35 Union Square West @ E 16th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 645-3400
http://www.heartlandbrewery.com/Union_Square.php
The Passport blurb: The original Heartland Brewery location in the heart of Union Square offers outdoor sidewalk seating and views of Union Square Park from it's mezzanine. It's beloved by New Yorkers as a classic meeting spot for after-work drinks complemented by addictive bites and our fine handcrafted award-winning beer, brewed right here in NYC.
The deal: Buy a pint of any Heartland beer and receive one free appetizer order of Buffalo chicken spring rolls.
The bar: Ok to continue the theme...yes, I've been here before. I've eaten their mini burgers and enjoyed them immensely. There are 6 other NY locations (5 Breweries & 1 HB Burger) and I've been to all of them. Heartland Brewery is the sh*t...you can stop now and just go find the nearest one, but keep going if you like to read.
There is indeed outside seating when the weather is nice, good for people watching but bad if you you don't want to be dangerously close to the trainwrecks convening at the McDonald's next door (no judgment, lord knows I've been one of those very TWs, just sayin'). Nice, long bar downstairs and seating upstairs as well as down, all along the full length of this narrow space with high-tops near the door.
The menu is great for enjoying a full dinner or just snacks, plus you can catch whatever sports match that's currently relevant on the TVs around the bar. The Buffalo chicken spring rolls were freakin' great (normally $9.50, I peeked when figuring out what tip to leave). They came with Buffalo and ranch dipping sauces, so good! but couldn't even finish 'em all. Yum:
Oh yeah, and the beer was the Oktoberfest Dunkel, which was also delish. The bartender was super friendly, Irish and pretty cute. This was Tuesday night part 2 so it was around 8:30PM, busy but not packed. I heard the pretty cute bartender remark that it's usually busier on Tuesdays, but he thought since it was the day after a holiday that may have been the reason for a less than typical turnout.
The narrative: No fun conversation w/ randoms here. I was all sorts of jacked up because I had just found the perfect shower curtain liner at the Chelsea Bed Bath & Beyondyrinth (where I had to ask a nice gentleman that worked there to escort me to the exit because I kept getting lost in the store THANKS HILL COUNTRY/CASCAZILLA!!) and after getting out also scored tickets to the next night's performance of Pepper at the Highline Ballroom directly from the box office (eff you alternative method: Ticketweb, for $9 in "processing fees" I can only assume the tickets would have been "processed" on gold leaf). Alas, at the end of the bar I only had a plant to talk to and regale with these adventures. She was sweet though, I'll call her Daisy.
I did a fair job of pretending to watch the Rays/Rangers baseball game during my visit though. I'm an expert at pretending to watch things. It only got awkward when I got excited for what I thought was my home (FL) team, and then realized that the "T" on their hats stood for "Texas." Whatever, Daisy didn't care.
The verdict: Just go. I'd go again (and we know I will), maybe I'll see you there. Cheers.
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