Blind Tiger

ferrari29

Illinois

3.84/5  rDev -12.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

This place gets packed quick, so get here in a hurry and make sure you save space for your friends. It become really hard to move after a while, especially on a Friday. Atmosphere is very cozy, a very dimly lit, small and quaint. Solid wood decor lines the bar counter, walls and beams. Cask ales are available here and they have a big selection of beers available on tap. If there is one knock on this place its that everything is either served in a conical shaped pint glass or a mug. I had an imperial stout, from a cask, served in a mug. Not really the appropriate glass for this type of beer and it was very watery and warm. No head and very liquid, almost like flavored water. Not sure that a beer place like this would be serving this kind of beer, but I thought they would be gracious enough to not serve the butt-end of the cask. Especially if its been sitting there for a while. Check this place out if your in the area. Good stuff.

11-05-2011 23:35:06 | More by ferrari29

punkindrublic50

New York

3.85/5  rDev -12.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $$

Blind Tiger is definitely one of the go to beer bars in Manhattan. Good selection of taps, decent amount of bottles and always a cask or two on tap. Ambiance in pleasant - dark stained hardwood, very restrained overall. Unfortunately it is very popular and therefore almost always fairly crowded. Expect to wait a few minutes to get a beer, and quite a few if you are looking for a seat. There is a good selection of munchies available, but this isn't a place to go to for dinner. Prices are comparable to the other main NYC beer bars.

In short: definitely worth a trip if you've never been, worth stopping by if you're in the area, but not exceptionally better than its competition (Copperfields, Rattle n Hum, Ginger Man) and expect a crowd.

04-14-2010 15:25:17 | More by punkindrublic50

TurdFurgison

Ohio

3.86/5  rDev -12.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$$

I stopped here with a friend while in town in July 2007. I knew we'd be in the Greenwich Village area, so I beerfly'd and here we were.

There were about 20-25 taps and 2-3 casks, maybe also bottles but I didn't see the bottles list. The taps included mostly USA microbrews (Smuttynose, DogFishHead, Brooklyn, etc) and the casks were Brooklyn Brown and some local IPA. The beers were generally high enough quality to satisfy anyone but weren't rare enough to make you seek the place out. Anyway it's a decent stop. If anything it's a little smallish, with seating for 40 and was totally packed on a Sunday night.

07-24-2007 02:55:43 | More by TurdFurgison

redmagik99

California

3.91/5  rDev -10.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

this place has been packed to the brim every time ive been which of course isn't a fault of the bar, just not pleasant for everyone in it..it's cool that there are so many people who know good beer in here. you do get the occasional guy in suit drinking a hefe with a lemon in it, but whatever. can't complain about the service. selection is pretty amazing, one of the best in nyc, but my main problem with the place is the pricing/value. i dunno what the last guy was talking about, but i don't think there are any $5 pints here. they run from $6-10, and more than half the time they don't even give you a full pint, just a 10 oz snifter. i know of no happy hour prices, and maybe you have to ask for the free cheese or something because ive never seen any. this is a cool place to go to if youre visiting ny but as a new yorker there are other good bars with better value.

07-24-2008 16:34:43 | More by redmagik99

bkett01

Massachusetts

3.93/5  rDev -10.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$

Smaller than I expected, but a nice small pub atmosphere welcomes you as you step in. There is a large chalkboard on the wall (bottle list) in the far side of the room as well as a larger one hanging over the bar (draught list).
I went on a Sunday afternoon and it wasn't very busy until I left around 4. Only 1 bartender was working the place (food and drink must be ordered at the bar) so service was (understandably) slow.
The beer selection was great, heavily tilted to Sly Fox beers which I had not tried before, but still a large variety of beers to choose from on the draught list. Bottle list was very pricey, so I did not really comb through it. Had DFH 90 through the Randall, which lived up to it's billing. Food was average, and I had a grilled cheese with bacon that was reasonably priced.
Nice place, worth a stop if you're in the area.

