Cerveceria Havemeyer

I found this restaurant very charming, with bench seating and wonderful staff members. The chicharrón and hot sauce substituted for the typical chips and salsa, which I found surprisingly delightful. For the entreé, I ordered three tacos: asada, tinga and hongos. The beef, chicken and mushrooms were seasoned just right and filled my stomach with much satisfaction. The margarita clasica was my drink of choice. It was just strong enough to relive some stress. The only flaw of this fine restaurant was the cash only policy.

Cool place with good food and good drinks ruined by the following:
We have been here a few times for happy hour and they are SO STRICT about their policy that it comes off PETTY, ridiculous… and almost makes you want to get up and never come back! We always come with at least a group of four and we always spend a good amount of money, but even with the place empty… they feel they have to enforce their policies like fascists! (literally my watch was at 6:56 and theirs said 6:58…which apparently made it too late to place another happy hour order because it ended at 7! Also — if you do the 2×1 margaritas, you have to have finished your second one, before you can order again. My friend chugged his, and they still said NO!
Loosen up! You are losing good customers. My friends that I recommended the place to don’t want to come back!
One of the only remaining CASH ONLY spots. Most, if not all, places in Williamsburg that used to be cash only have changed their policy… as card readers have been readily available since the beginning of the millenium and since you can even attach a card reader to a cell phone. Choosing not to take cards in 2016, in WILLIAMSBURG! …just tells your clients you could care less about them and their convenience!

Terrible service/​waiter on 1÷26÷16 at 8pm. Cool bartender. Poor heating. Good music. Ok food. Strong drinks!

Was really craving a taco and decided to walk down the street and try some place new: Cerveceria Havemeyer is SO good! Great atmosphere here, strong margaritas & cheap tacos! I enjoyed the diablo shrimp, al Pastor and vegetarian tacos – I’ll definitely be back. Note: CASH ONLY! But ATMs are closeby.

Had the best taco, margarita, chips and guacamole experience last night! Our server (s) were so friendly and the tacos were ON POINT (lengua, duck confit)
Dropped money on the floor and our server Alfonso was SO honest in returning it to us when we went back to inquire about it. Will be back as soon as possible! loved this place

Fact #1: Waitstaff’s arrogance should always be equal or greater to customer rudeness.
Very nice little lunch tacos spot, lovely waiter, I said lovely, tasty tacos. Haven’t tried dinner yet as I my friend realized, she didn’t want Mexican, as Donald, that night. I had a nice tequila, good enough

I love the atmosphere. It’s very roomy and there are a bunch of bench-​style seating throughout. We came for Happy Hour, which serves 2-​for-​1 margaritas. My Margarita was very strong. Lots of tequila took away from the sweet and spicy flavor it was described as. The chips and guacamole were amazing!
The Chips are deep-​fried, crunchy and thick. The Guacamole was very fresh and delicious, with hints of peppers throughout. The Ceviche was a little too citrusy for my taste. There was a lot of lime juice. I really liked our waiter! He was very nice. Definitely will be back for the chips & guacamole!

Meh. I got all 5 of the carnitas tacos and they all tasted similar and were very dry. Service is also meh. Dudes are kinda aloof.

No idea what the bad reviews are talking about. In regard to the customer service, all staff we had were amazing and helpful and polite. Also, a bad review because they only take cash, give me a break, it is restaurant in NYC, bring cash, you aren’t in Kansas. Lastly, don’t play the «cali card» and give a bad review. I grew up in LA, yes Mex food in CA is better than NYC, but don’t dump on a place and give it 1 – 2 stars because it isn’t «cali» good.
Décor and atmosphere were both friendly and fun. Tables look like they are made out of old bowling alley lanes and are communal seating. Music wasn’t so loud we couldn’t talk. They had a soccer game on a big screen which was fun.
Service was great, friendly, fast, polite.
Drinks were all good although I found the tamarind margarita a bit too sweet, but that is just personal preference, my friends really like it. House regular margaritas were really good.
Food was amazing. The enchiladas mole poblano w/​duck were unreal. Big portion of delicious duck. The mexican corn was also amazing, lots of cheese and grilled to perfection. Side of refried beans came with a lot of extra chips and was also delicious as was the guac.
So, yeah, it is a good place, go and enjoy it for what it is.

After earlier bad reviews which went ignored I finally saw 1^st hand what the reviewers meant today… I gave them 4 stars prior, solely based on food and Happy Hour deals, although service was supbar on 2 seperate occasions. But after a third time and one of the waitstaff’s arrogance, NEVER AGAIN!!! You didn’t bring napkins, you forgot someone’s food order, and misbilled drinks ordered and price charged. The waiter was quite nasty and rude to say the very least. And then passed us off to someone else because he didn’t want to be bothered by his own error and accept his mistake.
Sorry you are not quite on the line of the gentrified williamsburg, humble yourselves and be greatful to clientele. Shame. SHAME.

