Draught 55

Last night we had a Resident’s graduation party at Draught 55. We definitely had more than the 41 people that RSVP the event. Don’t think they were prepared for that many people to show up. I loved their cider beer and definitely intend to go back again. Their bacon burger was made just right, perfect even.
Orders for food and drink were given at the bar. Bartender was swamped! Poor guy! Hope he made lots of tips that night.

I’ve been here a few times for the happy hour specials and always ogled the food people ordered. I finally stopped in for dinner on a recent Thursday night. It was packed when I got there around 7:30, as expected. Me and my friend were seated at the last open spot at the long communal table in the main part of the restaurant.
We started out with the nachos, which I loved. It was the perfect size for two people to split. I ordered the half roasted chicken and my friend ordered the fish and chips, and we really enjoyed both. My chicken dish came with mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts and was huge! I love that they give you so much food. Dessert was disappointing-​we ordered the banana bread to split and it was the tiniest little piece of dessert I’ve ever seen. It didn’t taste good either; very, very dense and without the crème anglaise or sauce that usually accompanies bread pudding.
Because of the noise level it’s not the ideal place to eat dinner and catch up, but definitely a good spot nonetheless. I really like coming to the bar here and the bar food (nachos, pretzels, etc) are great, but I’m giving this place three stars as a restaurant.

Came here for happy hour with a friend on a Wednesday night and we got seated right away even though it was super packed. We sat in the atrium in the back and it was so cool! Great ambiance– lights all over the clear ceiling so at night the whole room was twinkling! Loved it– definitely recommend. Service was great and good happy hour. Great place to meet people and for after work drinks. Will definitely be back!

First I want to start by saying that this bar is beautiful. The front is dark and low with lots of tables and the back is bright and airy. They really have whatever you’re looking for.
We came here to celebrate with a bunch of people from work on a Tuesday night. We only planned on having about 8 – 12 people stop by at various parts of the night, so we didn’t think we needed to make a reservation since not everyone would be staying/​eating/​etc. Well, next time it’s better to be safe than sorry. My friend chose this restaurant because she enjoyed the ambiance of the back room. We arrived at 6:00p with 4 people and told the girl we would like a table in the back room. At this time, there were only five people in the entire bar. And not one person in the back. She got really huge, nervous eyes. She essentially told us to wait in the front until our party arrived because she couldn’t seat us back there until they did. While I totally and completely understand this rule, as most bars in NYC have it, but there was no one. there. We asked again if we could just go sit in the back and she said we can, but she can’t «officially seat us.» I still have no idea what this meant. The issue is just that there was a whole bunch of confusion and we kept getting mixed responses.
Our waitress was extremely kind and even as the night got really busy, she was very attentive with our table. My only issue was that a lot of us ordered from what we assumed was the Happy Hour menu (on the chalkboard). Turns out only half the drinks were for happy hour. I wish that had been made more clear.
Even with the confusion, I would definitely come back here. Great Midtown spot.

Easily the best lunch special in the area, $ 10 for a choice from a selection of draft beers, and a rotating lunch menu of 5 items that changes daily.
The fries, and in general all the fried food here is pretty great, along with the pasta, and burgers. If you’re going off the lunch menu it get’s pretty freaking pricey, and during the lunch rush the quality of the cooking can go down a bit on the more expensive items, if I am being honest.
That being said, there is a huuuuge selections of draft beers, a great range of good whiskeys and if you’re in the area for lunch you’re not likely to find a better deal for food, beverages and a friendly staff to boot.

Fun spot to grab a HH beer and some surprisingly good nacho’s.
The bartender was very approachable.
They have a few beers on draft but mostly in bottles or cans.
5 beers and nachos only set us back about $ 50. Not too shabby for NYC.
Upon arrival place wasn’t very busy (5:30pm). When we left around 7, it was bustling!

5 stars, why?! Because I finished a APPLE CIDER BEER! The day and place where I discovered a beer which I can finish !!! –worth celebrating– The food was great, I mean. I did FINISHED everything! ;D If i can give a -.5 star I would, due to not being full with my meal :(but you’re lucky that I’m darn proud that I finished a beer.

