Achilles Heel

This is my favorite place to go in the winter for a drink. They have the best hot toddy & a wood burning fireplace to go with it! Great atmosphere.

Went here on a Friday night, busy but plenty of staff. Ordered a cocktail, my boyfriend ordered a glass of wine. Wine came first. Cocktail sat on a tray on the end of the bar for 10 minutes while staff passed it by, chatted and generally did other things. We were never able to get a second glass of wine because our server literally, ate, smoked outside, socialized and totally ignored us to the point where it no longer made sense to stay. After what must have been 25 minutes sitting with an empty glass of wine some other server offered to pour some random other wine that happened to be in her hand. Asked for the check instead.
It was baffling to witness the level of ineptitude, aloofness and general lack of training in hospitality the staff was endowed with. I watched other tables struggle to get the attention of staff as well. I’ve been here several times before and it just seems to have gone down hill overall. We chose to come here over other places because of the wines but the service is just is kind of a dishonor to what they’re serving. We were prepared to spend money here and left angry instead. Sort of a sad business model.

Waitress was so rude. No introduction, no words. Just stood and waited for us to order after we had to wait for her to come by for ¹⁵⁄₂₀ minutes.
I think of this place as the perfect SNL parody of what a hipster restaurant is like: the food was weird, the drinks overpriced, the crowd «too cool for school».

I’m torn about this place.
It’s very costly and warm. Wine was really good.
Food was not so great and very expansive for the size of it (appetizers style)
The music was incredibly loud, like you can’t talk to your neighbor and for a sitting place that’s silly.
Our waitress was the rudest I have ever seen in my entire life and trust me I know rude I’ve lived in Paris for 20 years.
She yelled at us for wiping some water on our table that «she was about to clean «. Then she stood in front of us without a word with her notepad waiting for us to order. She looked like she really didn’t want to be there and didn’t speak a word of the entire night. It was like talking to a wall.
When you go to such a pricy place you expect to have at least the minimum of service.
Not sure we will be back.

As my Über crawled passed still undeveloped parts of the Greenpoint waterfront, I worried that I’d let my desire to go to the restaurant featured in that week’s New York TImes restaurant review had let me to a poor decision. Choosing some place so far away from the L Train meant I had nearly 30 minutes to wait until my friend and dining companion arrived.
I spent most of it zealously guarding my extra bar stool, as those 30 minutes were the ones where Achilles Hell went from being a moderately crowded dining spot to hip bar. This is mentioned in the Times review, but I guess I didn’t realize how quickly the vibe changes when you have a dozen young artists, writers or whoever lives around here standing next to you on the way to the bar.
My food came just as my friend arrived. There was a plate of spicy French sausage and a delicate arrangement of clams and vegetables in a small bowl. I would tried the rice balls as well, or perhaps jowl, but both had disappeared by the time I ordered. I find this a bit frustrating, especially at places like this one with short menus. I hope the increased focus can mean keeping items in stock into popular evenings.
The beer list is close to ideal, with a few surprises sitting inside some typical craft beer selections. It’s a buck or two more than you pay at a bar around here, but the atmosphere on a winter’s night, fireplace roaring in the middle of the dining room, makes up for the premium. And perhaps by now the restaurant review followers have moved on to another establishment.

I came here on Wednesday night with my boyfriend and LOVED it. It’s super cute, very cozy, intimate, and just an overall perfect atmosphere. I loved the dim lamp lighting and the rustic feel, which felt genuine and not overly stylized or pretentious. There was just the right amount of décor. I found out about this bar from the show «Master of None» and was pleasantly surprised to find out it’s in Greenpoint! I’m not sure I would have just passed by this place otherwise because it’s on the corner of West and Green, which is just a block over from everything on Franklin, but far over enough that it’s pretty secluded. I loved that it was located on an otherwise empty and quiet block though.
It’s a small bar, with mismatched seating and an awesome old-​fashioned wood stove fire. There is a tiny bench in front of the fire but it didn’t look too comfortable. Basically all of the seats were taken when we walked in at around 9:30 pm, but we managed to get one of the small tables by the window. This is a great place to come with a date or just with friends! Not great for groups though.
We had already eaten dinner at Cassette, which is a few blocks away and also a recommended spot, so I can’t say anything about the food here. I did glance over the menu and there wasn’t really anything I think I would’ve liked. The bartender was great-​he came over to us and brought us menus and water. We asked if we should just order at the bar but he said he’d come over to take our order, which I thought was really nice. My boyfriend got a Founders IPA and I got the house toddy. Both of the drinks came in large beer mugs, which I was pleasantly surprised by – the house toddy was huge! It was delicious, too!
Everything about this bar was great; I almost don’t want too many people to find out about it because it still seems like a hidden gem. The music was good, too. It wasn’t too loud and it was easy to have a conversation. I think the other people at the bar made the atmosphere warm and comfortable as well – everyone was there just to hang out with their friends on a chilly night.

Best place to get a great meal and cocktail by a wood fire in the BK! Amazing service and the chef really does his stuff! I walked in before the kitchen was open and they still whipped me up a delicious meal. What more do you want.

