The Long Island Bar

Old school place like the Brooklyn pharmacy. Great cocktails. Loved my burger. It had strong onion and garlic flavors, but that made me happy.

Great cocktails and an exceptional collection of bitters. If you like burgers, this place has good one.
The batends are skillful and friendly and easy in the eyes.

I wish I could give this place 3.5 stars, but 4 it is. Some of the cocktails are fantastic, but some feel pretty expensive for how basic they are. I haven’t had the food, but it also seems a bit pricey. Great ambience, though, and there’s not a ton like it in that area. Definitely worth the Kirby if you order carefully.

A beer and the burger are the perfect Sunday evening combination. The food here is always spot on and service makes the whole experience awesome. It’s a place a lot of my friends walk by and say «oh yeah I’ve never gone in.» Go in. It’s a bk staple.

My favorite bar. One of the best places in Brooklyn. It’s a great atmosphere– original vintage details– but In excellent shape. The wooden façade on the bar is really something. The staff is amazing, super friendly and all make you feel welcome and at home.
The cocktails are strong and awesome. Wine is solid– they used to pour a Nebbiolo by the glass — which always makes me happy. The bar eats are so good. Must try the fried cheese curds and the smoked trout with trout roe spread.
You will not be disappointed.

Toby and Joel have created an authentic craft-​cocktail scene in this historical bar. Besides being entertaining, Toby is a master of the craft cocktail, and the menu shows off some of his best work. The fact that he changes the menu every so often to keep regulars intrigued makes me quite sad I don’t live anywhere near to the bar.
The energy and time they have both put into this project shines, from the delicious local fare to the polished wood throughout the entire dining room. If nothing else, my appreciation for their restorative efforts of all the Art Deco built-​ins gets a 5-​star. But the drinks and food earn every star in this review, right down to the liquor-​laden desserts.
You must go. And remember, no dancing.

Don’t let the outside décor deter you from coming in, the drinks were perfection. Kudos to the bar keep for making me a Sazerac! It was pure gold! I heard the deep fried cheese curds were yummy as well. WIll be back!

This bar is WAY to close to my apt to not come here sooner. I think it was all the High Class feel it emanates from its classic style décor and vibe. I love the old feel bar inside. The drinks were also fantastic. They have a great selection of Japanese whiskey (ok, I know that doesn’t mean much to most people), but it was one of the smoothest drinks I’ve ever slid across my tongue. AND one of the most expensive ($ 36!). Thankfully the drink was bought by my WAY classier and WAY richer friend so I was like… bottoms up! Don’t let the price scare you, the handmade cocktails are all typical NY prices and just as tasty.
Top Notch service. Top Notch drinks. SOLD.

Fun 50s feel. They take pride in making cocktails, without being too terribly pretentious about it. Simple menu all done well for dinner. We had and enjoyed:
Aquavit Manhattan
Improved Pendennis Club
Boulevardier
Trinidad Old Fashioned
Buffalo fried cauliflower
Trout teriyaki
Pork bratwurst
Fried cherry hand pies (I’m not a huge fan of cherry pie, but I could have ate a whole bowl of the chocolate mousse for dipping)
All solid choices.
Our waitress was meh, but to her credit she was waiting on the entire restaurant solo.

This bar is sub-​par.
So we order like $ 13 drinks and then go out for one cigarette make sure that they know we’re going out for one cigarette, have not paid bill yet, and two fat girls are in our seats and we come back like three minutes later. LAME

This place is dope. Bartenders and cocktails are on point. I could basically retire here.

I still haven’t decided if I’d recommend this place to friends. In an area of Brooklyn which has SO many great bars, this one fell a bit flat. The Long Island Bar feels like a diner but serves up perfect cocktails, especially Manhattans and Gimlets. The perfect cocktails couldn’t make up for the odd surroundings and sub par service.

Awesome place to come for a good cocktail! This is one of those spots that you walk past and if you don’t take a second look you’ll miss it. The burgers are really good quality. The cocktails rock tho! Don’t be afraid to go off the menu! These guys and gals know their stuff! I forget the one bartenders name, but he’s a tall blonde guy. He’s solid!

I always end up not entirely remembering my night here. It’s not that it’s forgettable. Well, I guess technically it is but only at the hand of the very strong pours they’re slinging.
It’s usually more crowded than I’d like, but the warmth and understated sophistication of this joint always makes me settle in for the long haul. Yes, I should have another Manhattan. Did I just order champagne, delivered with an exclamatory «BUBBLES!» by the bartender, sending me into a fit of laughter? Are we drinking straight rye now? It’s only 1am?
Food is too expensive for what it is (mostly sandwiches and Midwestern-​style comfort food of yore) but flavors are really kicking. The smoked beet reuben is tangy and substantial but not too heavy. It comes with fries, which is not stated on the menu; but I wish they offered it without for a lower price. Although, maybe they know when I’m here my brain cells need all the rye-​battling, booze-​sopping carbs they can get. Well played, LI Bar. Well played.

My husband and I get sad sometimes that we don’t have a regular place, a Cheers-​like place where everybody knows your name. But this might be it. It’s cozy, has a warm light, old interior that’s like a1950’s diner. The staff had been warm and friendly on every visit, never pushy to get you out for new customers. They have excellent cocktails and great food.
So far we’ve had the beet Reuben, the crispy trout and the lamb sausage sandwich. All but the lamb were excellent. The lamb sausage itself was great but it was skimpy and dry in its big baguette. What’s the deal? Anyway, I’ll be back many times either way.