If there is one thing you need to know about me, it’s that I love tacos. And Cerveceria Havemeyer does tacos very well. I like the laid-​back feel and the communal tables – just be sure to be a good neighbor to the person next to you. My friend was able to grab seats on a Friday after work – it wasn’t too busy but it was active.
We started off with an order of black beans that was a sleeper hit. The we moved on to the tacos. I got the fried shrimp, chicken, and pastor tacos, and what a steal that they are $ 3 each. The shrimp taco was so good I ordered another one, so maybe order two when you do – that sauce is magical. The margaritas were huge and strong and worth the price (around $ 14 I believe).
Our server was a gem and checked in on us many times – he knew when it was time for a refill. Hit the ATM before hand since it is cash only and take out some extra dollars so you can really eat all the tacos.

The horchata and tacos we ordered (pastor, breaded shrimp and the costilla) were nice! .
NOTE: they don’t take credit cards! I… but who doesn’t at least have Square these days?! There was no sign mentioning this and our waiter didn’t let us know. Had to find an atm. I don’t know what kind of gangster run this place! …it was pretty annoying. Absolutely sure this is the LAST time I’ll be here!

Tasty tacos but somewhat pricey (bill can add up). But definitely a spot to check out!

Came here Sat night with a group of 8 and got seated at 8pm right away. Everyone got margs and a mix of entrees, tacos, chorizo rice side (YUM) and guac. Everything is good. I would give the food a 3.5 but the fact that we were a big group and able to be seated asap was super.
CASH ONLY!

This place is super yummy and reasonably priced. The poblano vegan taco was delish. Margaritas were delicious! Rafael, our waiter was very chill and gave us some info on some of the hot spots around the area. Perfect Sunday treat! Dope spot ;)

My home away from home. Menu has a variety of options and never lets me down. The half chicken is always cooked perfectly and well worth the wait. The spicy ceviche and steak salad are summer staples. The grandma refried black beans are like butter and keep my jeans fitting tight. Chips and guac are a given. Tacos are «small» by supersize standards, but IMO simple, tasty and perfectly filling. The staff is probably not friendly to everyone who walks in, but maybe they don’t deserve it? Who knows, I think they are wonderful and extremely attentive. The chefs deliver amazing food always.
There is not much I don’t love about this place, if there was a 6^th star I would give it. All love to CH and the people behind it.

I have been here a few times and also ordered out once or twice.
When this place opened a year or so ago I was pretty excited about tacos close to home. However I was let down by the sub-​par, downright rude service and alright yet overpriced food. The one guy who is either outside smoking or behind the bar is the presumable manager/​owner and he is always looks like someone pissed in his cereal — lighten up dude!
What’s the deal guys? You can’t be as rude and dismissive as you are unless you are packing some seriously good, cheap eats. What you end up with is $ 4 mini-​tacos and pricey drinks. I am not a fan of the communal style seating either — it is cramped and the tables are far too small to make it work.

My go-​to-​spot for tacos in my immediate neighborhood — I love the ambiance of this place and the Pastor tacos are really good. They serve Chicharrones (fried pork rinds) with Tapatio on top when you come in — I prefer chips and salsa but its still something to munch on. They have long, communal tables and good margaritas. Overall its a good place for a quick bite and catching up with friends. This is the sister restaurant of La Superior btw
*This place is CASH ONLY!

There’s nothing wrong with this joint. I find that I agree with all the choices they’ve made.
I agree that al pastor is the King of Tacos (as per the menu).
I agree tacos should be cheap and delicious.
I agree that Mexican food should be accompanied by a cheap and crunchy snack.
I agree that chiccharon covered in hot sauce is better than chips and salsa.
I agree that I should get a pint of water with my meal, in addition to my beer.
All in all, I found eating tacos in the sunshine at Cerveceria to be quite agreeable.

We came here in the middle of World Cup fever, on a night when the entire street erupted into screams at every near-​goal. Each bar and restaurant had rented a protector or large big screen television, and everyone refrained from talking except for when the ball went out of bounds or at half-​time.
We watched the first half at Roberta’s a frustrating experience that was a reminder that no matter how good the kitchen remains, this place now belongs to Manhattanites and tourists, and can’t serve as a neighborhood bar or restaurant. It’s no place to wait the game. We wound up at the cerverzacia after one place on the block seemed too busy and another too quiet. The projector covered almost the entirety of the front wall, occupying the width of three of the long, communal benches that comprise most of the seating here.
My party of five ordered margaritas and a few of the tacos. They are ‘street style’ which is a pretentious way of saying the double-​tortilla is presented in a way that would be recognizable to a citizen of the Mexican republic. It’s no surprise that I read online that this is from the same people as La Superior, probably the first restaurant in Williamsburg that tried to offer ‘real’ Mexican options with the design sense and vintage lighting that would appeal to the professional set. There’s a similar sensibility on offer here, that just because an interior decorator might have been employed to designed the inside (which manages to be elegant without being staid) that there doesn’t have to be a compromise on the flavor.
Our tacos — shrimp, pork and chicken — were exemplary bar food. Three was a nice size snack, four would have been a not terribly expensive meal. The margarita pitcher came at a price point that was more Lower East Side than Bushwick, but they were complicated, strong and tasted damn good.
The second half and game were over far too soon. We might have moved on, but I’d like to return when the screen is gone and the focus could be squarely on the very solid food on offer.