68 Jay St Bar

I overheard the bartender complaining about the «stupidity» of customers for asking questions about a tab. What a mediocre place.

It’s a crap shoot here. Sometimes it’s Kate or Julian or the woman who plays music (forgot her name) working behind the bar and they’re amazing. Other times it’s some curly haired woman who asks why you’re getting a margarita during happy hour and acting incredulous that she has to mix a drink. Apparently the stress of working behind a bar gets to her – she should find another job.
And then there’s the huge open windows with smokers sitting RIGHT in front of it, wafting smoke into the bar, which usually smells like mildew. And the owner sits outside not giving a damn.
Nothing I say will make this place fail because the standards in dumbo are so damn low that this place can thrive just because it had a happy hour and thanks to those first three bartenders.

Went to this bar to get a drink with a friend. The atmosphere was nice, the place looked like a dive bar if it got a renovation recently. It wasn’t too crowded but it had people in there, overall I figured we were in for a good time. Though the drink was tiny and kind of expensive, that’s NYC so whatever. My main issue, and why I will never go back to this bar, was the awful bartender. I am curious as to whether this was her first night on the job, or if she has ever worked a customer service job before.
After I ordered and paid for my drink, my friend and I started to walk towards the other side of the bar to find a place to sit. The bartender called me back, and then demanded I tip her in a very rude and demeaning tone. She said things like «this is just how it works.» I was completely shocked at this behavior and really thought she was kidding at first, so I told her that I would tip on the next drink, which was true. I figured we were going to stay there for at least 2 or 3 drinks, and normally when I go out to bars I will usually tip $ 1 or $ 2 every drink or two, it just so happens I did not tip on my first drink at this bar. If I am there for a bit of time and the service is good then I’ll probably tip more.
This woman was not having it. She kept pressuring me for a tip and told me that she was «doing me a favor teaching me how it works.» My friend was not drinking, and she was adamant about how she deserves a tip because we came in here with two people but only one of us was drinking. I don’t know where that logic was coming from, as we weren’t taking up room from other paying customers in her precious business. I ended up giving her a dollar because quite honestly I was not about to start something with this woman who clearly had pine cones up her bottom and was channeling her pain and discomfort at us.
I don’t really think she cares if I never come back to this bar, because if someone’s acting like that they have to know that they are going to turn away customers. And I am sure that she may have thought I was lying about tipping at the next drink which may have led her to be more aggressive about getting a tip immediately, but demanding a tip is extremely unprofessional. I tip because it’s the nice thing to do, sure, but tips are not automatic for me. This woman spent 30 seconds mixing a drink (a rum and coke, nothing fancy) and she deserves ¹⁄₇^th of the overall cost of it as a tip? Get real. The unfortunate part for her is that she would have gotten more tip money if she had just let us spend time at the bar and not said anything. And even after she berated me for not tipping I was still about to give her a lot of tip money the next drink (well, by «a lot» I mean $ 3 – 4 instead of the usual $ 1 – 2), but she continued to push the issue and demanded a tip right then and there.
Afterwards my friend and I were joking around about how I should have just given her a penny I had in my pocket. If only we had thought about that at the moment!
I hear stories all of the time about really bad service workers, but have not experienced one myself. Well I am finally glad I did! It was quite the topic of conversation for a while and it was a pretty funny experience overall. However this woman was not nice and I do not want to go back to that bar.

We were taking a walk around Dumbo last night where my brother had his previous office and after enjoying the city view for a while, we decided to sit for couple of beers so he took us to 68 Jay St Bar.
There is no sign saying the name of the place so once we walked it, as a typical Unilocaler, I was like «what’s the name of this place?» :) It was just as simple as the building number and the street name. 68 Jay St :) «Simple» definitely would summarize this bar, no fancy stuff. Wooden stools, wooden coffee type of tables, plain beer glasses, minimum light, clean bathrooms. We paid $ 30 for 5 beers, quite reasonable. It has 2 saloons by the way, bar area is more alive.
Would go again.

Met up with an old coworker last week for a quick pre-​wedding (his, like I would really be getting married) drink. It was a half-​way meeting point for both of us and seemed convenient to just go to Dumbo and insanely close to my office. I must say, there isn’t a whole lot of nightlife in Dumbo and the area is a work in progress. But this is a solid dive bar. No food. No frills. No gimmicks with a solid happy hour that ends at 7pm: $ 3 Narragansett cans, $ 4 Brooklyn Lager, $ 5 wells/​wine. Not a whole lot on tap — Only the aforementioned plus Stella and Lagunitas IPA. Pours on wells/​wine are strong and huge. The ambiance — dim lighting — people we noted were either dressed down in small groups or really dressed up and probably on blind dates after work.

Most of the preceding reviews reflect the slow demise of this neighborhood… Sadly, as the over-​privelaged take over and force out all the people who made it «cool» for them, comes the requisite «I demand a Manhattan level of service and attention! I am special because my husband works in finance and I’m super-​creative and I LOVE dive bars, as long as they aren’t dive-​y! I walk my children quickly past the locals who actually enjoy their lives here…»
This place rocks if you can ignore the new undesirable yupsters who make it a slightly less enjoyable experience. Dirty looks for lol’ing are not out of the question…

Stumbled upon this bar this weekend on a warm night.
There was a great live act (musician by the name of Curt Brewer) playing here, who drew me in with covers of PJ Harvey and Morphine. Very chill atmosphere, could immediately sit and enjoy the music with a good view, not crowded at all, nor was the music too loud. Had some cheap wine and stayed for two hours, and the bartender was very nice, not pressing us to consume more and making sure our water glasses stayed full. The ambiance was fun – people were in a good mood and sang along to some of the songs. Great little serendipitous find.

