The Federal Bar
“Pictured, the fantastic French fizz (think a French 75 absinthe milk shake) and the Bitter Bitch (a negroni sans vermouth, plus lemon, Pamplemousse and bubbles).”
“We ordered the dry-aged burger (one of the best burgers I've had in NY) and a pulled pork sandwich (very juicy with a great side of fries).”
“We got the meatball sub and the pulled pork sandwich and both were very flavorful.”
The Federal Bar
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
3 reviews
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This place has a great vibe! Live music most nights, really friendly wait-staff, tasty beverages, and their grilled corn bread served straight from the pan is to die for!
I was worried Federal Bar would be one of those hipster food places that just don't serve enough food — i was pleasantly surprised to leave stuffed (:
The bar burger is pretty good but out of the 2 ordered at our table medium rare, 0/2 came back as a true med rare (more of a medium).
Fried chicken sandwich is perfectly crispy and even though the sandwich itself isn't huge, there are more than enough fries to fill yourself up!
Pulled pork sandwich is served inside of two thick slices of .. I dont know how else to describe it, but a black pepper butter toast? It tastes weirdly spicy (in a good way), again you fill up mostly on fries.
Drinks are good but be warned they'll charge you extra for a whiskey neat pour (it's a 2oz pour vs 1.5 oz)
All in all food is decent and service is nice but i think this place is still getting its bearings.
I have an expression for elements of gentrification in North Brooklyn that don't align with my conception of what's healthy for the area. "That's so Silver Lake," I say only just audibly with a sigh, then return to whatever startup social network is popular that particular week.
I've never been to Silver Lake, so this is strictly an exercise in imagined geography. You see, to my extremely untrained mind, Silver Lake is an area of below the line entertainment workers, lifecycle coaches and people developing new micro-nutrient diets. There are restaurants and artists, but they are more "restaurants" and "artists" than anything approaching the real thing.
It's subjective nonsense, of course. There are interesting, creative people in Los Angeles just as there are (God knows) plenty of pretentious douchebags in Bushwick.
But just when I'm ready to turn into a squishy relativist, I eat dinner at place like The Federal Bar. Attached to and affiliated with the Knitting Factory, the restaurant promises "cohesive ties" with the venue's "music roots."
Now while the models photographed here might seem like they are having an enjoyable meal, I assure you this is just art. The wait staff appears to have been chosen for their looks, and while they have strong cheek bones they don't have any understanding of the menu or common courtesy.
This is a place where the waiter returned repeatedly for a drink order, even coming back to take it two more times after it had been placed. One person's beer didn't arrive until halfway through dinner. The merquez corndogs come in an order of two. Is it possible to add a third so each member of our party could eat one? No. The person who didn't get to eat drew the long straw, however as just because you charge five times as much for something doesn't mean it actually has a pleasant flavor.
The menu is overthought and unchallenging variations on American comfort food. The concept appears to be to add as many trendy or expensive ingredients into ordinary fare, with no concern for whether or not it tastes good. There are not prices listed on the website (how fancy!) but be assured this all costs much more than it should.
I'm not saying that The Federal Bar is a fifth column to ruin the reputation of the Brooklyn dining. All I'm saying is that before they opened here, they had a restaurant in North Hollywood.