Coal Yard Bar

Great East Village dive. Dumpy, cheap drinks, no hipsters, rockin jukebox, Robbie the bartender, and that smell… Love it! The bar, not the smell. :-P ;-)

Coal Yard is a cool, hip dive that makes you feel comfortable.
Their beer and whiskey shot combo is a great deal, and they usually have a canned beer they are selling for cheap (used to be Rolling Rock).
The bartenders are conversational and tend to know a lot about the regulars, who are going to be your entertainment for half the time you’re there, even despite their excellent juke box selection churning out some of your favorite classic rock and punk songs.

Cheap beer and liquor. I wouldn’t come expecting more than a cold Pork Slap and shot of mid range liquor. However if that’s what you expect you can get it at a good price and there’s even an outdoor space to chill when the weather is good!

There is really nothing special about this bar whatsoever. It’s small, dark, with a small outdoor area in the back of the bar. All male bartenders who seem like they hate their jobs. There is a very small/​limited beer selection. They don’t even have PBR or Rolling Rock. There is a jukebox, but it’s never on. Music just plays softly from an ipod or satellite radio source. Perhaps if they turned the music louder, this bar would be more fun/​energetic. It is never busy. If you were to turn a funeral home into a bar, this would be it. The whole vibe in this place is just miserable and lame.

A picture from the wall fell next to us and the bartender yelled us to leave as we were criminals. NEVER coming back again.

Talk about a DIVE bar… in all the ways you are looking for.
Regulars — check
Funny bartender with a hint of attitude to strangers — check
Cheap drinks — check
I came here with my regular posse, husband, brother and a friend. It was a Sunday afternoon. My brother had a pre lunch beer here and he brought us all back for an after lunch beer. Happy hour is everyday 3 – 10. The bartender Rob was really chatty with us and made sure we always had a beverage in hand.
The bar filled up quickly. Before we knew it all the regulars had crowded in to watch the soccer game. And before we could even be peckish free pizza and chicken wings arrived. We were invited to partake in the festivities even though most of us don’t even watch sports.
It’s a great spot to stop in for a cold one. And they also have a patio which is a spring/​summer bonus. The only con is there is no pool table. Hopefully they will get one soon.

Dive bar. So whatever everyone else said about this bar is pretty much what it is.
I would like to point out that they’ve got an arcade in the back that has 10 – 12 old school games on it though, which is pretty cool.

GREAT dive bar… stopped in wed. nite /​w a cpl of friends… cold beers… cheap prices… dark divey… great fun crowd… definitely a keeper… I will be back… food? not sure

It’s a dive. It wants to be a dive. It’s dark, there’s a slight smell I can’t put my finger on and most of the folks at the bar know one another because it’s their favorite and/​or local haunt. As far as NYC dives go though it’s right on the money. No tourist bs, cheap ass drinks (bud can and a very generous serving of evan williams for 5 $), good freaking jukebox and while some of those regulars may seem like the rough around the edges types they were all friendly as hell once I sat at the bar. Theres a dart board in back and even further there’s a nice little backyard patio area with seven small tables with three chairs each.
Dive. Cheap. Backyard patio. No tourists. Cool regular crowd.
Win.

Great place to go for inexpensive drinks, a backyard area, great jukebox and friendly staff. The shape of the bar is great and it is a good place to go to have fun.

Dive Alert! We couldn’t resist the call of the dive as we walked past. There’s a dark bar area that is actually big enough to host larger groups and a nice big bar to saddle up next to. The music was loud and the AC was blowing. The bathrooms are filled with graffiti, there’s a small backroom with chalkboard walls, and a cozy outdoor patio. There is also a sit down 2 player Pac-​Man game. The $ 4 Miller High Life bottles were icy cold and we found a drink shelf against the wall to stand near and watch the scene. We didn’t stay very long but would stop in again.

A small LES dive bar. Drinks were $ 5 each for bottled Magners. A place like this is entirely dependent on the people you are with. I was with with a friend for his friend’s birthday. The people I met were cool, and the bartender kept their drinks flowing. The other patrons all kept to their own groups for the most part.
Not a place to pick up girls, at least it didn’t truly seem to be.
If you want a dirty dive bar, this is a perfectly fitting choice.

