American Retro
“Instead of hanging out in the cold, waiting for The Daily Show to start seating, I waited in the American Retro instead.”
“There's a dart board in the back and a pink skee-ball table in the front.”
“The food never disappoints and EIGHT DOLLAR PITCHERS can tide you over while you play darts, flip cup or beer pong.”
American Retro
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I stopped by this bar on a very hot and humid summer day with a group of people. American Retro has been on my list of bookmarked places for a long time and I'm glad that I finally got a chance to check it out.
It's conveniently located on the western part of Hell's kitchen, close to the Javits center, the Daily Show, or Terminal 5 if you need a place to kill time before an event or relax and have fun after one. However, if you're taking the subway like I was, it can be a long, sweaty walk.
Happy hour is a whopping 8 hours! So we ordered some drinks and a mid-afternoon snack (that turned into a feast). This place excels in their tater tots, and admittedly that's what hooked me from the yelp reviews, but their other food is good too. We of course started with the "tot-chos"- nachos with tater tots instead of chips, and they were absolutely delicious. Somehow, the tots were still crispy, even after sitting under all those toppings. We had to order an additional basket of tots because the totchos went so fast! We also added a plate of their bourbon wings- not the bar food style wings I was expecting. These wings were super tender (possibly pressure cooked to get them that fall off the bone tender in such a short time) and served in what tasted like a tomato based sauce. Good wings, just not what I was expecting. We got an order of their fried ravioli (basically mozzarella sticks in ravioli form) which were good.
I'd totally come back here next time I'm in the area. Next time I'll try their burger or maybe the shepherd's pie.
Small little bar I went to for food. The food is good and REALLY well priced. A BLT and fries for 8 dollars isnt bad at all. The bartender was friendly and quick to take my order. Small area in the back with pool tables and booths.
Found out about this place on another review website and it was well worth the trip around the corner from my hotel. I had the Retro burger medium well and added an egg which was very large and flavorful. One of my girlfriends had the BLT which she said was good and the other had the catfish sandwich and she said it was cooked to perfection. Neither of us really cared for the fries though. I'd also like to mention that if you're here on a Saturday and it's crowded it might be a bit of a wait because there is only 1 bartender who is also the waiter. She told us she is the only one that always works on Saturdays. Luckily for us it wasn't crowded at all and the other patrons that were there were only drinking. Prices were typical bar prices but surprisingly cheap for NY standards (at least I thought) Retro burger $11, $1 to add egg, BLT $8 and catfish sandwich $9 don't remember the price of drinks but it was happy hour 11am-7pm. Total tab for 4 people drinks included $62.
When I met up with friends from back home near Pier 92 during Fleet Week/Memorial Day weekend, of course our most pressing concern was "Where now for eats/drinks?!?" So, the trusty Yelp app to the rescue…we went for American Retro just over on 11th Ave.
Don't let this little place's façade, next to a Mobil quick mart, fool you…inside is a good sized quality bar. The name is a good description, as inside there are many retro type items and artifacts to enjoy…lava lamps, black light glow posters, velvet Elvis hanging, etc. Plenty of seating at the bar or in the tables throughout the bar, so it's not claustrophobic. Excellent retro music is always in the background, I was digging the vibe in this place. We couldn't believe it but there was only one server there that Saturday, but let me tell you that little lady busted her ass and kept it going there. Kudos to our server, she made it work well and we didn't have any service hangups regardless of her solo situation running the bar area and keeping the tables happy. After a round of tequila shots and margaritas (both excellent), we had our mid afternoon eats. I decided on the fish and chips, and the entrée was great. My companions enjoyed their selections as well, no complaints at our table. If you are looking for a great afternoon/evening hangout to pass the time, consider putting American Retro on your list.
Bottom line: Great retro bar experience. Service was good considering she was solo that afternoon, so I can imagine how great they are fully staffed. It has a unique retro type atmosphere in spacious serving area/bar. No complaints with drinks or eats here. The Yelp app did us right again, we enjoyed our American Retro encounter!
Keith L. is right – if you need to shame eat, this is your place!
Came here with a friend after work because I was craving totchos. I'm not even sure I knew what totchos were at the time, but I knew I needed them inside of my body.
Okay, confession: I actually just got chili cheese tots. I didn't realize you had to get a specific kind of tots for them to be true totchos. Oops.
Great deal with burgers and wings – you can get lots of wings for super cheap, but word to the wise: they have to all be the same flavor. If you want to pick different flavors the price goes up.
Happy Hour is just a dollar off beers, house wines, and well drinks. Not a great deal, but then again, the prices aren't outlandish to begin with.
The space is very big, and when I went it was pretty slow – seemed like a great place to chill. I would guess the bartender is not that friendly to people just passing through, but is nice enough if you become a regular.
American Retro is located across the street from the Daily Show and offers the perfect location to grab a quick drink and bit while you're killing time before the show. We were impressed with their creative selection of tatter tots and really enjoyed our choice: the buffalo tots. Also, since it was cold and I'm not much of a drinker, the waitress was very nice to make me a cup of warm team.
A good selection of craft beer and a nice, spacious set-up. We ordered the steak sandwich and the disco tots. The sandwich was awesome; I would get it again! Great place to pregame before a Terminal 5 show.
This was the perfect spot to grab a beer and wait a while before the Daily Show taping. Our waitress was really chill, and the music made for lots of sing alongs. The beer menu is solid though pretty standard.
I've never seen so many tater tots options! Go for the buffalo tots, which include spicy buffalo sauce and blue cheese. Brilliant!
Our waitress also made my friend some tea, which was a nice gesture.
We were able to get our check quickly and skip back across the street.