In my experience, it was a chill unassuming bar (which can't always be said for LES) where you can play pool, choose a classic rock / 00s indie song on the juke box for a dollar, and have a Stella in a quiet spot. They have a $20 card minimum which is a bit annoying but if you just share a tab and get 3+ drinks you'll get there. Definitely not a friendly neighborhood bar except perhaps to regulars, service was gruff at best, but to be honest I tend to tune that out and just enjoy the atmosphere, in this case taxidermy and tavern décor, and enjoy the company I brought with me. read more

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Yall. I showed up after seeing a show on Ave A (AS ALL OF NYC DOES) and this fucking bouncer had the audacity to tell me and my friends with a malboro gold in our mouth "he didn't like our vibe". i'm gonna need this man to read a book on ethos because clearly it's his first day in the east village. at least me and all my friends left-- leaving the bar empty. hope you and your over bite enjoy sipping smirnoff ices all night BITCH. read more

Bartender made me feel wrong for just wanting water. I am sober. So hurtful and inappropriate

- amazing food and veggie options - various fruity drinks - fun and chill atmosphere with tvs, pool, and a music selection jukebox - great place to hang with friends - fast and nice staff! - def recommend! read more

Nice bar good music but NO BUYBACKS they won't give you one no matter how much you spend they don't know good bar etiquette and how to keep customers.I spend over one hundred dollars bartender here tonight 6/-9/25 never offered me not one buyback I won't be returning down the hatch up the road will give you at least one buyback never mind I've spend over 80 on the jukebox.Josies get it together read more

had the absolute work experience at this bar ever and after reading all of the other reviews, it is clear our experience was not a unique one. we came in on a saturday afternoon and got a table and a couple of rounds of drinks. we were there for a couple hours speaking amongst ourselves at our table, when we asked for some waters, at which point the bartender told us it was time for us to leave. we were floored and pushed back, asking why we couldn't have water as we were paying customers (who had tipped quite well might I add). we proceeded to get heckled by her and her posse of regulars at the bar until we left. the bartender was a white, late 30s female, with long brown hair, and a horrible attitude. it was comforting to at least see the plethora of similar reviews online that proved we did nothing to deserve that, but it amazes me a dump like this can continue to stay open when there are 1,000,000 better bars with kind humans running them within a 5 block radius. avoid this place like the plague. read more

To all the haters: If you don't like licorice, don't eat licorice. Josie's is a dive bar--surly bartenders come with the deal. They make crap money and deal with drunks all night, so have some compassion and over-tip. If you want "service" go to an upscale cocktail bar. Instead, be patient and kind and maybe talk to a regular, play some pool. You'll be happier. GREAT pool culture, great EV vibes. Look, bartenders are probably working on something really cool that you'll love in five years. Pay it forward. read more

HORRIBLE service, bouncer denies real out-of-state ID that SCANNED without checking any sign of legitimacy. Bouncer was standing inside when we showed up, as we opened the door he was a bit aggressive and we were forced to step back away from the door. I get it, you need to check IDs outside, but maybe you should be outside instead of ambushing people at the door as they try to come in. We handed over our IDs immediately. He took my MD ID, flipped it over immediately and scanned it, then handed back me without saying anything. He then did the same exact thing with my friends IDENTICAL MD ID, flipped it over and scanned it immediately, and then shook his head. Both IDs scanned obviously because they were real, but he barely even looked at either of them. He had each of our IDs in his hand for maybe three seconds, and clearly didn't take the time to even read the birthdays or check for ANY signs of legitimacy. A group of seven people came up behind us and were let in no problem, so it obviously wasn't a capacity issue. If you can't tell a legitimate out of state ID as a bouncer it's time to find a new job. It's ridiculous to deny two people like that without even looking at the ID. read more

Worst bar I've ever been to, I came in with a group of 5, 3 out of the 5 bought drinks, 2 of my friends don't drink alcohol at all; the woman bartender kicked them out because they weren't buying drinks. Then proceeds to talk crap about all of us to other people at the bar, in front of us. Totally ridiculous, to kick people out because they don't want to drink, people can go to a bar to hangout with their friends too, don't force them to order drinks, beware of this selfish place. Will never go back ever!! I do not recommend this place to anyone, there's plenty of bars in the area that are respectful and don't act broke because two people didn't want to drink .. read more