08-31-2009 18:21:39 | More by bkett01

beeritron

California

3.99/5  rDev -9.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | $$

We walked around trying to find this place for about an hour. Once we got there we were definitly impressed. A small establishment with big character. The pub is decorated with dark woods and brewerania. We sat at a high top table on worn wooden stools. Since it was a nice, summer day, the windows were open and a warm breeze was working its way through the bar. I was amazed to see so many beers on tap in such a small place. I was also amazed that I had only tried a few of the selections and had a lot of east coast to choose from. The place was busy at happy hour, so we didn't get the attention from the bartender like you would hope. After being there for 2+ hours, I wasn't ready to leave, but another pub was beckoning. So goes the life of a wandering beer drinker.

09-11-2007 01:43:53 | More by beeritron

Lare453

Florida

3.99/5  rDev -9.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5 | $$$

Good daft selection, but poor bottle selection. The staff rocks. They are the nicest people and are super knowledgeable. Food is pretty good too. My biggest complaint is that it is very small and there is limited seating and limited bar space to order a beer...

I've been there a few times and I would definitely go back but during off times when I can get to the bar. The prices here are a bit high too but it's the city so it is expected...

Wile the bar is awesome, the clientele are mostly hipsters and d bags, with a few nice people mixed in.

The other plus that they usually have 2 or more cask ales which is hard to find most places.

10-02-2012 14:15:09 | More by Lare453

Yetiman420

Ohio

4/5  rDev -8.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

The weekend of July 12 – 14 2007, my wife and I visited The Ginger Man, Rebar @ The Retreat, Blind Tiger Ale House, and Hop Devil Grill (not the Belgian side). I’ve listed them in our overall ranking. We’re in our early and mid 30’s, I travel frequently and always incorporate good beer into my journey’s be it work or pleasure.

Had a major problem at the Blind Tiger because they ran out of 4 beers in my 1 hour visit. It was almost funny that every beer I ordered was out or blew during the pour. I'm giving average marks because the tables were dirty, the beer needed to be changed, and the doorman was sitting outside doing nothing (could have changed taps for the single bartender). I'll make a return visit on my next trip to NYC - they had a lot of really good beers "on tap."

07-17-2007 00:01:03 | More by Yetiman420

Stoneman78

California

4/5  rDev -8.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$$

This was the second stop of our NYC pub crawl, and we were there for about an hour. To be honest, I wasn't blown away by Blind Tiger, but I think I had too high expectations based on the reviews. It was pretty small, almost cramped. The bar was quite crowded and the rest of the space was taken up by tables. The selection seemed decent, but the craft beers weren't much different from Ginger Man. There did seem to be quite a lot of Belgian beers. The service seemed average as did the snack food we got. I am hoping I missed out on some of the appeal of this bar, and would definitely give it a second try in the future. But for this trip, I was pretty underwhelmed.

01-26-2008 20:21:13 | More by Stoneman78

blackie

Virginia

4/5  rDev -8.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

atmosphere: visited the Blind Tiger after dinner nearby, it was absolutely packed and yell-at-your-partner-two-feet-away loud around 11 on a Friday night, shoulder to shoulder and constantly having to shuffle aside for somebody coming through, much more enjoyable after - by pure luck of proximity to a departing group - managing to snag a table, pretty cool interior, dark with heavy wooden tables and a stone fireplace with various framed posters hanging about, small bar, seems to primarily serve a generally laid-back neighborhood clientele

quality: no big complaints here, they could find something better than a heavy handled mug to serve their cask ales in, my weizen was served in an appropriate glass

service: took way too long to get a drink, approaching ten minutes, and it's never fun to have to yell over those seated at the bar to place your order, it's expected that ordering will take awhile when there's a crowd, but hiring a second bartender seems like the obvious solution

selection: quality draft selection with a wide range of American micros on draft, a few cask ales, an interesting vintage list including Smoke from the Oak, and a nice variety of bottles; of particular interest were the Bruery Cuvee Jeune on cask, GI Bourbon County draft, Defiant Single Finger IPA, and the local Chelsea IPA. Check the website for an up-to-date listing.

prices were resonable, ~$6 for my cask pour of Cuvee Jeune and the same for a large glass of Broolyn Weizen

gripes aside, I can tell this place takes beer seriously and would recommend it to anybody who has the opportunity to stop in

04-21-2009 04:12:41 | More by blackie