"The back area at night is lovely with all the fairy lights."
"Venue itself is nice - it’s warming and inviting when you walk inside, with a bar that you want to sit at."
"The “outdoor” seating makes it one of the coolest bars in midtown."
"A beautiful space."
"The ambiance of Draught 55 is both cozy and lively, striking a perfect balance for social gatherings, casual meet-ups, or even solo visits."
"Great atmosphere, not crowded at all."
"The whole atmosphere was great, I absolutely loved the lighting and furniture throughout the restaurant."
Cons:
"Really, really loud."
"Speakers were way too loud."
"Acoustics in the main room are a bit frustrating with a large loud crowd."
"Unfortunately, the place is extremely noisy, like entering a sea of loud voices."
"It was a little noisy."
"Prepare to talk loud."
"The place is super loud."
Service
Pros:
"Staff was very friendly."
"They also have really nice service."
"Great service, will definitely be back."
"Each member of the staff that night made us -- and all of our guests -- feel like VIPs."
"Service is top notch."
"The staff were friendly and really professional."
"Service was outstanding and makes you feel right at home."
Cons:
"Don't expect really fast service and if you're there to watch a game their televisions were messed up, including one with a broken screen."
"Sat at the bar for 40 minutes bartender would not acknowledge us."
"Staff seemed instantly uninterested when our party of three only ordered drinks."
"Service wasn't the best, waitress was hard to find and she refused to split the bill."
"Yeah, on occasion you might have to wait a bit. It's a busy NYC bar."
"Service is efficient and friendly enough, but management sorely lacks the skills to take on customer feedback."
"Don’t bother making a reservation because you won’t get the table you actually need til 2 hours later."
Food
Pros:
"Simple, delicious food."
"Great food."
"The Bacon Bleu burger was tasty."
"Food has been outstanding and consistently so."
"Highly recommend the cheddar biscuit sliders. The sauce was so savory and the biscuit buns were nice and fluffy."
"Food is great."
"Their standard burger with bacon was one of the best I've eaten."
Cons:
"Food was really mediocre."
"Was admittedly a little underwhelmed by this Chicken Pot Pie, which was really just a few strings of chicken and a little puff pastry over mashed potatoes."
"It was not what we expected as the shell was like plastic."
"The fries however barely tasted like anything. They smelled great, but that’s about it."
"The food was poorly executed though, very poorly."
"Food questionable, other reviews rated the food good it must have been what we ordered which was the meatloaf which was mostly just bread filler with very little meat."
"The veggie burger... was weird. Certainly not filling."
Drinks
Pros:
"Great happy hour options and prices."
"Several of the beers are $5 each during the happy hour between 4 and 8pm, which is truly exceptional value, especially considering its location."
"Draught 55 has a wide selection of all different types of local and rare craft beers from all over the USA and world."
"A lot of great drink options available."
"They use really good meat. The drinks are also fantastic and at a reasonable price."
"Beers we had were all pretty decent."
"Great selection of craft beer!"
Cons:
"Only negative was that there were 4 beers (all first choice) that were off and didn’t have replacements due to the manager not being around."
"A few of their drinks had already kicked around 4pm which was a tad annoying."
"Sure it looks like this place has a lot of beers on tap, but they were out of the first 4 beers I asked for."
"Beer I had was disappointing."
"We paid $10-14 on our wines! And even the house wine was $8."
"Cold fries. Cold burgers."
"The bartender seemed confused."
Value
Pros:
"A meal and a beer for $10."
"Great venue for happy hour, an entire back room w/ bar for work functions and dope music."
"Thursday and Friday they have lunch specials, you get to choose from 4 choices and you get a drink that comes with it all for $14... Which is a great deal for Manhattan."
"Pretty lengthy draught list at decent prices with a few beers on discount ($6) for happy hour (until 8 PM)."
"They have an amazing beer selection on draught."
"Terrific bar with a great beer list and reasonable prices in a neighborhood where that’s hard to find."
"This place is great and has a fantastic happy hour deal."
Cons:
"It gets packed in here so just be prepared for that."
"Gets very busy and packed after work. Decent food, staff is a 50/50 on someone who is going to be attentive and helpful or just completely ignore you."
"Gets super crowded."
"Overpriced."
"Overpriced, and underwhelming."
"The crowd is a little bro-tastic for my taste."
"I felt rushed out the door."
Space
Pros:
"There’s plenty of seating both at the front and back and a separate bar area for standing."
"Draught55 also allowed us to rent the entire bar for the event, which made a world of a difference -- especially in a COVID world."
"It's a really nice place, good ambience and great craft beer on tap."
"Draught 55 is a very spacious bar in the Midtown East area which not only has a back space but ALSO a downstairs which is perfect for private parties."
"Lots of space downstairs in the back."
"We used Draught 55 for a private party in the back."
"The private event space is beautiful and spacious too."
Cons:
"It was loud because it was busy at the bar but my company and I got a table to eat and it wasn't so bad there."
"Management didn’t make it clear that we were receiving a standing section with almost no tables."
"A little dark inside, but it’s cozy."
"Decent for groups, though it gets really loud."
"Background conversation noise was a bit loud but it was still easy to have a conversation with a tablemate on a Tuesday night."
"If you're looking to host a gig that requires connection to the internet via wifi/data. I wouldn't recommend the basement area because it is a deadzone for data and their wifi connection."
"Once you get inside the place really opens up. You would never guess how large it is from just walking in."