Phil Hughes Bar

Definitely a cool place to come hang out. Most time bar is not too pack but usually with a cool crowd. Brian and James are the best!

I enjoy that locals – real NYC locals– frequent this bar. The bartenders are friendly and the bar has a respectable selection. Sports on the flatscreen are the norm, as is (usually good, for my taste) music from the jukebox.
The primary reason for 3 stars (rather than 4) is that this is a cash-​only establishment WITHOUT GIVING NOTICE to the clientele. I have no problem with a cash-​only policy, but there is no indication, either outside or inside the bar, that credit cards are not accepted. It’s 2016; either accept credit cards, or at least have the minimal courtesy of letting your customers know that you don’t.

James and Brian and Kathy bartenders are da bomb best. your replacement drink is on da way before u ask for it and jukebox is cool as hell.

Thats a cool place. I LOVE THE IPA
Staff is awesome… Enjoyed alot there.
Only negative point in this place is that they dont take credit card.
Common guys who keeps cash these days.
Please start accepting cash we will né here more often

Great neighborhood bar… super low key, semi-​divey, great jukebox and darts/​pool in the back. I actually love the clientele here. You’ll find pockets of people in their mid to late 20s here, but most of the people here are regulars that are 60+ I have yet to strike up a conversation with one of the regulars, but I can only imagine the stories you would get once you did. Cash only.

Okay… just to grab a beer to top off night. Way WAY to hot here. 97 degrees inside. It’s only 74 outside. No sense in that! To top it all off they do not accept credit cards. How the heck do you do that in NYC? Will not do this place again! 2 thumbs down and the proverbial rod and reel up to you!

I probably shouldn’t say this, but I don’t remember much at all from this bar except that I had a fantastic time.
Maybe that’s all that needs to be said.

My first Review. And I think this place deserves it. Nice neighborhood bar. Clean. Inecpensive. And the guy behind the bar was great. James I think is his name. going back for sure

Great neighborhood bar, very low key and divey but clean. I came when there was only a couple people here, I hear that’s a common occurance here, especially late nights. They’ve got good prices ($ 4 – 6 for drafts), a nice area set up for darts, and a pool table. Pool is pricer than I think I’ve ever seen at a dive ($ 2) but overall it’s a nice bar with a good vibe.

Well, looks like they finally put some money into this place and put in a new front door. The old door was a solid steel type that made this place look like a prison or strip club, while this new one is made mostly of glass and is wider. Gives it more of an inviting looking feel.
Still, Phil Hughes is the closest thing you will get to a dive bar on the Upper East Side. Salty group of older regulars still haunt it. Good bartenders slinging decent drinks and a proper pour of Guinness. The kind of place you could sit at and swap war stories with the older gents boozing it up at the bar.

Awesome local bar. Only dudes over 45 hang out in here and hustle the pool table. Had a great time, real low key and great bartender. I want to go here every day of the week.

There is something about Phil Hughes that makes me want to come back. I honestly only went there because I was looking for a bar that wasn’t crowded and was playing a basketball playoff game that I wanted to see, but I’m really glad I did. My husband and I were the youngest people there (late 20’s), and the next youngest were probably 50 – 60. My favorite part was the 80 – 90 year old woman singing loudly to the 50’s-60’s music and swaying back and forth in her bar stool. This isn’t a place where I’d go just for the heck of it, and even when I had a purpose I only stayed for an hour or so, but it was fun for the hour I was there. If your grandparents are around and looking for a happenin’ time in NYC then you should take them here.

While visiting NYC, a friend took me here and we had a great time! The bartenders are friendly and make great drinks. The bar is filled with many regulars who all know each other. If there is one drawback, it is that the regulars do not like you messing with the music that is playing. There is a jukebox on the wall, and they are usually playing standard fare from the 50s and 60s (ex. Frank Sinatra). If you come in and want to play something else (more modern), be prepared to be stared at! All and all, it was a fun place and I would def go back!

They open at 9am, or earlier. Can’t go wrong.

Salty beards and sultry folks
I walked into this place to see two cougars pushing up on a silverfox who was probably 60 years old. I also saw two grey haired dudes face planted on the bar. It was a site to witness.
All in all the bar is small and intimate. The drinks are reasonable, with a limited selection. This is an Irish pub that relies on consistent customers, they do otherwise take kindly to new patrons.
The Christmas lights add light to the otherwise drudgery bar. Its a great dive to hide out in, but not a place you wanna spend more then 45 minutes without a patrol officer.

Went here yesterday and it was just what I was looking for, a dive bar. This isn’t a dive to be ironic for hipsters to go slumming at, it is a bar for people who just want to have a drink and maybe some conversation but maybe not.
Strong drinks and a bartender who knows when to talk and when to shut the F up. Sometimes guys just want to be alone inside their whiskey or beer, and a proper bartender, and a proper patron can tell.
The place was plenty clean, had a pool table and some TVs and a juke box Irish folk tunes and Ave Maria. If what you want is a place to have a quiet drink and watch a game this is the place. If you want to day drink without being judged, this is the place.

Unilocal just had this thing in my email about ‘dive bars.’ And so all the featured reviews begin with ‘I love a good dive bar and…’
Great. Love to hear it. But somehow, when I see the rest of the review and the picture of the pretty little girl who wrote it, I have my doubts. Let them try this one. I’d love to see their review of a real –man’s– dive bar. This is the place to come when you’re alone. This is the place to be when you’re miserable. This is a place where your cross the portal with the intention, the mens rea, to get skunk drunk and no one will tell –or even notice. I know, in my heart, this is where I belong.
I step in once every few weeks after a very hard day at work. Others have noted that they’re the youngest by several decades. I’m that AND the only guy in a suit. But everyone’s nice. Beer is cheap and the cocktails are cheaper. Buybacks are allowed — an ever expanding rarity on the UES (especially among the Irish joints). Treat the bartender right though, ladies!
If you do come here, don’t destroy the abience of the place: this is not a loud frat-​hopping joint. Keep it chill and, at the bar, engage a geezer or two in conversation and remember: he was you, once. There are even a few she-​geezers.

A sports bar/​dive bar/​place where old drunks go to die, Phil Hughes sells pints of Bud for $ 3 and has a surprising amount of TV’s given the space. If you stop in here, chances are you’ll hear Irish music on the jukebox and find an Irish bartender mixing some strong drinks (just keep the drinks simple). It also opens really early just in case you wake up with a bad case of the shakes (most of the patrons do). Just one more note of advice, if an old guy with a white beer asks you to pull his finger, don’t. He actually just ends up shitting himself (I can’t believe he didn’t foresee that happening).

Everytime I’ve come here my friends and I have been by far the youngest people in the bar. The average age with us factored in is usually around 60. The same three or four old veterans are always lined up at the bar… usually smoking (I don’t know how this place gets away with that anymore), staring into space or reading a newspaper. They tend to ignore you unless you try to make conversation with them — when you will receive a nasty look or a simple grunt. The décor in here is simple. You walk in, there is a bar to your right, fold out tables in the center, a juke box to your left and a pool table at the back. My friends and I decided to play ABBA on the jukebox — big mistake — the veterans did not appreciate that. This place is great though — a true dive if I ever saw one — and the Irish bartender is always mixing up some great CHEAP drinks.

Scariest dive bar in NYC. You won’t find anyone in here younger than 50 unless it’s a prostitute. And even then… Only chronic alcoholics are welcome here. I stumbled inside out of curiosity (and drunken mirth) one late Saturday night and I was immediately regretting it. The bartender suggested I take my still-​full Budweiser out the door. I practically ran out.