
The problem really arises when I asked for a few extra chips to put into the Chili. I know cost margins on food are low, but when I got the bill, my chili was $ 5.95 (give or take), but the chips were $ 3.95!!!
How in the world are you going to charge me $ 3.95 for a few chips and not tell me. I would have rather have skipped the Pizza Chicken Parm and purchased 2 chilis instead. Ironically, all I wanted was 2 – 5 to dip into the chili since there were 8 – 12 chips vs the regular large grouping they serve on lunch. At JG melons you get crackers they dont charge for them. So, why charge 75% of my chili for just a «few chips»
All in all, I did say something, and was told to get chips they have to place an order for them. I responded, if you had told me there was a charge I would have said forget about it. Then I pointed to the chips and told her look I barely touched them I only used 2 – 5!
I will go again as they have always been great albeit strict, but beware. Those chips 100% should have been taken off the bill. $ 45 is a lot for one person to eat. Yes I did tip the waitress 16% but I was annoyed with it.

This is a really mediocre place, frankly a shithole with uninitiated and upset employees. This is my second and last time here.
Try the pony bar a couple doors down for a slightly better experience.

Stopped in for a bit of dinner one night and decided to accompany that dinner with a couple of ciders too. We both thought that the cider was tasty… perhaps too tasty? Either way it went down well and was good.
We both had burgers and various types of fries, the food was good and pretty much what we expected when we walked into a bar for food. Service was good and friendly too.
Not much else to say really. I’m sure that if you were solely going drinking that this would be a great place on a busy weekend night.

Recovery Room is a great sports bar. When it go, I usually end up talking to someone interesting. Not to mention, a couple of my friends are bartenders there. All the bartenders and servers are a really fun and happy group.
My only issue is that if I sit near the door and windows I smell cigarette smoke the entire time. That’s the only thing, but it wouldn’t keep me from going there. Fun place, good music. If there are important games on, it’s usually standing room only.

Close your eyes. Wait no, that wouldn’t work. Read this first, then close your eyes…
Picture Midtown east, Murray Hill and the UES rolled into one. Now imagine a bar with heavily stained wood, brass fittings, a smattering of TV’s, serving very standard pub fair, an Irish accented barkeep and staff, and a name like, O– Hannlons, Malley’s, or Donahue’s. Now change that name to The Recovery Room and there you have it.
I will say very friendly staff and the wings are classic-​style and above average.
Pool Table
Darts too (methinks)
Sure I’ll be back.
Now close your eyes…

I understand the business has a full bar but sometimes cocktail menus help me to try new drinks, instead of me always getting my typical black label and coke. I’ll consider coming back, Joe to see if it can be made right. Hopefully the fries will be a little more fresh.

There are so many better dive bars on the upper east side than this. Because of that, its also not that crowded so if you are looking to watch a sports game, this might be your spot. Then again, some of the TVs aren’t really up to par and one of the TVs was completely scrambling the whole time we were there. The main problems I had with this place was the subpar food and the warmish beer that was served. This place isn’t bad per say but with so many other options, It would be too easy to say the Recovery Room needs a bit of recovery of its own.

I’ve been here twice. Exactly twice because for some INSANE reason my firm decides that this is the perfect location to throw an after party after the corporate challenge 3.5 mile run every year. You know where we finish? On the west side of the park.. .. and then we get to walk for 30 minutes to 1^st Avenue. It’s kind of beyond me but of course I roll with it for the bar tab we rack up.
The staff seemed really on top of things with serving us yet also annoyed at the same time. And maybe a little weirded out with how much alcohol and food we were consuming. The drinks were pretty weak and I realized mid-​way threw my several tonic waters with a splash of vodka that I should have stuck with beer like the big boys. Also, we ended up doing several rounds of tequila shots that were incredibly watered down. I’ve never come upon that in a bar before.
Aside from that, the staff seemed attentive but flaky. They kept trying to help us. Yet, they forgot a lot of orders or sent them to the wrong tables. We finally managed to get our hamburger sliders about an hour and a half after we asked for them. And seriously we thought we were never going to get them and kind of gasped as they made it to the table. We also ordered two rounds of sliders and got one. BOO. This wasn’t the only food mess up. There were several. I didn’t care so much because I just wanted to sample stuff and not eat a huge meal and watch in amusement at the younger paralegals get drunk. Standard pub food. Quesadillas, chicken tenders, mozz sticks, nachos, burgers, etc. I didn’t eat that much of it all. I just wasn’t impressed. Additionally, one waitress spilled a bunch of jalapenos over an attorney at one point. lol. She was still pouting in our taxi cab after the fact. Happy about the experience for the only reason that I didn’t pay for anything. Last year they seemed more on top of their game. This year they seemed overwhelmed.

