December 17, 2009
Great bar. Wonderful ambiance: wooden benches and tables, a nice bar with brass taps, a larger back room with more seating. Very good tap selection, ranging from American Craft to a few imports. For those people who desire foreign beers, Swift has a very decent bottle list. Bartenders are attentive and pretty knowledsgeable. I’ve had the food here a few times and it has been delicious each time. Prices are par for the Manhattan course, but certainly not exorbitant. Come to this bar to enjoy quality beers and the atmosphere, and grab a bite while you’re at it. Highly recommended.

September 17, 2009
I swung through here during NYC beer week, was able to grab a cask serving of Hop Wallop, which was enjoyable. Can’t give much of a night time review as a swung in around 2PM on a Monday. The day time bartender was a great guy, we talked about beer for a while, then gave me my drinks for super cheap, but I don’t remember noticing the prices (though high, as PilsnerPeter noted, would not be a shock, as it is Manhattan). Anyway, they had just finished being part of the cask festival, and were setting up for a Sierra Nevada event, so I didn’t really drink anything that would be part of their standard line-up, but the selection didn’t look exceptional. Set-up looked nice though, from what I saw. I’ll try this place again.

September 17, 2009
Came here for a Smuttynose event, and they had three new Smuttynose beers I’ve never had, so that was an automatic plus. The ambiance is fantastic- dimly lit with a dark wood and stone/brick exposure. The bathrooms down stairs made me feel like I was in a castle somewhere in northern Britain. The selection besides the Smutty stuff seemed mediocre- some decent craft to fall back on- although they had the usual Manhattan taps of Guinness and Stella (as JoeMcPhee noted). That prices are also a bit steep (it’s Manhattan). Overall it’s a very nice bar environment with an acceptable selection to a beer geek.

August 7, 2009
This dark, atmospheric bar was wandered into pretty much by accident on a walk across town one day. Pushing past the heavy red velvet curtain you find a large, dark paneled Irish pub... unlike the Midtown version of the Irish pub though, this place actually has character. On the day I was in (admittedly early in the day) I found a few regulars shooting the shit with the bartender. What surprised me most was how well-selected the tap selection was. Sure, they had the requisite Guinness/Stella/Smithwick’s on tap, but they also had at least 10 handles that were local craft stuff. It’s not going to put the Blind Tiger or Ginger Man out of business, but it is a great place to have a quiet pint if you’re in the area.