Local 138

This place is okay but it’s really really dark even during the daytime. They do a pretty good happy hour but other than that there’s nothing special about this spot and I’m just really not a fan of the inside of the bar. I’m not opposed to going for happy hour but there are definitely better spots in the neighborhood

Very solid dive bar! Good happy hour. Music is sort of erratic. Also the bartender yells at you if she thinks you’re too young, even before she checks id’s.
Biggest pro is that it’s not too crowded!

Dope spot. Good happy hour and good music/​vibes. Watch out for the sticky floors though, but that adds to the ambiance!

Woops I came after happy hour so I missed the specials! Next time! And there will be a next time since I got to meet the legendary Pirate Mike, who is way too kind of a guy to tell anyone to walk the plank!

Nice local spot for a late night escapade. My friends and I had been partying on this block and at bars nearby. We stopped here at the end of the night. The crowd was pretty rowdy, everyone had a PBR in hand, and people were very loud and raucously dancing all over the place. Unless you were in one of the small booths at the front, it was pretty crowded. Side note: the bathroom is atrocious. Throw up and grime all over the place. Good for the end of the night, otherwise it’s a bit plain, but you can’t beat $ 6 PBR and shots!

Low key, well priced little bar. Most patrons are 30 + and it’s the perfect place for a quiet drink with friends where it doesn’t cost a fortune (happy hour is ace!) and you can actually hear each other speak. Will be back for sure!

I had my wallet and phone pickpocketed here. So it’s definitely not a good crowd in the evenings.
Also, when I told the bartenders, they just shrugged at me. I get that they can’t magically get my stuff back for me, but a little kindness would have gone a long way.

their happy hour is ridiculous.
$ 3 drafts going up to 9 pm. that is unreal. stone arrogant bastard. going for $ 3.
this is some bullshit.

Gotta agree with the masses: hands down best value happy hour ever. $ 3 well drinks, beer, and wine?! All the way until 9 pm??? I’m definitely sold. What a great place to drink for cheap, especially earlier in the night. What’s even better is that their drinks don’t taste like $ 3. Sure, maybe they’re not using top shelf stuff, but the drinks are still well balanced and tasty.
Ambience was not exactly the most exciting. I was here on a Saturday night and there were very few other people. This might just be a dead weekend, but it didn’t seem like the place would ever get too crowded. Plenty of seating.
Would definitely recommend coming here to start your night!

Chill dive bar. Small, but easy to get a drink. They had a DJ the Saturday night I stopped in who played some great old school and current hip hop. However there’s not much room to dance, so you’ll have to settle for bopping your head along with the beats. Still, with so many other dance places nearby, you don’t really miss the dance floor here.
3 stars. Good place to meet up with people before going to wherever the «main event» is that evening.
PS. They have Modelo Especial cans. Thumbs up

I came to Local 138 late on a Saturday night for a birthday party. They have a back room that you can reserve with a lot of seating and your own sound system so that is a bonus.
Drinks are really cheap and the lines weren’t so bad. The crowd came in and out and was pretty full around midnight but the bar emptied out around 1:30. There is a $ 20 credit card minimum, which sucks on a night you’re not drinking but they let me tip $ 9 on my $ 11 tab. One of the bartenders was super nice but there was another who was getting annoyed with my ginger ale orders. You can blame eating too much Domino’s pizza for that.
My biggest gripe is that the place is kind of smelly. But that comes with the territory of this neighborhood.

Despite being a literal stones throw away from this bar on a regular basis, I can count on one hand the times I’ve drank here. And while I always have fun and it has some sweet perks, it’s never become a regular spot for me.
Nina from Iggy’s sometimes makes appearances behind the bar, and I recently met Liz who played awesome music and put on all my requests. Queen, Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, Fleetwood Mac.
The setup of the bar is kind of odd. The lighting is dim and vaguely red. There are these two booths on either side of the entrance almost completely enclosed by walls. They seem like they’d be nice and intimate for a group of friends but I can’t sit anywhere in a bar that’s not at the bar: P The bar itself is interrupted by what I can only assume is a massive load bearing pillar that makes talking to new people a little hard. I’ve only used one of their bathrooms, the one closest to the bar, and for the life of me I could not get the damn thing to lock, and it’s not the best bathroom to have that problem in because the door will slam right into your face if someone opens it.
Tuesday is now ladies night! Ladies get two for one drinks all damn night, which is not something I needed in my life, but thank you for insisting on giving it to me Local.

