Cherry Tavern

My OG dive bar in NYC. What I love
$ 5 tequila/​tecate specials…
Decent jukebox.
Snarky bartenders. Who aint shy about buybacks if you are belly up to the bar for a night.
I’ve spent a handful of Birthdays and Thursdays at the Tavern. (what’s the difference)
I got nostalgic when I seen the Cherry Tavern while binge-​streaming NYPD Blue (Season 3) I miss the Cherry Tavern, and it’s time to go back.

This is the place i go to in order to pre-​game, before going to Death and Co… I personally enjoy it a lot… I always feel kind of sad when i leave to go next door. the drinks here are cheap the way anyone should like it. last night i was drinking three dollar rail tequilas and 2 dollar Miller Hi Lifes… What a deal in Manhattan, what a deal most anywhere…
Last night, the jukebox was broken but, other than that, things were fine. The music on that thing is pretty outstanding. pool table is always a good thing…
I arrived and opened the place up around 6 I believe, it did take me a while to get use to the strong smell of urine but, after that, i was pretty happy.

This is the hallmark for dive bars. Cash only, cheap drinks, dingy Old New York feel. Great place to be over dressed at waiting for your spot at Death and Co, a meer 20 feet away.

This a great bar… kinda divey, but totally ship shape. Good prices, nice barkeeps, and festive, friendly clients.
This is where you go to have a drink and talk with whomever the fuck wants to join in. There’s no secret password, sliding wall, metal cups or ice cubes the size of coffee mugs. Go in with a $ 20 and leave with a good buzz.
Anything else is wrapping paper.

Great cocktail bar focusing on amaro and fernet drinks. Had a great sold fashioned and sazerac. I went on a Monday so it wasn’t as crowded, which was great. Bartender was nice and served us great cocktails. It’s on the pricier end, but worth it when you combine the atmosphere and quality of drinks.

The good: Price, price price. You’re looking at $ 5 and $ 6 beer and shot specials. As of last month they get $ 5 for an «Old Glory Special» which is a can of PBR and a shot of house whiskey. Then you got the almighty $ 6 «Tijuana Special» which is a can of Tecate and a shot of disgusting «Montezuma’s Revenge» brand rack tequila. I can’t speak for the mixed drinks’ price or quality because in 10+ years of going there I’ve never ordered anything but Tijuanas. This is a beer and shot place. The bathrooms are grimy. The walls have the classic «dogs playing poker» artwork amongst a few other kooky pieces. The lighting is dim red which is great if you’re trying to cover up some blemishes or a few extra pounds. This bar has been around for many years and hopefully will be around for many more. It’s owned by an old Ukrainian woman with a big fluffy dog who owns the property which is why I think they aren’t going anywhere. They have a purple felt pool table that charges about a buck in quarters for a game. The table is all banged up and the cues are about as straight a Washington politician but it matters little because it’s just a conversation piece. Most of the rock and rollers in there are friendly.
The bad: As usual, the low price tends to attract some unsavoury clientèle. I’ve seen crust punks and homeless in there. Back in the early 2000’s the crowd was usually all young rock and rollers but in the last 10 years there’s been an influx of bridge and tunnel rats, thugs, and NYU trash. Often times the d-​bags waiting to get into nightclubs will hang out in here in the meantime. They jacked the prices (probably in response to that) several years ago. It used to be so easy to lay out a 5 and a single but now you need to dig for that extra single unless you want to stiff them. I was in there not long ago and the (maybe) 21 year old kid bartender didn’t know what a Tijuana special was. I thought they were joking but as it turns out it wasn’t a joke. That’s like working in McDoodle’s and not knowing what a Big Mac is!
As others have mentioned, this bar can get VERY crowded after 10PM. There was a few times we went to walk in and the door didn’t budge. Confused, we pushed harder only to reveal a definitely illegal WALL of about 200 people squished into there like sardines. It’s hit or miss though because there’s been times not that long ago when I stayed in there for hours and the place was dead when by all means it should have been standing room only.
Protip: Some underground rap collaborative uses the place as their de facto base once a week. I forget when it is but unless you’re into arrogant Slim Shadies with attitudes stay the *&^ out if you look through the windows and see all sideways baseball caps.
The ugly: I’ve found things swimming in my drinks and seen stink flies near the cutting boards but for this price it’s not that serious. If you’re not with that, then I suggest you and your snooty 6 foot faux Amazonian over privileged white princesses go get on the waiting list for Death and All His Friends or whatever that stupid d-​bag bar is called down the block. I’ll keep my dirty ass hipster girls with questionable morals who pound tequila and have unprotected sex on the first or second date.
In conclusion: Like I said in my Lit Lounge review, going to Cherry Tavern is like watching Robert Plant during the 2007 Led Zeppelin reunion. There’s definitely still something in the tank but it’s bittersweet. The place is full of memories and there can be no denying it was once legendary. However, much like Robert Plant, you can’t overlook the fact that times have changed. The thrill is gone but it can still be a decent bar if you hit it on a good night.
The bar has definitely been on a downward slide since Rodney and Jessica stopped working there around 2009 – 2010. There’s always new faces working the bar every time I go nowadays but those 2 were long time legends in their time; they were the AC/​DC of bartenders. They didn’t bother trying to woo you with anything complex like $ 20 cocktails that look like the blue stuff the barber cleans combs in. They were the quintessential meat and potatoes dive bartenders who gave you shots, beers, rock, and good convo. Nothing will ever be that good again.

