The Barrel

I been here a couple of times but was meaning to review it before… guess I am too late now: P The food was usually good, they had a lot of special, where you can choose 3 tapas for around $ 15. The food is good and decently priced but the portions is a bit smaller side. They also do not make their dessert in house — so you will probably pay a higher markup than buying the dessert next door. The service was okay but the guy was texting on his phone and ended charging me twice.

It’s a shame this place has closed. The venue was a perfect place for a night cap. It pains me to see this place close – it will be missed. I hope that other places whose identity and charm are similar to this spot don’t shut their doors because places like these are a hidden gem in the commotion and activity obsessed city that is NYC.

Great place for happy hour! $ 1 oysters, cheap drinks and tapas for $ 6? This is my type of place!!! The tuna sliders were amazing! The bucket of mussels for $ 8 was delicious and the French rose was a great pairing. The atmosphere is very rustic and wooden. The bartender was great and it’s in my favorite area, les! I will be back for sure!

Last Saturday 2:30 p.m. we were supposed to go have brunch at Poco in the East Village on avenue B but I was not very enthusiast. Reviews were pretty bad and i try to avoid the bottomless brunch. so we were walking in the Sunrise Mart direction because I needed to buy a thing and we saw this empty cute terrace with the sign $ 13.50 brunch. I thought it was very cheap for the area and we looked the dishes of the few clients and it looked pretty good. So we decided to go there. it was pretty good (not amazing but i was not waiting for a brunch that will blew up my mind) I had the vegetable galette + sangria and my friend the steak + mimosa. Portion were correct, location is good and decoration is cute. the service was just ok. I might come back!

An excellent place to let down your hair and be yourself. The staff is accommodating, the food is good, and dessert is amazing!
Open air patio makes it very inviting and the prices are reasonable. A great bar if you like community and netting great people!

Great happy hour oysters, mussels and tapas. Live music and nice atmosphere.

Great place to stop and wait for a table someplace else.
Last Friday some friends and I went out and put our names down at Ippudo (a randomly long wait) and came here to have some drinks and kill some time until our table was ready.
So I have to say my rating is bias as I really only had wine here. Which was ok, I mean not the best Malbec I’ve ever had.
I picked at my friend’s Guac which was ok.
But I do have to say, my friend’s oysters she said were really great (of course she didn’t share,… thanks girl! lol)
Poor waiter seemed new but he tried his best.
It was ok.
Nothing really to write home about but enough to write a Unilocal review.

LOOOOVE!!! YUMmmm this place is PERFECT for a brunch, lunch or dinner with a group of friends. HIGHLY recommend checking this restaurant out. New updated menu is budget friendly and very dish. Don’t be fooled by the not so great review from a few years back and pay attention to the great spot it is now!

Came back again for brunch, I have nothing but rave reviews for the place. Great eggs, perfectly poached, great light hollandaise (on the side)
Not too much food, but it is perfectly filling.
Great prices too!

Great place. Have been here for lunch twice. Very quiet in the afternoon. The service is very good. The food is great. That carafe of wine is perfect with your lunch. The prices are adequate. If you want some tapas they got them as well. No complaints at all. A good place to come and have some food and drink. Will be back.

This place is on Stuyvesant Street right under Angel’s Share, one of my favorite bars ever.
I came here on a date, and it was pretty empty for a Friday night at 8 pm. The service was good, but I was unfortunately not that impressed with the food. The drink I had was not bad, but not too memorable. I feel badly because the server was very gracious and made a lot of suggestions. Unfortunately, my date was not as adventurous as I am and ordered for both of us (you’re not surprised I’m not dating him anymore-​good).
Prosciutto wrapped asparagus, duck confit, and fried oysters. First, why would anyone fry an oyster-​unless it’s on a po’ boy. I should learn to say «no, I don’t want fried oysters.» Anyways, the food was really just OK.
Overall, maybe a place to come into for a glass of wine and charcuterie (which looked good but I didn’t try it). Not a place that was very memorable to me.

I was here last week and it is worthy of a repeat. I ordered from the Tapas Menu which was on Happy Hour Special until 7. I ordered the very fresh and tasty Clams & Oysters on the half shell. Very tasty and fresh. The first time, I had the ginger chicken and the tuna sliders. Wonderfully flavored and just enough, especially for a late lunch
The service is true service. I enjoy the waitstaff. They serve with a proper mix of attentiveness and aloofness, allowing you to enjoy your meal in the lovely environment.

I’ve come here for lunch a few times because of its good location.
It’s nothing special but I give it three stars because despite my below average expectations I always leave pretty full and happy.
Moderately priced and the inside of the restaurant really does look like a barrel, which is pretty snazzy.

