Alley Katz

Good selection of beers!
The day i was there the portions seemed pretty small. At $9 for a burger and fries, I would have expected at least a quarter pounder. Not a lot of fries going on either. Also, they were serving 12 ounce beers for the price of a pint.
The beer was good and the selection is fantastic. Presumably they actually serve pints when it's not a special occasion. Not sure about the food though. It's hard to mess up fries, but that tiny burger didn't impress me.

I went here with my family and some other friends to watch the USA vs Jamaica soccer match on June 7th.  The bar was starting to get pretty packed and I noticed that there were only two ladies behind the bar so thought I should get up there sooner than later.  I made my way over and the experience of ordering a few drinks was so terrible.

I understand that there were only two bartenders, but on a day of a big event I would assume that a bar would be reasonably staff.  One of the bartenders was showing a little more effort than the other, but she was taking about 5 different orders at a time, then would have to come back to ask again because she had forgot them all.  The time that it took for me to sit there, get her attention, order my drinks and receive me drinks- took a total of about 45 minutes.  The worst part was that when I asked her how much the pitcher of beer was, she replied with "oh i have no idea, about 20 something and then tax....." Later, come to find out after looking on the chalkboard, the pitcher only cost 16.  

Overall, the location and space is the best asset, but the ladies behind the bar had no efficiency, and they didn't know their product.  The bar is too understaffed for big events and customers were not impressed with being ignored or taking too long to be served for a simple drink!

My girlfriend and I went for Tuesday trivia.  It makes sense that the place was a little bit empty, being a Tuesday, but I kind of liked not having to stand or wait for a place to sit (e.g. Streets of London Sunday trivia).  We got there around 7 and both dartboards were open, and 1 of the 2 pool tables was available.  We had a booth to ourselves, without putting anyone else out.

The trivia itself was great, although a little long.  It was 64 questions (8 rounds), and it uses the "geeks who like to drink" format.  You can look it up online.  I like that there are bonus questions during certain rounds that if you are the first to answer correctly, you get a free pint.  I won one. =)

It's true what other reviewers have said about them having a very large beer selection, but it's all bottled.  Their on-tap selection is actually pretty poor...I think they only had 6 on tap, we had the Great White and the Guiness.  The Great White tasted flat.

The only knock I have on this place is that the bartop/barback area is very poorly lit.  They have lamps that hang over the bar every few feet, but they never turned them on, or they were all burned out.  I think the lighting would make for a more inviting atmosphere.  Also, the guy bartender wasn't very good.  I asked for a bottled craft beer in a glass, and he just gave me the glass and the open bottle rather than pouring it for me.  I'm not sure if this is typical (if it is, I apologize), but I expected him to pour it for me.  At the same time, one of the patrons next to me asked if he could add some more mixer to his cocktail because it seemed a little off, and the bartender seemed completely put out by the request.  He added it, but not without complaining about it.

It seems like the Tuesday night trivia crowd is made up of regulars and everyone seemed incredibly friendly.  We even made friends with a couple of them.  Overall C+/B-