This place is pretty awesome. It’s a total dive, but the kind that is pretty open to anyone except jerks. I came early on a Wednesday night. I was looking a little clean cut (since I was waiting for my date to show up for a UCB East show nearby) but didn’t feel out of place. Ironically there is a bitters cocktail tasting room two doors down where you can’t get a drink for less than $ 15. This place, as my bartender informed me however, is not classy. He said, «basically it’s a shot and a beer happy hour special». I preferred a gin and tonic, which wasn’t very strong. That’s okay, a weak drink was what I was hoping for, not wanting to get too sloshed before my date. She and I grabbed a disappointing sandwich from next door and ate it in the back of Cherry Tavern.
I loved that there weren’t oppressive speakers in that little nook in the back where we sat; we could actually converse and ponder the trash heap visible through the back window. As we finished our meal and cheap drinks, we noticed the place was starting to fill up. We headed out to our show. I already felt like I knew the staff a little. The place feels like a comfortable little anchor in the East Village. Definitely recommended, mostly for the unquantifiable quality of the people and the good vibes.

Ok, I really only came here to inform everyone that this place has a great selection on the jukebox. Being a big Phish guy, I was excited to see a huge phish presence on the ‘box. Also, pool table was a nice touch.

Great dive bar. Cheap (and creative!) drinks, friendly staff, plenty of seating and a pool table.

GREAT little dive bar on e.6^th street… stopped in here /​w a couple of friends on wed. nite and had a great time… cold beers… nice crowd… great dive atmos… cozy and trendy… we all just sat in a booth… and just sat back and watched the crowd… I will be back !!

This bar is in a convenient location and it is wedged right in between Death & Co and Amor & Amargo. This is a dive bar, so be forewarned. You won’t get a sexy interior or mixologists with handle bar moustaches to tell you about all the different bitters.
But you will have a good time and this is why.
Of course, my hottie date is late, this has been the pattern for awhile, but given the specimen, well worth the wait. I walk into the bar, scanned it out and decided to sit at the bar. The bar had a few people, but it wasn’t packed.
Two people ordered up 2 bottles of Amstel Light and tried to pay with a credit card. Bar maid declined the card, this is a CASH ONLY establishment. They walked out saying they would come back, but she didn’t believed them and offered me their beers for FREE. Now, on the one hand, Amstel light is usually a deal breaker, but on the other hand, it was FREE. So I politely accepted, took a few gulps and checked out the draft list. Everything here is incredibly cheap, no beer over $ 7, which is great!
And of course while you wait for a date, interesting things happen. For one, two girls to my left clearly were on a date and one started talking to me. A striking beautiful blonde she was. We chit chatted a bit, talked about JoanJett and the good jukebox music in the bar, offered up definitions for SNAFU and FUBAR, and before you know, it, she bought me a fireball shot. So for the half hour I waited for my date, I was offered 3 FREE drinks. Not bad at all if you ask me.
And guess what? Those two people that ordered up the Amstel light came back! They got another round of beers, made out profusely and quickly left the bar… Ahem.
Thirty minutes passed, the hottie walked through the door, mesmerized myself and the hot blonde and the drinking ensued. Not bad for a Tuesday school night.

