Downtown Bar and Grill

Probably the worst fish and chips I have ever been served. I would have bben better off with a Swanson's frozen dinner.

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Very expensive for what it is, which is a glorified sports bar (it replaced Cousins II, which was a good value for what it was, which was a sports bar). Good beer selection and the food is ambitious, but it doesn't always succeed (don't order anything that has more than two ingredients in the name).

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I still call this place Cousins, cuz that's what it was for years & when it was actuallly a decent place to go. "Downtown Bar" is a waste of a beautiful space & a fantastic location. The owners have no service experience & have no concept of what customer service is. The long list of beers is ridiculous, they have 3 huge fridges in the back that would be a great place for more tables. The staff never smiles & have no personality. I've given this place a new try each year when football season starts & am more dissapointed each time. I met two friends that had been drinking only beer for an hour before, I sat down had a few beers I was lucky to get from the horrible waiter & 18% gratuity was added to our check!! We only had beer,o yeah, we did have a $15 order of Nachos?!?! Yes, $15 for Nachos. It's my understanding the owner owns the building so he's not paying rent. If he was paying rent he wouldn't have lasted a year with his prices, terrible service, & pathetic marketing ideas. Just wish the space was occupied by a bar owner that new how to treat customers and run a honorable business.

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This bar SUCKS!!!! The cheapest beer they have is Schaffer in a can for $5!!! If you want to be successful during football season, have some specials for christ sake. We went opening weekend and somehow had a $120 bill for two people. You spend the same time at Wade's and the bill will be $40.

The owner/managment are total d-bags as well. They look at you like you are an alien. And the pseudo-mick bartender with the beard. What a prcik. We walked in half hour before kickoff to get a spot at the bar (which was empty) and he had reserved every spot at the bar for his buddies. I asked how I could get a seat at the bar and he said "You gotta know the bartender"! I should have punched him square in the face.

I will never set foot inside this ripoff of a bar again. It is unfortuante as the space is great.

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God, I miss Cousins! The staff was fun, the service was great, they treated regulars like gold, and it was a great place for bar food. I was just talking about Cousins with a neighborhood regular last night in our ongoing debate about where to get a good burger in the 'hood (Current winner: Ceol, but they are slipping).

The problem with Downtown is the service is some of the worst I've had in all of Brooklyn. Orders come out wrong or badly timed. We once got our appetizer exactly 1 minute before they brought out our main course. The beer selection, while huge, can be stale.

We've given this place multiple chances and we have never been satisfied.

Two doors down, Cody's is a more authentic sports bar experience and I think the food is a little better.

That said, the veggie burger at Downtown remains a hit with the missus.

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This would be a good sports bar, something the neighborhood needs, except for high prices and crap service. I miss Cousin's.

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Above comments are a little hard to argue with, BUT - they do make a good burger - both regular and veggie, and their beer selection is one of the best in the neighborhood, especially at spots that serve food.

for most other things there is obviously something better... why get fish and chips here when chip shop is 2 blocks away, and so on... but for a solid beer and burger, this is actually one of our favorites in the neighborhood.

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I only ate there once... food was ok, but too expensive. Actually, to the point where I said I'd never go back.
This place is geared for the beer connoisseur, which I'm not. Actually, looking at all the stuff they had made me wish I was, but the reality is, I'm not paying $10 for a fancy beer. I agree with the above comment that the bar about 25 feet away (Cody's?) is a better option... realistic prices for similar fare. But, if you want that oddball brew imported from who-knows-where, then DT Bar & Grill is the place to go.

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wasn't it called Dem Bums once?

The beer list is staggering. The vege burger IS awesome.

Everything else sucks, absolutely, completely and categorically SUCKS.
That would be: the bartenders, service, food, menu...everything.

The saltiest fries on EARTH, and I like salty fries.

Ridiculous waste of real estate this place.

Did I mention the most expensive pub grub in Brooklyn, if not NYC?

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gotta agree with most of the posters above. poor service and expensive, barely edible food. only thing i will order is the hamburger and when they can manage to cook it to your desired specs, it's decent. but despite all it's drawbacks i still frequent the joint, mainly because i live right around the corner. I think the only reason why i put up with it is because the corner space is nice and airy. Codys is far superior for bar food, but their space is dark and dank.

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Yes Pete! It was Dem Bums, in the late 70s. Then it closed for a good while, and re-opened as Cousins. Then Cousins II. There may have been another incarnation in there somewhere, I can't quite remember.

I liked Cousins better than Downtown bar- this place draws a weird "not from the area/suburban" looking kind of crowd. Which is true of a lot of places now, but some how this place now seems sort of souless/chain restaurant-like to me. My burger was decent last time I was there. Service was weird, waiter was on the phone, so the bartender or manager came over and took our order. It was just obviously dis-organized. But it all worked out ok. My friend liked the veggie burger.

