Packards

Packards gets two stars because of their pool tables, which are great and I spent quite a bit of time playing on.  I've also spent a lot of money here on drinks and the occasional dinner, but will no longer do.  

I got a dreadful case of food poisoning after eating a so-so dinner here in October.  Sh*t happens, and I took it in stride after the misery subsided.  However, it was the "response" of ownership that has earned them the loss of my business.  I had to contact them via email, in person, and phone before I received a return call (that I missed) - and my follow up call the same day was never returned.  What a disappointment.  

To be fair, their pool tables are good and their drinks come with an honest pour.  If that's your mission, you'll do well here.

There are far better places in town for food and atmosphere.

There's no frills when it comes to Packards, but that's not really why you go there. They've got plenty of beers on tap, awesome big screens to watch the game, and a bunch of pool tables (the two in the front of the building up the stairs are coin operated, back ones are pay by the hour).

Wicked divey, but I like it here!

Packards confounds me because a self-process food snob at times, I do not understand why I keep going back. Well, I kind of do.

Packards is a bar and resteraunt that's decor is the signs of old businesses that failed in Noho (which I find amusing) and a bunch of other random 'flair' which normally really turns me off. But I get over it.

The service is average. Never had a bad experience with it but there was also nothing above and beyond.

The food is where I am torn. They have an average 'good' beer selection -meaning they have about 20 beers of average quality and nothing particularly rare or special- but it beats having your only options be Coors, Miller, or Bud light.

Their menu is huge- which for me is a red flag. And if it's size didn't make me leery, the horrifying illustrations did. I swear to god the owner must have had a sadistic nephew that was alright at drawing and a fan of The Far Side and hired him to make a menu that features cartoon-y animals being brutally killed and strange jokes. It's enough to make someone become a vegetarian. The quality of the food I have found usually to be pretty average, a tiny bit better. BUT as of October 2012 I have not eaten there because the quality seemed to drop considerably. Suddenly the things I found quite good (stuffed mushrooms, clam chowder, mozzarella tomato basil panini, etc) were sub-par. I'm not sure if they changed hands in the kitchen...but I don't know what is going on.

Overall: Here's the bottom line about Packards. If it's later than 10:30pm in Noho and you're looking to still get a drink, and eat some bar food with friends for not a ton of money, it's your place to go. It may be crowded with bros and bro-hoes, but hell, you're really hungry and also really want to get drunk.