Midtown East bars. I ventured out to them a lot when I was younger. Back then there weren’t all these young obnoxious kids who drank awful beer and got way too wasted. Now I find myself surrounded by annoying post college age twenty year olds, not like me when I was fresh out… Oh wait.
Well it’s not really my scene anymore. Once you find out what’s actually a quality bar or good beer, it’s hard to come back to that type of lifestyle. No, I don’t enjoy being in an overly crowded environment in which I have to scream to talk to people, and be forced to engage in some primitive mating ritual where I have to impress my friends by finding a mate. Please kill me if I ever find myself in that type of place again.
Luckily I found one watering hole in the Midtown East which is bearable. Now that may not sound like a great thing to say but trust me, it goes a long way. Came through on a Friday happy hour (the most crowded of them all) with a group of at least ten friends. Was it crowded? Yes. Can I breath though and not feel as if I was in a rush hour 4 subway car? Surprisingly yes. There was room. Room to even, hang our coats. It was magical.
Now here’s the best part. They actually engage in a real happy hour. Beers reduced at a price during the hours right after most people get out of work in midtown. How are more people not here? Never mind that. Let’s keep it that way. I mean I like this place and want it to do well, but I still would like to not have some drunk moron keep bumping into me every 30 seconds. (I mean really, how does this guy not feel that. It’s my back your elbow keeps jabbing!) it’s $ 5 beers. And this isn’t some gimmick where they end the happy hour at 6. And it’s not a typical one where it ends at 7. This happy hour is the way God intended (I actually imagine heaven is an open bar 24/​7, but you get my point), this happy hour is 5 – 8.
So if you’re in your late 20’s or early 30’s and desperately want to avoid younger versions of yourself, while enjoying a well priced long happy hour, and not having to some jerk’s foot continuously step on yours (HOW DOES HE NOT NOTICE THAT?), then I think I’ve found your spot.

Great HH spot if you come before 5PM. It get’s insanely packed any time after to the point where you can’t even make it to the bar from the entrance. My girlfriend and I were one of the first ones there at around 4:30 with tons of empty tables and space by the bar. Half an hour or so later, the place started filling up fairly quickly. Eventually, it was getting so loud that it was difficult to hold a conversation without saying «huh?», «what?», «say it again?».
HH is also available if you sit at a table top which is a great plus. They offer typical but good HH drink specials — beer, well drinks and wine for $ 5.
No specials for food however it was worth paying the full price. Very tasty and not too pricey. The calamari was nice and light. Nice selection on the charcuterie plate. The wings though. Get the wings! Whatever they do to it, whatever they put in it, is amazing. The house-​made pickles wasn’t too briny and had a great crunch.
I’d come here more often if the HH rush wasn’t so bad. Definitely not worth the hassle trekking through a crowd and potentially getting bodied or shoved.

Outstanding beer selection
Outstanding food
Super attentive and friendly staff
My only wish is I wasn’t in NJ and could come here more often.

This place is awesome! Came today for a chill Valentine’s Day and it was perfect. Delicious food and extremely pleasant staff. The wings were ridiculously crispy, and definitely get the steak boulangere appetizer! They even had a guy playing live acoustic music – nice mix of genres and he took requests! They had a huge beer selection and since it wasn’t busy, the waitress was really nice in taking her time explaining the different types to us. I loooved the décor – kind of rustic and relaxing, with nice lighting.
The atrium out back (glass ceiling, greenhouse type area with a separate bar) was open, but everything was off (ceiling lights and fireplace). I’m assuming this was because it wasn’t busy enough to open. I hope they’re open next time and that they put the comfy looking chairs I saw in pictures back in front of the fireplace! This would be an excellent place for a small or medium size party…
The manager was extremely nice and when I asked to check out the downstairs – she said it wasn’t ready now because they use it for private parties, but she offered to tidy it up so I could look at it. I declined, but it was really sweet that she offered! Also, apparently they do a rotating craft beer $ 5 happy hour from 4 to 8 on weeknights. I will definitely be coming back here!

Trying to find a place for a party of 10 – 12 that:
1) Has enough drink options for those that like cocktails and those that like a range of craft beer styles
2) Has enough food options for those that are gluten-​free, vegetarian, etc and
3) Has enough space to sit and spread out without feeling guilty that you’ve taken over the entire establishment
can be tough in Manhattan. Of course you know this, you’re using Unilocal to find reviews so you’ve likely had to do it before. Draught 55 delivered on all of these and then some.
We had a reservation for a large farm table from 5PM-​8PM on a Saturday, and it was such a pleasant experience. The servers were friendly, knowledgeable about the (extensive) drink lists, and made sure that no one had to wait too long for their next round. Between the dozen of us, we had a good cross-​section of appetizers and entrees, and everything was met with two figurative thumbs up. The prices were reasonable, and they even have a Craft Beer Happy Hour from 8−9PM on Saturdays which is a nice bonus after a filling meal. Finally, the noise level was just right: low enough for conversations, loud enough that the people a few tables over couldn’t hear every word.
If you need a good place for a group lunch or dinner, Draught 55 should be at the top of your list.

This is a cool bar close to where I work. I don’t really drink, so the only times I visited here were accompanying my team for after work happy hours.
Definitely the craft beer! They seemed to have a limitless list! My personal favorite is the banana bread fruit beer, very refreshing and juicy without too much alcohol. In terms of food, Nachos was the one you cannot miss! So cheesy! So satisfactory! I made a mistake by ordering the pork belly, which was not that easy for a large group to share; however the meat was so tasty that it was finished within ten minutes!
Very loud and noisy!

