Croxley's Ale House & Eatery

ryantaussig

New York

3.83/5  rDev -7.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 2 | $$$

Croxley Ales is more of a sports bar than anything else, but with the boom in interest in craft beers it was only a matter of time for a sports bar to catch the drift and put some real effort into offering good beers. The servers are generally attentive and are usually moderately knowledgeable. If it gets busy, there will be wait time. The selection is large, but it is second to The Good Life in nearby Massapequa Park, though, it is worth noting that Croxley Ales does have more taps than any other bar in the area. The food is not worth bothering with. It's standard bar fare that is less than well prepared. Expect mostly grease.

Overall a great place to visit, just don't eat there.

10-02-2010 19:19:29 | More by ryantaussig

steelerguy

New York

4.4/5  rDev +6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

This place is the best I have gone to on Long Island for beer selection, and one of the best I have ever gone to period.

It definitely has that sports bar feel, so if you are not into that well...you won't like the atmosphere. I am a big sports fan and all the TVs with games on work for me.

I have not gotten a bad beer there, meaning wrong temperature or improper carbonation, all foam...etc. These beers come from the tap right on.

Service is nothing special, but it is fast and that is even when they are busy. I don't need someone making sure I am doing okay every 2 minutes, as long as you get me what I need with minimal wait I am happy.

The selection is amazing! The number of great beers they have on top is extraordinary and if they don't have it on tap you can order from a very nice selection of bottled beers, many Belgian or speciality and hard to find. The bottled beers can be a bit expensive though.

I have only had wings there, they are good. They are not great or even really good...but at 10 cents on a Wednesday night, I am not going to complain. Leaves plenty of extra coin for beer.

If you order from the taps and I don't see why you wouldn't, expect to pay $6 a pint. Not cheap, but for the quality of beer and the selection, I think this is very reasonable.

03-12-2010 00:42:12 | More by steelerguy

RPIdemon

New York

4.6/5  rDev +10.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

This is my go-to place for multiple reasons. The selection is pretty solid and gives you a wide range to choose from depending on your mood or what you're eating. The beer menu has very brief descriptions of the beers so you know what you're getting into. The staff can give slightly further descriptions of the beers and will help you pair with what you're eating. Although I'm not a fan of sports, this place gives you many many screens to watch, even though they only have 4 channels going on at once. The music works well enough for me, and the clientele thankfully isn't the rowdy kind. 10 cent wings on Mondays and Wednesdays after 5 pm, with the minimum at 15 wings/order. Beautiful.

A good place for beer lovers, and an even better place to relax. The bartender automatically tells me the freshest stuff on tap whenever I walk in. She's the best.

02-27-2010 16:52:13 | More by RPIdemon

DRINKSAROUND

New York

3.9/5  rDev -6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$$

I enjoy going to Croxleys whenever I can. I like the 64 taps to choose from but thats about all I drink there bc alot of the bottle prices are not worth it. Although the tap selection keeps you busy with plenty of stlyes to choose from. The food is good and the service isnt bad. I did have one bad experience their when a hostess was rude to a few people I was with but her co-workers informed me she wasnt very nice. Another complaint is that I've been going there since it opened and havent really noticed the beer menu changing up at all. Overall this is the best place to go around that has a huge craft/import selection and some good food.

01-23-2010 07:51:52 | More by DRINKSAROUND

slander

New York

3.83/5  rDev -7.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

On the heels of SSS (Seasonal Southampton Sunday), what goes out, must come back in. First all Pathogued and working westward still, surely there's something doing in Nassau, I saw not before. Maybe something Southern State accessible, along the return corridor although I'll deviate if whatever for. And you know there's that Croxley's; no, not that one and no, not that one...

Passed (that was it, there) and back (I'll turn around here) and parked (just past, easy get away) and in (through the corral doors) to the outside pen, 5 black steel cross hatched roundy tables here. Entering past there through the funny glass garage doors open over Main Street, Farmingdale, into the large open room, sterile, and sure to be filled with considerably more of the folks here now when not now, Sunday afternoon.

