The Lot On Tap

I’m giving The Lot an amazing 5 stars however I am very very sad to do so. As a HUGE fan of The Lot I have been waiting patiently through the cold winter months looking forward to going back to The Lot. Sitting down with beer in hand wondering which wonderful food truck I would sample that day was a joy in my life.
I called Friends of the Highline to ask when The Lot would be opening this 2012 season only to be extremely disappointed when they informed me that The Lot would not be opening this year and it was a «2011 thing only».
We must protest this and demand The Lot be brought back to us! Please email
and let them know we want it back this summer and many summers to come!

I donT know why it took me so long to write my review but shame on me.
I came here before the rink even opened up and had an amazing time.
If you read my reviews give me good food and good desserts and a little liquor and I am good to go.
Well the lot does that and it’s all food trucks so you can just go truck to truck just sampling all there wares. Most were cheap like the dumplings I had or the pizza truck. Although the lobster truck was more pricey but still more than worth it.
What’s better than ice cream to wash down some dumplings pizza and lobster how’s gourmet ice cream in a ton of flavors that takes about 2 – 5 minutes to read all, depending on how slow you are. I was more on the 5 minute end only because I kept reading a few of them over and over with a slight drool. Pick your fave or one you may never had before and enjoy because there are no bad choices.
Also the bar is very expensive and makes for a great way to have a small meal as a date or a pre game spot before a relaxed bar night. Or maybe just get plastered and go running thru hi line park. No matter what this place is a blast

It’s pretty cool I guess. Situated under the High Line it makes for a nice pit stop to relax and have a bite to eat and a cold brew. Nice bar area set up with mainly craft style beers from Brooklyn Brewery, local wines, and food trucks parked nearby. Many tables and chairs to sit at and pop a squat.
It’s basically a temporary public plaza with free events, family activities, an outdoor bar, food trucks and more for the summer season. Here is a sample of the food truck lineup — Van Leeuwan, Eddies pizza, Rickshaw Dumplings, Kimchi, La Bella Torte, Gorilla Cheese, etc.
In other words — a parking lot that we can legally drink on!
You have to buy tickets to get beers. They are $ 7 a pop. I feel like a kid at a carnival buying a pack of tickets for the rides.
Can get plenty crowded, especially since this whole thing has become another one of our wonderful NYC tourist traps. Still, a great spot to meet up with friends, people watch, or just to kick back with a brew after walking the High Line.

After a fun night of rollerskating, we were in desperate need of grub and drinks. We got out of our skates, put on our shoes and 2 steps later, we were here.
It is basically a parking lot that has turned into Hipster Mecca, but in Manhattan. They have two bars serving alcohol, and you have to buy tickets at the booth. It felt sort of like being at a carnival fair. I think the beer was $ 7.
After we quenched our thirst, we walked around the parking lot and tried to decide on food. There was the Red Hook Lobster Pound truck, Eddie’s Pizza truck, Coolhaus truck, and the Taco truck. My friend got a lobstah roll and I opted for the tacos.
We both had the food already in the past, so nothing to phone home about. But I do like the concept of this place. Lately, I have been finding myself in many parking lots doing weird things that you don’t expect to do in a parking lot. Dumpster pools. Rollerskating. Dancing. Hula hooping.
And when summer is so beautiful, why not hang out in a parking lot near the Highline and just chill with good company. Makes up for the crappy winters…

So uh yeah, its literally a parking lot with porta-​potties. But really is it so much more:
1) Full fledged roller-​skating rink. Unfortunately I was way too drunk to test out my skating skills. But its $ 12 for skates and unlimited skating. They even give you these cute little socks. And it totally wasn’t crowded around 8pm on a Saturday night.
2) The Food trucks. I’ve been to a couple of food truck congregation things in my traveling adventures but NYC obviously has the best street food. And Rickshaw’s is there. Enough said.
3) Communal tables and great beers on tap. Its like a beer garden with WAY more space. And everyone’s friends with everyone.
Check it out while the weather’s still nice.

