The Brü Room at BAR

The Brü Room at BARThe Brü Room at BAR
The Brü Room at BARThe Brü Room at BAR
Brewery, Bar, Eatery

254 Crown St
New Haven, Connecticut, 06511-6610
United States

(203) 495-8924 | map
barnightclub.com
BEER STATS
Average:
3.7
Beers:
31
Ratings:
217
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.69
Reviews:
56
Ratings:
82
pDev:
14.91%
View: Beers | Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by RMoeNay:
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Rated by RMoeNay from Connecticut

3/5  rDev -18.7%

Nov 17, 2013
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.86 by BarrelAgedG from California

Oct 14, 2023
 
Rated: 4.5 by atlbravsrno1 from Maine

Jul 28, 2023
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Reviewed by Billolick from New York

4.05/5  rDev +9.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Multiple rooms, high ceilings, dark wood, brick and concrete walls, rear party and dance room. Multiple rooms with large and long heavy wood communal tables.

World class New Haven style pizza pies churned out by the dozens. Thin crust coal fired, loads of toppings, not cheap but awesome stuff, some of the best in this pizza town.

Beer wise its two bars, one with a better then decent list of guest taps and the other serving their house beers. Growler fills of the house beers available at the register by the impressive brick pizza oven.

If I was local, I'd be a regular for pizza to go, perhaps some off hour visits to belly up at the bar....but I would stay far away at prime times.

Like so many have said, this place gets PACKED, families with kids, Yale students, late night dancers....plan accordingly.
Dec 03, 2019
 
Rated: 4.13 by GregSemenza from Connecticut

Apr 30, 2018
 
Rated: 3.98 by RickyBfromCT from Connecticut

Jan 27, 2018
 
Rated: 3.85 by smutty33 from Connecticut

Mar 25, 2017
 
Rated: 3.51 by Jliscin from Connecticut

Jan 28, 2017
 
Rated: 2.47 by GreesyFizeek from New York

Oct 06, 2016
 
Rated: 4.09 by grahuba from Connecticut

Aug 22, 2016
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Reviewed by WillieThreebiers from Connecticut

3.29/5  rDev -10.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.25 | service: 3.25 | selection: 3.5
Really liked the look of the place: distressed and reclaimed...rustic. A few of their own beers - decent - and a solid selection of local craft. Unfortunately, made the mistake of going there on a Saturday afternoon, and there were as many children as adults, and the din of unpleasant prepubescent chatter was thoroughly unenjoyable.
Mar 19, 2016
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Reviewed by PatrickCT from Connecticut

4.09/5  rDev +10.8%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Decent beer and good pizza. the staff is friendly and the prices are good compared to Fairfield Co. I had a really good time but part of that was due to the people I went with.
Jun 17, 2015
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Reviewed by BranfordBound from Connecticut

3.93/5  rDev +6.5%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.75 | food: 4.75
Awesome brick oven pizza in New Haven. The beers they make there are kind of meh (the stouts are decent), but the rotating taps can reveal a treat or two. I've had Lawson's Super Session #2 here recently and a buddy had Sip of Sunshine. Food (pizza) is awesome!

Just watch the time when you are there, the place turns into a popular bar with a nightclub in the back around 10pm. Gets really crowded and noisy, to say the least.
Jun 11, 2015
 
Rated: 3.89 by LXIXME from New Mexico

May 28, 2015
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Reviewed by mzingie from Virginia

4.2/5  rDev +13.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 5
Best pizza I've ever had. So good it is as if it is not even pizza, but a new kind of food that makes pizza irrelevant. Their "damn good stout" is amazing, and their beers are a great compliment to their world class pizza. I go to bar for the pizza and give, and their above average beer is a bonus.
May 04, 2015
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Rated by swierczt from Connecticut

3.73/5  rDev +1.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.75
The Real Ale Cask Festival is great! Casks from many breweries. Even from some that are not regularly distributed in Connecticut.
Jan 25, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by abrodsky from Massachusetts

Dec 03, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by harrod12 from Tennessee

Nov 07, 2014
 
Rated: 4.28 by BMFR1811 from Connecticut

Oct 26, 2014
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Reviewed by CTHomer from Connecticut

4.03/5  rDev +9.2%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Always busy and loud - high energy all around.

Jeff Browning had the name and the pedigree, but I think the quality is better since he left.

Service is hit or miss - I've had great service from knowledgeable staff and I've also had to search for my server so I could get another beer.

Not a huge selection, but I've never had trouble finding something I wanted.

The pizza is fantastic!
Oct 08, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by StephRai from New York

Sep 26, 2014
 
Rated: 4.08 by Likewhoa

Aug 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Westyn from Texas

Jul 31, 2014
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Reviewed by rorjets from Connecticut

3.83/5  rDev +3.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.75 | food: 4.25
Visited mid-week in the afternoon during the Arts and Ideas Festival, after enjoying a lecture on Jackson Pollack at the Yale Art Gallery. We were immediately seated by the hostess (it wasn't busy at all). Got a seat by the windows, looking directly across Crown Street at that New Haven icon, Louis' Lunch. We ordered a flight of beers, which arrived in minutes, then ordered a salad and a pizza.