Vibe was fine but bartender put some random people's drinks on my tab w/o asking and it created a mess in terms of getting money paid back. He scolded me when I told him I was not ordering the drinks, just relaying what was being ordered. The bartender was unable to change who's drinks were on which tab? Dangerous considering you don't want to always give your number/information to strangers. Really hoping I won't be stalked by the creepy random. *all in all-Wouldn't come here as a single girl; bartenders overcharge and will yell at you for calling them out read more

F this bar and bartender. Worst staff I've quite literally ever experienced. You want to be yelled at and kicked out for existing, go here. Real piece of work. Also talking about the bartender specially on the Tuesday night shift. As someone from the industry they should close and move on. Just disrespectful. My advice for them, go get a chopped cheese and be a decent human. read more

This is the ideal dive bar. You can tell this is a spot locals and people from the neighborhood live here. Its dark and crusty in all the right places. There's a decent amount of seating and they even have a pool table. The prices are fair. I don't have any complaints, it's a bar I will continue to drink at with my friends that live nearby. 5/5 read more

Good vibe! Friendly patrons and warm atmosphere.

Not sure what happened to this place. Maybe one of the meanest bartenders I have ever encountered. If a woman named Aduni is working, turn around and walk out - she suggested slapping me to other patrons because I was slow to find my ID in my wallet. I don't support violence or threatening it - was very uncomfortable. Have been coming here off and on for about 15 years and will never return. Do better and get your bartender some anger management - she seems like she could use a hug. read more

Walked by this bar during a cold Covid night, it was dark but open (no outdoor dining from what i could see) - i was the only one in there with a regular local patron for about 20 minutes. And then it got busier with regulars and locals. Bartender (Ryan) was beyond lovely, he served drinks and pizza at the socially distant tables. It's a big enough place that even with indoor capacity limits, there was a nice cozy vibe. Like so many local bars, i hope this place makes it read more

I've been coming to this bar with my friends for years. We are very disappointed with what happened tonight. We brought our friend in from out of town and the bartender was beyond wrong and rude. He asked for ID's AND our credit cards right off the bat (aggressively at that) which we all provided and are all legitimate. We are all well over 21. :( He told my friend his ID looked fake and wouldn't serve us or even check if it was real. We are mortified and disappointed, we will not be coming back or giving them any more of our money. Along with all of our friends...Shout Out East Village Kids (you know who you are) ( and you know who you're losing). Not impressed. Next stop Black Market! read more

Nice bar to relax and chat with friends. The music was chill and not too loud. Floors/tables were a bit wet and not cleaned down too much, but the drinks were refreshing. I ordered Moscow mules (tasty as always ), my friends shared 2 jugs of beer and all enjoyed it + the pretty reasonable cost. Watching people play pool was fun also. read more

I've never met ruder bartenders in my life. Rude to all of us for no reason. Seemed to target men more. I get it you hate your job but come on man. read more

Josie's is out-fucking-standing. It's the perfect neighborhood bar, with a pool table, flat-screen TV, jukebox, and plenty of seating. I've met up with friends here, and haven't experienced any problems. They don't have a kitchen, so order a pizza or bring in a sandwich to go with your drink[1]. Their bartenders aren't known for their gentle pours - at least in my experience. Short on cash? They accept credit cards, like most bars should in the 21st century. [1] Verify to be sure. If I'm wrong, send me a message and I'll update this review. read more

Came in to check out their beer selection, a person in our group went to the bathroom. They didn't have the beer we were looking for (shipyard) and on the way out the bartender rudely yelled "thanks for using our bathroom". Is it that serious? There was literally 5 people in the bar. Will not come back and you shouldn't either if you want to be ridiculed for peeing. read more

Bartenders on the night of 1/28-1/29 are extremely rude (they have also worked other nights have been here, just pointing out latest example) and solely cater to the 2 people playing billiards. They ignore others at the bar (not just me but basically everyone outside of 3 people), constantly make people play musical chairs to avoid inconveniencing the pool players, and will double charge your card if you don't double check. The one guy sort of looks like the singer from counting crows, so if you see a guy who looks like that be wary. Him and his slightly balding partner are what's wrong with bartenders. Have been coming here for years, but when the bartenders act better than you and you're inconveniencing them by ordering a beer and sitting it makes you reconsider read more