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You know it's a HORRIBLE sports bar when the only thing people praise is the Veggie Burger!!!

"You know it's a HORRIBLE sports bar when the only thing people praise is the Veggie Burger!!!"

That's HI-larious

Dem Bums was even better than Cousins!

Amazing the number of bad reviews considering this place always seems to be so busy. Guess I know where to go if I'm in the mood for a veggie burger.

Actually the veggie burger sucks, along with everything else in this overpriced poor excuse for a Sports Bar.

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"The vege burger IS awesome" Oxymoron to beat all oxymorons.

this seems like it will shatter the record for worst rated bstoner reviewed restaurant. and deservingly so.

so much potential in that spot - so disappointing - and yet still somehow crowded alot

i am the anti-hipster who has been living in this neighborhood for almost 15 yrs (i guess what cobblehiller describes above is me) and have been dying for a good sports bar to open around here forever (but i just don't have the minerals to open one myself - wish i did).

codys is an odd crowd, but i guess the best option - ceol has crap tvs - floyd is only good for soccer and it's way too big with the artsy crowd - wades... don't even get me started there. this town desperately needs a good sports bar.. the sports bar that DTB&G SHOULD be.

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Agree with above. I believe I had a salmon sandwich-extremely mediocre and overpriced. Service was pretty terrible, even though we went there during the day and no one was there. I don't plan to go back, even though I work right down the street.

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Sorry, but this place is crap. Probably the worst service I've received at any bar or restaurant in the whole city. They even had the balls to add a mandatory tip to group of four during a football game. It just makes me angry because the place SHOULD be awesome. Big space, lots of TVs, great location. But seriously, fuck those guys.

I know all this has been said in previous reviews. But maybe if there are enough voices, the bar gods will take notice.

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We should print this thread and slip it under their doorstep.

I am so saddened by how much worse this place is than Cousins was, I have been inspired to create an account and post for the first time!

I used to love this place. I work about a block away and live about 6 blocks away, and I would go there with friends or my husband at least once a week, sometimes more, when it was Cousins. The food was only just OK bar food but the prices for it were fair. It had a great vibe and the staff was friendly and attentive. Even though I still live and work in the same proximity, now that it has changed I go about twice a YEAR, tops. I only continue to give it chances out of sheer disbelief that it could remain so bad and stay in business.

I went there with a friend about a year ago for a late lunch. We were outnumbered by staff three to one. Still, it took us two hours to get through an iced tea and burgers due to slow service, and the fact that we had to send our bill back because they charged us for things we did not order or receive. Other service experiences have been similar.

I love a good veggie burger, but I have a hard time imagining a circumstance under which I would eat at DB&G again. Maybe if it turned back into Cousins?

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My friend sent this to me while on business in the UK, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to slam it, cause it is just *gawd* awful.

After Cousin's closed and this place finally opened, my then gf (now wife) went there for dinner. It took 15 minutes to be asked if we wanted a drink, 10 minutes to get my beer, another 15 minutes before getting our food order in, and 40 minutes before getting receiving our food. All we got was a burger and a steak sandwich. And for this wonderful service we were charged close to $40 (more with a minimal tip).

The next time (more than a year later) we went with friends, and while the service got marginally better, still longer than it should, the prices were just as bad or worse.

Would NOT *NOT* go back ever. Don't know how this place does well. There are much better bars not much farther away in any direction: Cody's, O'Keefe's, Pete's, Apt 138, Ceol, just to name a few.

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Cousin's II going to shit as the new DT Bar is consistent with Cobble Hill going to shit as the new Park Slope...

Agreed. this place is shit. Seriously the worst service I've ever encountered. When i come to spend $120 on dinner and drinks i don't want your fuckin attitude. I dont care if youre the owners washed up, 'never amounted to anything' son.

I've tried it a few times and there's never been a 'good' night. Won't be back.

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I first visited Downtown when it first opened a few years ago. Then, it seemed like a cheaper, more accessible version of Waterfront. Plenty of TVs, great draft selection and a varied menu. I loved the goat cheese sandwich the first few times I ordered it. However, I did notice that the prices increased rather dramatically in its first few months of business, and my goat cheese sandwich disappeared from the menu. However, a goat cheese salad remained, which, according to the menu description, was a mere variation of the sandwich; instead of a bun, it was served on top of lettuce. I asked the bartender if I could order the goat cheese sandwich off the menu in light of the fact it's carb-deprived cousin was still on the menu. The bartender refused, and I opted for a soggy portobello burger. By that time, the service really dropped and prices skyrocketed. A year or so after that incident, I asked someone on the waitstaff if it would be possible to order the goat cheese sandwich, and was again refused - and rather rudely. I told them that their failure to at least address my request in a friendly manner lost them a customer. I have never been back, and I take some solace in knowing that my fellow Brooklynites have had terrible experiences as well.

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