Most restaurants open for brunch in East Village are packed with a minimum of ~20 minutes wait, but The Barrel on Stuyvesant St. was completely empty when I stopped by for brunch on a Saturday afternoon. Emptiness usually indicates 1) bad food 2) poor service 3) combination of both, but none of this was the case at the Barrel when I visited.
All entrees are served with a choice of coffee or tea, which is a great deal in NYC where most places charge $ 1.50 to $ 3+ for a drink. You can also upgrade to an alcoholic beverage for an additional $ 3.
I got the Plain Homemade Waffles ($ 9) with a pot of green tea, while my boyfriend had the Eggs Benedict ($ 12) with coffee. The service was efficient and the food came out fast.
The Belgian waffle was cut into four pieces with a side of seasonal fresh fruits (cantaloupe, honey dew, pineapple, and strawberry). The waffle pieces were dusted with powdered sugar for an extra dimension of sweetness. The waffle could have been warmer (they must have made it before the eggs benedict was cooked), but the inside was still very doughy and moist.
My boyfriend also enjoyed the Eggs Benedict, which was served on toasted English muffin topped with two poached eggs, Canadian bacon, and hollandaise sauce. It had mixed green salad with ginger + carrot dressing, fresh fruits, and potato home fries on the side. The home fries were seasoned really nicely.
You get a great deal at the Barrel for brunch without the wait!

The manager is a coward — after an evening of bad service and bad food, I asked to speak with the manager. I waited more than 20 minutes, and no one came to the table. I finally stopped a passing waiter and asked again to see the manager, he said he was upstairs, so I explained the bad experience to him anyway and insisted again that the manager was upstairs. Well the funny thing is that he was the manager. What a coward guy. I only demand respect. And an other thing, i didnt eat but i still pay the check because i have respect.

There is a lot of good things about this Tapas Bar that makes my friends and I to keep comming back year after year, the staff, ambience, tapas (man they are good !!) and the drink called KGB ! (which I had last night) one too many
this bar makes you feel good at the end of the evening. thats whats most important

Actually my friend found this place, then we gave a try. We went there once, and we had a wonderful brunch time there. Both my friends and I really enjoyed their food and environment especially their outdoor seating.

Only 3 choices of draft beer for Happy Hour. Sixpoint, Lagunita & Kelso
That’s really what I came here for, DRAFT BEER. The choices were a bit disappointing especially since there were only 3 choices to begin with.
There is a check-​in for free Pintxos which is like an appetizer of sorts. It is still valid as of 08÷05÷14.
The décor is very clean and I’d definitely bring a lunch date or early night date here.
The bartender/​waitress was a sweetheart.
I’d come back here for other things, just not beer.

Meh. Aside from the novelty of eating in a barrel-​shaped restaurant, the food is pretty mediocre. I visited once for brunch a long time ago, and it must have been forgettable because I literally forgot that I had been there before.
I brought my friend here for her birthday for happy hour, but everything we ordered was totally lackluster and I almost instantly regretted choosing this place. The HH prices are pretty good (3 tapas for $ 15, $ ⁴⁄₅ beers and wines) but nothing tasted that great. We ordered the avocado island, chicken wings, tuna sliders, and the steak frites. Pretty boring selection, to be honest. The tuna sliders were so bland.
This street is an oasis of awesome restaurants (Soba-​ya and Cha-​An are on the same block) so go ahead and skip this place.

Alfresco happy hour in the east village. This place is just awesome. For happy hour you can get $ 5 sparking rose or cava, $ 4 beers, $ 5 wines. They also offer 3 tapas for $ 15 on their happy hour menu. We had chicken wings, sausages, potatoes. We were seated outside with a group of 7 and enjoyed the beginning of summer while people watching. Definitely good food and drinks!

Came here for their happy hour deals, which ends at 7pm.
Tons of drinks to pick from the drink menu including red/​white sangria/​wine, beer
and tons of food items to pick from the happy hour tapas
I really liked the spicy sausages, the fried ginger chicken, the chicken skewers, raw oysters but pretty much all the items we ordered were delicious.
I am surprised I have lived in East Village for so long but never discovered this little cute place
Ambiance is dark and cute and service was decent
Will be back again for sure!

Bön on imagine la scèné: 12 français en galère pour trouver un endroit assez grand pour bruncher un dimanche matin. On se donne rendez-​vous du coté d’Astor Place (non loin d’Union Square), dans ce quartier, il y a de nombreuses bonnes adresses. Mais on a eu la flemme de chercher: le Barrel s’offrait à nous. La serveuse nous a arrangé une table et c’est parti pour un bon petit brunch!
Dans la formule brunch, nous avons le droit à de nombreuses spécialités d’ici ou d’ailleurs: des pancakes, des œufs bénédictines, des toastes… Les oeufs étaient vraiment bons et il y avait de quoi faire. Avec le plat, il y a en plus une boisson (du café à volonté, du jus d’orange, de la sangria, des coktailes comme le mimosa ou le bloody mary, du vin…).
J’ai opté pour la sangria et je dois avouer qu’elle était très bonne et rafraîchissante.
Si l’on ajoute à ça une décoration atypique (comme son nom l’indique, la salle ressemble à un tonneau), le barrel a tout pour devenir une référence dans les restos-​brunch newyorkais.