Bull Moose Saloon

Happy, friendly place, feels like home away from home. This is the place you are looking for. Plus Monday $ 0.10 wings!

Just read that this place has closed and we are so sad to hear it. This had become our go to bar every time we visited the city since we had discovered it the first time. We loved the casual, relaxed atmosphere and refreshingly inexpensive drinks. We had brought guests with us every time we came and made many new fans. I only hope whoever takes over the space honors the Bull Moose and continues with the general attitude and feel of the original.

They say that all good things must come to an end…
That really applies because I had this review in draft for a forever and forgot all about it and now its too late because the establishment has closed its doors. Check out my thoughts just the same in the hope that they help whatever comes here next to be a success.
«I am finally getting some notes out about my experiences at the Bull Moose Saloon because even though I had first wandered through its doors a couple of years ago, it was not until recently that I have been returning on a more regular basis. The reason for my return you might ask, well the answer is simple. While I love going to Smith’s right up the street on Eighth Avenue, the tourist traffic has been so much that I cannot even get a single space at the bar to enjoy a drink or a plate of wings. That led me to the moderately busy Bull Moose Saloon right off Ninth Avenue.
The bar itself is down a small flight of stairs and honestly it might be easy to pass it by if you are not paying attention. Even though there is a big awning that says «Bull Moose Saloon» on it. The main bar has a good fifteen or so chairs and there are about eight tables and a pool table. Music comes from the jukebox and its often a Heavy Rock or Metal playlist. Never a bad thing in my book. Even on nights when it was crowded, it was never so much so that I would find myself walking out the door seeking a place elsewhere. As a music journalist who maintains an Internet presence for his brand I love that the free WiFi instantly connects once you key in the proper code. I never knew I would need to access my resources from a bar hang but oh well. Such are the times we live in.
Lets talk food. The burgers here are excellent as is the Reuben Sandwich. As much as I love the ingredients in a Reuben I had never had one before and even suggested my buddy from Finland try one. Their hot wings are spot on, nice and spicy but not overpowering and there is a sampler platter of many different treats to experiment with. That is better for two than one which I found out the hard way. I found their Happy Hour commendable. There is much more on the menu but those are the things that I stuck with and I had to say that I enjoyed them. Each day all the beers in the bar were a lower price, and not just a couple of them like some competing places do. Then when the Happy Hour ends a select beer remains at the low price for the night. Sometimes its Bud Lite, sometimes Molson. Whatever.
Upstairs is a lounge space that brings in a lot of parties. I have not been up there yet but have not really had a large enough group to find this being the case.
— So that was my original Unilocal.The other day when I I was headed there to chill out before a show I found a gate in front of the door and no more awning. Shades were drawn blocking views inside but one could see something was brewing in there. The Bull Moose Saloon had closed. A shame really. I will miss this place.

I kinda love this bar. It’s never packed, we always get a table, they have a great beer selection and awesome daily specials. It’s not too loud so it’s a great bar to have a drink and a conversation with a friend. It’s laid back and easy-​going. Haven’t tried the food yet but I will…

I ended up at this bar recently after seeing a play in Hell’s Kitchen. I was with a big group of theater kids and there was more than enough room for us in the upstairs lounge. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that crowded on a Saturday night.
The drinks were pretty cheap and they had a wide selection of beer. The food was kind of gross, but then again, it’s pub food. The service was quick and friendly. And for all you taxidermy fans, yes, they even had a giant moose head on the wall.
So, it’s a decent bar for what it is, but nothing more. Also, it’s on the border of Hell’s Kitchen, which means you (most likely) have to go through Times Square to get there. Not fun.

I’ve been going to this bar for over five years, on and off. They’ve had a LOT of staff turnover, changes in management, even a change in theme (regulars will remember the brief and unsuccessful stint as a gay bar). That said, here’s my two pennies.
Here’s what’s good about Bull Moose:
— Servers: Generally, the servers are great. Because of the turnover, sometimes you never know. Still, I’ve found the servers to be awesome in the past, with few exceptions.
— Specials: You will be hard pressed to find cheaper prices on such a decent variety of beer in midtown. Some nights, ALL tap beers are only $ 3.
— Selection: They have about a dozen beers on tap, including Magic Hat #9 (which I haven’t found in many places).
— Pool table: The pool table is one of the few level pool tables in the area, and quite a few decent players swing by. But it’s also fun and casual, so people just learning should enjoy.
— TVs: They play most of the big games, and are often less crowded than typical «sports bars» on big-​game days.
Here’s what’s iffy:
— Food: I generally don’t eat at Bull Moose. I’ve enjoyed what I have had, but it’s not known for its food – its a bar, first and foremost.
— Crowd: You never know what you’re going to get in terms of composition, size, and fun but that’s often the charm of the place. In that sense, Bull Moose is a just a neighborhood bar, and is more of a place to hang with friends than to meet new people. It gets a lot of theater, film, and TV industry people, groups of tourists, foreign students, local blue collar workers, local white collar professionals, a few pool sharks – it runs the gamut. Sometimes it’s packed, sometimes it’s dead. You just never know.
Bottom line: Depending on what night you go and what you’re looking for, Bull Moose could be for you. I like it for the location, the laid-​back vibe, the generally nice crowd, the prices, and the cool servers. Sometimes I walk in and, if I’m not trying to watch a game and it looks dead, I turn right around and walk out. Overall, if I want a beer and to see some nice people, I head to Bull Moose.

