Heartland Brewery Union Square

tigg924

Massachusetts

3.78/5  rDev +3.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$$

Popped in here in between trains the last couple of Fridays. The inside of Heartland brewery reeks chain. That said you would never know you were in New York. The place has a big bar and plenty of seating with tvs abound. The crowd struck me as a lot of business people and workers who were on their lunch break. The atmosphere is nothing that will win you over. The beer selection has five regular beers and four specialty taps. The beer is hit and miss. While the oatmeal stout blew me away, the honey porter was forgettable. I had a couple other beers there as well and it was very either much good or average. What does strike you is that pints—as well as everything else is expensive in New York. Most pints averaged $7 while seasonals were $7.50. I did try the food and had the mac and cheese. While small in size compared to most restaurants, this was very tasty. The chefs know what they are doing. I was also super impressed by the service. I sat by the bar and let the barkeep know I had a train to catch. Both times the plate was out quick and tasted great. He also answered all my questions about the beer. Heartland is certainly worth a stop, especially if you have a layover at Penn Station. Not the best brewery I have been to, but certainly not the worst.

04-14-2011 13:55:39 | More by tigg924

jneiswender

Massachusetts

3.28/5  rDev -9.9%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5 | $$$$

Went here on a recent trip to New York. Did not go to the Union Square location but the location north of times square.

Atmosphere is nice. I was able to get a table quickly. Service was also good. I ate here and had the fish and chips which were I must say in my top five places for fish and chips. Really well prepared.

The beers were hits and misses (see reviews). Lagers were ho hum to weird but the porters and dark beers were very good to excellent.

Biggest gripe. The price. Absolutely ridiculous. I spent almost $60 here for fish and chips, a flight and two pints. Granted. Alot to consume but that much?! Food and drinks were way too expensive. Gouging. I know it's new york city but come on.

03-17-2012 02:19:36 | More by jneiswender

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev +3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$$

Six locations in NYC. Out of the three I've been to, my favorite is the Chophouse at Times Square (43rd between B'way & 6th). This one is in Union Square, and I've been there a few times. Like it's sister establishment, pretty cllassy joint, nice casual atmosphere, tasty homebrewed beer, pleasant seasonals, and good good food. Each Heartland is set up differently as thus has a different atmosphere. This location has two floors (including a balcony), but is somewhat smaller than the other locales, and this more on the busy side, and I often have to stand a while before even a bar seat opens up. As with the other locales, I'd imagine that really serious beer pursuers wouldn't bother with this place too much (hike over to Blind Tiger instead perhaps), but I think it's definitely worth hitting up the Heartland when you're in the city. As usual, a little on the pricey side, but not too bad.

04-29-2011 19:27:11 | More by Rifugium

jjboesen

Maryland

3.15/5  rDev -13.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 2 | selection: 3 | food: 4 | $$

Before moving their brewery operations across the river to Brooklyn, this NYC chain made beers on site. The Union Square restaurant was their first; currently, Heartland has locations across from Radio City, off Times Square, near the Port Authority, in the tourist-choked Empire State Building and at South Street Seaport, in the same space that was once home to the much lamented North Star Pub. (Sigh.)

At Union Square, one finds a crowded bi-level with a long bar on the right. At the end are brewing tanks - I guess they are there for show (or something.) Opposite are the tidy restrooms. The customers ran the gamut of drunken tourists, obnoxious douche bags, and the ubiquitous phone-cows, those blathering females with cell phones permanently attached to their yammering maws. If you seek quiet conversation, or solace and contemplation, go elsewhere.

While never overwhelming, Heartland beers are decent, nevertheless; they offer the same beers at all locations: on my visit (January 2011), there were six taps, which included a black lager, a wheat, an IPA and a very tasty Oatmeal Stout - it won an award at the GABF, I believe.

The best thing you could say about the service was that it was indifferent; perhaps, if one exploded into flames through spontaneous combustion, the bartender may sleepily glance over - just bring your own water in case. The menu was the usual: nothing to write home about, unless your relatives or friends have a strange interest in stereotypical pub grub. I had fish and chips, which sated me for the evening.

In any case, I don't imagine myself returning here - I prefer the Radio City location. Still, it got the job done.

02-11-2011 22:06:33 | More by jjboesen

RavenBrew

Rhode Island

4.64/5  rDev +27.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Went to NYC for a Yankees/Red Sox game. The wife and I hit a few places, but I really wanted to try the Heartland Brewery. Walking in I found it to be very spacy. The bar was packed so we sat at the side bar on some stools. I had a smiling pumpkin ale and I found to be quite good. The staff was extremely nice and very helpful with the menu. When space opened up at the main bar, the bartender saved the seats and waved my wife and I over to.

