Tile Bar

Cash only, but suuuuuuper cheap. Great dive bar. Fun atmosphere. The kind of bar that alcoholics frequent in books, but you’ve never seen in real life. Love it.

This is no longer a dive bar as of 2016. They used to have $ 5 pints of Guiness, IPAs, and other good beers but they just raised all the prices to $ 7 a pint. Not sure why they would raise prices almost 50% with no explanation. But it’s not the good deal it used to be. With tip, $ 8 a pint. And the bartender (Sat night, brown hair, 40yo woman, whoever you are) was sour faced and not friendly. No thanks. RIP Tile Bar.

Our favorite east village bar. There’s no sign above the door, so you just have to know where it is to find it. They have to cheapest drinks & best bartenders. There’s atypical crowd that hangs out here so you’ll see familiar faces every time. It’s cash only but there are several ATMs near by. It’s not a bad walk from the subway either. They also have Shiner beer on tap– a true Texas original. Enjoy!

Always a favorite of mine. It hasn’t changed in the 20 or so years I have stopped in which is great. The drinks are fair priced, the clientele are old school East Villagers. Not the place for NYUers or Bridge and Tunnel people. Just very low key.

So grateful for this place, hope it’s around forever. Everything is geared toward conversation and interaction. Music audible but not overbearing, atmosphere active but never too crowded, stools and/​or chairs almost always available, one small unobtrusive TV in the back. More than reasonable drink prices too, and can’t beat the location. Please never change, Tile Bar.

Great bar for locals and the bartenders are great please mark, Robert Vanessa wow what a cozy place to be at

Exactly what you want from a dive bar. No frills beer selection, juke box in the corner and great prices. Take a seat at the bar and enjoy the simple pleasure of enjoying a simple drink. Love it!

Best happy hour in the East Village. Hands down!

Would have given this place more stars just because I love a dive bar with cheap drinks! You can go wrong with 3.50 beers in Manhattan. But the bartender was a total B, she was extremely rude, had the worst attitude for no reason. I really didn’t know what her problem was. But anywho I would have given more stars, but unfortunately got 2 for horrible service.

Very chill dive bar spot. Amazing happy hour with 3.5 dollar beers and 2.5 mixed drinks during normal happy hours. Weekends have even better happy hours. Even at like 11 pm on weekends they have 5 dollar beers so perfect place to grab a drink then head out after to rage after

Love this place! Great atmosphere, juke box, cheap and strong drinks. What more could you need?!

Three stars for this divey spot. A decent bar with plenty of drink specials, a nice staff and group of customers. We liked it and enjoyed our $ 3.50 drafts at the bar. One small TV in the corner for you sports fans but there was a 90’s style CD juke box that looked awfully tempting to fill up with songs. Cash only which seems standard for establishments in the area.

Can you guess what type of flooring this bar has? If you guessed shag carpeting guess again. Tile bar has a real vintage dive vibe complete with a checkered tiled floor, large mirrors behind the bar, and century old photos of the city around for décor. This is an extremely simple bar with not much going for it. That being said, if you come during happy hour and can actually grab a seat then you’re in for a real treat. Unfortunately the relatively small bar fills up rather quickly so it’s easier said than done. During happy hour (until 8pm), all beers are $ 2.50-$ 3.50, wine is an astounding $ 2.50, and all other liqueur starts at $ 3. If you can’t make it for happy hour the prices are still amazing as all beer is $ 3 – 5. There are few places in NY with prices like this. I don’t even care that it’s cash only.

If I had based this on my first time here I probably would’ve given it 4 stars but last night it took way too long to get the bartenders attention who was just chatting with her friend in the corner and it’s REALLY annoying when a bar is cash only. Yes, there’s an ATM outside but I ended up just getting a beer ($ 5) without tip because I wanted to avoid the fee.
Other than that, this is a total local place where the music isn’t too loud and it’s never too crowded. All around nice place to catch up with friends, I just hate that it’s cash only!

What a great little divey bar. I stopped here a few weeks ago as a meeting spot before dinner with some friends, and was shocked at the happy hour prices (if I recall, it was about $ 3.50 for a beer). I then stopped by here as a pregame for NYE, and drinks were more reasonably priced ($ 4 – 5 for some beers), but still not terrible. This place got crowded quick, looks like a good neighborhood spot.
Cash only.

A great little divey bar in East Village. I stopped in for a friend of a friend’s birthday party. I’m sure she was wondering who the random chick drinking with her friends was. We all quickly became friends. Alcohol is good like that.
Service was good and drinks are super cheap. Cash only. The music was good and not overly loud. I didn’t notice any food offered so I think that’s not an option here.

As others noted, this isn’t necessarily a destination spot, but Tile Bar is definitely OK for a cheap drink or two. We came here after a nearby volleyball game for a round of pints before going elsewhere. The bartender was a bit awkward, making weird jokes, but she was trying to be nice and friendly. There were five decent beers on tap, and all but one of them were a measly $ 5; the last one was only $ 4.
The atmosphere is very bland — the back bar area was mirrored and had some nice wood trim, but it’s like they forgot to decorate the other three walls. Music was a mix of jukebox and the bartender’s iPod — both were good for the short time we were there.

Super cheap drinks Alert! This is another divey and cheap bar in East Village. Beer here is about $ 4 to $ 5 and a whiskey on the rock is only $ 5.50 and it is a big glass. The bartenders are friendly and the bar reminds you of an old radio station.
It is never overly crowded so it is a good place to hang with friends and chat without having your ears blasted off by some loud club music. They don’t have food here other than the bar stool snacks lying around.
Will be back for some alcohol!

So I went through some internal struggles before finally deciding to publish this review in fear of blowing up the spot of one of the best happy hours in the East Village. But my love for Tile Bar, and desire for them to succeed superseded my selfishness.
First off, technically this small corner bar is called WCOU Radio but everybody calls it Tile Bar; I’m completely alright that the clientele is generally so inebriated that they remember it for the flooring. Throw in a big looming wooden bar, a few tables and a large classic rock jukebox and you’ve officially done the tour. Oh, and don’t miss the old photos along the wall of what the East Village looked like back in the late 19^th Century — very cool.
And now onto the real reason you stop in your tracks while strolling down 1^st Avenue: from 5−8pm every day (yes, weekends too) they offer well drinks for $ 2.50 and beers for $ 3.50. Yes, all beers.
It’s a classic, it’s cash only and a little divey but it’s certainly worth noting that the bathrooms here are incredibly clean and well-​lit. How happily unpredictable of them.

I still like this corner spot. Service is still friendly, and there’s as much alcohol as before.
The interior seemed brighter this week (not sure why), and definitely less crowded (it was a Monday). While I didn’t see Leigh, bartender Luke got me and my friends a few SoCo shots (still cash only). It was past happy hour, so our shots were $ 6 each. After knocking them back, we relaxed around the bar for awhile before heading out.