Northside Lounge

I have no idea why this place only has 3 stars on average. My Wife and I just had dinner here and it was great. Good music, great beer selection and our food was fresh and good. It’s a bar after all so i’m not looking for Cordon Blu chef’s but our fresh guacamole was very good although lacking salt, our salads where good for January and our burgers where superior to many of their local competitors. We will be back.

Wait staff. Horrible
Food. Horrible
Mixed drinks. Was that water in my cocktail or flat tonic? Tasted like dish water.
The «craft» beer selection was average at best if that’s what you are looking for. You are better off at Tapastre in Somerville or Maloneys in Matawan.
I won’t be returning here.

Excellent craft beer selection, changes constantly but never disappointed with what is on tap. Surprisingly very good bar food for what looks like a hole in the wall.

Manville is one of those weird places where everyone is a tad bit strange and knows each other.
That said, Northside captures that sentiment perfectly.
Disco fries and your better than average selection of brews makes this place worth coming to with a group of friends. They usually always have a decent playlist going, too. Definitely worth checking out, but its not for everyone.

Was there last night for the second time and overall not happy. My girlfriend and I are beer snobs and there list is pretty decent. It is a very blue collar bar trying way to hard to be a craft beer bar. First the bar tenders don’t even know which tap is which or even how poor each style correctly (yes there is correct way based on style). My Girlfriend through here beer tasted funny and I had a feeling mine was stall. There are way better places locally!

Great craft beer selection, not a ton of taps, but plenty for a place of its size. Tons of bottles hiding in the basement too. Recently had a Dog Fish Head release in a bomber there that hasn’t been on shelves in years. Lots of local beer that a lot of bars do not carry yet. They fill growlers.
I really liked the puffy pork tacos and some of the appetizers, but they are swithing menus. I can’t really comment on the food right now.

It’s a local dive bar with an excellent beer selection. Food is affordable and pretty good.

First and last visit to this unwelcoming bar. My husband read about their selection of craft beers so we decided to give it a try. We walked in and sat at one of the tables since there were no seats left at the bar. We waited fifteen minutes and no one acknowledged us, even when we stood up by the bar. The bartender was fully aware that we were there but chose to ignore us for some reason. Obviously, we left. It was like an episode from the Twilight Zone. Just don’t get why a business would intentionally not welcome new customers.

One of the best craft beer selections in the area, live music, a pool table, good food, occasional tap-​takeovers by great breweries, and an owner who takes the time to say hello and ask how I’m doing every time he sees me. I’m a big fan.

Beer selection is excellent. First time ever having the 120-​minute Dogfish Head IPA. Karaōke can be fun if you’ve had a couple of pints. Unfortunately, everything else about the place kind of sucks. It’s very loud and the crowd was a bit obnoxious. Bar tending was average.
They do have a cheap pool table off to the side, though, and people play it.

Great craft beer selection. I was in the area for business and needed to get out of the hotel. Beer does not disappoint but burger was awful. I will return next time I am in town but will come for the beer, not the food.

wish Unilocal was a 10 star rating system instead of 5. big difference between a 3 and a 4 star review. anyway,
went here for the first time last night mainly for what i heard was a great place to get rare beers. well its true. what a great beer bar! 14 taps of unique beers ranging from domestic ipas to belgian sours. really happy with their offering there. and the bottle list had to be at least 50! so yeah, if youre in the hunt for good beer you cant find anywhere else, northside lounge is a go to spot.
now the food. i had buffalo wings since nothing else on the menu really appealed to me. the wings lacked a real spiciness ive come to expect. they had an odd flavor at times but hey, i didnt get sick off them so its ok. would i order them again? probably not.
my friend had pulled pork tacos and portabella mushroom fries. basically a mushroom chopped up, dipped and batter and fried. the tacos looked ok and he claimed they were very tasty. no real reaction to the fries though.
on beer menu i give this place a 5 star ranking. but on food its closer to 2 than a 3.
servers were both very nice and you didnt have to wait to get their attention.
price was very reasonable. 2 pints, 2 group of flights (5 6 oz glasses of beer you get when you want to sample beer and not get wasted) and basically 3 appitizers for $ 31.
so yeah, improve the food drastically and you got a gem of a dive bar.
only other comment, there was a band and it was very loud! im nearly deaf though.

One of the better dive bars in the area. Usually a good crowd in here. My main attraction to the bar is simply the beers. Most bars have 8 beers on tab and 4 of them are Bud, Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors Light. Why? One of those beers (Bud) sucks and the other 3 are pretty much the same beer. Northside has 12 beers on tap and the only generic one is Coors Lite. After that the most widely carried beer I would say is Stella. After that none of the other 10 beers are beers you’d be able to find on tap in the area. I tried the Unibroue Trois Pistoles which was good and very strong at 9%. Then I had Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre which was very good as well and still very strong at 8%. My fiancée had a cider I had never seen before which was also good. Definitely not beers you see everyday. Our bartender Alex was extremely nice. They have some food there, but not a lot and it is all bar food. Definitely worth your time to check this place out.

It has alcohol… and a pool table… and drunk people singing karaōke. Other than that, I’d rather stay home.

My brother-​in-​law hyped this place a bit before he dragged me here, and I have to admit, I was skeptical.
Northside Lounge is situated on a semi-​industrial corner of good ol’ Manville, in an area dominated by auto parts stores and views of the railroad. It is a corner spot, and its windows are clogged with neon beer signs. The outside of the building is plastered with vinyl banners proclaiming various events and beer sponsors. It looks like a hole in the wall where only locals would dare to venture.
Inside, the place is pretty straightforward. The bar dominates the room, while a pool table and seating kind of loiter about. As I walked in, I was greeted by a Pantera Classic («Walk») followed by a slew of classic 90’s thrash songs on the jukebox. We went there to watch the Mets game, but ended up just marvelling at the place.
I chatted with the owner for a while, a young, motivated guy who wants to carve a specific niche for his pub. He doesn’t want to just sling swill for the locals per se… he wants to impress them a little, and attract some other folks, as well. So he’s done his research and keeps an ever-​changing catalog of primo craft beers on tap. And Coors Light, «because you have to respect how you got here.»
He had Unibroe’s Ephemere, some kind of Dogfish Head porter I’d never seen, a few IPAs I can’t remember, Original Sin hard cider, and a bottle list that made my head spin (a little). They had the Oaked Arrogant Bastard in bottles. I remember that one.
He was in the process of revamping his menu with a new chef, to move away from standard pub fare and start serving some dishes with a little more character. «Nothing too fancy, I don’t want to scare anyone away… but I do want them to take a bite and go ‘hmm! That’s effing fantastic!’» So there will be burgers and wings, yes, but expect some asiago cheese in there somewhere.
All in all, I was damned impressed with the place, and when I stumbled out into the late afternoon sun, I was just giddy. This goes on my «must show people when they visit» map.