Little Town NYC

This joint had one menu item that made it unique, the Garbage Plate. Even though the first incarnation of it was the best, which they served when Little Town first opened, I’d still be willing to swing by if the 2^nd version were still on the menu, even though it tasted more like a curried Sloppy Joe than a mac & cheese plate full of hidden treasures (a burger patty, a hot dog, tater tots…). But now the menu swings more upscale, with steak frites & spinach salads, angel hair pomodoro and chipotle wings. So, now it’s just like a thousand other little joints on the isle of Manhattan, with no distinctive fare. EXCEPT, all of their beers are from NY state breweries, and they’ve got a wide variety. Two stars for the two beers I’ll drink there, but I’m not staying for dinner until they BRING BACK the «garbage plate». Either version.

Perfect after work happy hour. Oysters are fresh and tasty with a wide selection of local draft beers to wash them down. The staff was attentive and wasn’t in a rush to move is out. I’ve seen this place really packed but there always seems to be a free table or spot at the bar.

Hours on Unilocal say until midnight, but when 10 of us went on a Wednesday night in May, they told us at 10:30 PM that it was last call for drinks, and at 11 PM, they turned on the lights and shut down the music. Around 11:20, they yelled out that they were closed (they still had the tv on a few people lingering). When I told my mom that I got back before midnight because the bar was closed, she was like WHAT BAR CLOSES AT 11 PM?! Ladies and gentlemen, my mother.
Service is laggy — our waitress rarely came over to our table, and we had to flag her down to order food. It was quicker to walk over to the bar to grab a drink.
Besides your typical gastropub food (burgers and fries), they have a decent beer list and I liked their cider. It’s also uncrowded during the week, which is great because you can actually find a spot to sit and chat with friends.
Good, but nothing to write home about.

Little Town falls somewhere between a bar and restaurant and seems perhaps confused itself as to which it is. The beer menu is pretty good with several good craft beers on tap, though fairly pale ale heavy. There are still enough good malty beers to find something, and more than one cider as well. The food was ok, but only decent for bar food. The wings were a bit on the mushy side and though the bbq had a nice tang, it didn’t taste much beyond typical Frank’s sauce. The burgers looked pretty good though. The service was attentive, though had a bit of an attitude, especially considering our large table was the only table they had to work the whole night. I would have expected a little more frequent check in as a result.

Came here with a LivingSocial deal: $ 15 for 18 oysters and two drafts.
My boyfriend doesn’t drink anymore and I wasn’t in the mood for any alcohol. I asked if we could swap the drafts for non-​alcoholic beverages. No. «You paid for drafts in your voucher and there’s no way to swap it out in the system.» Not even soda? No. There’s no way to do it. Not even SODA?! We can’t consider that a non-​alcoholic draft? It’s cheaper than the drafts!
The oysters weren’t bad. Condiments weren’t great, but I made do. Very fresh oysters, but the shucking was a bit sloppy. About a third of them had chucks of grit and shell. That’s a pretty high risk percentage for cracking your teeth, don’t you think? The burger and fries weren’t bad either. Average.
We came in on a Thursday evening. I later found out there’s an oyster happy hour on Thursdays. When the bill arrived you can see $ 14 was deducted for the cost of the oysters. I paid $ 15 for the LivingSocial voucher. Since it was announced in the beginning that we didn’t want to drink and will take the loss on the drafts, you’d think you’d practice some decent customer service by saying, «Hey, we have an oyster happy hour right now where the cost of the oysters will actually be less than the cost of your voucher. Care to partake in the happy hour now and save that voucher for another time?» No, we didn’t get that. So I came with a LivingSocial voucher and ended up paying more for the oysters than I would have if I didn’t have the voucher?
Thank you, Little Town.