Josie, you are classier than your sister Sophie that dirty slut... what to do what to do.. I will have to ask Maggie's opinion... :-P. Hmmnn.. Josie fulfills my requirement of drinking establishments adorning the walls with taxidermy and having a kickass jukebox ;-). Classy classy classy. Less NYUers come in here than Sophie's too.. Maggie approves. read more

Josie's Bar - a deer with a santa hat - Bars Near Me - New York, New York

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I went to this bar with about 10 people. The bartender (young white guy with a hat) was beyond rude. I ordered a vodka soda but he gave me a tequila soda, so I politely asked him for a new one. He looked pissed and didn't say anything slamming it down in front of me, no "I'm sorry" or "let me fix that" even after I had tipped him. Then my girlfriend ordered another drink and he made fun of her for not tipping enough (she only did this bc he had been rude the whole night). He told her "she probably needed it more than him". When I told him he had been rude to us all night and messed up my drink he began to call us assholes and told us I was lucky he went out of my way to fix my drink. A guy at the counter who was clearly a friend of his walked past be and hit me with his shoulder sarcastically remarking "you're alright guy". My friends and I all left and will never be returning to this bar. I live nearby and have had multiple other people tell me that bartender is a complete asshole. There are so many other bars in the East Village that have way nicer people working there. read more

The girl who was bartending was extremely rude. I came in with a few friends. She talked shit about my friends quite loudly to another customer at the bar, while they were in the bathroom. Then continued to say snarky comments about them after they ordered. read more

This place profiled me and denied me service even though I provided valid form of ID and offered multiple forms willingly. We were very upset by this since we walked a long distance to come to this specific bar. I won't be coming back read more

I rather be stabbed in the face with a burning fork!!! The bartender did a better job begging for his tip than the god awful job he did at tending bar. Two bartenders with the the personality of wet dish rags. Gotta love the non-hungry for cash bartenders now in days,only care about their pockets and not the actual business. The boss must be proud of staff,what a waste! NEVER AGAIN!!! read more

Amazing bartenders with a lax vibe make this spot a go to for getting large groups together. Had my 33rd there recently and it was everything I was looking for. Strong pours and a void of blaring music made for fun convo's and catching up. I will be back ! read more

This place is awful. Shitty drinks, rude staff, patrons that spill into the street loudly until all hours of the night. Can't say a single good thing about this place. read more

Beware - this place racially profiles people of color. I am a white male. I went through the door without being checked by the bouncer. I was with a white female, a Southeast Asian male, and two black males. The four of them were carded by the bouncer. My white friend got in fine, but my three friends of color were racially profiled. The bouncer said their IDs were fake, even though all of our IDs were issued from Maryland and looked identical except for our faces. These friends were all 24 and got turned down because of their race. I will never go back to this bar. Josie's needs to catch up with some social history. read more

Bar tender was incredibly rude and abrasive. After a mix up with tipping she proceeded to mention at every opportunity how much I needed to tip to not be considered rude. I was spoken to in a condescending and provocative manner. The bar tender, so desperate for her tip, came out to our table and proceeded to continue her crusade to secure a tip in a high handed and very distasteful way. As far as I'm concerned any mention of a tip is such blunt terms is highly gauche and impolite. Also who serves a double gin and tonic in a pint glass? Use a highball!! read more

Yo this my favorite bar in alphabet city dawg. Chill vibes with them cold suds n them cats tryna out do ya boy on the pool table but failin miserable son. I put them tunes n max out n see them mamacitas. It's ok for ya boy to look but I ain't touchin nuttin since ya man put a ring on a Chiquita's finger. When ur azz walk in, tell bartender D-Rat sent u in n they gon know you a real one n u worthy of respect. read more

A classic bar! I saw this bar in the Marvel Spider Man game as a point of interest and when I visited, had to stop in. Cold beers and cool times! read more

Went by with some friends recently. A young white guy was bartending and was extremely rude and made me feel unwelcome. He also messed up 2 of our drinks. read more

Great drinks, . Their food is delicious and reasonable prices for food and drinks. Trivia nights are a lot of fun with great prizes. Best place to watch a game too. They also will back off space for a party if they're able to and ask in advance read more

Josie's NY Manhattan East Village 10pm Sunday 17th July 2016 Three Stars "Beer, Pool, and Taxidermy" is the tag line for this dingy dive bar. Also the Bear outside is a Pokemon Go Battle Arena. The bar had a continuous flow of one drink patrons with a couple guys dominating the quarter pool table. I had a markers ($8) served in small Gibraltar glass with chip ice. Overall, it was not bad but I don't think I would return for a particular reason. read more