Worst bar I’ve visited in NYC. Awful drinks. Awful bartender. Awful atmosphere.
I’ve been to many bars within this city, and I’ve enjoyed most of them. At the very least, they were just good. This was the first bar I’ve been to where I was disappointed in every aspect.

Another solid time. Bar was fairly crowded at 9pm and became less so as the night went on. Love it. No frills. You want this, this, or this.

Great neighborhood bar. Particularly love the live music on Saturday nights. Keep it up!

Ok little neighborhood style bar. Not the best selection of beer. They only have 3. They don’t have a great selection of hard liquor either. Not a bad place, though. Just not hugely special. However considering the neighborhood, it’s probably you’re best non cocktail bar option. Also they are usually open later them most in the area.

We get it, you’re too cool for school.
BUT! There’s only so much sassy indifference people will put up with.
Love the bar, dive décor, the music, the cocktails but so bored with being treated like we’re something you stepped in.

Forget all the one star reviews.
I live close by, and work in the building so I’ve been here on numerous occasions. Though, I’m by no means a regular.
It is kind of a dive. It does have great music. It does have dogs outside in the summer time. The clientele changes from weekday to weekend. It is very basic. There is pizza (weekends).
The owners are really cool though. One of them is the warehouse manager for MoMa — you should start talking to him about art. Fascinating. I believe they also own the wine bar down the street.
Look. Some bars just aren’t to everyone’s taste. And sometimes the bitchy bartender will piss you off. And sometimes you’ll think only us ugly people hang out here. Or the chairs creak. Or the «vibe» isn’t up to snuff. You are entitled to your opinion. I’ve written one star reviews myself.
I look forward to working in Dumbo for a long time, and I hope to stop by this bar every chance I get.

I love this bar. Rik the bartender is super sexy and friendly and very fast. Fastest bartender in Brooklyn. He’s only there on Wednesdays, but the other bartenders are great, too. Let’s hear it for attitude-​free bars.

Also defending this place after the 1 star reviews.
I LOVE this bar. It has such a great atmosphere, and although it is small and it may be hard to find a seat, I’ve never had a bad experience. Everyone is always super friendly and fun, and when I worked around the corner from here I would go all the time for after-​work drinks.
During the warmer months they open the front window doors and have a seating vignette right near the window.
I’ve never experienced this «bitch bartender» that everyone seems to be ranting about. Every bartender that has ever served me has been quite nice.
Anytime I am in DUMBO I make a point to go here, and I frequently recommend it to anyone who goes out in the area.

I’m here to defend this bar from the one star reviews that were glaring at me on here yesterday afternoon prior to my visit last night.
This must be one of the most average bars I’ve ever been to, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
It’s small — composed of two rooms, each with slightly different, but incredibly simple furniture and décor.
There were two bartenders working, and they were both perfectly nice people who provided the standard service of pouring beers and mixing vodka sodas for us to enjoy.
It wasn’t too busy, wasn’t too loud, wasn’t too cool, wasn’t too fancy, wasn’t too expensive. It was just a simple bar, where people can get drinks and catch up.
Oh, and it’s a block from the F train — which makes is perfectly convenient for people living in the immediate neighborhood, the LES, East Village or off the F in Brooklyn.
I would go back. That is all.

Horrible bartender. Extremely rude. Clearly due to the amount of complaints about her, you would think she would be fired by now…

So far my experience has been okay. I am still on my first beer and the place has a pretty decent crowd for a bar who was as lazy with their décor as they were with naming the bar. Honestly, this place is nothing special yet I felt the need to come here while I was walking by. There is a very diverse crowd for older business type, bearded artsy guy, unwelcoming punk chick’s and Joe Shmoe. The selection of drinks is okay as far as beer goes.
I have noticed a lot of people have been commenting about the service and bartender. I see the attitude, I most definitely do but look at the place and realize where you are. I expect my service to not be the best.
In closing, the bar is sub par but I would come back probably because the bartender hates the people here as much as I do. I would rate it a «once a month.»

DONT COME HERE THE BARTENDER IS A TOTAL BITCH BEWARE
So I came here with a group of 6 friends, upon entering we were promptly being yelled at by the bartender to leave because this place was closed upon entering the bar. The tone made us feel as if It was completely unreasonable to enter a bar in the afternoon.
Anyway
We figured sure we’ll wait 20mins.
Now that we were inside we were debating leaving some of our gear at our table and leaving for a second to go grab some money at the local chase bank immediately around the corner.
The bartender said to us «I DONT KNOW YOU, So dont leave your stuff here.»
What a way to dismiss us even after we had told her that one of us would stay with the gear.
We were the only patrons their and the place was empty. we were about to drop about 400 dollars on the place and we eventually grab some booze from the spirits store up the block and parked ourselves near the place.
We realized now why it was so empty.
The women bartender with curley hair is a total bitch

Live
Music,
Friendly staff,
And a DUMBO
Bar that isn’t all weddings, all the time.