Fontana’s

We spent NYE here. It was great because it wasn’t packed beyond reason and they didn’t charge entry at the door. It was still busy and lively though, with a dance area and billiards.
They don’t serve food, but do allow outside food, with the one sad exception of Vanessa’s Dumplings due to complaints about the overwhelming smell of the dumplings. We brought in meats on a stick from a little cart a few blocks down that were delicious.
Nobody else go there on NYE. It’s ours. You got it?!

Tried to order drinks and was consistently ignored by the bartenders. Finally got a bartender’s attention and gave her my order… never got my drink.
It wasn’t even busy.

place is huge. pool table in the back. friendly staff. I shall return. no beer & shot deal

Fontana’s is the best. We host our Holiday party there every year. Their team is so nice, respectful, accommodating, and just flat out cool. Great place to hold a party or just to hang out for the night. Cannot recommend them highly enough.

Classic out of the way dive bar. Never gets too crowded, even on the weekend, making it a go-​to when you need a break from the LES weekend BS. Pool table is usually accessible at some point during the nite. Loses points for no buy backs and higher than expected liquor prices.

DO NOT GO HERE!
The bartenders are very rude, and the drinks are overpriced!

Great bar — very cool staff and great music. Not much else needed no? What else is there to say? Honestly

This place is a gem. A rock and roll feel and the NY dirtiness we’ve all come to love. The beer selection was a bit disappointing, but that’s my only complaint. And bar with a pool table ($ 1.50 per game) is a winner in my eyes. Overall, the staff is friendly and outside food is welcome. I’ll be back soon!

I went to Fontana’s to see a friend’s band play. 10 dollar cover charge for absolutely no reason. The upstairs was completely empty on a Saturday night. The basement where the music was would have been empty too unless parents, yes parents, of the band and the opening act’s fans were not present.
The bar tender downstairs was extremely rude to me. I ordered a LIT after my friends told me it was 8 bucks. I was charged 14. I figured they were running tabs so they probably didn’t really know the price, so I didn’t say anything and pocketed the change. At this point the bar tender informs me (in the rudest way possible) that «it’s customary to tip a dollar a drink». Not when the drink is 14 bucks and I just watched you pour more roses lime juice than liquor into my drink.
I went and tried my best to enjoy my key lime pie in a glass and support my friends. If it wasn’t for the band I was seeing I would have left immediately. Fontana’s is terrible with overpriced drinks and a very rude and unfriendly staff. Don’t waste your time or money here.

I usually don’t like bars with bouncers, but make exceptions when the bouncers are not assholes. The weeknight bouncer here is a good dude.
Decent vibe on the inside: perfect lighting, classic rock soundtrack (albeit a bit loud for normal conversation), air conditioning on blast and comfy circular booths up-​front. Spacious back area with a pool table and table-​top Ms. PacMan.
Decent tap beer, like Ommegang and Captain Lawrence mixed with the Miller Lite. Seven dollars is no bargain.

Music venue in basement is not ideal. The sound could be better and it smells of piss.
I was given the thumbs up on bringing in a slice from Williamsburg Pizza around the corner but was told that Vanessa’s Dumplings were verboten as they smell up the joint.
Counting the bar in the basement there are three bars in all. I was charged three different prices by three different bartenders for the same drink. Ain’t that peculiar?

I came here to grab a quick beer before having dinner plans down the street. This bar was large and very divey. Their happy hour was pretty solid, $ 4 beers! Overall if you are in the area and want a quick drink at somewhere thats not going to break you wallet, hit this place up.
Oh, you can also order food from outside vendors there as people sitting next to me did. The bar tender was very friendly and actually placed the order for them.

When I asked for a pbr, they’re response was «we are out. but our next $ 5 option is Miller High Life».
Welcome to my nightmare.

When I asked for a prb, they’re response was «we are out. but our next $ 5 option is Miller High Life».
Welcome to my nightmare.

