The Downtown

I am a fan… live music. nice waitresses.good food. What else do you need.

Went during happy hour on SATURDAY !
They’re staff are nice and the place is very spacious

Location great. Cool, relaxed bar with several TVs.
That’s where it ends.
Service is horrible, even when not a lot of people. Food was ok.

Ive been therej a couple times. But recently called and asked for if they had happy hour, they said yes so i went. Well they gave me a happy hour menu, then came back to take order and said that most the stuff on menu was not available and the menu was a old one. So why give it to me. They charged 6 dollars for a blue moon wich is normal price, and sai only one beer was special price, so im still looking for the happy hour.

This review is for their Sunday brunch only/​lunch and atmosphere only, haven’t been for «nightlife», not sure I’m interested and I’m not the jersey cover band type.
For $ 15 they have a very generous brunch menu that comes with a breakfast cocktail. Yummy bloody Mary’s, mimosas and a few other options. I’m a Bloody Mary girl and really enjoyed.
Food: during their brunch I had a breakfast quesadilla that was GIANT and took up the entire plate, and very good. We sat right in the window and were able to kind of people watch and drink and relax. For lunch one day we had sushi which was really good for a «non sushi joint» — the sea Bright roll especially sticks out in our minds.
I guess the 4 stars is for the food/​atmosphere only.
staff can come off as a little inattentive or dare I say snotty (not speaking for everyone). On our last visit, the place had opened maybe a half hour prior so the brunch crowd was just coming in, we sat at the bar. The classy server with the belly shirt was standing at the end of the bar talking to coworkers and every other word out of her mouth was f-​ck. Now, I curse like a sailor sometimes, but A, not on the job unless you ARE a sailor and B, not in an establishment that is hardly open when everyone can hear your every word. It came off as childish, unprofessional and trashy. Seems run by 20somethings who partied too hard the night before. It’s as if their faces say «ugh» when another customer walks in. Like, shoot, we have to work.
Hope to be proven wrong in the future cus it’s a cool place.
In other news, music was great. Nice alternative non radio stuff (think the xx, Arctic Monkeys, Phoenix…)

Food was ok… Service is atrocious… They said there was no table service. But there were 3 girls that worked here dancing like morons by the bar. No one took our order, when we walked to the kitchen to order, the food came out wrong. They eventually came by to take plates, and asked us if we wanted drinks… they never came. We had to chase them down for the check, then they said they didn’t have one. It’s awful. Run by high school kids…

Went over to The Downtown yesterday for Happy Hour. The prices are good but the bar food/​appetizers were lacking. To be fair, the Thai wings were delicious, but the mac and cheese bites were dry and bland, and the sushi roll was not at all fresh tasting. As someone who frequents sushi places, I may have higher expectations, but this roll was dry, and very fishy tasting.
Having been there before for drinks or to see a band, I didn’t expect much, but don’t be conned into thinking it’s a «chic» place for sushi and cocktails.

I love the downtown — more so for food as opposed to going out (though it is a great going out spot). Personally I think Its great on a Thursday night if you just want a quick bite and to catch up with friends. It’s not too loud either inside which is great since you can have a conversation without having to shout. The nachos are out of this world and probably my favorite item on the menu. What’s even better and gross at the same time is that you can order sushi and nachos for the same meal and as weird of a combo it is, sometimes that just hits the spot and satisfies the inner fat kid inside. Other favorites are the jalapeño poppers and their grilled cheese — seriously I wish grilled cheese traveled well so I could get take out from here on a regular basis.
The prices are fair in my opinion but as other people mentioned, the cover charge to go upstairs is a bit ridiculous… But that’s usually only on the weekends (at least in my experience). Other than that I really cant complain and love that the food is consistently good and reasonably priced!

Today we went to downtown and it was great for happy hour. The nachos and house wine were awesome. Service was a bit of a problem when it became crowded but beforehand was great– would recommend for anyone looking for a chill environment to eat and drink.

I’ve been here a few times with friends, and the drinks do not disappoint. I have to hand it to the bar tenders: on a Saturday night when the place is packed, they really know how to efficiently handle everyone screaming drink orders at them! I ordered my drink, and it was ready in less than five minutes, and let me tell you the place was jammed!
However, that’s what I also don’t like about this place: it is always packed to the brim. I understand that on a Saturday night, what hot bar isn’t, but this made my friends and I feel like we were packed in liked sardines. But I get it, that’s what happens. We still had a great time!
Kudos to the staff to keep everything moving, when things are chaotic what with everyone packed in. Keep up the good work!

I have mixed feelings about the Downtown.
I really love the bar downstairs. I think it’s classy and the crowd is pretty good too. You can get service quickly and decent drinks for a decent price (a nice glass of champagne is $ 10, martinis are about $ 11). The ambiance is great. Also you can dress casually or dressy and not feel out of place.
The upstairs is a wildcard. The band changes regularly so the music is either good or awful. I came here on my birthday and the music was not good at all. The band sounded like drunk karaōke singers. The bartenders upstairs are rude and always understaffed (which contributes to the level of rudeness I’m sure). They make you wait FOREVER for a drink (like anywhere 15 – 25 minutes every time) I probably spent half the night waiting around at the bar.
Also– be prepared to pay a cover to get upstairs.
If you come here– stay at the downstairs bar.

The Downtown can make a decent drink and the atmosphere on the weekends is perfect for 20 somethings, but the food is just not good.
The burgers are consistently blah — under-​seasoned, not fresh. The fries that come with the dishes here are the frozen kind and they taste like the oil needs to be changed. There are some appetizers that are decent, but again nothing spectacular.
The service here is also way below par for the area. The bartenders are great and all very experienced, but the servers are terrible and consistently act (over quite a few visits) as if you are bothering them.
It is a shame because it is a funky little place that is very visually appealing. Sad to say we are going to cross this off our list for spots in Red Bank unless it is late night.