AS GOOD AS IT GETS.
AS GOOD AS IT GETS.
Go before 7 pm when a line forms because they are at capacity of 550 people.
Buy a beer or wine ticket, get a drink and find a spot at the long communal tables. Heck — we even made friends (hello single men!) who were also looking for seats. Note — this is a hang out spot for locals and tourists alike.
Enjoy the weather outside in the most SPACIOUS outdoor area I have seen in NYC (this beats every beer garden, every bar and yes — it beats the Boat Basin).
Eat at the food trucks. No they aren’t cheap but I got 6 dumplings for $ 6. Not enough for a meal but enough to keep my stomach settled with the lager I was drinking. Oh right, local beers. On tap. :)
To summarize, you can sit outside with friends, get local draft beer, have a variety of food (all in the span of 50 steps), make new friends, have enough room to breath and stretch your arms (ok — maybe not at the tables but while standing), and enjoy the installation of the week/​month.
Tom Colicchio — your idea to transform a vacant lot into a destination for tourists and locals with beer, food and public art/​activity is ON PAR with the idea to build the elevated high line. THANK YOU.
Pricing — for those who have an issue with a $ 7 beer — where do you live? Plus $ 1 for tip = Still a good deal considering there is no cover cost. No complaints.
Bathrooms — there are 10 port-​o-​potties. I am very afraid of them but tried one (go further down the line) and it was clean and smelled nice. Go figure.
I plan on heading over to do some roller skating on the rink (with all top jams coming out of the speakers) before THE LOT shuts down for Winter.

Pros:
— It’s outdoors and is roomy — it’s not a super closed in beer garden.
— Lots of beers to choose from. Lots of Brooklyn choices.
— You can walk the High Line before or after.
— Friends With You was an awesome installation to look at while drinking here (but this doesn’t apply anymore).
— Food trucks! The pizza one rocked, but there are always a few options.
Cons:
— Seating can be hard to come by, but once you secure a seat, you’re solid.
— Pricey beer — $ 8 for a beer is ouch.
— Longish line for beer tickets and another line for the actual beer. Lots of waiting ’round these parts.
— If you don’t get here early, you will need to wait on a line to get in.
Pro/​Con:
— You better like using the Porta Potty… or have a strong bladder.
Overall, the place is a solid choice for a weeknight — I’d imagine Saturday nights are horrendous. It’s worth a couple of visits!

I heart beer. I heart food trucks. I heart the Highline. I really heart all three of these things put together after a hard day at work on a breezy summer evening with a beautiful sunset.
I mean, c’mon, who could have possibly known all of this would have culminated in the perfect summer spot? Oh, yea, this girl. Then, summer kind of flew by with weekends out of the city and weekends full of other stuff that just had to get done and here I am, early August and the summer is nearly over. Well, all I can say, is I will now be dragging anyone who will come with every chance I get.
The rundown: Tickets for beer, $ 7 a pop. The Highline elevated ale, a definite must. I’m a one n’ done-​r and I gulped down three without breaking a sweat. Then the food trucks. Luckily, the Taco Truck was in attendance so a helping of sweet, amazing plantains were had with the daily taco special with roast pork, cilantro and pineapple (can you moan yum?).
After a couple of hours of lounging and relaxing, scarfing down and gulping up, we visited the port-a-potty’s (by the way, you start the water by pressing your foot on the big black rubber buttons, everyone looks like their trying to figure out a Rubik’s cube the first time). Then we walked the Highline to the Gelato stand where I got a cone of marscapone and straciatella gelato (amazingggg) found the long chaises to lie down on and watched the NY sunset while the tunes from a concert on the pier made for some fine background music.
In all, quite possibly the perfect way to spend an evening in NYC.
Now, if I could just hunt down the sadistic bast… I mean, person who decided this would be a one summer thing ending on September 31^st, I could make him see sense as to why this should be a never-​ending part of the Highline.

At the current end of the High Line park at 30^th Street, there is The Lot on Tap. I think this is a really cool use of public space. Once the High Line is expanded and the construction ends, I expect this place will be a very pleasant place to hang out. They played nice, old school music which mitigated the construction noise.
You need to buy tickets to get beer. But The Lot also hosts different food trucks each day that you can order from and pay directly without doing the whole ticket thing. When we were there, it was Kelvin Slush and Taco Truck. The Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck was also by the roller skating rink next door. I understand that Red Hook Lobster Pound truck also comes here. Mmmm… lobster rolls.
There is communal seating at the long, outdoor tables. It was definitely a nice place to just hang out and chill after walking the High Line.