Formerly Joe's Pub, this is a classic Village neighborhood bar. I have been told by many locals/regulars that it was a speak easy during prohibition. It was bought earlier this year by the owners two other great pubs in the area, Sophie's and Mona's. The bar needed some renovations, and the new owners did an amazing job. The bathrooms are classically tiled and clean now, and a lot of the bar's wood work has been restored. Step in and you'll notice the improvements. They somehow replicated the original floor tiles and wallpaper too. In fact, the owners left behind a patch of the wallpaper in the far back of the bar behind the cooler and bathrooms. Take a look and you will see just how identical they match and how smokey the bars once were in the East Village. Stop in, prices are reasonable, pool table is worthy, and the juke box has a great mix. Dogs seem welcome too. This is not a sports bar, but it does have a TV for the occasional game. read more

So today was santacon and while my friend and I didn't participate in any santacon activities we decided to go out at night to visit a friend for her birthday. We wore sweaters that could be considered "Christmas themed" cause they were red and white and the bouncer almost didn't let us in because of that. EXTREMELY rude and made us feel uncomfortable. Then once we got in the bartender didn't give me my order until he went back outside to the bouncer to probably say "don't let anyone else in that's doing santacon" we literally were showing up sober not having participated in anything santacon related. The bartender finally gave us our drinks but not before antagonizing us and telling us in a very rude tone that we "got a pass" to be here. I could care LESS that I was there. I just wanted to visit a friend. We were stared at and talked about and pointed at the rest of the night by people who worked there. Doesn't make sense why this bar feels the need to bully paying customers who are causing no trouble? Ridiculous. I wish I could this place ZERO stars. read more

I will not be returning to Josie's bar. I live in the area and decided to check it out with a friend one night. We walked in around midnight or so. My friend's boyfriend went to the bar to start ordering for us all and my friend and I walked into the bathroom. Turned out it was a single stall bathroom but, being two women and close friends, we went in together. We were not being rowdy or anything out of the ordinary and there was no one around the bathroom or waiting so we just walked right in. Before the door was even closed, the bartender forcefully grabbed the handle and it even jerked my body forward as I was holding the other side of the handle. He screamed at us to get the hell out of the bathroom!? And yelled in our faces "ONE AT A TIME"! We were so shaken up and taken back by being so harshly yelled at for something that appeared to be commonplace for two women at a bar. We would have absolutely 100% respected this policy if we had realized it was the policy and taken so seriously. The bartender should have informed us in a much more respectful manner. Just because we are two women at a bar doing something we didn't realize was against policy, doesn't mean we deserve to be yelled at and aggressively disrespected. He screamed at us "THERE'S A SIGN" and threw his finger in our faces, unfortunately for us we had not seen the sign beforehand lol. Everyone around stopped what they were doing to look because of how loud and aggressive he was. Granted, I gave him a piece of my mind back because I will not be humiliated and disrespected for something I didn't realize I was doing wrong. I always respect staff at a restaurant or bar (or anywhere for that matter) but when a patron is wrongly disrespected by a staff member in front of an entire bar without doing anything to them, that is where I draw the line. We left the bar immediately and will not be going back. read more

great place. pool drinks and an overall good place. outdoor space, tables, dark wood, dive bar spot

Bouncer was the rudest I've ever encountered in my short two years in NYC. He broke my friends legitimate ID claiming it was a fake when it wasn't. He refused to pull out a book or use a scanner to verify the ID. She was visiting me from out of town and now she has to buy a new ID due to the seal of the laminate being broken from him mishandling the ID. He would not let us speak to a manager and continued to yell at us on the street, making a scene and causing an unnecessary disruption. He had originally let me into the bar and then pulled me back out as well. As I said, the WORST experience in a nyc bar in my life (and there can be some crazy people in NYC). Will NEVER come back and will spread the word. What a disservice to mistreat patrons of age without even attempting to verify identifications. He also let someone else in after us that did not have an ID at all. Rude, stubborn, and disrespectful. He claimed he was going to call the cops, and we said we were even fine with that and we would wait. To which point he started cussing us out on the street. Maybe you should hire a bouncer that doesn't turn away people of age. Disgusted by the way we were treated. read more