It’s my first time here and didn’t even stay 5 minutes. Place looked decent so we thought we’d give it a try, by «we» I mean 22 year old girlfriend and her 19 year old sister as well as my 29 year old self. To start we walked in and sat ourselves, a waitress came over with menus which were redic to even read because of how dark it was, but she kindly asked if we would like drinks, they both ordered a fountain soda and for myself I took advantage of their happy hour specials. $ 5 vodka drink, as she is to ask for ID I was ready with it out. Then she asked «can I see everyone’s ID»? I told her i ordered the drink and her reply was «you can order that but you can’t sit at the same table? Wtf?! Bad form here. So down the road we went … See my other review for the place I went too.

I was pleasantly surprised with this place. The burger was excellent (lean meat with not much of seasoning, which most people may not like) and the Tuesday burger special with a fresh bowl of salad and beer for $ 13 was great!

We walked in and were the only ones standing by the hostess area for over five minutes until someone came by. We sat by the open window which we all really liked. The waitress came over rather fast and took our drinks orders. Mixed drinks were great. Shortly after we ordered. Not impressed by the food. The sushi is expensive, smaller than normal size rolls and average. We ordered the downtown burger which had a weird sauce and was way over cooked. The short rib nachos were really good. A big plus is they mark all the gluten free items on the menu. The bar was hoping and have several TV’s showing sports. Food was very average and on the expensive side for what we ordered. Probably won’t be making another trip back.

Ordered the burger special on Tuesday night. Asked for medium and got well done. People were super nice about their mistake so I asked for another burger, this time medium rare. Came back well done again :(
Overall the food looked great but was tasteless. I needed to add salt to everything. The burger was dry. The roll dry as well and crumbled like saw dust as I attempted to eat it.
Then the live music began. I don’t know which was worse, the music or the poor singer dying on stage as he played up to a totally unresponsive audience.
Establishment was freezing cold and then they opened the windows and it was hot and sticky.
Awful experience, but again the people were super nice!

D the Bartender was nice and friendly. He made our visit very pleasant.
Sushi was fresh and delicious !! Guacamole w/​chips were pretty good too. Funny how the wine you drink at home taste better at a bar.
We waited for some friends and he helped them as well. I would go back.

Stopped in here for Sunday brunch on a nice spring day with the boyfriend.
What initially got us in the door was their $ 14 brunch menu that included an entrée and one brunch cocktail. We are all about some bloodys (which didn’t disappoint) so decided to get a table. While there were some items that sounded tasty on the brunch menu, it was pretty limited so we decided to order off the regular menu instead.
The menu had a ton of different options and lots of good things for sharing. I did find it a bit interesting how there was a sushi menu on one side and the other half was pretty standard American bar food.
After reading other Unilocal reviews we decided to order the short ribs nachos for an appetizer. They were pretty good but we found ourself running out of toppings and a much needed salsa not too far in. We ended up having to ask a server to bring our additional pico since we were stuck with a big pile of naked tortilla chips.
We then shared a spicy chicken cheesesteak, was on a good roll with chipotle mayo and a generous portion of seasoned Rosemary fries. Only complaint was could of used more of the grilled jalapeños.
Our server was attentive and friendly, so all around good experience.

I did not eat here so this review is only based on the late night scene.
I came in here with a group of girlfriends after bar hopping around Red Bank. The bar itself is in the center of the first floor and pretty big. There are also tables wrapping around the room. If you are lucky enough to get there early you may score a table. If you are sitting at a table a server takes care of you and saves you a trip to the bar. The drinks were good and the prices seemed reasonable. There are even a few televisions to watch in the event there’s a sporting event.
There is an upstairs but my friends and I did not try it out. The cover is $ 10 which is a little steep for a bar in Red Bank. The bouncer was nice enough to let my friend walk upstairs and check out the scene before we made our final decision about going upstairs. There was a band playing upstairs and after about 11pm most of the people entering the bar headed straight upstairs.
This is definitely a popular place in Red Bank. If you are in the area I would recommend at least stopping by for a drink.

The Downtown is quite the oddity in Red Bank.
If you go during lunch or on a weekday night, Downtown is enjoyable, with some decent non-​Italian food, which the area is rife with, including tapas-​style small plates, perfect noshing while drinking some draft beers. In the spring and summertime, the large windows will be open, allowing a lovely breeze to circulate and opening a view of the streets of downtown Red Bank.
On the other hand, dare to go to Downtown on a weekend night and it’s as if it’s a completely different place. There’s a line out the door to get in, a sign that it is packed to capacity inside, which begs the question, WHY would you want to go in? It’s impossible to get a drink, let alone a seat, as the bar is at least two to three people deep. There’s an upstairs portion, but even that gets roped off for an extra charge. And the worst part? The music. The loud, ear-​splitting music. I feel like an old soul in a young body saying this, but it’s way too loud, like you-can’t-hear-your-thoughts loud.
Service has been just okay in my experience and on occasion, it’s nice to grab a drink at a bar instead of a BYO place. And aside from Jamian’s, which can be too loud, or Dublin House which does not have great food, or if you didn’t want sushi from Sogo, Red Bank has way too many mediocre Italian restaurants and Downtown can be a welcome change from that. It’s not innovative and even in it’s slower times when it’s more enjoyable, it can still draw a douchey crowd. It’s horrendous at its worst times, and only okay at its best times, not great. But honestly, Red Bank, at times, has left us with no other choice.
I just can’t wait until 10^th Avenue Burrito moves in.