I want a casual divey bar in Morningside heights where I can throw a stone and not hit twenty five underage Columbia students. And this is not that bar. And to be fair, I didn't really expect it to be since I came here with a friend who's doing post grad at Columbia. The atmosphere was exactly what I was looking for in terms of somewhere to catch up with friends since we managed to snag a booth, but if you're not a student, I'd stick to chatting with the people you come with for the most part. It's not that I have anything against college students since I was one so very recently--it's just not my world anymore. Still, this place is nice enough. I'd come back on a week night though.
Review Source:I like this place, good prices and a good vibe. Â They attract a good crowd (busy on the weekends) of mostly Columbia students. Â There's a pool table but usually a long line to play. Â You can't beat the prices (quality beers for 3 or 4 bucks).
This place would be four stars but I went during March Madness and asked them to put one of the games on and the bartender said they weren't allowed to because the owner hates basketball. Â So pretentious, they had The Transporter 3 on....
I handed the bartender $20 for a mixed drink. Â I got $15 back. Â What?! Â And it wasn't even Happy Hour. Â Hands-down the cheapest drink I've gotten in Manhattan.
This place was packed on a Wednesday night so I assume it's packed on weekends. Â But for drinks this cheap I will fight my way to the bar. Â Mostly Columbia grad students and it seemed like there were some professors too (or just old people). Â Despite being crowded we were able to find seating in the back by the TV. Â
The only real downside is that they don't have everything that most bars do. Â They weren't able to make some of the drinks that we requested. Â Next time I will do shots all night instead.
We went here on Tuesday night for trivia and had a pretty good time. The drink prices are great (especially for the area) and everyone else that was there was there for trivia as well so it wasn't loud like it can get at some bars when only a few patrons are playing.
They don't have any food here but you are allowed to bring your own food in. The staff was attentive and very nice. Â
It's not anything special but if you're looking for a quieter bar on the UWS, this is a good place to go.
Classic dirtiness with a pool table and dart board. Possibility of a Columbia university crowd, but also has a local flavor all of its own. Bartenders are solid and efficient even when it is busy. Great for bar crawling and don't expect a booth that isn't sticky. If your in the mood for a late night watering hole in this neighborhood, I'd say check it out!
 Big screen in the back, but don't expect to watch a sporting event unless it is a big one. Sometimes has cult movies playing which can always be a rare treat...
If you find yourself becoming a regular at this bar, you should sleep well at night (with the help of a cheap-whiskey-induced stupor), knowing that you are a winner. Â At 1020, the darts games are hot, the dames are strange, and a palpable feeling of sleaziness fills the air. Â You will end up in surreal conversations with locals who give off an air of having crawled out from under the floorboards after the sun went down. Â The dingy interior has a Raymond Chandler-esque atmosphere; Â order some rye for your coffee to chase down your cigarette. If all goes well, you will stumble home unscathed.
Why would you want to go to a nice place to get drunk? Â If you have some dirt under your fingernails from a long tough day, slough off all your cares in one of the cozy booths at 1020. Â No joke, this is probably the place I miss the most from my time in New York.
Ask yourself: What are you looking for in a bar?
If you're looking for a good atmosphere, an affordable selection of drinks, and a place to sit down with friend(s) then 1020 fits that bill.
This is a no frills bar, but in being one it manages to get all the small things right. From the lighting, to the music, to the seating, the space, the decor, the bar area itself. It's hard to have any complaints about it.
It does get busy at certain times when the undergrads at Columbia come out. This is obvious when there is a line outside.
Otherwise it's a smattering of locals, predominantly Columbia grad students.
If you want to drink cheaply in the Columbia area, and still not be appalled by your surroundings, come here. I gave this bar 5 stars not because it will wow and impress you, but because it is a solid place to get drunk for 20 bucks.
Uggh man, the tortured love affair I have with 1020. It's like a mediocre mistress whose heart you don't have the heart to break. So you show up early because classes ended at 4pm, order your $3-4 beer and colonize a booth, and wait for the Columbia crowd to overtake the regulars-- mostly middle-aged single men in solitary worlds who are watching whatever porn or mainstream movie they're showing on the TVs.
The bartender is sufficiently creepy (but nice) and, I think, drunk 97% of the time. I enjoy the vibe here, except when whatever annoying men at the pool table (there always seem to be gross hotshots at the pool table) decide to hit on my girlfriends and I when we're just looking for a quick drink in the neighborhood after work.
This once devolved into a really circuitous argument between me and a guy I'd patently rejected (I'm a lesbian, duh) about how he didn't believe homosexuality happened in his country (India). I haven't been back to 1020 since then, but I don't blame the establishment; it just attracts some lurkers on a weekend night, and if you're a gay person looking for cheap drinks in that neighborhood, you're much better off going to Suite, which is a 2-minute walk away.
