Union Pool

Doesn't Recommend

Zhou74

Joined 5 years ago

Avoid, Crowds, Terrible bartender. This was the most uncomfortable evening of my life. Instead of Williamsburg it felt like a stuffy midtown bar after work. I literally could not move a square inch walking from the tiny and badly designed interior, to the "garden". The bartender was rude and got my drink wrong after I had waited twenty minutes just to catch his attention! Because there is no crowd control, my friends and I had to squeee through so many hordes of people that my drink that I had just earned, was spilled everywhere. There's a single bathroom so half the bar in bound to be on line.

Really, this is not my idea of fun.

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justinh

Joined 7 years ago

Pretty much the epitome of people mixed feelings about W.burg. When people talk about LOVING Williamsburg or HATING Williamsburg, this is pretty much what they're talking about. It's a cool space, and the back garden is great, and if you go right after work, it's not such a bad place for a drink. However, after the hipster hordes descend on it later in the night, it's pretty much insufferable if you're over 25. Bartenders aren't especially friendly, and the lines for the bathroom are always mysteriously long.

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spacefoote

Joined 6 years ago

big, big yard. A nice place to duck in and have a beer when its not a Friday or Saturday night as the space is really cool and they have a huge backyard. Watch out for the dude in a trucker hat who is going to spill his PBR all over you. That guy is all over the place.

Doesn't Recommend

greenlander

Joined 6 years ago

wow, does everyone but management know how bad the bouncers are?. I really like the bar itself, but I got a ridiculous, in your face, truckload of attitude off the bouncer because he said I wasn't standing in the right position so he could see my face to compare it to the ID. I don't know if it was a valid point, but he was so rude and obnoxious about it, it was totally off-putting.

On an entirely separate occasion, I saw the same guy grab some poor dude and almost push him to the ground because he was taking a call on the step outside the door and didn't hear the bouncer asking him to move. I like the bar, but how they can let this stuff go on is amazing. anyways, I've resolved to stay away until I hear the bouncer is fired.

Doesn't Recommend

marialuzdeluna

Joined 6 years ago

Healthy Bouncer - Don't Do Anything To Make Him Sick!. This is the first time that I've ever been so peeved at any establishment that I've been compelled to log on to Citysearch and warn the masses about the abhorrent treatment that I experienced. Let me just start by saying that me and two of my friends came to this place looking hot. We are three tall, slender babes in cute dresses, ready to shell out cash for drinks and wielding a glimmer of hope that we might stumble upon a good time. What we got was the worst kind of rudeness from the moment we arrived. You see, we stalled a moment outside to finish our cigarettes. (God forbid! It is still legal to smoke, right?) We were not standing directly in front of the door, but to the far left of it if one were facing the street. Immediately, the bouncer - a proud man of considerable height and girth - said authoritatively, "Ladies! Ladies!!! Can I please ask you to step around to the side of the building if you're going to smoke?" He made a big, sweeping motion with his arms, ushering us around the corner. We complied without comment or fuss. Sufficiently away from the entrance, we continued our conversation and our cigarette smoking. But the big man at the door wasn't satisfied. He came around the corner and again said, "LADIES!!! Can I please ask you to move further away? Keep your cancer to yourself please!!!" It's ironic that he kept saying "please" because nothing else that was coming out of his mouth was in the least bit polite. My girlfriends and I looked at each other and agreed that this was not a place that we would be walking into with the intention of spending our money. It is pretty sad when you don't even make it through the door before being treated badly by a staff member. I thanked him for making it clear that we weren't welcome there and we went on our merry way to Black Betty down on Metropolitan where they were more than happy to see us, serve us, and treat us like the dolls that we are.

Doesn't Recommend

natposto

Joined 6 years ago

abusive, intolerant bartenders. I am definitely NOT a trouble maker and have never had such things happen to me before but had 3 BAD incidents happening there: game: find the common ground between them??

1) you get the wrong order and even though you are not even complaining about it you hear that this is probably about your "THICK foreign accent"

2) your husband who is Ecuadorian gets kicked out because a female bartender accuses him of attacking her a month earlier. After insisting to talk to her later, she says she was wrong, oh sorry he REALLY looked like him

3) my gay friends get violently, physically kicked out because they were playing tiny fake maracas by the outside patio door . I'll let you draw the conclusions.

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ekitel

Joined 8 years ago

love it or hate it. It's definitely a great spot, even if you're not into the scene in the main bar, which can tend to have a tattooed, rocker/greaser, wanna-be bad-a$$ vibe, but the back room is by far one of the best places to check out a band anywhere in the 5 boroughs, with a real old-fashioned stage with a frame and curtains. The drinks seem kind of expensive to me, $11 for MacCallan 12 on the rocks, which goes for $8 in more reasonable joints.

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Karen Hudes

Joined 10 years ago

Spontaneous cocktails make a cool splash.. In the grand tradition of Williamsburg bars, Union Pool transforms a defunct shop (generations-old A-1 Pool and Pest Supply) into an enticing place to kick back. The owners' handcrafted touches--including deep blue booths, creamy pressed-tin walls, a smooth cast-concrete bar top and green tiles from the old Shaeffer factory--coalesce with nifty remnants of aquatic signage. Barflies bask in the glow of an old-time refrigerator, where lemons and martini glasses--plus the odd stalk of ginger--chill. Creative bartenders tinker with the sauce to mix up espresso martinis and pomegranate margaritas, while wildstyle DJs work the turntables. Summertime guests spill into the coveted open-air back patio, big enough to hold a teeming party.

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11222

Joined 7 years ago

Love it. I'm lucky enough to live just a few blocks away. This place is very laid back, chill, great to go anytime. The fire pit outside is really cool, the place is is big enough that i've never seen it crazy crowded, but usually a good number of people. It's more of a divey-comfortable feel, come as you are kinda place. One negative is that whenever I go, there never seems to be anyone socializing. People tend to stick close to the people they come with. That's not neccesarily a bad thing, just something to keep in mind if you're looking to meet new people.

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antypants

Joined 8 years ago

Summer of 2005. I don't know how many stellar nights me and my mates had here over the summer. I had bartenders buying me drinks, cute girls kissing me in the photobooth and hipsters handing me hookah out the back. Highly recommended.