Tried to give a half star but wasn’t allowed… Reason being is that I came here all the way from queens to have the oysters on a Friday evening with a friend. After hearing of this place and their famous oyster special I checked their website where the first thing you see is the advertisement for $.99 oysters Monday-​Friday all night long, so all week I’m getting ready for the oysters only to get there at 8 pm and was rudely told by the waitress that they are done serving oysters for the day… umm I didn’t realize all night long meant ends at 8. Oh well we ended up at The Headless Horseman bar across the street and had some oysters there instead (very good) I will not be trying again to visit this place

I don’t have that one regular go-​to place for Happy Hour, but Little Town is the closest to any place I frequent for HH.
Little Town can pretty much be summed up as SideBar’s extroverted younger sibling that’s still in college and partying every other weeknight. It’s more intimate, the crowd is younger, and overall, it has that small pub vibe. I come here for the dollar oysters and there are much better places for those, but can you really say «no» to half off each time you come here? I also can’t complain about their extensive beer selection either; I am a cider fanatic and any bar that doesn’t just serve the standard Angry Orchard moves up on my list.
If you leave here without getting the Stadium Garlic Fries, you are committing a crime against your own good – for bar food, it is up there among some of the best fries in NYC, and that is saying a lot. In general, the food here actually almost never disappoints anyway. The only time where I had a (very minor) issue was when we ordered the Goodfellas Italian Poutine; the description is a little misleading when they’re basically just good ol’ mozzarella sticks – nothing of the fancy or like regular poutine we expected at all. Little Town is a little fratty, so if you ever reach an epiphany and want to be in a quieter bar and sip on wine instead, you can strut through the «secret hallway» and go to SideBar.

came here last week for drinks and a small bite before a concert around the corner at Irving. The beer selection here is great, a lot of tasty seasonal beers, and the prices were pretty reasonable, I thought. The portion size of the appetizers we got (tator tots, sweet potato fries, and wings) was really big, which we all were pretty happy about. In my mind this a great place to stop by if you’re early for a show and looking for something to do, only reason I’m putting 4 stars is because service was slower than we would’ve hope for. That being said, we were there during the after work, so it was probably to be expected.

I’m a big fan– been here 10 – 15 times in the past 3 – 4 years, and never had a bad experience. Don’t worry about outta-​towners whose opinions should be discounted. Here’s what to know:
— The beer selection is all NY State craft, so not the place of you just want Bud Light. There are lots of great breweries and beers from NY (SixPoint, Capt Lawrence, Ithaca, etc.), and then maybe some so-​so ones (I won’t), but all are given a chance here. Bartenders do a good job of matching the kind of beers you like with what they have.
— The typical happy hour is from 5 – 7, with the whole draft selection at $ 5, 2-​for-​1 well vodka, and $.99 oysters. It’s not every night, so do ask (or look at the chalkboard sign outside), but a $ 5 pint of good beer is harder and harder to find in Manhattan, and if you like oysters too, it’s a great choice. I think the oysters are generally Blue Points, btw.
— It is connected to, and presumably shares ownership with, Sidecar, which is a separate bar. That bar tends to get pretty brah/​douchey after like 8 p.m., perfect for the early 20s set, but totally opposite Little Town. Notably, the two bars share a bathroom, so that clash of vibes can throw you off when you need to recycle some craft beers.
— Don’t get mad at me for saying it, but almost unfailingly in my visits, the bar maids and waitresses have been… Well, easy to look at. And of course nice, attentive, helpful, etc. too!
— That said, in my days of first dates, this was a prime option. Never so crazy you couldn’t get a table, centrally located (block from Union sq), good beer and simple drinks, decent bar food if things are going well and you get hungry, and, well, oysters if things are going exceedingly well. Just don’t pay too much attention to the waitresses!

Not sure what to say about this place; I love the dollar oysters and beers from all over NYS. Their menu has dishes from all over the Empire State, from Buffalo wings to Long Island oysters. Sometimes, though, it’s so packed with drunks for some game you want to stay far away. My experience, always early on a weeknight, have been fine, but it’s hit-​or-​miss.

Blonde waitress was super rude this evening. Gave us a lot of attitude just after entering.
No oysters on the weekend!?? Huh? Is this New York City or is this Tallahassee? Rude service and poor poor selection. I would go elsewhere.

I have been to Little Town NYC twice for private receptions. On my first visit they served very juicy sliders. On my second visit they served excellent chicken wings and mozzarella sticks as well as a pasta dish I did not try. Both times the servers were very friendly and obviously used to working large crowds.
We had a private room but we walked through the after work crowd to get there. It seemed like everyone there was having a good time though crowded bars are not a venue I go to on my own, if yours is, this is a good choice!

