Big Bar

love this spot

Super cool place that we just happened to walk past — has this 50s-​60s sort of vibe! Small but cozy. Beers are $ 4-​$ 7 — cool little gem!

This place is great. It is very small, but cozy and not claustrophobic. I think it used to be a small restaurant because they have booths, which are fun to sit in while having some drinks with friends. The lighting is all red which creates a really cool atmosphere. There was only one bartender on a busy Friday night, and she was ON POINT. I never waited too long for my beer. They have Blue Point on draft, some wine (which my friend said was meh– but this isn’t the type of place to come for wine), and a full bar. The draft beer was cold and carbonated well. The cocktails the bartender was making looked good too. I was here early-​ish (around 9pm on a Friday), so I’m not sure if it gets super packed later. But before 10pm it was lively without being annoyingly crowded. I’ll definitely be back to this place– had a great time!

small, dark, cozy place, chill vibe, awesome bartender (Bryan) and the first legit margarita I’ve had since I moved here from TX. Gorgeous and a nice happy hour price. He also busted out some amazing cheese for us to nibble on, which had me running across the street to buy some more from the cheese shop – that’s teamwork. ;)

Yay! I’ve been to this place quite a few times but went on an unintentional hiatus from the place for about 2 and a half years. I finally went some time last week (from the time this is being written/​typed) and things are still as cool as ever. Despite its name, its actually not big and its quite small, dimly lit, divey and at the same time intimate. You come here if you want to be able to drink and have conversations with your friends and/​or the always friendly bartenders.
There’s always interesting characters and interesting people to encounter and like an another Unilocaler has mentioned, some of the most intriguing, thought provoking and entertaining conversations I ever had have occurred here. The music is always groovy, «alternative/​not mainstream» (for lack of a better word) – and not to sound pretentious or like a music snob – but the bartenders here play some good fucking music. Its totally NOT your typical top 40 bullshit you’ll hear blasting at a deafening level at many other typical NYC bars.
The drinks for happy hour are standard NYC happy hour (4 – 5 dollars for beer) and after happy hour are pretty much standard NYC prices (I believe). The beer and alcohol selection is good for its size.
All-​in-​All, if you’re looking for a bar where you can meet interesting personas, be able to actually hear yourself talk with your friends and/​or new friends you may meet and bartender, not have to scream at the bartender for a drink, not have to squeeze your way through a legion of drunk ugly fucks, than this is the spot to go to. If you want your mindless, spineless, soulless, ugly top 40 blaring music type of bar and crowd: go else where. This is where the COOL people play. Big Bar is a small bar with a big personality.
BY THE WAY: Shout out to one of the coolest bartenders in town, Brian Richgruber. If you have the honor of meeting him and having him as your bartender, tip him real good. HEY, tip him monetary wise, I mean of course, unless there’s a mutual agreement than you can do the other tipping if you know what I mean *wink wink*. ANYWAY, Big Bar is not that type of environment or maybe it is! See for yourself.
Yay! I’m a fan.

Great, underrated bar in EV. Best kept secret! Came for late night drinks — super chill bartender who has been with the place nearly since its inception. Small but great variety of local draft beers. Got much more packed when we were leaving, around midnight. Highly recommend for chill drinks, low key people.

Great music.

I’m not sure why I was expecting this place to be more divey. Maybe because its name is so generic and uncreative that I wasn’t expecting a more romantic and intimate interior. It’s actually pretty decent inside. The lighting is dim and red, there are booths, there are stools — it’s more of a date/​small group sort of bar where you can chit-​chat while still being audible to each other.

This place nails it — I’m just not sure what it nails exactly.
It’s such a small bar yet it creates a BIG feel. The lighting is a big part of it. And the layout is prime to good conversation. It can get loud but not too loud since it’s such a small place. Great little place — the crowd feels local and in the know but not at all clicky.

Oh I get it — they call it Big Bar but its small… good one…
Anyway, an OK little dive bar with a cocktail menu and decent liquor selection for its size.
Prices are not dive level for as not nice as the place is, but it was friendly and inviting so overall OK — would go again if I happened to be walking by but wouldn’t go out of my way.

Fairly decent dive bar in the area. My review may be slightly swayed because I went here during one of the (ever so infrequent) super hot days a few weeks back, and they weren’t running the AC. The drinks aren’t spectacular, but they’re cheap! It wasn’t crowded at all either.
I’ve been to better dive bars, but for that area it’s pretty good. I would definitely go back again but wouldn’t make it a regular spot either.
Don’t let the name fool you, the place is fairly small– especially the bathrooms!