My reviews lately have been pretty harsh....I'm really hoping to finally go somewhere worth at least 4 stars on here.....but anyway on to why this place sucks.....
No food....but you can order and bring it in....except there is really nowhere near there except V&T pizza which is the single worst food I've ever had in my life, (seriously).
The Bartender, completely ignored my boyfriend, but gladly helped people who walked up way after him.....it took him way longer than it should have to get a drink. plus side, it was only 7$ for 2 beers....
We came on trivia night, if you are a trivia fan DO NOT PLAY HERE. We're trivia people, my bf and I both used to run our own at the bars we worked at.....and this was the worst one we've ever been to. well, actually it's a tie with common grounds trivia.
It was just awful. Awful questions, not hard, just stupid, and the music round was ridiculous ....and we definitely know music. we did our own music trivia as well.
and then, he switches papers around and you grade other teams.... i didn't come play to put thought in to grading other peoples shit, esp w/ half points, having to find answers that are placed randomly on the paper.... it's a stupid, lazy, not worth it trivia.
we will never ever play here again. its also really dark, hard to see, and there is no limit on how big your team is, the team behind us had like 11 or so people....um no wonder your winning....every trivia i've been to has a limit of about 6 to make it fair. whatever though.....im just saying there is way better bars to play trivia at in the city. skip this. skip the bar all together.
It's a dive bar, and it smells like one, but that's just how I like it.
Been going to this place since "way back when" you could smoke cigarettes in a bar.
I don't go as often as before but I'm always down to meet some old friends at this spot.
I always get the same, a nice pint of Brooklyn Lager.
By the way, this is one of those places that got hurt bad by the smoking ban, not because people stopped going there when you couldn't smoke, but more because once the cigarette smell was out, we all realized how awful this place smelled !
It never stopped me !
1020, you hold a special place in my heart. This was my first "my" bar in NYC.
I finally returned recently after many years to find it...brighter. OK, so maybe I'd never been there before 10pm before. Maybe I start drinking a little earlier these days. Maybe I have a few greys mixed in, and wear a suit to work. But you know what hadn't changed?
1020.
Still a dive bar, as the gods intended dive bars to be. Still cheap. The bartenders still buy you a shot now and again. Yes, it also still smells vaguely of stale beer, stale people and stale dreams, but how else would you know you were in a dive bar? There's a pool table that's more fun to watch than play on. There are always movies playing in the background. There are CU coeds mingling and sweating and debating. There's a little bit of a lot of things at 1020, and it's always right where you left it. Good to know.
God damn it. This place has won me over. I don't know what happened. I just fell head over heels again and choose to ignore all the bad experiences in the past. Maybe it was the late night finals studying that did me in and I just wanted something familiar, and didn't think a late night visit would mean anything........but it did. Curse it! And now I am thinking about 1020 during the day, taking my friends to it, making future plans with it involved. Sigh.
.
Occasionally friends and I bring pie and cookies into the bar, so if you see a group eating sweets just holla'. (I also bake for this bar, sigh, what is happening).
Note: The bartenders are so much better since my last review. Shout out to Ray, Gabe, and Tim. Also another cool thing about this bar, is that it was used for that really cool bar scene in "The Other Guys". Check it out.
I've been here a handful of times with friends who live near Columbia. Â Overall, it's a solid dive... cheap prices and a school-aged crowd, but I'm perpetually a student so I enjoyed that. Â It's hard to get a seat, though. Â We enjoyed a booth just once.
But keep an eye on your stuff! Â My friend's purse and coat were somehow transferred from the bar seat she was sitting at to a table all the way at the back of the bar, even though we had stayed with our things the entire evening.
Price/quality this place is very solid. Yes, yes the decor could be better, but you could also pay twice as much for that beer. Were you looking for a Marriott? This is a bar and should be rated as a bar.
Bar qualities:
There is a pool table, and a dart board (and they have darts). What else do you need? Food. Ok, there's no food. But you can bring it in from outside and they're cool with that.
One caveat: this place gets crowded on the weekends. Don't be here. For serious. On a weekend night (or a Thursday) this place can get so packed that your experience will really suffer. Think about the motor skills of your average graceless transplant student, who doesn't know (or care) how to navigate small spaces without knocking into people. How bad can it be? Well, it's clear to me that people are no longer scared of strangers in New York, because I've had literally a dozens of experiences at 1020 with trashed 5"3 inch girls slamming into me like it's a game of kill the carrier and my beer is the goddamn ball.
That said, again, this place is wonderful.
I didn't MEAN to come here on a Thursday night. It just kind of happened.
It was everything I expected it to be.
WHY DIDN'T I FOLLOW MY OWN WARNING?!
I just keep telling myself it COULD have been worse. The drunken Columbia students swinging their beers around yeling, "BIIIIG RIIIIIGS!" for reasons I am still unsure of could have spilled their beers on me. I escaped unscathed.
