Ace Bar

My only con is that theirs no light in the Spring & Summer when my hockey league goes to the bar!
My Pros are that we get Trivia on Sunday, inexpensive drinks and pool tables! Its also prettt close to home!

I like Ace Bar. It’s a pretty nicely-​executed dive, complete with vintage lunchboxes lining the walls, as well pinball machines, skee ball, Big Buck Hunter and billiards. Not only that, the place actually is pretty spacious, although on weekend nights, it can get a little uncomfortable with the amount of people in there. I can’t really fault a bar for being popular, but personally, I would just try to come here during the week, when the crowd is a little more manageable. The clientele is a bit on the frattier side, so take that as you will, but I’ve never had a problem.
I’ve come here for a lot of different birthday parties or casual get-​togethers and I’ve always had fun. The beer selection is decent, and they tend to make the well drinks pretty strong, provided you’re watching them make the drink. The music is pretty on point, with a pretty eclectic mix of songs on the jukebox. I could easily spend hours on the arcade games and just being super competitive with my friends.
Again, perhaps the knock is that now that the word’s been out for a while, the place gets crazy packed on weekends, making it hard to get to the bar. Your best bet is to come on a weeknight, so as to avoid the massive crowds. Not only that, the happy hour specials are pretty good too, and you can get beers for about $ 4. The beer selection is pretty decent, and I like how they typically have Yuengling on draft, being a PA boy and all.
The bartenders, as mentioned, are pretty attentive, although it seems like the place is pretty understaffed on weekends. Non-​happy hour prices are only okay, perhaps a bit more on the expensive side for a dive bar. Not to mention I’m not a fan of the $ 20 CC minimum, which is actually pretty atrocious. That being said, I’ve always had a good time here regardless, so just make sure you buy enough drinks for your friends.
I’ll be back on weeknights. I suggest the same for you.

Ace Bar had great vibes, cheap beer, and chill employees.
Everyone there was super helpful and v cool to talk to, definitely made us feel welcome.
I will most likely end up back at Ace Bar in the near future.

Came here once on a weeknight, and it was great. Not too crowded, skeeball and darts to entertain, drinks were cheap. Weekend nights… way too packed, and you are squeezed in a crowd of people just waiting the whole night for drinks, seats, and the bathroom. Definitely recommend this place when it’s less crowded.

Ace Bar is aces.
Now that the puns are out of the way… awesome local spot. There’s plenty of places to go in the village, but there are only a few I’d make a point of going to. It’s in a more residential part of the village, so it’s quieter and not as suffocating as the rest of it. Cool, low-​key vibe inside, decent beer selection and the prices are cheap. They also have skee-​ball and darts, so if you’re not sold already, that should do it.
Haven’t had the food yet, so this isn’t a true bar review, but the service was exceptional. Fast, polite bartenders that definitely earned their tips. I was actually shocked at how fast they got to me. I’m a dude, I’m not used to being served quickly at bars. This is what girls get? It’s awesome! Bathrooms were also pretty clean, considering.
Totally recommend this place. ⁵⁄₅

I remember stumbling into this place twenty years ago. I’m so happy it’s still around. Great place for a first date. It’s like a playground for adults. Little disappointed that the pool table was crowed on a Thursday night. Also upset that bartender took my half full drink.
However, all was made up with the Rolling Stone pinball machine and skee ball.

If you want beer in a lively fun atmosphere and you can get there before the games fill up this place is great. We came after brunch on a Sunday (probably around 4pm) and it was so empty that we considered having one drink and then leaving but a few hours later and a few more beers in and we were still there, had tried all the games, and the place was nice and busy and lively.

Came here for a group meet up. We all had a great time and all agreed it was a pretty good bar with a good variation of games. However, I didn’t care for the games, my objective was drinking.
I had a tab opened and was pleasantly surprised it came out to only $ 43 after about 4 mixed drinks and a few shots.
It did get a bit hot inside and had that sweet smell of sweat.

Essentially this place always has a crowd if you’re looking for a good place to go at any point in the night, even weekend afternoons. Fun games like ski ball and darts.
Weekend afternoons they have a happy hour special that essentially equals $ 2/​well. If you’re wondering if this tastes terrible — it does — but it’s cheap.
Also this place smells terrible, similar to pee or a sweaty soccer team.

The day I discovered Ace Bar was a good day. I’ve been there on a Sunday late afternoon with 5 people in total at the bar and I’ve been there on Friday evenings with 80+ people and every time it’s enjoyable.
The décor and vibe is definitely what makes it memorable. Darts, a pool table, skee ball and what they describe as «nostalgic décor» allows Ace Bar to be a place I can rely on to have fun and hang out with friends.
The drinks in Manhattan bars including those around Alphabet City tend to be a bit pricey, but Ace Bar manages to have several drink options that make going out affordable and leaving you NOT cringing when you see your credit card statement. Snag some PBR or Miller High Life for a mere $ 3 or a well drink for $ 6 and you will not be disappointed!

Great spot to play pool and catch up w/​friends. It was cleaner that I imagined it would be based on the outside, which was a pleasant surprise. Great beer list, nice bartender, and solid music playing.

Real cool spot. Nicer and cleaner than you might think. The jukebox had a pretty good selection (a little light on hip hop though), the darts were fun — and free! –, and the rest of the place was buzzing (not crowded though) even on a tuesday. I’d come back.