I’ve been a regular at this establishment for some time now. My wife and I enjoy the great service, great conversations with other regulars and the staff there are the best at what they do. They have to deal with a lot of fools late at night but they keep a professional demeanor and they always make everyone feel welcomed. If you are visiting New York and just walked in to the Bull moose you would swear you were a regular just by the friendly hellos and the comfortable atmosphere the employes create there. And they work hard to make everyone feel welcomed.
We are so glad that we walked in there and decided to become regulars and you would be too.
Food-​GREAT
Drink prices-​cheapest you will get within 20 blocks
Service-​outstanding and fast
I would avoid playing «Ave Maria» on the jukebox :)

Bull Moose has changed owners at least three times in the past 2 years so possibly this review may change when the owners change AGAIN.
I’ve been in a couple times and might have said this place isn’t the worst (it’s bar food and a blahzay bar) until I went to a birthday party at this venue.
The birthday girl had at least 20 people in the upstairs area.
Her birthday guests ordered hundreds of dollars in drinks and food. Another party was scheduled to come by that time the group had dwindled to the last 5. We gladly moved downstairs in order to continue our conversation. We sat at a table and ordered another round. We had been there for about 20 minutes when the waitress came to see if we needed anything else. As we had already drank and ate by this point we where conversing and sipping our final drinks.(I believe one or two of the party attenders had another drink but for the most part we were done) The waitress soon returned and said her «manager» said we had to leave if we weren’t ordering! –Had it not been my friends birthday I’d have talked to the «manager» right then instead I’ll let you all know to AVOID THIS PLACE. There are so many good bars in the area. The Irish Rogue next door and The Producers Club (has a top secret very nice priced bar) or Rudy’s for a $ 7 pitcher there’s even a nautical themed bar across the street. you can drink out of a brown paper bag and have a better experience!
As for this rude place, I would understand the push for us to leave had the place been busy and/​or if we were not ordering/​had not been ordering all night but if you can guess from the service that other Unilocalers and myself have experienced you can surmise correctly that the place was far from busy

The beers are not bad, and the place has plenty of space for when you want to kick it with some friends before continuing on with your night. However, the other side of this is that there’s plenty of space — empty tables and chairs everywhere. I don’t know if it’s the location or what, but it doesn’t seem to be very popular, even at peak times.
The upstairs lounge area is comfortable and spacious, but again even on a Saturday night it might be completely empty. The crowd is slightly older than what you’d see at other bars in the area, and I didn’t care for the look they’d give when younger people walk in.
It’s not a bad place — it would do fine as a stop during a laid back evening around the neighborhood. Otherwise, there are plenty of great bars in this part of Manhattan.

I’m forced to give Bull Moose only 3-​stars because of two polar opposite experiences I had there… in the same day.
My friend and I were wandering around looking for lunch on a steamy summer day and remembered the lunch special at Bull Moose ($ 6.95 for burger+fries or wings and a beer) that we had been wanting to try. Truthfully, I was expecting a mediocre burger (I mean…$ 6.95…) but decided to try it anyways because we were so hot and an ice cold beer sounded almost heavenly. I was totally surprised. The burger patty was handcrafted and tasty and served alongside a mound of fries and crisp veggie toppings. I’m a firm believer that the bun can make or break a burger and this one was served with a brioche-​type bun that did not disappoint. One of the best parts of our lunch was the waitress, who was friendly, personable, and somehow exuded happiness, putting everyone in the bar in a good mood.
Later that night, we were looking for a late night snack & cheap drinks. We decided to go back to Bull Moose because of our great experience at lunch + the Tuesday night special: $ 3 all drafts. This time, not only were we served (if you can call it that) by a waitress with a «better-​than-​you» attitude problem, but the beers weren’t nearly as cold for some reason.
The other annoying discovery is the $ 15 credit card minimum, which, even for New York is quite high. I guess I would go back because it’s a pretty good bar and the specials are legit, but I definitely wouldn’t run there.

