The Punch Bowl

Drinks are cheap and they have a pool table. But the people that come here are unpleasant. Was sitting a table close to the pool table In which no one was playing at but 30 mins an obnoxious woman whom thought she could be rude to us started playing. Bending over and hitting my friend I the head with the cue. We were about to get into a fight. They need. Tore move that table from that area before a fight really breaks out. The place was fortunate that I chose not to break that woman’s head open with my glass.

Went to this place last night 7÷25÷2015 with my friend and we had a good time. Place is a low key, smokey dive bar with a cool atmosphere. Older crowd who are there just to drink, unwind and relax. It’s the neighborhood Regal Beagle with cheap good drinks. We will definitely return

As New York slowly chokes to death, this is going to be one of the last great home-​down drinking establishments left. Older clientele, but I and my friend were 22 and 23 and they were as polite as could be, no get-​off-​my-​lawn BS. For some reason the place is plastered with Mets stuff, as deep as you can get into Yankee territory. Those renegades! It ain’t much to look at inside or out, but on the real, go here.
Night-​and-​day different from Bronx Ale House up the road, although you should go there some time too.

My buddy and I did karaōke here and then he peed on my friends carpet in the middle of the night. One of the best nights out I’ve had in a while.
It’s a dive that makes no excuses. Sassy staff. Old guy asleep at the bar. Some lady just walks off he street at midnight and sets up karaōke without announcement. Going to a dive bar is one of life’s truest pleasures and this place is a gem. If you ever need a night away from the pretensions of the classier places around, you should cozy on up at the bar and shoot some pool on the dirty-​felted table in the back with a ‘nam veteran. I will be back – I NEED to be back.

This is not exactly my kind of bar when it comes to entertainment value, but it has plenty of perks depending on your needs.
Sick of spending 12 dollars for a shot of Johnny Walker Black? Well drop in here, pay half the damn price, and truly enjoy a sloppy drunken night at the right price. It doesn’t hurt that there are plenty of cabs nearby to escort your drunken ass home.
The bar is dimly lit, with a few tables on the corner that are hanging on for their dear lives to balance properly, and a dartboard hangs on a nearby wall. It’s a great way to be a total dick to one of your friends with a swift throw of a dart into his or her ass checks.
There’s an outdated jukebox midway into the bar, but it has enough songs in there for you to recite lyrics by Ginuwine or Backstreet Boys. That could upset the music because… Well. It’s an Irish pub. However, it does grant you the freedom to make it your night.
Right by the jukebox is a bathroom that ain’t the prettiest a thing but gets the job done. No pee on the floors or toilet, or maybe I was too buzzed to notice.
At the very end of the bar is a pool table that I once regrettably screwed up. You remember Lebron James’s signature «powder» move at pregame? Well I once did the same thing before I began a game with friends and didn’t realize Id make all that damn powder sprinkle it’s way back down and cover the table like a white desert. Anyway, there are good times to enjoy with the pool table. Very little to no waiting.
This bar is never packed, and it has been around for quite a while due to my understanding. That means it’s pretty old school and likely has its traditional and local customers. From time to time the crowd will vary, but the occasional creepy characters do stand out: The man or woman who’s nasal voice and yellow teeth suggest years of endless cigarettes. or the odd couple… a short white man in his mid 40s in crappy attire embracing a tall young bald asian women wearing roller blades. Then there are people like me who speak, sound, and look at least relatively normal and want to drop in for the simple pleasures.
I’ve mainly dropped in here when I wanted something a bit more low key and cheap. The bartenders have always been nice and will happily make a special drink at your request. Definitely a neighborhood spot. I give it 3 stars because you pretty much make it your night.

I respect this place more then the ale house up the road. The ale house wants to be cool and fails miserably. The Punch Bowl wants to be a dive and succeeds in every facet. I miss this place as this was my hard day at work I need to get plastered without judgement spot right down the road from me. A good pregame spot, then go out with friends, then end up here to nightcap as Im tanked. I miss it a lot. Sure its the same faces and the place stinks bad most of the time but damn the drinks are cheap (bucket of nips for 8 bucks! Thats florida prices!)
I miss my blonde bartender Rachel. She was always so nice to me and always had a vodka cranberry on deck when I came in. I wouldnt suggest it for the entire night out but its a fun place to start and the best place to finish the night. Its charming in its own way and I hope it stays forever! Has live music some nights and TV’s. It simply does what a dive should do. If I ever move back to the area, which I sure hope I dont, at least I’ll have this place. :)

This place looks like utter crap. I’m already in love with this place!

