The House of Brews (51st St.)

September 6, 2008
Excellent atmosphere, laid back but at the same time a lot of fun. We sat outside to smoke cigars but the service was still great. Beer selection very impressive be sure to check out the daily specials. Food is a little high, but its midtown so that expected. Beer prices were on par with the rest of midtown. Great location, close enough to times square to be convenient but far enough away to avoid the obnoxiousness.

June 12, 2008
Great atmosphere. Okay service. Decent selection. Nice food.

February 6, 2008
Used to go here a lot with the work crowd. Only worked three blocks away and we had parties there a lot. The food seemed to be basic pub type food with some entres to choose from. They do have a descent bottle list and some good taps but nothing very unusual, no new releases and nothing rare. The prices are also a bit inflated but the atmosphere is ok and is fun with friends.

January 8, 2008
(Visited 04/2006): Just happened to see this place and stopped in, and I am glad we did. Located on 51st Street right off 8th. The entryway is down a couple steps from the street and the bar is 2 levels. The bottom level has a bar and some seating, while upstairs past a nice collection of tap handles is another bar with more seating. We went upstairs and there was a small acoustic band sitting in an alcove playing some tunes. They keep the place pretty dark and there is a lot of wood and muted color. Good collection of breweriana as well. As for the beer selection, they do a pretty good job living up to their name. Good tap list of about 15 brews. Aside from the usuals they did have some local/regional beers like Chelsea, Magic Hat and Brooklyn. For bottles there are around 50 offerings from all over. Again good local representation plus beers from all over the world. Service on a Sunday night was good and the place was not too busy. The food here has a Scottish flair. I had the Bratwurst, and while I expected it to be served in a bun and not greens (my fault for not reading the menu). I found it to be very good. Overall this is a great bar and I would recommend it highly because of the great atmosphere and beer selection. As with most places in the city, the drinks are expensive ($6-7 for most beers) but it’s to be expected.

January 7, 2008
The sister joint for the one on 46th. Virtually identical interior and selection. Long narrow space with way more TVs than a place this size should be able to contain. There are usually some decent beers on tap and the prices are pretty fair. Food is average and pubbish, but not bad. It’s not bad for midtown, but it’s still not the sort of place I’d choose to hang in.

November 10, 2007
I didn’t like this place that much. When I walked in, I thought I had walked into an Applebee’s or something. The decor is very lame and generic, and the crowd was mostly half tourists/half burnt out office staff drinking away their sorrow after a long day of work in a cubicle. Kinda depressing really. ANYWAYS - they do get extra points for having the Leeds Utd. FA Cup game on, but the bartender was English so that explains it. The beer selection was the only good thing about this place, they had one of Sam Adam’s Utopias which me and my friend enjoyed thoroughly, and I had the Stone Arrogant Bastard which is always good. The rest of the drafts were OK nothing really stood out, chimay white, hoegaarden, guiness, again typical midtown fare. I would pass on this one, at least the one on 51st st, havn’t been to the one on 46th.

November 21, 2006
I ended up staying at the Hampton Inn just around the corner from this place. Nice tap selection, extensive bottle menu. Nothing super rare, but a well thought out selection representing many countries and styles. Food was fairly good - the Belgian Frites are excellent. Furnishings kind of suck at the tables, particularly if you are tall. They have these low, square tables that resemble end tables, I couldn’t even get my knees under while dining. Very attentive staff who seems to know their beer pretty well.