The Junction
“Nice sport's bar,walking distance from grand central.Great happy hour even on the weekends.Friendly staff,took good care of me.”
“Trivia was a good time (free shot for winning the round and $50 off your tab if you win entire thing).”
“For food we had the "Junction Combo" which had 3 chicken fingers, 3 mozz sticks, 3 wings, 3 jalapeño poppers, and onion rings.”
The Junction
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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This is a very solid sports bar in Midtown East/Murray Hill neighborhood. My boyfriend lives in the apartment building above this bar, and when I found out he was moving here I was SO pumped when he told me he had a bar in his "basement." Scenes of How I Met Your Mother floated into my head. However, I know in this city a bar is not hard to come by, so I was reluctant to get excited too quickly.
Turns out, though, that the Junction is pretty damn legit and definitely has the neighborhood sports bar type atmosphere that I was hoping for. Being so close to Midtown/Times Square/Penn Station, it's nice to get to this area and regain that neighborhood feeling.
The bar is pretty minimal but still a good size and there are just the basics for beer and food options, but everything is solid. They actually have a house brew, Junction Ale, which is just ok… but it's definitely a step up from getting a pitcher of Bud Light. There are some bottle options that are appealing to me. And of course, any of the bartenders can make a solid cocktail.
They have a ton of TVs and a little "back" area that I could see being ideal if you have a large group and want to have your own space. Not sure if they reserve that area, but I'd be surprised if they didn't. Sports are always on, but don't be surprised to not find any "local" sports fans. Thought I guess that is kind of the MO for the entire city. Just always disappointed when I wear my NY Giants jersey around this city and I am the one being heckled. But, I guess that is a review of the city in general, and therefore irrelevant to this one.
Cheers, Junction-I am happy you are the How I Met Your Mother Bar of my guy's apartment building.
Good Bar close to offices nearby Grand Central. Not too expensive either, with friendly staff. I'd give 4.5 but not quite a 5.
Nothing special. OK spot to sneak out of work to in the middle of the day to catch a game, a bite to eat, and maybe even a beer. They actually did have some interesting beers. Burger was OK. Not great. $11 with fries, but no cheese. You decide if that is a good value for an average-sized average burger.
Place was exactly what you would imagine, as was the service. 😉
For a place that doesn't look like much from the outside, the atmosphere and time to be had on the inside just go to show that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. The bright, yellow front intrigued me on many occasions as I passed by, enough to eventually draw me in. As stated by many other Yelpers, the staff were excellent. I threw back a couple of pints of suds and went about my business, all in all happy that I decided to stop in. I found the following to be a personal bonus: there are a pile of Buffalo Bills things in this bar.
Need a quick drink? Need wings? Need your typical bar food-oily,greasy and loud music? this is definitely your place. There is absolutely nothing to take home about this junction. You are greeted by the bar tender immediately when you enter and you can choose to seat in the dining area or at the bar which is well stocked. Usually loud music playing and a bunch of high testosterone dudes doing shots or having beer and stepping out for smoke. I did get the buffalo wings which were decent for the price. Makes a good dive bar if you are already tipsy before entering.
Went here today for happy hour with my friend and was very disappointed. After reading the positive reviews I was hoping this would be a great sports bar spot.
First off, the happy hour specials are pretty limited, especially for beer. While the prices are good ($4 peer, $5 well drinks) there aren't any food specials. The well drinks weren't very strong and tasted watered down. The food tasted like cheap bar food – not as bad as TGIFriday but I've definitely had better.
Second, the service was HORRIBLE! The waitress who was serving us (Scottish or Irish? lady with short bob haircut) was rude from the moment I walked in. Never made eye contact or hung around more than a second longer than she had to. She seemed annoyed when I didn't want to order another drink because I was still nursing my beer. Dropped off the check and never say her again.
The place itself seemed pretty nice. Decent size with a dozen tables that could fit parties of 2-6. It was pretty crowded starting around 5:30pm and it seemed like a mellow crowd – mostly young professionals getting off from work with a few older patrons hanging around. Nothing rowdy.
Given the atmosphere it would definitely be a nice place to hang out and watch a game BUT thanks to the horrible service and not-so-happy hour, I definitely won't be going back!
I ended up here because we needed to finds a place to watch the game near Grand Central and the Junction is a sports bar… sort of.
First, they would not let us turn on the volume for the game. How can you be a sports bar and try to get customers in to watch games if you aren't going to give them volume. Bad call.
We ordered some overpriced food that was not bad per se, but wasn't great either. They only have 3 flavors of wings and they cost 10 bucks for 9. I got hot which wasn't spicy at all, and my friend got the old bay rubbed flavor. The Old Bay rub totally dried out the chicken making it not very good at all. I ordered their signature beer and wasn't impressed or disappointed .
Overall, the Junction is solidly average for a Midtown bar, but underperforming as a sports bar.
Came here for lunch one afternoon and the bar was packed with men sucking down beers at the bar. The beer list is longer than I expected, with draught, domestic and a surprisingly detailed craft beer list. We stuck to the domestics, but mostly because we had to show to show up at work in an hour without actually looking happy to be back.
The menu for lunch is okay: Chicken wraps, grilled cheese, burger, onion rings, fries, standard pub food. I had the chicken wrap, which was better than I expected it to be. Fresh lettuce, thick tomato chunks (not just seeds and juice and not dried out) and a chipotle sauce with just the right kick. The fries are thick cut and not too mushy nor too crisp. My friend had the grilled cheese. It looked a little bland, but what else would you expect in a pub that is more focused on the patron's beer consumption than two pieces of bread sandwiching one piece of melted cheese in the middle. You did have choices for four different cheeses and bread type, which was a nice touch. Her onion rings looked great though– big rings and crispy!
Food service was fairly fast (we were 2 of 3 people eating in the place) and our waitress was friendly enough.
Honestly, it truly was A-Ok. I wouldn't necessarily seek this place out for lunch, but I could see this being a solid watering hole for sports games and the happy hour crew alike.