Madison Square Tavern
“I literally only come here for the Irish guy behind the bar I think his name is Gavin.”
“Great cocktails in a sexy environment is a perfect alternative to most of the MSG watering holes.”
“One of the owners, Antonio, was nice enough to come over and chat with us, and also offer a tour of the place.”
Madison Square Tavern
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Coat Check: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I'm pretty sure MST is going to be my new favorite bar anywhere within the vicinity of MSG.
It's brand new and wet behind the ears, but the service and food/cocktail programs are firing on all cylinders. Sidle into any seat and enjoy an array of high-end bar bites, entrees, creative salads, and some fantastic cocktails.
Space wise, it might be as big as Madison Square Garden as well. There are several areas that you can book for big parties, work functions, etc… if you're reading this and looking for a solid location to host your office holiday party, you're in luck. And if you're a sports fan, there are many TVs with all the NFL games. No sound, though… so if you're into hearing the sounds of the game, you may want to look elsewhere.
With hockey in full bloom, this should be your alternative to the typical Brother Jimmy's hang. It'll cost you a bit more, but quality is worth a few extra Hamiltons.
Looking for a spot near Madison Square Garden before or after an event, look right here. Great cocktails in a sexy environment is a perfect alternative to most of the MSG watering holes.
I enjoyed dinner here due to the friends I was with, but the food itself was not very memorable. The service was incredibly slow as well, it took 30 minutes just to pay the bill and they were turning down customers due to full capacity. However, the bar was very nicely lit- I would perhaps go back for drinks.
Burger- good
Salmon- forgettable
Calamari – avoid
Mixed drinks- very pretty and flavorful
I came here for after work drinks one day, and had always been drawn by the industrial decor and Edison bulbs and tall ceilings – but unfortunately, my experience was not nearly as positive as my first impression was. Firstly, this place is pricey. It's probably trying to go for a slightly more upmarket customer base, but being right across the DMV, I'm not sure how successful they're going to be on that front. Secondly, the truffles fries were NOT fries. They were chunky wedges with no truffle taste whatsoever. They were also $11, which was way too much for ten wedges or whatever it was.
So i came here on a Sunday around 4-5pm for some drinks. Surprisingly at that time it wasn't too busy. We got seated right away. The ambiance here is really nice. Whats even better is that they had a DJ! Be prepared for a light turn up in your seat 😉 The crowd seemed to be mid 20's to mid 30's. Super mixey tho! I even saw a few c-list celebs, instagram models and reality stars!
NOW, I really gave them a 3.5 stars because the drinks were lacking. I had the Mediterranean mule which was ok AND this Pear cocktail and STILL left sober as hell. Both were $15 each. We had already eaten before we came here so we didn't have their brunch but I did take a look at their brunch menu- $20 for shrimp and grits :-/
Overall, I wouldn't mind going back just for the fun atmosphere and great location near MSG. Hopefully I get a better bartender next time or just stick to shots!
My coworker and I walk passed this place so many times and decided to have lunch here last week. The decor looks good, like a mature 'bar' place with museum-like painting on display. Decent looking bar set up, so maybe it's good for happy hour?
We came here for lunch and let's just say we will probably not come back for round 2…
Food: We had the braised bacon (a big slab of pork belly meat, braised & served over beans and broccoli rabe), steak sandwich and risotto… sounds good right? NOPE… the braised bacon was over cooked, the meat was chewy and sweet does not go well with bitter (broccoli rabe), I kept rinsing the after taste with water. The steak sandwich was poorly constructed, lack taste and flavor of any kind and left me hungry for a Mickey D's Big Mac… yes, that bad. OMG.. how do you mess up risotto?!?!! We were expecting a "rich, creamy, full of flavor" sensation to be served… instead we got, "watery, luke warm and lack luster". We always try to finish our food and not be wasteful… but this lunch was extremely underwhelming and we just could not suffer through it.
Service: It started out ok – not busy so we got our orders in right away and drinks; however once our food is on the table, didn't see the waiter much and took over 20 mins to get our bill… we just wanted to leave.
Overall, not a cheap lunch, save your Benjamins and go elsewhere for great food!
We decided to try this place out for a happy hour since it's new, conveniently located near our trains, and has a gluten-free menu for the celiacs in our group. The place is quite nice, a fancy interior with a casual vibe. The bar in particular is very pretty with its backlighting. Since we were a group of 7, the servers wanted to seat us at what looked to be the world's largest conference room table. We talked them into giving us bar seating at some of the high tops since we didn't want to sit miles away from each other.
The server was really nice. He patiently answered our questions, checked on things for us, and gave suggestions on what to order. For happy hour, they have beer and wine specials, and also $6 Skye vodka (you choose your mixer). I did vodka with pineapple juice, which was tasty. Also did a couple cocktails off their menu and really liked the Gettin Figgy With It.
Ordered some dishes to share. We had the meatballs, plaintain crisps, chicken lollipops, grilled flatbread, and charcuterie plate. While it would be unfair to expect these dishes to be able to satiate as many as 7 people, we did think they wouldn't be QUITE so tiny, given the prices of the food. For instance, you'd think a $15 plate would have more than 5 mini drumsticks. I suppose it could be a quality over quantity thing, as they were very good, but just a fair warning.
All in all, we had a nice time and while this place may not end up in our regular rotation, it's worth checking out.
This place really impressed me! I loved the very large, stone lit bar along with impressively stocked shelves on the wall. The bartender Michael was polite, and very attentive. I tried the fig cocktail which was delicious, and I hung around for more drinks, switching over to beer as they had a great selection. I tried the chicken panini for lunch, which was not what you would picture as a traditional panini, but non-the-less really tasty. It had a ton of flavor and was filled with freshly grilled and juicy chicken, guacamole, melted swiss and cripsy bacon. One of the owners, Antonio, was nice enough to come over and chat with us, and also offer a tour of the place. They're fairly new (about 2 months), so it seems like they're trying to make a good impression- and it worked! I would definitely make it a point to visit here whenever I'm in the area.