Praise sweet baby Jesus.
Never again on a Thursday night. Never again.
I have a love-hate relationship with this place. Â I hate that it gets super crowded but when I can get a seat, I find that I generally have a good time.
The bartenders make a strong gin and tonic which is always a plus.
The last time we were there, a couple came into bar and tried to play darts. Â This one douchebag came over and totally did his best to win cockblock of the year. Â This nice couple just wanted to play darts and this moron kept trying to give the girls tips on how to throw darts. Â Of course, when the aforementioned idiot tried his hand at darts, he proved to be among the world's worst. Â Oh and he smelled. Â So he was a stinky, douchebag cockblocker who provided some measure of entertainment.
Annnnnnnnnnd let the sh*t show begin!
Every time I'm here, it's sloppy. I'm not necessarily complaining, it's just more of a general observation. Perhaps it's the atmosphere, perhaps it's the vicinity to Columbia and snobby soon-to-be lawyers looking for some tail, perhaps it's the drink specials, but whatever it is, this is a venue to visit when you want to get destroyed. This place was the bar in the movie "The Other Guys," and even though I never saw the movie, I guess that's pretty neat. They have a few recreational bar activities, including darts and pool which can increase the fun factor.
I really enjoyed my experience here, a random jaunt with three friends. I was fully aware that this vibe will not be the same when the students come back, but nonetheless, we relished in the cheap prices, the chill atmosphere, the rugged crowd, and the seating. (I've been told I'll never get a seat here again!)
I also met Michael, the owner. He was quite charming.
I'll definitely come back! Nice 'hood joint.
I should really enjoy this place while it is still summer. Â I'm sure that once the school year hits, this place will be swamped with Columbia students. Â Being new in the neighborhood, I need to find the good bars, and I love a good dive bar. Â I would say that 1020 classifies as such. Â
Dart board up front, pool table in the back, barley lit bar area, small booths along the side and a few more tables and benches around the sides. Â Cheap PBR and Schlitz, good happy hour deals, all the great makings of a dive bar, and a good bar.
The music was also pretty solid through the course of the night. Mostly reggae. Supposedly they play indie movies on the tv's/in the back, but they were showing baseball, which is ok by me. Â
I think I will add this to the list of bars I will be giving my business.
A damn solid dive bar. Â It has everything you need: cheap drinks, a capacious happy hour, darts and pool, a big screen at the back, a long bar and snug booths. Â The service is fast. Â I should also point out that this is where you'll find the most attractive undergrads on any given night. not that that would sway anyone's opinion...
Now this bar does have its problems. Â The space is probably too narrow for a pool table, and it'd be nice not to have to squeeze past it to go to the bathroom. Â It's also pretty crowded, even relatively early in the night, but people circulate in and out relatively frequently so it's pretty easy to get a place to sit even with all those people standing around. Â And I hate to sound petty, but it seemed like the music was coming from the bartenders' iPods, which meant a highly variable quality in what was being played, and songs would often cut-out midway because the bartender didn't like that particular jam.
But overall, definitely a place to hit up if you're looking for cheap drinks and a good time.
This place is just kinda average.
The beers are cheap (especially during happy hour). There's a pool table. It's dive-y. That said, it's not particularly impressive either - the bartenders are just ok (not mean, but not particularly friendly). I don't go often, but when I do I try to go at a non-peak time to avoid crowds.
I really have no particularly strong feelings about this place. It's just a bland dive bar. I certainly would not go out of my way to try this place.
My friends and I came in here after a Thanksgiving day dinner up at City College. We love it in here because of the cool crowd, awesome full bar and the pool table (lets not forget there are darts as well).
The girls sat in the booths and guys at the bar, all talking our usually talk about life, love...wait maybe that was just the girls?
Great music was playing and everyone had a great time. They only con i've ever had with the place is that there are Columbia students all over, very childish at times (they are children seriously).
The bartenders are always very cool, and get me my Corona's in a timely manner.
Word on the street is that this is where the cool kids hang out...
I LIKE:
Convenient to me
Not sheik, expensive, just your typical looking bar (nicer than a real dive)
Reasonably priced, good drinks
They have a pool table!
DISLIKE:
Super crowded, hard to find seating
**Rude bartenders - friend lost his bag here, and called the bar the next Â
               day, bartender told him that he should stop being so
               drunk so he wouldn't lose his stuff next time (how
               would they make money?!)
Aww the memories. This place was a awesome when I was a freshman and sophomore at Columbia but it got old as soon as I turned 21.
Great if you're a freshman or sophomore at columbia (they are notorious for accepting all forms of fake IDs), mediocre if you're an upperclassman or graduate student. If you live nearby or happen to be walking by, I wouldn't suggest this place, as its swarming with underage columbia kids.