Classic diner with a few great cocktails and Jerry from the service. #barreview #nyc #brooklyn
They serve food here until 1 am (bar closes at 2 am). It’s a small menu but it seems that the items offered are all thought out. I enjoyed my crispy trout and my husband enjoyed his lamb sandwich. It wasn’t the best food that we’ve ever had, but it was good. We also liked our cocktails; we got a penicillin and their take on an old fashioned.
Solid selection of alcohol and very friendly service. We were happy to duck in here while staying in Brooklyn. It’s a happy, casual and warm atmosphere — can’t go wrong.

Food: excellent carrot salad, so so Rueben. Overall the menu is too limited and sandwich + fries biased.
Drinks: good Long Island Gimlet, average Boulevardier. Plus all cocktails at Manhattan prices…
Service: both bartenders were cooler than we were (read: too cool to be serving us…). A shame.

Pretty cool old-​school diner themed cocktail bar in Brooklyn Heights/​Cobble Hill area. We were in the area last Thursday with some colleagues and we decided to stop in here for dinner and drinks, and we had a great time.
First of all, it has a really cool old-​school diner vibe to it, with dark booths, mad men-​esque bar, linoleum tiles, and in the back, they have additional seating.
We all had many drinks and I had the gin gimlet, which was delicious. The first one was pretty weak, but the more I drank, they stronger the drinks became! Our waitress was extremely nice and attentive, as was the manager (at least I think he was) of the place. They both catered to our party and made sure our questions were answered and that we were taken care of. It was my one colleagues birthday, so they even delivered a slice of apple pie with a candle in it for us.
Usually in Brooklyn, I never have trouble trying to find something to eat, being vegetarian, and at first glance, I thought I would have to just get a salad or fill up on greasy apps. However, our waitress mentioned that their Red Reuben sandwich was vegetarian — not your typical reuben. Instead of pastrami, they replaced it with layers of smoked beets. Now, I’m not a big fan of beets, but I figured I’d try it because it has to be on their menu for a reason and I wasn’t in the mood for a salad. The sandwich was actually pretty good and filling. It was a bit too heavy on the beets for my taste, and they got to be a little chewy, but overall, it had a very unique and nice combination of tastes and textures. The bread was delicious, as was the dressing that they put inside.
We also ordered the cheese curds and pretzels for the table as apps, and they were very good. The pretzels are these very small, dime-​shaped pretzel pieces, that tasted great, and you can never go wrong with cheese curds and this buttermilk ranch dipping sauce.
Overall, we had a fun time and I’d definitely recommend this place to anyone who’s looking for a low-​key dinner and drinks night.

One star experience, read on.
The recap: great drinks, the head «guest attendant» was a full-​on jerk, of the bro variety that could learn customer service skills while being employed at an S-​bucks.
Keep reading for the full story!
The drinks were great. The best Sidecar I had in NYC on my trip…
That’s when the trouble began…
We — myself and an attractive female friend — showed up 6ish in order to fit into my Brooklynite’s friend’s hectic evening schedule. We were visiting and my friend (V.) suggested it. After two drinks V. was a tad late, 45 minutes.
NBD. She arrived late, which she HATES, but hey, the drinks were really good!
She brought along her roomate, a former model that was pleasant company and rounded out the booth — I could catch up with V, model friend had a lot in common with my friend.
Our server was very new i.e. GREEN, but very nice, eager and accommodating.
Her dress was that of an american apparel model — she looked great, but out of place at this venue — hey, my observation is an honest one.
When it was time to settle up, my female friend loudly asked if we could get split bills from some worker who never served us but still checked in at our table.
She seemed annoyed but astonishingly, a Debag, pronounced D-​Bag, materialized
and informed our table, and to our non-​Canadian and much less inbibed guests horror, RUDELY AND LOUDLY accosted us and lectured us in a demeaning, 2^nd grade teachery way about the bars policies.
Where this gets really bad is where I interjected, politely (actually, because my friend can be loud, but they did serve her 4 cocktails in an hour, and it’s a bar)
that We were from CANADA i.e. a foreign country, and did not know local customs — i.e. DROP YOUR TONE AND YOUR ATTITUDE,
Debag just kept steamrolling and carrying on with his over-​the-​top lecturing. If I wasn’t so Canadian and we weren’t all jerks, the very nice server could have seen a ZERO tip. My tablemates were justifyably mortified.
This review is over due (was there in June) but this guy is bad for your business.
Also, he was wearing a v-​neck, lame blazer and red yacht/​Wasp pants, what look are you going for? Whatever it is, it does not = cocktail lounge.
If you can hold a job, you can afford a collared shirt. That includes crew-​neck t-​shirt.
So, to the owners/​operators, kudos on the wonderful drinks.
But to whoever your D-​bag floor supervisor is, he strained relations among my friends and this was at SEVEN O’CLOCK AT NIGHT.
So, I cannot with sound mind ever return here out of principal unless I’m assured this issue has been resolved.
I travel and I dine out, and I haven’t received poorer service at a Wal-​mart, gas station, or diner. For a $ 100+ TAB, 4 ways… where’s the hidden camera?

Lots of stuff to like about Long Island Bar. The owners clearly put a lot of effort into retaining (or restoring) the original finishes, and it really does create a cool atmosphere, both at the bar and in the boothes, without being oppressively retro/​hip. And there’s plenty of space too, and a large back room for special events.
The cocktails are pretty tasty, especially the house gimlet. And there is some deadly good bar food available, especially the fried cheese curds (good Lord) and the Virginia ham. Haven’t eaten the dinner that they’re also serving now – used to be no food at all, but you could bring in your own from outside – but I’d definitely give it a shot sometime given the quality of the snacks.
The one significant complaint: the beer. I mean, there are maybe five or six available, without a single one darker than a lager. There’s a sour on the list, but I really only want one once in a while, and after that the selection is boring as hell (or stupidly expensive, in the case of a $ 9 tiny glass of Hitachino). Upgrade the beer, and LIB would be hard to beat.