Honestly? If it wasn’t for the food trucks that park here on a regular basis, I’d probably never come here. Yeah, it’s cool that it’s under the High Line and all, but if you really think about that, you’re opting to spend a summer evening underneath the remains of an old subway line using pre-​purchased drink tickets in order to snag a plastic cup ‘o beer. Mmmm…
On busy nights, e.g. Friday or Saturday, expect to wait outside «the Lot» for about 5 – 10 minutes before you’re allowed inside. Regulations only allow them to have so many people in there at once, and you basically have to wait out a zero-​sum game of people exiting to people allowed to enter. This will occur to anyone no matter whether you’re drinking or not (last Friday Margot G. and I simply wanted to visit the Coolhaus truck parked inside, but we had to wait on line with everyone else).
On the weekends it’s not quite as crowded, so you generally do not have to wait in line. In order to purchase drinks from the bar, you will have to wait in another line just inside that leads to a booth where you purchase drink tickets. Beer runs $ 7, I think wine runs $ 9, water runs $ 2, etc. Thankfully, all the food trucks accept cash, so you won’t have to go through the same thing if you just want to eat. On Sunday we managed to visit the Taco truck, the Korilla BBQ truck, Eddie’s pizza truck, and (I forget which one) an ice cream truck. Like I said earlier, Coolhaus tends to park it here too.
There are quite a few picnic tables that you can snag, but be wary of the tourists /​«I’m entitled to this ENTIRE thing even though there only four in my party» type of people. They can be jerks.

This is going to be the best beergarden on the Highline (much better than the Standard Beergarden) for my money, and also for your money! This place is great. The weirdest part though, is the fact that you don’t need an ID to get in, you just need an ID to get drinks (because they serve food truck food, to the tune of KORILLA BBQ!). So you could be sitting next to your friend drinking a nice brew and on the other side there could be a small child, eating a Korilla BBQ taco. It’s strange, but when I went it wasn’t overrun with children so it was fine. I’m to guess since they opened up that roller rink (it’s open until the end of September) that this place is going to get a tad bit more business… but when I went not too long ago there was room for everyone, and really no wait on the beers. I say check it out…

This is a solid option in the summer time! There are food trucks that rotate and great beer options on tap.
What I really like about this place is the fact that it doesn’t feel crowded, even when the place is packed. There’s hardly ever a line to grab a beer, and the food truck lines move quickly as well.
For all the talk we see about ‘beer gardens’, The Lot doesn’t need to attach a false name to itself. It’s exactly what it claims. It’s a lot for food and beer. It has quickly become a post-​work stop on a Friday evening.
Just get there before 7, or you’ll wait a little bit in the line outside.

I already love the Highline-​an elevated park with breathtaking sights, plenty of benches and chairs to lean back on and get a tan, and random sculptures/​plants to look at.
But a place downstairs, where you can freely drink and eat from food trucks while soaking in all that the outdoors has to offer you? Now that just adds icing to the cake.

Everyone’s reviews probably sum up from what I have to say in multiple reviews.
Excellent local beer on tap. Great use of the lot, which is very spacious. The use of food trucks is also a great idea to have variety come in. Very pricey though.
I had a lot of fun here and I am glad it serves as a bookend to the High Line. It also just feels better than the Standard’s and everyone knows how much I love the Standard.
I am not going to knock off a star for the annoying beer ticket line. I do not know how to rate that.

3 stars seems a bit low for what you get here, but the all around coolness of the Lot on Tap takes a couple of major hits when it comes to price and convenience.
First of all, this is basically a no frills empty lot with a few picnic tables and beer taps thrown in. A neat way to utilize urban space without major construction, but it’s bare bones enough that a $ 7 draft in a plastic cup seems overly steep, even for the tasty custom High Line Ale. The location is obviously way out there on the west side, but of course the real draw is it’s proximity to the new northernmost end of the High Line. It was pretty cool to walk all the way up and discover this spot, and a nice casual drink was just what we were in the mood for.
I also am a fan of having food trucks on the premises in lieu of a standing kitchen. I was finally able to try Taim falfafel, and it certainly lived up to the hype. Coolhaus was just outside the venue selling their talk-​of-​the-​town ice cream sandwiches, but they drove away just as I was making my way over to order, so that was a big tease. Still, I always read about cool food trucks and never find myself near them, so I think their presence at the city’s newest beer garden is pretty damn awesome.
That being said, I can’t entirely behind The Lot on Tap. Factor in the line to get in, (which I’m sure has only gotten longer since I was there a couple of weeks ago); the silly line to buy drink tickets; and the difficulty in finding a table, especially if you arrive with a group, and you’re looking at a three star establishment.