"L" shaped white marble topped bar along the left wall, seating upwards of a dozen and a half on backless Randy stools. Brick wall barback, with 2 white marble panels holding 34 taps each, alternating up down up down, and center shelving in between with booze over glassware, a dirty Jager dispenser below, and more booze & glassware displayed on the ends. A row of 7 flatscreens above the bar, lined with strung red, white & blue starred garland, and drop lantern lamps over the bar seating.

An adjacent bar counter of the same white marble play sits across the room seating a dozen, with 3 booths beyond and 3 tables on the back wall; rows of flatscreens lined above all the seating, just so you don't accidentally not look at a TV no matter which way you look. Past there in a side room; 3 booths on the inside wall, 5 tables in the middle, and 5 booths on the far wall. Far booths are deep for larger wing eating parties, as are the 3 tables to the rear sharing common benchage. And another stretch of seating, down past the bar; 8 booths on the far wall & a dozen+ tables from the rear & forward across the way. Drop lamps over the seating areas, bland everywhere brewery signage & pub signs, some of them spinning, and some of them glowing neons, and seriously, flat screens everywhere & in between. Lots of brick and, well, I thought, I think its black painted everything else but it might be a slate gray blueish & black panel walls, pillars, booths, ceilings, duct work blending & hanger rafters.

68 taps in all, roughly ½ of them craftish, evenly split in thirds by local (Blue Point, Captain Lawrence, Brooklyn, Six Point), regional (DogFishHead, Sam Adams, Yuengling, Smuttynose, Sly Fox, Magic Hat, Troegs, Geary's), and beyond (Leinenkugels, Flying Dog, Anchor, Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, Oskar Blues, Goose Island, Green Flash, Abita, Mendocino). The other ½ are a mix of mostly bland & unexciting imports, Belgians, German, UK, and elsewhere (the best of the lot being, maybe Paulaner Salvator Dopplebock or Grimbergen Double), plus an offensive collection of beer cocktails for which some body should be punched. In the neck. Repeatedly. And without mercy.

Also, 3 dozen bottles, with fine fine descriptions. 10 Belgians, including Orval (Orange Amber color with hints of juniper, lemon and flowers. Crispy light body with a touch of bitter hops). I think I'll just wait for no one to drink them and go collect them aged, thank you. What else, what else? Oh, Duvel (Belgian golden ale, refreshing and golden like a pilsner, but with the depth and complexity of an ale. Bottle conditioned), and Delirium Tremens too (The flavor was cloves, banana and peppery with pungent hops. Crisp carbonation right off with a medium-light body. Nice dry finish). And 3 Canadian (including Peche Mortel), 7 Germs, 5 English, and 11 American micros (Stone Arrogant Bastard, Brooklyn-Schneider Hopfen Weisse & Local 1, Omme, Hennie & Rare Vos, Rogue Dead Guy, Hazelnut Brown & Mocha Porter, Long Trail Double IPA, and something just called Biere De Mars, a 750 going for $36, doesn't say what or from whom, although the description reads "Wild yeast, tartness, funky dry hopping & touch of space dust" so I'm narrowing in on it as we speak).

Had a Sixpoint Righteous Rye, Dave had the Green Flash Hop Head Red, and said of it, "In fine shape, as always". Don't know if that's sarcasm, he is Witzel after all. And then I had the Blue Point Hoptical Illusion (that bitch was nicely hoppy), and the Goose Island Honkers Ale for Dave, as expected (though I don't know why it would be). We split a cubic assload of wings just because, settling on medium. They were crispy good and they were tasty and I hardly cried. And they were of the 20 cents each variety which is of the not suck. Tunes, from country to Cult and hey, Woodstock is 40 this year, I thought, on hearing "Somebody to Love" and Joe Cocker doin', "With a little help from my friends" just after that. The place was pretty dead on sports bar Sunday, so the crowd wasn't offensively just that. Not the worst place to be stuck beering. It's Croxley's is all.

07-05-2009 17:02:24 | More by slander

BeTheBall

Massachusetts

3.6/5  rDev -13.3%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$

Stopped for dinner Wednesday night after a full day at Bethpage Black for a practice round. Atmosphere was sort of cheap, concrete floor with plain round tables in the back half, a crowded long bar with more tables in the front half. Very loud, no doubt in part due to the hard floors and walls. Had to almost yell to talk to my brother at our table; I hate that.