This is where I finally admitted that I'm horrible at darts. I really always thought that I had some skill or at least "beginner's luck" with the game but really...I don't.
The bar has a nice layout, sort of old school. It's basically a rectangle with darts when you walk in, a long bar on the left and plastic cover booths on the right with a pool table at the tail. Columbia students abound and I'm guessing we were probably the only folks in there not associated in some way with the university.
One of the things that stood out to me was the bartender. He was actually nice. And the drinks were cheap, I ordered two grey goose sodas and a stella and the bill came to an even $15.
This is a solid spot when you're in the middle of nowhere C-Country.
1020 Rap:
(intro)
1, 2, 1, 2, wait!
10, 20, 10, 20, yup!
(begin rap)
1020, somethin's funny
it ain't my money,
'cuz I'm no easter bunny!
uh, uh, uh,
2010, my name iz Ben,
I flow upon the mic,
and you think it's all Zen.
no, no, no,
1020, like my eggs runny,
if I have to have a day,
then I hope it's all sunny.
(outtro)
It's a bar.
M'tan Valley.
Columbia kidzzzz.
Represent.
To use a tired metaphor, 1020 is a bit of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I hate it, then I find a reason to love it and then I make the mistake of going back on Thursday, Friday or Saturday and...we're right back where we started from.
The closing of virtually every watering hole in Morningside Heights has made this otherwise unremarkable bar a total mob scene during the college weekend (Thurs-Sat). There is a regular line of up to 10 people at prime hours--I kid you not! When you get inside, you can hardly attract the attention of the frantic bartenders. Once you manage to secure a beverage, good luck raising your arm to bring the glass to your lips without spilling half of it or elbowing some fratster in the back. But everyone knows space is at a premium in Manhattan! This place used to be a sort of alternative option on the weekend but now...you'd have to pay me to go there.
However! All is not lost! There is one shining light salvaging this bar, one glowing rainbowy explosion of fantastic known to a select few as: Tuesday Trivia Night.
From 8 to 10 on Tuesday you can get your ass kicked at trivia, drink $3 pint, meet friendly folks and actually sit down while you're at it (unheard of on the weekends!). Bring your friends! If they don't like trivia, at least there's actually room to play pool because...its Tuesday! You can even order a pizza and eat it while you play trivia! Or play darts! Chat with the friendly bartender if you want! Have a ball!
Tuesday night at 1020 is one hot ticket to funtown. Just don't get mixed up and go on Thursday.
Definitely my neighborhood dive. Â If you are older than 23, just don't go on Fri/Sat night because it's filled with Columbia kids. Â It's a great mid-week drinking place where I love meeting friends or just walking in and striking up a random conversation with a grad student.
Wish they didn't play random shit on the big screen in back - just kind of distracting.
wait staff is pretty nice.
Friday and Saturday this place tastes like Linkin Park and date rape, but by all means, you should be going the other 5 nights. Nice 4-7pm happy hour with $2 pints of Yuengling, some Brooklyn Brewery selections, Red Hook, etc. Darts, TVs, pool. Cozy and divey and that ideal level of banter that vacillates between the inane (i.e., the merits Perez Hilton) and the absurdly pretentious (i.e., the merits of Hegel's legal philosophy).
For some reason this is a Red Sox bar, which rubs me the wrong way (as an Indians fan, not a New Yorker), partic during the postseason. But all-in-all I love this place. Nice large-group areas (for 8-12?) in the front and back of the joint.
And a shout out to Paul and Mike, who run Trivia Night on Tuesday nights at 8pm there... check it out. Free to play and prizes all around!
This bar is the guy's ideal first date: cheap, easy, and relaxed.
I'd love to call this place my dive bar if only I didn't live in Brooklyn. It's definitely a place to go whenever visiting the Columbia friends.
On any given night you can cozy up in here, play some darts, watch a game on the screen. I'd avoid Saturday at all costs, though; it ends up smelling too much like a frathouse.
If you see a large Puerto Rican guy working at the door, and he's either nodding off or looking really angry, tell him Thea says hi.
Spent way too much time at this place during college. Like Cheers, but infinitely drunker. I'd like to blame it on my friends who were bartenders and bouncers, but really, it's just me.
Don't use the women's bathroom! Looks clean, but ladies- it's just not right in there.
The best thing about freshmen at Columbia? Â I get older, they stay the same age. Â A-gigity gigity. Â
Unfortunately, they're probably not able to drink at 1020 but on any given night during the school year, there are probably some seniors at this bar. Â And rightly so because this is a great neighborhood bar... booths made for 4 although you can squeeze more, a pool table in the back, and a friendly bartender. Â This is the kind of dimly lit bar seen on TV shows when characters just want to let their perfectly coiffed hair down and have a casual beer with their equally mega-attractive pals.
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