$ 3 draft beer? How can you go wrong? It’s not too big of a place, but it’s the perfect place to knock back a few beers and start the night (if you want to have that kind of night). If not, it’s a great place to catch happy hour and wind down with a few friends. And grabbing the tab is easy, because hey! It’s three bucks a beer till 9!
Some drafts are $ 4, but hey, that’s still a steal!
And if you’re looking for something a bit more quiet, try to go early and snag the private room to the right if the front entrance. Bar atmosphere, with a bit more privacy!
The bartenders are awesome and all extremely friendly. Very responsive and helpful when you ask for drink recommendations.
I will definitely be coming back and I highly recommend. Plus, the area it’s located in has a ton to do! Big plus!

Extremely divey. Great and long happy hour. I had my bday party here and they were very helpful and flexible, opening the back room for my party.
It is somewhat dirty and smelly, so don’t bring your in-​laws here if you’re trying to impress them. It’s a great place to have fun with friends, though.

Cheap drinks! $ 3 happy hour. It’s improved a ton. You can read previous reviews for more details, but def a good spot. They have private rooms towards the front entrance. My friends and I always try to get there early and snatch one up. The place is sorta dark/​dimly lit. Not pretentious at all, very laid back vibe. I previously gave this place a bad review but after visiting more times and seeing their improvements, they deserve 4 stars.

Happy hour is a great deal and there’s a decent selection of beer considering it’s just $ 3. This has been my favorite bar on my NYC trip and the most reasonably priced.
That said, the liquor pours looked a little short, to my eye. I haven’t ordered mixed drinks here, though, so I can’t say for sure.
$ 10 credit card minimum.

1. Happy hour til 9
2. $ 3 well drinks and drafts (and not just shitty drafts, but it includes everything!)
3. YOUNG’S DOUBLE CHOCOLATE STOUT
4. That is all

Local 138? local bar that is 138% AWESOME!
LES? yes bc i’m lazy and live in the ‘hood.
neighborhood bar aka dive? yes.
pulls a diverse crowd of gals n gents? yes.
extremely long and generous happy hour? yes.
a happy hour that runs til 8 pm on Saturday? YASSSSSS! $ 3 wells, beers, wine, etc.
need to rally, sleepyhead? Red Bull on the bartenders gun! hurrah.
cool dimly layout without lots of seating. yes!
Met Chuck C, Erin P, Yanill P. for dranks, bad iphone pix, trashtalk, and laughs. With Joanna N. and Spencer J coming through later – slow pokes. Some of my favorite-​fave folks all in one place! why am i shouting them out because you need to «color» their reviews yo! like i always say the company you keep can make any bar, restaurant, experience awesome… so just imagine taking some chill folks and dropping them in a fine boozing establishment. The results? Amazing…
The aftermath? Epic hangover the next day. Job well done Local 138!
Look forward to more capers at Local 138 and making it my «new» Saturday bar!
PRO TIP: for late daytime drinking or early evening dranks… this is your place to be. Later on though is when the c/​rush begins and that’s when I’d pull the ripcord.
PRO TIP DUH: Snag the private room to your right as soon as you walk-​in. It has its own little door which you can slam in the face of people trying to look in – which we did (we’z dicks). This little tabled alcove also has a small window for you to order drinks through… directly to the bartender.
Droppin’ my mic cuz it freezy and my whisky needs chillin’.
I out!

Great bar with good happy hour offers of $ 3 a beer.
Music is often played loud here and conversation can be difficult so maybe not your first date setting.

138 is one of my favorite places down on the LES. Is it a hole in the wall? Yes, but I happen to think some of the best bars you will ever encounter happen to be little hole in the wall type places. What it lacks in modernness it makes up for in dingy charm, and I love that.
You walk into a bar that clearly hasn’t been updated this century, but guess what, nether have the prices. You will find one of the cheapest and longest happy hours in the city, 3 dollar drafts and well drinks that go until 10. And not just any old PBR drafts, for your lousy three bucks you can have a victory stout or a UFO. Not too shabby 138. The well drinks are not particularly well made, but again it adds to the old school charm of the place. It would fit in nicely with some divey bars you’d find on the skirts of Paris or Edinburgh and to be perfectly honest, maybe that’s why I like the place so much, it’s not trying to be anything it’s not.
If you’re looking for a club, Verlaine is right around the corner — they’ll happily make you wait two or three deep for a 3 $ bottle of yuengling that you can enjoy standing up as the DJ blares loud annoying music. If you enjoy your friends company and a nice conversation then come here after a long day, sink into a bench that has been around for a good long while and enjoy what I believe to be a fantastically authentic New York City happy hour.