We didn’t know walking into this bar, we would be surrounded by Florida University fans all night long. The Florida game was on almost every TV and everyone, besides us, had their team pride on.
This place is a cool dive don’t get me wrong but nothing special besides they have a lot of different NY beers. The prices are really affordable for NYC, even the glass bottles. It was just a crazy scene the night we went and only stayed for a drink or two. The bartenders were nice though and we met some interesting people which kept the night fun.

Little Town has turned into the spot in Union Square that offers that right balance of convenience, comfort and elbow room.
It’s not a particularly large space but the crowd moves through pretty smoothly with the well paced service.
The list of beers/​drinks is easily visible from pretty much anywhere in the bar and the staff are attentive.
Typical bar eats and specials are decent here and prices aren’t bad for what it is.

Small place but packed with fun.
We went out for a pre birthday celebration and stopped in. Beers and .50 cent oysters?! I think so!
I love the chalk board wall of beer options. My friends and I just wanted to try beers based on their cool/​funny names… and it worked. We ended up with some gems.

We only stopped in here for a drink and an appetizer. The beer selection was pretty good and the happy hour prices were a nice surprise. As for the bacon cheese fries, they came out a little cold and were bland. Not a bad spot for a drink, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to try this spot. The bouncer also seemed a bit unnecessary for a slow Tuesday night.

Little Town officially wins the award for the worst oysters I’ve ever had. Even for Blue Points, they were bad.
I bought an 18-​oyster and 2 beers deal online and decided to stop by for Happy Hour. Oysters were kinda warm, didn’t taste all that fresh.
At least I didn’t get sick. So there’s that.
Beer list is pretty good.

This place seems to offer a lot of online deals and vouchers, and finally decided to go here with an oysters and beer deal. We were given 18 Blue Points and our choice of one beer from their list. I had an apricot wheat beer that was pretty good if you lighter beers. The Blue Points were just okay, pretty much the standard oysters you can get anywhere. They were served on this raised rack that was comically tall. Seriously, we could barely see each other over the oyster platter and we were sitting on high stools. Took a peek at their cocktail list and it seemed a bit strange, a lot of weird «interpretations» of standard cocktails (vodka in an Old-​Fashioned?).

Great beer selection, chill atmosphere, and friendly bar staff. Can’t really beat that combination! I appreciate that it gets busy, but rarely so crowded that you can’t find a seat. Food seems a little pricier that what I’m usually looking for in bar food, but you can get a basket of tots for $ 4 so you can definitely snack on the cheap. If you’re looking at more of a meal, the menu is pretty small so just be prepared to not have too many options. But it’ll get the job done.
One note — they keep the temperature FRIGID during the summer, so it’s nice to cool off, but then you might need a sweater if you’re going to be there for a while!

Whether you’re from New Yawwwk or Iceland, when you’re in a specific location, you want to experience what that area/​culture has to offer. Well, Little Town in Union Square offers local New York food/​drink in a casual setting. Oh, and they offer over 100 local beers. Win.
Little Town Venue
Photo Cred: Pubcrawls
Rebecca, myself, and 2 friends strolled into Little Town on a Saturday around 6:00pm. Immediately upon arrival, we felt as if we are at a hometown bar — wherever that may be. The friendly, laid back atmosphere makes Little Town a fantastic change-​of-​pace from the craziness of New York City.
Now that you know the overall vibe of this spot, let’s talk about the FOOD.

After several visits, this place is a hit or miss when it comes to the oysters. This is more evident when using the livingsocial deal. In several occasions where the voucher was used, we ordered additional happy hour oysters on top of the deal. Each time the livingsocial oysters were smaller, grittier, and looked butchered compared to the plumper and cleaner non-​livingsocial ones. While I can’t say they have a separate lower quality stash just for the people that uses the deal, it sure seems evident.
While the shellfish comes with doubt, the service has constantly been solid. We were always welcomed by friendly and accommodating waitresses. The restaurant always seem understaffed but the waitresses never fail to frequently check on the table to make sure everything is alright.
Along with the service, the beer selection is also a plus. There is a constant rotation of different locally sourced beers from «little towns» around New York state.
Even though the oysters can vary by the visit, I just can’t say no to their ongoing $ 15 for 18 oysters and 2 beers deal.