Came here after seeing that International Bar a few blocks away was super crowded, and that Coal Yard is its sister bar. Overall, it seems like the same thing as International Bar, but with slightly more room. There a few tables in the back, past the semi-​circular bar. Bartenders are pretty attentive and friendly. There’s also a back room with a ton of graffiti on the walls, which kinda looked like an insane person had been living back there for years and years. Pretty awesome. The back patio seems like it was pretty good, so I’ll have to come back during the spring to check it out. The music is on the louder side, but I’ll forgive them, because the music is actually good.
Drink prices are pretty standard, nothing out of the ordinary, although I’m not sure about the happy hour. They do have a few good ‘shot and a can’ deals, so if you’re looking to have a sloppy night on a budget, there’s absolutely no reason you can do it here. That seemed like the go-​to deal here, but we stuck to boring old draft beer for the sake of keeping it a low-​key night.
This is definitely a dive bar where you just feel right at home. It’s not too crowded, and they also have more space than the average dive bar. Not really anything else unique about this place, but still, I’m pretty glad I stumbled upon Coal Yard and I’ll definitely be back to try a beetle back (shot of whiskey and beet juice). Yikes.

Tried a «beetle back» for the first time here. Not too sure about those, it’s a pickle back with, i think it was Beet Juice.
regardless. The bartender was friendly, the place is divey and the prices are good. I recommend it.

3.5 stars…
If this place was any divier it wouldn’t be in business. In all honesty Coal Yard Bar is kind of gross and this is coming from a guy who likes dive bars. You feel like you’ve stepped into 1990 NYC when you come here. There’s no food and there are a bunch of tables blocking the use of the dart board in the back. They have a back yard patio but it’s small, dark, and all concrete.
Why the relatively high rating? Well the fact they even have a back patio is great, the beer is insanely cheap considering it’s in Manhattan, and in it’s own way it’s got a particular charm to it.

Came here with some friends and instantly felt at home with the atmosphere. Very chill hang out and decent prices. The bartenders are super friendly too. Darts in the back and stacked juke box w alternative music.
Very unassuming from the outside and even more so on the inside.
Hidden Jem.

Exactly what you could expect to find in middle-​America. The classic bartender-​babe will suit you up with a draft beer, or maybe a straight shot. People who like to order a Martini or concoction using more than one mixer should probably look elsewhere.
This is a bar that caters to its regulars, which is endearing and lovely for the people who fit in here.
I don’t know if I could ever be that girl, but the Coal Yard certainly is a great addition to an otherwise hipster East Village.

Bring out the coal from the yard for some coal energy!
Coal Yard and International Bar are both owned by the same owner, Molly Both and within a mere walking distance apart. With a good friend, I venture here for the atmosphere and a place to chill in good company as our conversation never ran dry.
The power of observation that be is all seeing as there were a mannequin visibly lying on the floor behind the bar. The stools are worn and there are hooks under the bar counter for ladies’ purses/​hand bags. Not entirely dark and dingy but darkness does crept in. The bar’s counter top was very sticky as if years of alcohol is imbued into the wood’s grain. Our table was messy and my friend had to wiped it clean entirely which is supposedly the staff’s job but all are doing off-​the-​job nonsense as chit chatting and Facebooking away.
A single facility exist that is relatively clean. No comment on alcohol as neither of us consumed any. Albeit, the seltzer water priced dirt cheap foots my budget! N.B. No food exist but patrons are permitted BYOF of choice or takeout order to be delivered. The coal yard empowers patrons for energy revival.

Lost
Amidst
Fast food chains
Is chill dark bar
With $ 5 drafts, darts, and patio.

There is a magic door on 1^st Avenue. Upon entering, you are immediately transported to Kentucky, circa 1978.
Usually, dive bars are either old Irish pubs or normal bars that just happen to have never been cleaned. This is a real dive bar.
Most of the crowd was sweatshirted, blue collar folk in their 50’s, with the exception of two dudes in suits rocking heroic Jew-​fros. Both bartenders were very friendly and the drinks were cheap.
At the bar, we were pestered by the female Unibomber and a gay Ken Jeong doppelgänger. He insisted on reading Amal’s fortune, which he constantly interrupted with loud, awkward laughing. He told her that he sensed an older sister that was pregnant. Amal pointed out she had a younger sister who didn’t want kids. «Just wait!» he said excitedly.
I was fairly confident that if I went back today, this place would be gone and I would find out I imagined the entire experience. But then I looked at their incredible website, which confirmed everything. I shall return to the Coal Yard one day.