Great cocktails, a little expensive, but well made and delicious. The atmosphere is great– relaxing, comfortable, very chill. This is our favorite local spot for a cocktail.

Had a drink here which was good… but the reason I’m writing this review was that I had the «bone marrow» burger which is apparently something they are doing on weekends during the summer. Get it. It’s amazingly good!

Great ambiance, awesome place to get a drink that’s not too loud. The staff are super friendly and welcoming and though I haven’t tried the food yet it looks delicious and the menu is always changing! My new fave bar in Greenpoint!

Delicious food (the clam toast!) but ridiculously expensive wine and beer.

Chill spot for a beer with a friend. Oysters were pretty good. Radishes with butter were adventurous but weird (would not order again). Service was slow, but that’s what they’re going for.

I’ve been here many times; I live in the neighborhood.
This place is half great and half awful. Had the sausage, it was AWESOME … but just one link, and $ 14.oo. Had the radish app, $ 7 for TWO radishes, cut up unevenly and daubed with salted butter … uhhh, nope, try again! Had some great cocktails. Had the choice of two beers on tap, sometimes the selection is great sometimes just awful, ya never know.
Would be nice if the servers could bring some napkins and silverware sometime before you pay your bill…
Staff is always friendly and great to talk to about life, art, music, anthropology, etc … not so much about drinks and menu. Your bartender may be an expert mixologist or a random guy just filling in for a few weeks. Love to stop in late saturday night for a nightcap, super loud with a great DJ.
Yeah the interior is very instagramable, but it’s all total kitch that you’ve seen a hundred times before. Seating is uncomfortable at best.
If this place were in Kansas City, and HALF the price, I’d give it four stars … out of five.

Went a couple of Sundays ago with my girlfriend, as we were both craving a bloody mary and thought we’d check it out before going for a late lunch. The inside is nice, and the bartender was friendly enough, but that’s about all I can say about it. 2×10−12oz bloody mary + 8 fairly tasteless oysters = $ 50 + tip. Absurdly expensive. I have no problem paying for quality, but this was just insane.

This place looks like a large living room with a huge wood burning stove and tables and chair aplenty.
Enjoyed ourselves for the most part. The drinks were decent and well served. The atmosphere is conducive to groups. The music is like nothing you have heard in a bar in a long time (in the best possible way). The food is delicious! Not sure if they have this always but there was a massive and I do mean massive ($ 12 a slice massive), muffaleta on the counter that was staring at us the entire time. As the drinks went down, the muffaleta starting talking all sorts of noise, so we got a slice and it was fantastic.

Was just there to celebrate my boyfriend’s birthday. The staff was super nice and accommodating. They made us feel welcome and even helped hide the surprise cake in their fridge.
The place is just as nice as any fancy cocktail lounge, with $ 12 delicious cocktails,. AND they also have inexpensive options on the menu, as well as great food.
It’s our favorite bar in Greenpoint, by far!

Dark, cozy… expensive.

I’ve been to Achilles Heel a few times since it first opened and always liked it most for its ambience, wood burning stove, location (out of the way, industrial, New Town Creek, dark in a kind of «you’re going to get mugged» kinda way). However when I stopped in with a friend to introduce the place this past Saturday, early evening, I was shocked at how rude the staff were. My friend and I sat at the bar and were completely and absolutely ignored for almost a good half hour. At that point we were too thirsty (a glass of water would have sufficed!) too even try to figure out what was going on any longer and split. I think that moving forward I’ll refer to the joint as Achilles Hell!

I made my way to Brooklyn to come here for a friends birthday one Saturday night. When I walked in the place reminded me of an old house with a front door (was I supposed to knock?) Walking in the place is really dark and tiny. Here’s a few things I noticed right away:
–the lighting is REALLY dark, feels like it’s candle light
–people dancing the robot (not ironically)
–a girl sitting at a table writing in her journal
— Hipsters everywhere
–Yummy looking sandwiches
–A bartender shaking the crap out of a martini
There were about 6 of us and we sat in the very back corner. We had a server even though we were just there for drinks, no food. The server barely came around and I had to order round 2 & 3 at the bar. The drinks were decent but they don’t come cheap.
The place has a pretty mellow/​cozy vibe even though there is a DJ there. It’s more of a place I would enjoy for a coffee rather than a drink. In my opinion, I like a place a little more up beat with a little more room to move around… it started to feel so cramped in there! Based on the location and type of place, drinks are over priced.

Recently came here for a work happy hour and I think that we singlehandedly took over the place. I have to give it up to the wait staff here, they handled our loud, drinking mob with ease and for that they certainly deserve five stars.
Waitress was extremely attentive with providing more drinks (and lots of water once I cut myself off).
The unisex bathroom kind of scares me, but whatever. They also had really cool live music (a DJ), but the music never got too loud. Great job of maintaining a cool atmosphere.
The food is great and the cocktails are awesome. Can’t wait to visit the Achilles Heel again!