This is a massive bar with a decent happy hour. I strolled in with a couple friends after looking for apartments in the area. They have some decent beers for $ 4 and $ 5 during happy hour and it seemed like buybacks after every 2 drinks. They have a bunch of takeout menus which is nice but also 1 very specific, NO DUMPLINGS. Supposedly they smell but they don’t have an issue bringing in smelly Mexican. Anyway it was a minor annoyance as Vanessa’s is across the street but didn’t detract from my opinion. The bartenders were friendly and service was pretty quick. There was a power strip at the end of the bar which was useful for charging my phone. I’m not sure how it is when it gets pack at night but I’d have no issues about coming back.

I attended a music producer competition here on a Monday night. A bouncer I’D my friend and I at the door of the venue. We walked into an empty bar about 9:30p.m. Typical design and layout of L.E.S bars. Grungy. We entered the lower level which appeared to be a basement. Reminded me of my old house in Long Island. Packed wall to wall. No breathing room. No air conditioning. Nothing. The stage area, or what I assume to be was not visible. It could at least have been higher up. I had to stand on my tippy toes to see the producers. The bar was behind us which I didn’t realize until after I left. There were sections with seating that did not face the stage which was stupid. Never again. Oh. The lighting was poor. Had to use my Samsung G5 to see anything.

Worst bar I’ve been to in NY. I ordered a drink and sent it back to the bar… and got KICKED OUT for not enjoying the drink… who kicks someone out for not enjoying a drink? I’ve never been kicked out of a bar in my life. I went to the bar to close my tab because I was being «kicked out» and the bartender would not let me close my tab. sooo I guess I’ll back again tomorrow… if there was less than a star available for this bar I would rate it that. I will never be back, rude bartenders, rude bouncers, rude service. The atmosphere is random and the music Sucks. Save yourself and do not lose your time at this bar

I’ve come here twice when Fontana’s hosted Vegan Drinks; this is a fun, cavernous bar with a divey vibe I really like!
That said, I’m not a drinker – although Cake Thieves were serving excellent vegan chili and I got very thirsty. I guess next time I’ll just ask the bartender for a glass of water, but I was shy.
I can’t wait until the next Vegan Drinks in the spring!

I’ve been here twice and this venue offers a great space for groups of friends and couples.
The music tends to vary as well as the crowd. Sometimes it’s good for mingling and other times not.
There are better options in the area.

Wonderful Gyro! Overstuffed with meat and just the right amount of grease. The Greek salad could have been more traditional with less (or no lettuce) and more feta and olives.

Came here with some friends for a Raising The Bar talk on Happiness and Technology. I was disappointed that Fontana staff didn’t do much to prepare for the huge group of attendees, a lot of whom ended up standing during the 2 hour session. My friends and I had to improvise by hijacking the 2^nd floor and moving all the furniture around so we had comfortable seat and clear view of the speakers.
Place is kind of dumpy– but I think that’s the aesthetic they are going for.

Fontana’s and I have a once-​a-​month relationship, for the simple reason that once a month they open the large back room to the Vegan Drinks organization that raises awareness and funding for animal rights issues (never mind that to get here one must wade through the carcass swill infested sidewalks of the China Town budget meat markets).
The staff here are always friendly, happy hour is a solid deal, and noon happy hour prices are reasonable. There’s a projector screen showing black and white movie classics, which really bring this place home.
The only negative is a couple times they have been out of common ingredients. Last time I ordered a Moscow Mule, to be asked to wait (which I did for over five painstakingly sober minutes) before the bar tender informed me he couldn’t find the bar back to get more. I moved on and ordered an ipa, which they were also out of, until finally I landed my fourth choice, which I was still happy with anyway and the bartender was apologetic and kind.
At any rate, it’s not somewhere I’d visit often were it not for the Vegan Drinks, but only because I don’t frequent China Town, otherwise I’d be here as often as possible! And you should be too.

Large
Bar by
Dumplings with
Live music and
A pool table. Good to bring your own crowd.