It was the NBA finals between Mavs and Heat. This bar puts up a sign outside — Basketball @ 8PM. I invited a group of friends to watch the game. One guy requested that I look for a place with a pool table, so this was perfect. I went there around 6:45pm to check out the place. The moment I stepped in, everybody was looking at me (I’m sure you had this experience). Everybody means, 3 old guys trying to hit on these 2 tourist girls. The place was empty and I figured it was too early for it to be full. So I asked the (nice) bartender if they are showing the NBA finals (YES), if table reservation is necessary (NO), drink specials (YES bud$ 4), and how much the pool table is? — $ 2/​game.
So I was kinda excited and went back to my apt and started calling people that we are gonna watch the game here. Being excited that we might not get a good table, I decided to go there around 7:30pm which was the Countdown for NBA finals. There’s a girl at the bar who greeted me «how’s it going?» and there were two hispanics on the right side corner in front of me drinking. They asked the waitress if she can change the channel to channel 49, which I heard was a football/​soccer game. The waitress told these guys that they are only showing the basketball game and they can go upstairs if they wanna watch something different. But they were not showing the NBA either, and when I asked when would they change the channel, the bartender said it’s too early for that, the game starts at 8pm. So I was okay, waiting and ordered a burger. 7:50pm the food came and a Budlight. This dude came and greeted all the employees inside. Looks like he’s a regular. He asked that the channels be turned to the TONY’s! Yes everybody! «the TONY’s!!» Seriously?!! He even knows where to switch the volume for the surround sound. Really!!!
As Neil Patrick Harris started the hosting with this very loud music of him singing «It’s not just for gays anymore» this dude and his friends were as loud as they could enjoying the opening number. I was shaking as the NBA Finals opening ceremony, at the same time, takes place on two of the smaller screens by the bar without sound. My burger tasted raw and the fries started to dry more as they already are. Very disappointed of what I am seeing, I asked the waitress if this is what they are showing instead of the NBA Finals. She said there’s a sports lounge upstairs and the sound will be for the basketball game. Being shocked of what’s happening, I went upstairs to check it out. Voila! All I saw was a guy wearing a Yankees baseball cap, waiting for a girl to step in so he can rape her. That was scary! As I go down the first floor the loud TONY’s music award drowns me together with this screaming dude and his friends. I immediately asked for the check, and can’t wait to get out of this hell. The waitress gave me a check for my burger and beer which was $ 12.95 and stated that card payment has a minimum $ 15. I was like ‘I don’t have cash, can you just put the tip with my card so it’ll be $ 15.’ Ofcourse she said NO and pointed me to the ATM machine. I really don’t like getting money from these ATM machines because you get charged $ 1 – 2 which I only needed $ 20, so you’re paying the machine 10−20% for your minimum withdrawal. But wait! This machine charges $ 2.95! Wow! really!!! So I called my friend, who’s on his way, and asked him to bring cash and can’t even explain why I needed it due to my disappointment. My mind was about to blow that time! I am really disappointed and frustrated about whats happening! To make it worse, the first quarter started already and all the bars that we went to, after wasting our time here, were full.
I would never go back here! OMG! Freakin boring! soooo disappointed!!!
P. S. I needed to «check in» here so that I would remember not to come here anymore! I should have checked Unilocal first and read the reviews. You will easily find the words «boring», «depressingly qiuet», and «dead».

One of the only acceptable bars in midtown. Not fancy but clean with reasonable prices. The female bar tenders are typically sweet and helpful. The food is as expected for a bar. They have Raspberry Lambic in a bottle (which is why I go there).
It’s been pretty quiet every weekday night I’ve been there and weekend afternoons. Good place to go with a group and not have to fight for seating. They have an upstairs with couches, more TVs, and darts.

In terms of quick quick lunch bar food this place is okay. I only hit up these bars in the city during lunch hour because of their awesome lunch specials which include a beer. for under $ 8 you get a full meal with a drink. its awesome.
The food is alright. I have had better bar served food before but then again I have had a lot worse too. Ordering food usually takes some time because of the light staff they have around noon but it is no more than a 15 – 20 minute wait on food usually.

When it says Budweiser in big letters outside the place, don’t expect to see trappist monks working in the back. Seriously you may find more beer variety from the deli on the corner. No euro varieties no IPAs. Sadly. But they did have a Sierra Nevada so I went with that. I could make a comment about being in Times Square or way above 14^th, but that’s probably obvious by now.