Never been here for food, or drinking here on a weekend. I just know that Duncan is the shit and when I go, there’s usually no one there. Maybe a group of local alcoholics that just meet up after they’re already drunk. Get a game of pool on and talk like they just left a def leppard concert but made sure their ear was against the speakers.
I usually keep it simple. Vodka on the rocks. My friend usually gets a chocolate martini and while I have to say I would never order it, it was very tasty and Duncan puts a lot of effort into making it so damn pretty in that martini glass.
Oh and I’ve played darts in the back a few times before. I kick ass.

Awesome place to hang out with friends after work! They had a beer promotion and the waitress gave us free beers and round of shots for 10 people! Who doesn’t want to go back!
Order their appetizers, especially the buffalo wings! It’s amazingly delicious and addicting!

Nice little bar. Nothing I would come out of my way for but a dependable place for a laid back time if you’re in the area. Bartender was nice and attentive, drinks were cheap, and I think we got some buybacks. They have a dartboard in the back and a bookshelf with some interesting books including The Boston Police Diet and Weight Control Program (which has a fantastic dedication «to all unhappy overweights»), In Praise of Older Women, and… Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. Well they can’t all be winners.
The jukebox was a little funky. Even though were using the supersearch we couldn’t find some of the more famous songs by certain artists. Not sure if it’s a glitch or what. They also have a cap on the volume, which I like for the sake of conversation but I could do with it being just a touch louder. The bartender apologized for the volume and explained that had to keep the noise down for the neighbors, but I’m cool with the music being a little on the low side as opposed to the alternative.

I like this place because its so close to me, its pretty nice inside and the bartenders are cool. There are a few issues though like the food could use some work and they also need to get a better sound system. I feel like they only have one speaker in there and its blown. If those things were fixed I’d give it a 4.5!

It’s a cool spot, the area with the darts looks very similar to the bar common ground. With a library and tables. It has a juke box, pool table, darts, it seemed cool. We came so late it wasn’t very crowded, and the bartender seeming tired was understandable. He was nice anyway. I’d come back if I was around, but wouldn’t go out of my way to come here (i live on the west side…) to many bars just like this to say definitely come here. Nothing special.

What happens when the bar you originally intended to go to is packed in the middle of the afternoon? You check out the bar next door.
After failing to get into our original destination, we discovered Recovery Room next door. When you first walk in there is a pool table then the bar itself. Towards the back is an area with tables and chairs. We quickly found a table and sat ourselves, as per the waitress. It took her a bit to get to us but she finally did and we ordered. They were out of Stella (…) so I went with a Brooklyn instead. Their beer selection is kind of meh but there is still something for everyone.
We ordered the spinach and artichoke dip to snack on. The dip was tasty but served in a very small bowl. It’s supposed to be an app to share with everyone but it was barely enough for two people. Service was slow. Prices were fair. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as the other bars we passed by at the time.
Recovery Room is a decent place to stop by and relax, watch El Bloombito, and maybe have a snack.

Wound up here this past weekend because it was the only place in the area that wasn’t extremely packed at 9pm on a Sat and we just needed a spot to grab a few after dinner drinks. For 3 of us, it was easy to snag a table in the back but It took FOREVER to get noticed after that — 15 mins to flag down a bus boy to get us a waitress, 15 mins for the only absentminded waitress working that night to speak with us, another 15 for her to come back to take our order, fries/​ketchup/​plates that came out all piecemeal. Just a really disorganized place made even worse by having a single waitress working that night.
The crowd was a little weird too — made up mostly of what seemed like displaced Murry Hillers trying to catch any sports game available, tables of giggly girls, and this one loner who was double fisting a bottle of beer and a mixed drink, sat it down on OUR table when we were nowhere close to leaving, and then took a seat nearby to glare at us.