Milk and Hops

Love this place. Went on opening weekend. Great atmosphere — relaxing but still trendy. It looks a little unconventional when you walk in. Half the place has a bar with draft beer and restaurant seating and the other half has a retail setup, where you can purchase what you eat from dinner service (or something else not on the menu).
It wasn’t entirely clear if we were supposed to seat ourselves, order at the bar, etc. but the people were tremendously nice and helpful. It was also the 2^nd or 3^rd night they were open, so I felt the confusion was understandable. Also, the bartender gave great draft beer recommendations. You can also pick from the bottled beer to drink at the table for a $ 2 corkage fee, if you don’t like or want what’s on draft.
The food is DELICIOUS. Envision a heaven where they serve perfectly melty grilled cheeses with bacon (and other great accoutrements) and mouthwatering cheese and charcuterie plates. The meats were yummy, but the cheeses were beyond expectation. Some of the tastiest I’ve had in a long time. We left full but not overly so (I appreciated that). Yet my mouth still craved more (though I couldn’t fit it in my stomach) — convenient because you can buy bottles of beer as well as meats and cheeses in their original packaging (in the same place) and take it home! I’m still thinking about how delicious the cheese was!
Depending on what you order, the meal can be pretty reasonably priced. The charcuterie plate is a little more on the expensive side, but not unreasonably so. It’s certainly worth what we paid.
Can’t wait to go again. Great date night spot. We went when it was pretty quiet, so I’m interested to see how they function when it’s packed.

We are walking down 9^th Avenue on Saturday and then go «Whoa…that wasn’t there before…» Low and behold, a new bottle shop/​bar called Milk and Hops had popped up. From looking through the window, it had us hooked so we had to check this one out not only once but twice as we came back on Sunday as well.
The layout is open and generous. There’s lots of space for seating but enough space to walk around some, as well as get into the bar… some might even say a bit of an unfinished feeling that works well for them actually. The impression is bright, not like a cave, and that is inviting. The walls to the left of the entrance are lined with coolers for take home beverages, small snacks to accompany them at home, etc. They have a pretty good cooler selection, I will go on to say a lot more diverse than the taps. I found a great Citizen Cider Full Nelson in the cooler I wanted to enjoy and took it up to the counter to pop open. Do note that there is a $ 2 corkage/​opening fee if you take something out of the cooler meant to take home but drink it there. I have mixed feelings on this one. Seems like that $ 2 a pop could add up but then again even with the fee, my choice was less than draft selections. There are plenty of draft beverages to choose from, around 10, ranging around $ 7 – 9 per serving (between 8 – 16 oz. depending on your beverage). They also have ³²⁄₆₄ oz. growlers available to take home as well. However I didn’t notice a lot of diversity. In fact three out of those selections were IPAs, others were darker type beers except a saison and a lager. Those that may like a wheat beer like a Hefeweisen or would like a cider, well, they were not represented. I just didn’t find a good fit except in the cooler but that selection rocked in there! It may have just been my timing and other times they may have more of a draft mix. They also have a nice selection of snack type foods, the meat plate (4 items) was a good choice and enjoyed it a lot. The venison pâté on there was a great surprise, tasty stuff! I asked if they could consider a smaller version of their The Works item with maybe only 2 cheeses and 2 meats, and they actually talked it over and considered looking at it for the future. Thumbs up on taking customer feedback, nice! It was a great place to chill and enjoy a few on a weekend afternoon, and the servers were very nice, attentive, and positive which is always a great plus.
Bottom line: I like Milk and Hops, a lot. So much that I would give them 4.5 stars but they just don’t make it to 5 full stars until I see more of a mix in the draft selections. Other than that, it’s a nice open inviting atmosphere with great cooler selections and awesome staff that even welcomes customer feedback. I am a big fan!

Brand new location, stumbled upon it while I was walking through Chelsea without realizing it was only open 4 days. Super friendly staff, super clean environment, and awesome beer draft list! They also have several coolers of individual beers that account for pretty much every variety including some rarer finds. They allow you to drink the bottled beer at the bar as well for a $ 2 corkage fee. Menu consists of sandwiches and elevated bar food as well as cheese pairings. Only thing I would change would be the option to order an individual cheese and it was a tad drafty, they may want to consider adding a storm door for the sake of bar guests, both smaller details. Will definitely be back!