This place was popping when I got there.
There i a bouncer who stamps your wrist just to get drinks. I thought this was a bar and not a douche-​y lounge. At least the ink was easily washable or I’d be pissed.
The bar was packed with what I assume to be the after work crowd. It took a good 10 minutes to get the lady bartender’s attention never mind the actual drink.
I asked the girl bartender if I could sample the Wilmer beer in which she pours me a full glass that I’d have to pay for.
Great…
What was even more of a WTF is that it was an IPA… I HATE IPAs… except for certain Lagunita’s.
So then a few minutes afterwards the guy bartender comes to ask if I’ve been served even though there was a full glass of beer right in front of me. I asked him if I could sample the Victory Summer Love in which he gave me a sip.
Moral of the story, GO TO THE GUY BARTENDER because the lady bartender just isn’t cutting it.
Needless to say, I didn’t enjoy the Victory Summer Love Either. I just left ¾ of a pint of Wilmer’s and walked out.
What they do have that I’d would have really liked to come back to try is the pool table towards the far back by the bathrooms and also where the second bar is located at.
But judging by this first impression, I’m not looking forward on a return trip unless I was already buzzed.

Yanno, at one point I used to go here at least once or twice a month — consistently. But I was much younger, lived in Manhattan and consumed more steamed pork dumplings from my favorite city dumpling spot… so much so that I was kind of beginning to resemble a dumpling myself (and NO, it’s not Vanessa’s Dumplings) o_​O.
Fontana’s is an interesting bar. I appreciate them for sticking around for quite some time and for retaining a certain character that a lot of NYC’s newer bars fail to have. There is almost like a gritty, «hipster meets rockabilly» vibe here that makes this place feel like home even if it’s been years since you’ve last downed a pint here… or at least that is how I felt this past St. Patrick’s Day when I met up with my bestie for a happy hour mimosa…
Yanno, cuz mimosas is how you do St. Paddy’s when you’re not looking for an obnoxious crowd or a scene of newly-​turned 21 kids wearing green from head to toe and acting like green beer is man’s most inspiring & notable achievement. Personally I would go with electricity, milk pasteurization, air travel and warm sliced bread with butter. But maybe that’s just me.
Their happy hour is decent, $ 4 – 5 dollar mimosas and wells. The mimosas are more like plain OJ and you’re better off sticking with their wells. The house vodka is actually pretty decent… for a house liquor. Bartenders here have generally been friendly, so no complaints there… no complaints at all really. Except that they won’t let you bring dumplings in because they «smell».
It’s the owner’s rule so I get that it needs to be enforced by the bar staff, but it’s the closest food place to Fontana’s since there are two vendors right across the street — unless you go down the block for Chinese food (that isn’t a dumpling or dim sum related item) or sushi, but one if going to smell like fried or steamed deliciousness and the other is bound to be raw fish soooooo… yeah.
That’s annoying and for that I’m taking off a Unilocal star for discriminating against delicious dumplings :-/​.
At night and on weekends Fontana’s CAN get really crowded, but it’s usually (from what I remember) a pretty diverse group of people — so that’s cool. They also do some fun things with their downstairs space like comedy nights or themed dance parties (I went to a Latin rock themed one years ago and I remember it being an absolute blast) but sometimes things would get out of control with guys acting like fools, girls puking in the bathrooms and all of a sudden you felt like you were in a badly generic «coming of age» movie. No thank you.
This is really a 3 star bar at night and a 3.5−4 star one in the day time when it’s not too crowded… as always, I wish Unilocal let us do halfsies on ratings, but I’m rounding down on my 3.5 stars and going with a solid 3 for A-​OK.

I’ve been going here for the past few years for my birthday and it has never disappointed. The beer selection is very good, the place has a decent crowd but never uncomfortable, there are multiple sections with different vibes, and it’s very easy to make reservations for tables here. Overall, it’s just the right amount of dive, mixed with a rock and roll hipster vibe.
It is a little bit out of the way from the rest of the LES, but I actually enjoy that it’s on the unbeaten path. DJ in the main level usually plays a lot of good music, although the lower level music is more for the dancing crowd.
The random 80’s movies playing in the background are a little odd, but it’s not something that takes away from the overall experience, as the space is quite large. The bartenders are pretty quick and responsive when it comes to serving drinks, but when it comes to closing out tabs, it takes forever. Don’t you want to get paid, brah?
Also, this year, on my birthday, Michael Cera rolled in with his «alternative» looking posse. Dude is pretty short and scrawny and was wearing a backpack. Yet, I didn’t have the balls to approach him. Funny how life works out like that.