I recently posted a review, and apparently my experience was too horrific for Unilocal.Nonetheless, as this is the worst bar experience I’ve had in my lifetime, I’ve reviewed the T&C and here’s the less graphic version.
I went to this bar on a Saturday. Not very surprising that it was super crowded, however the wait staff was rude and not very attentive. Atmosphere was what many might expect– loud music, crowd appeared to be mostly guys 3 – 5 years out of college.
Here’s where I’ll need to self censor. The restroom is horrific, and doesn’t contain privacy walls of any sort for the toilet. It also opens out directly into the main room of the bar. Unless you are taking a tinkle, this represents a major issue, where you will be making eye contact with 30+ patrons while on the john.

You guys — THIS IS THE BAR THAT WAS IN 200 CIGARETTES.
I was grinning ear-​to-​ear when I stepped into this bar and into the setting of one of my favourite movies. Of course it’s not quite the same as the bar from 1999 that was supposed to look like 1981, but fans of the movie will have fun looking around and figuring out who was where. The cash registers that were in the movie are still behind the bar and in use.
Otherwise this is a pretty standard neighbourhood dive bar. We pulled up to the bar on some stools and were surrounded by people coming up to the bar constantly all night. The crowd was YOUNG. Surprisingly young for a semi-​dingy place like this. It was crowded all night and kept getting more crowded as the night went on. The music didn’t really match the type of place it is — somebody was playing A LOT of Smashing Pumpkins on the jukebox. Bartenders were super quick and to-​the-​point. The bus boy (man) was constantly wiping the bar down even though nobody was spilling anything — a good sign, I suppose. PBR for $ 3 and well drinks for $ 6 was a nice break from the higher priced drinks I experienced elsewhere in Manhattan.
3* for the bar, +1* for being in 200 Cigarettes.

definitely had higher expectations. Came here in the middle of the week and it was dead.
Im sure on the weekends it would be more busy but the vibe of the bar wasn’t anything special to begin with– with all the other options in the area, I wouldn’t necessarily set out to say «let’s go to ace bar».
Standard bar with some bar games but nothing crazy. Clean and friendly environment may get me back in but just not my spot perhaps

Great neighborhood bar that seems to serve as a McLaren’s of sort for East Villagers in the surrounding Alphabet City area. Dollar pool tables, Skee ball machines, and dart boards each run in tandem towards the back of the bar, while the front showcases an arcade gun game and pinball machine among other offerings. A few small/​medium size TV’s overlook the bar counter up front, while the back area has one similarly sized TV in the upper corner of the wall above the Skee ball machines. For big games, a very large projector screen is dropped down in the back area. This place is always popping during suspect going out hours and is a popular spot to take a date (or meet a date?)
Pro-​tip: Outside food is permitted, so pick up a burger from Black Iron Burger down the street and down it with a $ 3 PBR (or three).

The happy hour specials here are great! $ 3 – 4 drafts, and they have a decent selection. I came here with a group of about 15 for the happy hour, and we easily got tables for all of us. The bartender was nice enough, nothing special.
But there are games! Boyfriend and I played a round of skeeball. The Pirates of the Caribbean pinball machine seemed rigged to spit the ball out in the dead center of the bumpers if you managed to shoot the ball in to the chest, but whatevs. It was fun! The guys playing pool here were pretty nice, not rude or douchey. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.
The sole reason I hoard one star is because they have a $ 20 minimum on cards! There isn’t a coat check either, so I wouldn’t come here late during winter when I would have to wear a coat. Plenty of hooks by the pool tables and skeeball, but I would imagine late night it could get stolen easy.
Would I come back? Definitely.

I came here with a friend last night and we had a good time chilling in the bar area near the pool table and games just talking and relaxing.
Ace bar is in an area where it’s a bit of a walk from the nearest train station to get to, so just a heads up. They have a bunch of arcade and board games you can play in the front or the back of the bar. There are booths in the front which are perfect for groups.
My only real qualm about this place is that there is no food! After sitting at the bar, asking for the bar menu, and flipping through a book of random restaurant menus, I realized what was going on. My friend then proceeded to tell me that you have to order food from one of these places and they deliver it to you at the bar.
While some may think this is cool, I consider it an inconvenience and unnecessarily complicated lol. I’ve never been to an establishment like this. But nonetheless, I think ace bar is okay. Nice chill spot but I’m not sure I’ll come back unless I happen to be in the area or get invited here again

I’ve been to this place a few times now and will probably keep coming back. It’s a fun bar/​saloon with a focus on arcade games and pool. It can get very crowded on a Friday or Saturday night (really what East Village bar doesn’t), but that makes it all the more fun!
They have Buck Hunter, skee ball and pool so if you’re tired of sitting around drinking and want to get the blood flowin’ — you have some options. It’s also fun to get one of the tables in back with a big group of people. One of the times we went was for a bar crawl birthday, and we ended up getting 10 boxes of pizza delivered to us at the bar. Hilarious.
I definitely recommend this place for a low-​key, no frills fun time.

If you really like 1) dudes in polo shirts, 2) drunk girls loudly announcing their current drink count, 3) feeling like you just walked into the first day of freshman orientation at NYU and 4) having strangers bump in to you again and again and again, you should definitely check out Ace Bar on a Saturday night.
But since I am a misanthrope with sensitive hearing, I think I’ll support my alcoholism elsewhere.