Birreria
“Their rooftop beer bar is gorgeous and the atmosphere was perfect for enjoying great company and delicious Italian Food.”
“Pork chop and pork shoulder amazing
Started with a delicious plate of 7 cheeses that 4 of us devoured.”
“The cask ale is brewed on site in some sort of odd merge of English, Italian and craft American brewing traditions and the stuff is a treat.”
Birreria
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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**More Like MEHlan**
Not impressed. The price did not match the small portions, mediocre quality, and lack of hospitality.
I'll put the worst first.
PASTA DEL GIORNO — The pasta was terrible…I know authentic pasta is often made al dente, but this just tasted undercooked and frankly kind of stale (even though it shouldn't have been since they supposedly make all their pasta fresh). I get fresh pasta from Uncle Giuseppe's and it is a whole lot better than the stuff they brought out…even Olive Garden is a step up.
INSALADA DI CAVOLO, SPECK E UVA — The salad was also terrible. I'm not sure what they did to the greens but they tasted crunchy and devoid of any sort of flavor. The apple slices were good but were so minisculely thin, I wonder how many salads they can make with just a single apple. This was probably one of the worst salads I had in 2015.
COZZE ALLA BIRRA — Mussels were meh. The sauce was nothing special but was at least pretty good to soak up with the complimentary bread.
CROSTINI DI FEGATO D'ANATRA — Pate dish was OK, but there was nowhere near enough of the crostini with which to eat it. Asking for more of the softer complimentary bread wasn't a big deal, but it wasn't designed to crispy enough for the pate and this dish suffered as a result.
The complimentary bread was OK–again, nothing wrong with it, but considering they have a bakery onsite, I expected more than just some thin slices of some "rustic" looking bread, whatever that even means.
I got their pasta beer, and while it was just OK (at ten bucks), I have to give it to them for trying to do something unique that fits in line with the restaurant. They otherwise have a couple other beers they make, as well as a decent selection, although some of them were grossly overpriced even for what I would expect them to run in a restaurant.
Service was also a bit uninspiring–never rude but not attempting to be pleasant, which you'd expect for the price point.
I will say the ambience was nice–tables felt nicely spaced apart, and there were great views of the Met Life tower and surrounding buildings.
FINAL VERDICT: Try the pasta restaurant downstairs or simply go elsewhere with many great restaurants in this neighborhood at or slightly above this price range…it's not worth it.
Awesome rooftop bar on Eataly market! We took the elevator up to the roof and had drinks. Even though it rained we still enjoyed the views. They had good service and lots of wine & beer options. The food looked good but we only had drinks. I would like to return!
I really should enjoy coming Birreria more. It's close to where I live, centrally located, has lots of great beers/wines, and has a fairly large, nicely laid-out rooftop space. That's kind of just what you want in a casual hangout for post-work drinks and the like. However, just about everything else about Birreria is severely lacking, which is a crying shame.
First things first, it gets crazy packed here. The clientele is a mix of out-of-towners, tourists, and people who don't know how to drink anywhere except a rooftop. Yet, you'd think that even for a fairly touristy place, the food would be good since it's on top of a humongous market with great ingredients. However, most of the food we had was about the same quality as you'd find at any pub, perhaps even a little worse, and the portions are deathly small. Oy. That's a shame.
Service has always been spotty, and while the servers are more or less friendly, they're far from efficient. It's also strange because the bar area always seems to have reservations, but no one shows up to these tables for hours and hours. The prices aren't good for beers (or the food), but the selection is pretty nice, and they always have a few good beers on tap that are harder to find.
You should come here if it's a nice day during not- peak hours, and you aren't interested in eating.
Bartender seemed a bit condescending. No bar napkin or coaster? But he made a decent cocktail.
Bar stools were a few inches too short to make sitting at the bar comfortable. Seats were turning fast. Music was loud and American and not well selected. Not much of a view. No reason to go.
Eataly in itself is a beautiful space. This rooftop eatery is a very relaxing place to dine in what would otherwise be a hectic space.
The atmosphere in terms of who visits this place is a little "up in airs". I felt pressured to order a drink because that's what I'm expected to do here. I wasn't given any sort of recommendation for a drink, it was just implied that I better order something.
We chose this option rather than the other restaurant options of Eataly because it has a little of everything rather than being strictly vegetarian or pescetarian. I got the only fish option on the menu: house salt cured cod with whipped potatoes and spinach. It was pretty good. Nothing wowed me in terms of seasoning. It was simple and fresh. For a $28 price tag and it being cod, I just thought that was a bit much. It wasn't a filling portion by any means either, pretty appropriate as a tasting menu size. I am really waiting for the day that food in New York is valued for what is given.
Guys, ok so two stars may be bespoke to my visit but I can't justify more. The good news – six of us arrived sans reservation at about 7:45 and were immediately sat upstairs (this place is a 14th floor rooftop restaurant). That was great. Not so great was our server – she carried a massive air of indifference about her. No "welcome." No "how are you?" – just straight into "you want tap water?"
Oh well – bitchy waitress aside I'm forgivable if the foods good. Well, the menu is extensively seafood – one gripe about the menu is that the dish descriptions only list general ingredients and leave you wondering what you're going to get if you don't speak Italian. A good server would help a little.
We ordered the meat and cheese antipasti app – the variety of cheeses and meats were amazing. But, again, the server did nothing to explain which was which – we could decipher this mostly but didn't want to bother her with our rookie questions.
The crown jewel of my two star review was my main course. I ordered Fusilli Allo Scoglio – seafood pasta with marinara. The dish was terribly salty – I mean, "oops I dropped the shaker in your dish" salty. It was not good. The rest of our group ordered steak and one ordered the eggplant dish – they were satisfied although didn't feel their dishes were distinguished.
Overall – nice ambience. Terrible service. Lackluster food. Meh – I'm not the first to bitch about their service though. They need to fix that.
Whoever is reading this, please try their duck entree. It's freakin amazing. It melts in your mouth. Our server was really cool and she totally suggested awesome stuff. She literally helped me with picking out my drink (I got the Dry Rose Cider, and loved it sooooo much) and entree. I forgot her name, but she's definitely an asset to this place. It was a pretty good dining experience. And I left with a happy tummy.
For some reason I thought I wouldn't like it here, but I did. Came on a Saturday night after dinner for some beers on the rooftop. It was crowded but we were able to grab a few seats at the bar overlooking the dining room and it was very nice. Beer selection was good, with a few notable local beers which I was happy to see. Prices were about what you'd expect, meaning somewhat high but that's okay.
The crowd was nice and it was a great vibe. There was a good energy but it was also kind of laid back due to the decor, the fans and the open air.
I'm sure when it is too crowded it's no fun but I liked it and would go back.