Big Bar reminds me of the bars in the area that I went to in this area when I first began exploring them — kinda dark, kinda nondescript, and you might not even remember it exists.
it’s a tiny joint, with an okay beer selection, low music, fairly friendly service, and goes from «this is nifty because it’s small» to «holy crap, it got packed» when some random person decides to invite 20 of their friends. even the side booths were not that much of a respite from such a horde, alas!
that’s the long — or rather, the very short — of it!

Don’t be mistaken by the name, Big Bar is tiny. Surprisingly, it was fairly empty when we stopped by Saturday night but it filled up shortly before we took off on a quest for our next destination. The bartender was friendly and there was a respectable selection of drinks to be had, including the cherry-​lime vodka rickey which I ordered off the cocktail menu. My drink was tangy and sweet but could have had a bit more potency to it.
Overall, I would return to Big Bar if I were in the neighborhood but I wouldn’t go out of my way either. A solid option though.

I love Big Bar. It’s like time travel back to the East Village of old. Go on a weeknight and pretend it’s 1982 (it’s probably not *that* old). Imagine you’re ducking in off the eerily quiet streets, having found a safe, friendly little refuge to dodge the muggers and derelicts outside for a short while.
Go by yourself or with a friend or two, any more than that and you’ll kill the vibe.

I just wanted to confirm that the magic was still present in this dope establishment, last night.
Hmmm…I blacked the fuck out, woke up in an unfamiliar place, called out sick and have $ 2 left in my wallet.
Magic confirmed.

Look, this place is amazing. I’ve been going here for about 5 years now and it never has gotten old. Here’s how I know you’ll like it: not a single person I have ever taken there has said anything but «I really dig this bar. Nice choice» or something to that effect. That’s basically science right there.
Is it small? Of course. In real estate parlance you could even say it’s «cute.» Some say that’s a good thing. If you want to bro out this ain’t your place. But if you want to chill, have a great drink in under a minute, meet some random new people and feel like you are an extra in a David Lynch movie. This is very very much your place.
What are you still doing here? Go get your drink on already! (I am.)

I’m guessing by now you’ve learned that Big Bar is anything but palatial as far as space is concerned, but it’s big in many other facets that give true meaning to its name:
+ It’s big in personality. Their staff are all very friendly and project nothing but warm and fuzzies.
+ It’s been in frigid circulating air. In these summer months, the smal space = less surface area to cool, and that results in a pleasant respite from the fmuggy conditions (F word + muggy).
+ It’s big approachable locals. I’ve had a few great conversations with people of all walks of life… never awkward, forced, or creepy (yet).
In all, these small virtues are a large part of why this tiny rathskeller has the depth of that canyon in Arizona, despite what the cover of the book may imply. As your grand mammy always said, «never judge a Bieber by its side swoop.»
She probably never said that, but you get it…

Big bar is as big as Greenland is green.
Stephan the Ukrainian bartender makes a mean Manhattan. A few of those and you’ll be floored. All in all, a cool place to hang out.

Wonderful neighborhood bar without pretension or attitude. Just good clean fun… errr…good fun (scratch clean)!
Big Bar is pretty small space-​wise, but it’s big on friendliness and good service. I went here a couple of weeks ago with Unilocalers and nonyelpers. And we all agreed it was a true gem.
The owner was hanging around the bar and we were able to chat him up a bit. Super nice and chatty. I love how New Yorkers can do that.
The bartender is excellent. A good bartender is not just eye candy, but someone that knows how to mix a drink. And actually, if a bartender knows how to mix a drink well, I don’t care what he or she looks like. I will worship them forever. Our guy just happen to be cute AND able. Now that’s a bonus. He was able to mix a good Manhattan (strong) and also made a very decent Margarita. I am now curious if he can make a good dirty Martini… I guess I’ll have to come back to find out.
The other patrons in the bar were also friendly and giving off good vibes. There is a joke book floating around the bar and I was able to share a few laughs with other bar patrons. I also learned a new dance called the Jumbo made up by a very unique and quirky customer.
A great place to hang out and meet interesting characters. Truly memorable for all the right reasons.

No frills. One beer on tap.
Nonetheless, I love the feel — the somewhat eerie red lights in an otherwise very comfortable space. It feels like you’re drinking in someone’s living room! (No, not in a creepy way.)
As my friend put it, it’s never crowded, but everyone is pretty chill here. Everyone seems like regulars even if you don’t end up seeing the same people here from night to night.
It’s a special type of dive bar.