Not sure how often I will actually go to The Lot on Tap, but it was alright. I think I am mostly just excited about it’s existence and the extension of the lovely High Line Park. There were games to be played, beer to be drinkin’, and picnic tables to rest your rear. Simple with no frills.
I only have two complaints:
(1) The inconvenience of buying tickets for your beer — I don’t get this concept — why deal with the middle man?!?
(2) They close super early (I think it was only 10 or 10:30 — and they kicked us out very shortly after «last call.» The gentleman I was with had to chug his beer so as not to waste it!

Went here on a Monday night around 7:15pm — no wait! It was a breezy summer evening & the band they had playing in the background only added to the perfect night!
$ 7 for a beer is a little steep, but not too crazy. My friend and I bought 2 tickets and got two summer ales + the liquid gold. They were sold out of the High Line ale! :(Two little food trucks (taco truck + kimchi truck) lined the other side of the beer garden. We didn’t get food but it seemed like a 5 – 10 minute wait; not too bad at all.
The place closes at 10PM/​11PM every night so definitely not a night time spot but a great afterwork place to kick back some beers with a buddy :)

Great location by the newly opened phase 2 of the Highline. so it’s a great place to start or end if you intend to walk the new phase (which is great).
However, we were disappointed by the food choices. There is only a pathetic falafel truck and a dumpling truck (the dumplings are heated in a oven and definitely nothing like an authentic chinese dumpling).
Where are my bratwursts and frankfurters and pork knuckles? I do not think any of those count as real food. Mr Colicchio, I expected much more! If this is it, then I much prefer the beer garden at the other end of the Highline @ Standard Hotel.
PS. I asked the guy at the falafel truck if there is only falafel and dumplings available, and he said.yeah.we are the only real food truck. the other one only serves dumplings. sorry man… falafel is also not exactly real food to me too.

Back in suburbia, underage and bored, there was a time when my friends and I hung out in the parking lot outside Walgreens. We’d sit on the bumpers of old cars or our parents’ minivans. We’d drink Malibu Rum, smoke clove cigarettes and act like we owned the world. Other cars would roll up, filled with other kids checking their pagers and pretending that they had a party to go to.
Now a veteran of the world, long ago legal and feeling fancy in NYC it made me chuckle when I walked over to meet some pals on Friday to what was essentially a parking lot nestled underneath the Highline on 30^th and 10^th Avenue. A metal gate kept ruffians in order and a queue going down the block advertised the utter coolness of this newfangled hangout.
Boy, we do indeed like our beer.
A scattered mass of picnic tables pock the cement floor of this outdoor urban beer garden and guests must purchase $ 7 tickets to receive a beer at the bar. It does, in fact, help keep groups from rushing the place, so while it seems strange I actually liked it. That and the fact that my old roommate kept coming up to me with a pile of beer tickets out of the blue. On tap is a solid collection of local brews, and for the hunger pangs Taim Falafel and Rickshaw Dumpling trucks are stationed across the lot.
Finding a seat can be challenging but not so impossible as ruddy cheeked locals will happily squeeze in close. I can see this lot gathering more and more folks and having longer waits as summer progresses, but for now I’m happy to park my butt in this lot on any weekday afternoon.

The Lot On Tap is operated by Colicchio & Sons and is located immediately below High Line Park on 30^th Street. A summer long beer garden operating daily until September 30^th (2011), the Lot On Tap features a revolving tap of local brews and staple food trucks.
The set-​up is fantastic and reminds me of European beer gardens. The collection of local brews was eclectic and delicious, featuring a few summer wheats and hoppier ales. While there, the Rickshaw Dumplings and Taim Mobile food trucks were serving up their fare to the balanced crowd. I’m to understand that the food trucks will be rotating, as will the beer selection.
AOL has created Rainbow City adjacent to The Lot On Tap, which features a funzone for kids that has turned the opening of the High Line 2 into a summer long festival. I would hope to see something move into The Lot On Tap’s stead once the summer has passed, preferably something mimicking an all-​season beer hall, but maybe that would diminish the charm and novelty that this special circumstance beer garden has created in a burgeoning part of town.
All in all, we really enjoyed our time in at The Lot On Tap because the atmosphere was just perfect. Consider it a (one-​time?) mini-​Oktoberfest for the summer season in NYC. Go check it out as you spend a day strolling the awing High Line.