Beer selection was certainly better, much better than average with about 20-30 drafts and dozens of bottles. That being said, I kind of struggled to find what were to me intersting beers to drink. I had one IPA that I couldn't finish (can't now remember what it was), but had a Stone IPA that was great, along with a couple of other beers. The waitress was friendly and attentive.

We ate 20 wings that were 10 cents each, their special that night, then each had a sandwich. Food was decent, nothing special, but nothing bad. I gather that this is the best beer selection in Farmingdale, and is certainly better than anything near where I live in Mass., so cheers to them for being there.

All in all a decent place to put a few down, nice selection and decent pub food if you can handle the roar of the crowd.

06-23-2009 17:41:47 | More by BeTheBall

rasta16ry

New York

3.73/5  rDev -10.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 2.5 | $$$

This is the Croxley's closest to where I live, so I go there if I want the biggest selection around. It's not the most unorthodox selection, but definitely the biggest.

The atmosphere is usually cool and fun, but it's best in the summer. The warehouse-type feel can sometimes be a little cold and echo-y if it's not full enough in the winter, but in the summer they open up the garage doors and put some tables outside and it's a really nice place to have a beer. Put the earplugs in when the stupid LIRR comes by though; the track is like 15 feet away.

Croxley's usually have a bunch of good beers - always a couple from each local like BPBC, Sixpoint, Brooklyn and even Southampton sometimes. Then they have stuff like Green Flash and usually have a couple of interesting things to try. They had Oaked Double Bastard on cask when I was last there, which was awesome, and they usually have cask Old Speckled Hen. Mr. Body Massage Machine, go!

There are a couple of drawbacks. The space is huge, so sometimes it's a less than warm atmosphere. The food is not something I would go out of my way to have. And the staff is usually not helpful beer-wise. For beer questions, I follow my usual procedure and try to get one of the male bartenders.

02-01-2009 12:24:20 | More by rasta16ry

mattthunder

New York

3.9/5  rDev -6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

Good beer bar. Good spot. First off, the location is easy to get too by car or train. Their is ample parking in the area, though the lot can get crowded, especially Sunday afternoons.

The food is pretty good, and reasonably priced. 10 cent wings on Monday & Wed. With 20 cents on saturdays and sundays during the football games.

There is also a great Sunday brunch which includes all you can drink, unfortunately that only applies to Croxley Blonds, mimosas, bloody marys and screwdrives.

We go here regularly, and it seems they are finally starting to switch the taps up, which is a good sign.

My biggest negative is uneducated bartenders.

01-20-2009 05:50:38 | More by mattthunder

dgthompson

New York

4.9/5  rDev +18.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

I had traveled to their other locations often, so when I saw they were opening one right in my hometown I was very excited. great bar, great selection (100+ beers, not one of them Bud/Miller/Coors). Almost all the beers are top notch. I've had about 30 f them so far and only a couple I didn't like. The people that work there are very friendly and efficient. The food is good too. Their wings are the best around. Bar area can get a little crowded on typical busy bar nights, but worth the crowd. A lot of TV's, great place to watch the game.

11-29-2008 15:05:07 | More by dgthompson

plaid75

New York

3.83/5  rDev -7.7%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$$

Located on Main Street, Farmingdale just south of the LIRR tracks. Plenty of parking in the rear, but strangely no rear entrance. For those who know the area, it occupies the former Downtown space.

The space itself is huge with about 3/4 of the area devoted to dining. The bar area is spacious, although there is limited seats at the bar itself. However, there are ledges and stools to pick up the slack. Very industrial in design.

The draft list is typical for Croxley's - 50+ beers on tap, with a handful of seasonals mixed in. While this may seem like a good thing, and it obviously is, don't expect to sample the cuttng edge in craft beer at Croxley's. Other than the seasonals (which are the same every year by the way), the beer list hardly changes.

The wings were good (they always are) and the prices were toward the higher side, as with the other locations.

There was only one bartender on duty to cover the roughly 25 patrons at the bar as well as the table orders. I have noticed this at all the LI locations. So needless to say, it was a bit difficult getting a beer.

10-22-2008 14:15:28 | More by plaid75