Good place for a happy hour drink after work but boy is it noisy and crowded. The servers are nice and professional, no attitudes at this place from the staff. The food is ok, the portions are small so be prepared to expect less than what your brain tells you you’ll get.

Met a friend at Draught 55 for happy hour and I was quite pleased. The service was great. The food was superb! I mean considering it’s bar food of course.
We had the calamari and the porterhouse smokey BBQ wings. We enjoyed both and it was very filling. They have $ 5 drinks for happy hour including wine, beer and well drinks.
On top of the food and drinks, the atmosphere was great! I’ll most likely visit again!

This place is so cute! If you do come here, please do yourself a favor and go to the back room — it’s an entire separate bar area that looks completely different from the front and is so extremely pretty! I fell in love immediately with the lights, sun roof, barrels, and overall décor. Definitely one of the cutest bars in midtown east.
I am a fan of the $ 5 happy hour drinks! They have a good selection of draught beers, but I was in the mood for cider so I ended up getting the pear cider (which was also on the happy hour special). I loved it and it was really comforting for a cold night!
My boyfriend and I had dinner plans after so we decided to just get a side of hand cut garlic fries to go along with our drinks. The fries were good and there were actual pieces of cut up garlic which is always nice! However, we were a bit disappointed that the portion was really small for the price.
Overall, I will definitely be back here again for happy hour and can’t wait to try more of their drinks!

My NYC hosts were concerned that this would be a «bro-​y» place. We were wrong. There were about 15 people and we were served promptly by a smiling woman with an Irish accent. Only had to get up once or twice to hit the bar for refills on a SATURDAY night! Great selection of beer and snacky food (we did not eat).
4 Stars because while very happy, not completely blown away.

Draught 55, I owe you an apology. You were far nicer than I’d expected.
Walked up 2^nd avenue anticipating a bro-​y beer hall and instead found myself inside a mature, lightly trendy craft beer bar (albeit with bro-​y undertones.)
What a nice surprise! Midtown bars get a lot of flack for, well, being in midtown. But Draught 55 is almost reminiscent of a Flatiron watering hole in that it’s sophisticated but still comfortably rowdy.
Is it the best *romantic* date spot? Probably not. But it exudes comfort and casual *class.* And at the end of a long Tuesday, sometimes that’s just what you need.

Hammer Hamburg schön durch mit einer fabelhaften süssen Sauce. Angenehme Bedienung. Was will ich mehr

3.5…would go back in a heartbeat… though not wowed enough for the generous star round up.
Our team had a 4:30pm start time for a reservation in the backroom. The manager could not have been more wonderful, helpful, gracious, and accommodating. And she didn’t hesitate for a moment when it was clear she needed to jump in and help serve. She took the time to get to know the stand out members of our group, and was really grand.
However, the room wasn’t really ready for our arrival (only two of the six taps were ready… and one wasn’t tested… so we really only had one option until they sorted that out), and they only had one bartender on staff, when they truly should have had two to more smoothly manage our initial ordering. Really solid bartender (who nailed the Long Island and Hendrick’s Martini requests!), but she was clearly overwhelmed by our volume up front.
Still, really nice, quaint backroom, which I’d consider renting with my own money for a gathering. Tremendous selection of quality beers. Good stock on the bar.
Beef sliders were good… though not grand. More like big olé meatball sliders with a good sauce. A bit inconsistent, as some were moist, and others a bit dry.
AWESOME wings!
Loved the cauliflower dip, especially when it cooled down a bit and began to thicken.
Soft pretzels are the bomb!!! Great honey mustard sauce! Course mustard grains, though still creamy. Delicious!
Mushroom puffs were solid.
Chicken Satay was a huge group pass. We had an entire tray left untouched. I’m thinking they parboiled, then hit them on the grill to finish. They looked, and tasted, dry. People had difficulty pulling them off the skewers.
But, all in all, good place. Destination spot if you are a true beer connoisseur; a solid option is you’ll be in the area.

My cousin and I decided to check out Draught 55 and let me begin by saying this place did not disappoint. Happy hour is from 4 – 8.
The ambiance is legit. Super live, cute, and cozy. I believe theres two bars available. Plenty of tables all around. I absolutely love the lights hanging from the ceiling and the barrels/​stools scattered all around the place. The barrels (can be used as tables) are such a unique idea since Draught 55 offers a variety of beers. So… ALL OF THE BEER LOVERS out there I highly recommend you check out this place!
Service is fantastic. The bartender Katherine was super nice and upbeat. Although me and my cousin stopped in for a quick appetizer and drink she still managed to make us feel welcomed. One of the many reasons I would go back is because of the service. KATHERINE youuuuuu rock!
Would I return? For sure! Maybe next time I’ll try one of those unique beers!