I also had a Red Rooster Ale which was excellent as well. Great place if you like craft beers. They also had the sample paddles so you can try a variety of the brews made at this location

09-29-2010 03:01:44 | More by RavenBrew

HUXC

New York

4.14/5  rDev +13.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

I went there on a Wednesday afternoon for a friend's birthday. Friendly staff sat us right away. There is plenty of seating upstairs and downstairs. It was a bit pricey, but that's expected of any bar in Manhattan. They have a wide selection of signature and seasonal beers that have flavors as unique as their names. I didn't order any food, but I did take a look at the menu and the variety of food is typical of most bars you might find in New York City. All in all it was a very pleasant experience.

09-14-2010 01:15:50 | More by HUXC

msannacorson

California

3.88/5  rDev +6.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

I went here with my gf and her friend. We sat outside and waited a little until we recieved menus. Once we did though, we all ordered the Seasonal Voyage, which consisted of a 5 oz tasting of all 6 of their house brews plus their Empire Seasonal as well as another seasonal of your choice. I chose the Wildflower Wheat and my gf had the Apricot (which tasted like candy). With our beer we enjoyed fried dill pickle spears with ranch, the perfect greasy combo! Overall we really enjoyed the place, the beer, and those fried pickles! I would definitely go back.

08-15-2010 21:45:41 | More by msannacorson

dpkpr

Texas

3.8/5  rDev +4.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$

First let me say that I don't look down my nose at a place that caters to a typical business and tourist crowd to keep the cash registers ringing. As others have pointed out, the vibe here is not unlike you would find at any of the cookie cutter national chains -- only this place makes its own beer. What an idea!

The big strike against it on our visit was that although there was no room in the bar and plenty of tables, they would not let us sit at a table without ordering food. What's with that? Okay, so we split a salad and it was very good. We tried a couple of the beers -- the seasonal Irish Ale which had the mouthfeel like it might have been on cask (I didn't ask) and was great, and the IPA, which was more than passable.

We were there after work on a Thursday and the crowd was a bit post-grad frat boyish. I joked that I felt we might have stumbled on a casting call for the men competing in the next Bachelorette show. Just trying a bit too hard.

We could have gone back a bunch of times during our visit to New York, but chose the many other local pubs. I will go back next time, but it wasn't the best place we visited.

03-31-2010 04:41:37 | More by dpkpr

rickfrothingham

New Jersey

2.63/5  rDev -27.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 1.5 | service: 3 | selection: 2.5 | food: 4 | $$$

As one other reviewer pointed out, "The Heartland Brewery is the Applebees of brewpubs;" i couldn't agree more. The atmosphere is just fine, its a pretty standard bar with good TV's, a nice warm feel to it, and a glass wall which encases the brewing operation. The food was fine, as was the service, but the major flaw here is the quality of the beer.

Our server came by the table and asked if we had any questions about the beers, and I asked if their IPA was more of an American or English IPA. He didn't really understand the difference and responded with a generic "well, IPA's have a lot of hops in them" answer. Yikes.

I went with 5 friends and we ordered a variety of their standard and seasonal brews, and I tried all of them. I wasn't impressed by any of their offerings, though the Red Rooster ale stood out as probably the best of the ones we tried (also the Barley Wine was surprisingly good). The main problem was just a lack originality or character... every offering they had tasted like a watered down, cheaply produced version of the style, and left me with the impression of a homebrew extract recipe kit rather than what you'd expect from a self respecting brew pub. They cater less to the good beer drinking crowd and more to the uneducated beer drinker that just wants the perception of drinking good beer.

For the price, you can definitely find better beers on tap at any variety of bars in the area. Skip this one.

02-27-2010 22:36:45 | More by rickfrothingham

david18

New York

3.4/5  rDev -6.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 3 | $

There's a good beer feel here, it's a brewery/brew pub after all, but that's about the best I can say about this place.

The atmosphere is all about beer but the brews themselves are not great. The selection is interesting, strange and eclectic and but the quality is very mixed. I think their best beer is the stout, which have a very good smokey quality to it.

I was once at one of their places and they had a double ipa. Not bad either. In general however, this place does not deliver on the promise i assume most people hope for.

07-20-2009 21:07:36 | More by david18