Guys, I’m worried, and I don’t know where else to go but here. You see, there’s this guy with a pube ‘stache wearing a gray Utica College t-​shirt who entered the bar with his girlfriend, and he didn’t have his ID on him, but he assured the bartender that his friend had his ID at another bar and was on his way here to deliver the ID for verification for alcoholic beverage purchase.
Well, here’s the thing: Pube ‘Stache has been playing pool with his girlfriend for an hour and a half, and the friend still hasn’t shown up. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that not only is this «friend» completely made up, but this guy isn’t even 21!
Great dive bar, though. There was a contemporary Christian song on the jukebox that caught me off guard (don’t get me wrong – I love Jesus and all music that glorifies Him – I just didn’t expect to hear it in a Bronx dive), but that doesn’t change the fact that this is a kick ass bar that will have me looking for an excuse to visit the Bronx again soon.
On second thought, fuck this place. Apparently this is one of those bars where after 11:15 you can smoke in here, and every fat chick lights up and blows smoke directly into my right nostril.
All in all, this bar is amazing if you like 19-​year-​olds with pube ‘staches, a non-​functioning Guiness tap, and the fattest Yokozuna bitches on the face of the planet smoking Doral 100’s.

This is an old school gin mill, maybe 40 years plus and things have not change much. It is a shot and beer joint. Whiskey, bud bottle, half liter liquor bottles for service, etc. etc. Order a martini get a look. Order a frozen drink you go to the backroom and disappear.
In recent weeks I have been here a couple of times for various reasons. I thought a bottle of Bud at $ 4 was a little high for this neighborhood and for afternoon pricing. The place has great potential with a good cleaning. While I do like a Dive Bar atmosphere, it had to much of The Bowery feel of years past, before gentrification.
I guess if I lived in the area, I would stop by. It is right off the 238 Street stop on the number 1 line. It is a solid bar, but may not appeal to everyone. Irish Bartenders, lottery machine, pool table, darts.
Overall, The Punch Bowl has stood the test of time. Maybe the Owner owns the building. Who knows. The bar is a bar of convenience. It is ideally located with a ton of regulars, but time will see that clientele vanish. The Punch Bowl serves it’s purpose, but I would like to see the shine put back on. We can keep that gin mill charm just add some new world comforts: HD TV, craft beer, wifi, credit cards, etc. etc.

I want to preface this — this is a DIVE bar and as such, it really deserves 3 stars. But if you were to compare this to a regular joint, i wouldn’t even give it a one.
As you enter, the room is filled with smoke, cigarette smoke. The bar is along the left side. On the right, there’s a Karaōke machine with a hostess. You make your requests and you can belch all you want when its your turn. Some of them were really good. Towards the back there are some pool tables. One of the main reasons people come here is because you can do whatever you want and no one gives a crap, ie. smoking — anything. lol. And also, because the drinks are super cheap. Their clientele as far as i can see, are younger or older — not many in between.
I was there for about 40 minutes or so and stunk of cigs. I doubt that I would come back again but for what it is, not bad at all.

Boar and deer heads on display. Good glassware, feels very smooth and pleasing to the skin of my bare hands.

Definitely a dive bar but has both karoeke nights as well as open-​jam sessions, so that’s a plus. My sister and I love this place when we are just looking to have a drink and play lotto. Dark’ lighting, give it a shot if you’re in the area and need a cheap drink (but don’t expect a lot of variety in beer). Downside they don’t serve any food but you can bring it from outside.

Went for the Karaōke, found reasonable drink prices, came back again only to discover that somewhere around 1am, it turns into a smoking bar (at least on Friday nights)… Despite the no smoking sign up in the corner (small one), about half the bar lit up past midnight…
If you don’t mind the smoke, it’s a great bar, but I just can’t stand it…

I went looking for a dive bar one night … and boy, did I find one. It’s RIGHT off the subway, which is nice. And I’ve never seen it crowded. The bartenders are always nice and there’s usually an older crowd having a good time. Last time I walked in, everyone in the place was engrossed in The Edge of Darkness, which was playing on one of the bar TVs. If this place wasn’t exactly what I was looking, it wouldn’t have received 5 stars.

I LOOOOVE Punch Bowl! My husband and I are fans of local bars and this one is perfect! There’s a nice dark, wooden, low-​key feel to this place, and the locals are really nice. The prices are very reasonable, there are specials sometimes, the bartenders are all irish as far as i can tell, and are very friendly. This place gets karaōke nights on the weekend, has an internet jukebox, and has that QuickPick Keno-​type lottery that runs every 3 minutes on the TV (my personal gambling fix!). If you’re looking for a casual, sometimes iffy/​crazy fun atmosphere, go here! It’s right off the 1 train and a couple of different bus lines. It’s better than supporting a chain– support your local Irish pub!