The Diet Coke @ Cherry Tavern was pretty damn good. It got the job done and was followed by a Sprite of equal quality.
Cherry Tavern reminds me of my ex girlfriend who could tie a cherry stem into a knot with her tongue. I thought this was pretty cool till I realized she was treating the penis of one of my co workers like a cherry stem too.
So I am single and Cherry Tavern was the destination for a date I made on Ok Cupid. The date was pretty much a dud. It started out with us both agreeing that it was really cold out and after that not much else. Well I guess the search continues and I shall move on to the next. I have been going on a lot of dates lately and people keep telling me that I am a serial dater and I should slow down… But I disagree.
I am not a serial dater.
I just really like uncomfortable situations in a dive bar atmosphere.

More than just a dive bar… It’s a dive bar with charm. All the people I talked to there were pretty nice, normal, and friendly. definitely a good crowd. The only drawback was it got too crowded after 10pm.
Bonus points awarded for the pool table and Arcade Fire in the jukebox.

Cheap drinks, friendly staff… Try the Moscow lemonade… Guarantee you won’t be able to stop with just one. Most drinks are under 5 bucks… They have cheapie beers and shots combos too (around 6 bucks). The dark and dingy atmosphere, grungey jukebox selections, little lighting make this a nice pregame spot with friends. Not suitable for dates.

Here’s the thing about Cherry Tavern… I went many times as a 20-​something living in NYC and my friends and I would always have hit or miss experiences here, but the positives outweighed the negatives enough to keep us coming back. The bar would always be hoppin, with a diverse mix of folks swinging back cheap-​O pickleback shots and beers!
Returning last night as a 30-​something — I admit that I went into it doubting I could ever re-​live some of Cherry’s more magical moments, but the thing of it is– this place sustains itself by being a solid dive bar. It’s not pretending to be anything more than it is, and that is reflected in the insanely cheap drink prices ($ 4 for my beer???), the grungy pool table in the back, the jukebox (which played pure awesomeness last night, by the by) and the rickety old wooden tables and chairs scattered throughout the space. We came early because we are old people, and the place was pretty empty, but it allowed us to commandeer the back. By the time we called it (12:30) the place was packed and seemed to be just as popular as it was 7 years ago! So there you go– they must be doing something right. My major complaint would be that it’s waaaay too inconvenient for me to get to, so I wouldn’t go out of my way to frequent the place (since it is a standard dive), but if you’re a local and you can’t get into Death & co, then walk 2 doors down and stop in!
PS– it is CASH ONLY, so bring some!

I had exactly one drink here, once, at around 7pm on a Friday. It was a cherry-​flavored vodka and lemonade special for $ 5.
Made with Newman’s Own Lemonade, not some generic/​off-​brand crap! Such care and consideration was unexpected when we walked into this grimy-​looking establishment. They were also playing some kind of American Gladiator/​Battle Dome knockoff show on TV… which is actually a great bar show if you think about it.
Will have to come back to give a fuller review.

Cherry is great because it’s a total dive, but they serve up some quality drinks.
I don’t mean ones with 9 ingredients including egg foam and crap — I mean like bourbon mint ice-​tea which was amazing and $ 5.

A
Quiet
Dive with pool
And lousy beers.
Wasn’t that cheap and is still cash only.

I prefer my dive bars when they’re spruced up a bit. Some decorations, lighting, theme, or just anything to give it a personality. I don’t have much of a problem with a hole in the wall, but having friends with different tastes, concessions need to be made. It’s quite small, which is made worse by the pool table in the back, and extremely dark for some reason.
However, if you’re looking for just cheap beer or a tequila and Tecate deal. Knock yourself out.

Literally a hole in a wall. If my friend didn’t stop me I would have walked right pass it. If you are looking for this place, just look up and find the sign that says Cherry Tavern.
This is as dive bar as it gets. One pool table, not much else. Cash only, just drinks. Don’t expect anything fancy at all… you get exactly what you ask for and nothing more. One person taking over the bar and that’s about it.
I don’t think I’ll be coming back here. It wasn’t awful, just something about this place didn’t sit well with me. I just felt a little creeped out and couldn’t wait to get out of this place. The people there are a great crowd who are really there just to have a good time, but I couldn’t make this place work.