Actually, the bartenders here are friendly, and nice, and as many of the reviewers here mentioned, they have good deals too. But I simply don’t feel like for coming back here simply due to the ambiance here…
I tried this place on a Friday night, and… again, the bartenders were nice, but it was really depressingly quiet all the night…

Anyone who has cheap fresh cold beer on tap and a happy hour special where you can get a burger, fries, and a beer for $ 6 (which I haven’t tried but it doesn’t really matter how good it is) has to get at least 3 stars. I’m gonna cut them off there. The bartenders weren’t attentive or friendly at all, the music was way to loud and obnoxious to have a conversation, and the interior was very much outdated and looked over. They claim on their awning outside that there’s a second floor «lounge» but what they have is two couches by each other in the corner and the rest of the floor is just regular tables and chairs. I’d probably just skip on by this place in the future.

We wanted to go to Rudy’s.
Well, perhaps more accurately, my one friend and I really wanted to go to Rudy’s, so we just kind of walked ahead of everyone and led the group to Rudy’s. We were like the Pied Pipers, but slightly intoxicated and very interested in multiple pitchers of Rudy’s Red.
But … when we got to Rudy’s the bouncer wasn’t letting anyone else in. Apparently there may have been NYC’s finest headed in their direction to resolve a «situation.» So we had to go someplace else. I thought we might head to Irish Rogue or the west side Joshua Tree or some other place nearby, but next thing I know, we’re all walking in to Bull Moose.
I kind of feel bad about a two star review, but there’s just nothing really interesting about this place. They do have a solid beer selection, and good prices ($ 4 light beer bottles on a Friday night), but there are just too many bars in this part of the city for a random kinda cookie cutter diveish type bar to really grab my attention. If they had a real jukebox, then an extra star, but it was an internet one. Ugh.
There was one great thing that I must point out. The staff here was very cool. We had a friend that got a little too hammered (in a somewhat shocking twist, I was not this person) and was in bad shape. Instead of just throwing him out of whatever, the staff was cool with letting him sober up for a little bit before he got home. Most places would not do anything like that, but they knew we were on top of things and watching him, so it worked.
Sorry Bull Moose. Maybe it’s me, but I don’t think so.

What an appalling waste of time and money. Went here on a Saturday night when my usual go to (the Irish Rogue, next door) was too crowded, and was at first pleased to discover the extreme airy nigh-​emptiness of the Bull Moose Saloon.
The raucous drunk people, overloud music, negligible ambiance and incredibly weak food soon explained the paucity of people. No Guinness on tap, I went with the ‘Bareknuckle Stout’ – a really poor contender.
On the food side, I have never in all my life paid so much for such a terrible quesadilla, people. Congealed, cold cheese and pallid chicken does not warrant my happy forking over of almost $ 9. My companions’ tepid tasteless fried clam basket and almost-​awful Caesar salad just nail-​in-​the-​coffined the place.
At least the service was passable, though having to hand over a credit card as ‘trust’ on our table because some group had in the past walked out on the waitress? Really inspiring.
Do yourself a favor – if the Rogue’s too busy? Don’t bother going next door.

I went here for a friend’s birthday and we were all very happy with the service! We had a waitress named Erica who kicked so much ass. We were a very large party that took up the entire back of the top floor and she did not miss a beat. We stayed there till the bar closed at 3:30−4AM and she was very kind and helpful even at closing time!
I was a bit disappointed that they did not have Guiness on tap there, even though they had 16 other draught beers (where’s the love?) so I ended up drinking Magic Hat for the night.
The bill was also far cheaper that I expected especially because we were such a large group.
In a nutshell, I would definitely go back to Bull Moose with a large group of good company to whittle the night away and make great memories.

I’ve gone to the bullmoose on more than one occasion, and will probably end up going back. The only possible explanation for why I would do this is deeply rooted in horrendous masochism.
While it’s cute and divey at first glance, with the occasional brawl over billiards to prove it, it falls apart in every other area. The waitresses were nice, but never wrote a single thing down, leading to several return trips to verify what we ordered. The burger special here is out of sight, which is doubly true in that the first time we ordered it, it never came. After an entire hour.
On our second trip, most of the food came out, although one burger took an extra fifteen minutes past every other one. Considering this burger was medium-​rare* compared to the other mediums and well dones, I’m convinced the rules of thermodynamics have ceased to apply within the confines of the bullmoose tavern kitchen, perhaps after a falling out with the «new cook,» as we’ve been repeatedly told they have. Of note: while all of the burgers and cooked food came out, the caesar salad which was also ordered never appeared.
The most redeeming aspect of this place? If you can’t wait longer than an hour for your food, they’ll be happy to cancel the order for you, and often comp your drink. With the track record here, this means free drinks for life.
*Editors note: If you have a burger here, keep in mind that apparently «medium-​rare» equates to «steak tartare.» For accurate done-​ness, I might suggest ordering it «solar-​flared»