The flight of five came in fairly large samples, plenty to share. Started with the Toasted Blonde - very light, not much 'toasted' flavor. Next was the Pale Ale - nice hoppy taste, moderate bitterness, clean finish. Followed that with the Am 'bar' Ale - sweet with lots of malt. Up next was the Damn Good Stout - lived up to it's name! Lots of flavors of coffee & chocolate, but not overwhelming. The last sample was the seasonal specialty brew, a Rye IPA. Not bad, but hard to discern the rye taste.

Based on the flight I decided to go with a glass of the Pale Ale, although I would say that the Stout was the star; just not the right choice for our meal.

Both the salad and pizza were fantastic! We had a white pizza with artichokes, which arrived quickly. Thin crust pizza, slightly charred - the both of us agreed it was as good as Pepe's (without the wait!). The medium was quite big, more than enough for the two of us (we hadn't eaten all day and it was already 2:30, so we were definitely hungry); I would love to see the size of a large pie!

Our server was attentive and prompt thru out the meal, and the hostess checked on us to make sure everything was satisfactory. We enjoyed the brewpub ambience, and looking out to the street scene, although Crown Street isn't the best people watching spot.

There are a lot of dining choices in New Haven, but not brew pubs with great pizza and beer! We will definitely be back!
Jun 26, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Hrdqore from Oklahoma

Jun 02, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by SkinniePost from Wisconsin

May 02, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by coombski from Maine

Mar 29, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Cath from New York

Mar 24, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by ELECTRONICAnonymous from Massachusetts

Feb 24, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by MarcTheShark93 from New York

Feb 15, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by jfcaa193 from Canada (QC)

Feb 09, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by shigg85 from Japan

Feb 08, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by DCon from Missouri

Dec 30, 2013
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Reviewed by PhillyStyle from Georgia

3.59/5  rDev -2.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.25 | food: 4.5
Visited on a weekday night while in New Haven:

First...go for the pizza...outstanding pies. We tried three different pizzas, different sauces, and different toppings. All were excellent. The beer was good; I only had the Damn Good Stout, which lived up to its name. They only had 4 beers on tap that night, so the selection suffered a little. The building that the place was in was awesome; I thought that it really helped give the place a really good vibe...that and the place was packed. We did have to wait 30 minutes for a table, but I think that a lot of that was due to the fact that they were understaffed. But once we got a table, the service was better than average. The prices were more than reasonable and if I ever end up back in New Haven, I will definitely be stopping in.
May 17, 2013
Photo of OrangeCharlie
Reviewed by OrangeCharlie from Oregon

2.89/5  rDev -21.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 2 | service: 2.75 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5
I will start by saying the pizza here is great, and I come here nearly every time I'm in New Haven just for it. The clam pizza is out of this world! Food aside, this place could still use some improvements. Overall, come here for the pizza, but don't get too excited for the beer...

Atmosphere is nice. The traditional seating area on the right as you walk in is nice, but the main bar area to the left can get a bit crowded. The whole brewery seems to surround the dining room, which is pretty cool. This place apparently turns into a nightclub on weekend nights, though I have not been there when this happens. Service is OK, not great. Ive had the occasional airhead or bad attitude server.

Beer...I'm trying to be constructive here, because I like this place overall and would really like to see the microbrewery improve. But the house beer is the reason for my quality score of 2. Very inconsistent. I have definitely had good batches of the stout, ambar, and blonde there, but it varies a lot from batch to batch, mostly in yeast character; some are good, others have been ester bombs. My wife on one occasion got a toasted blonde that was phenolic; evident of either wild or weizen yeast contamination. Either case, it's a major flaw when the beer description is "clean and lager-like." With the flaws I've noticed, they need to improve their sanitation and yeast practices. If you are dissatisfied with the in house brews, they do have offerings on tap from other nearby craft and microbreweries.
Jan 13, 2013
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Reviewed by woolybear from New York

2.4/5  rDev -35%
vibe: 3 | quality: 1.5 | service: 2 | selection: 3 | food: 4
Visited the Bru Rm@bar 12-8.

The atmosphere is rather chaotic and pieced together. They are trying hard to be "cool" but really miss the mark. The impression we got was more of a college dive than anything else.

There was little to no organization amongst the hostess(s) or wait staff so getting a table or initial service was far more of a hassle than it needed to be. No one check on the people waiting for a table for about 10 minutes even though they kept walking on by (4 of us when we arrived by the time someone stopped to ask us if we had been waiting to be seated, like it took a college degree to figure out, there at least 16+ people waiting in line). Once we were seated service was okay.

The pizza was a surprise as it was very good the beer was less than average to very poor (out of the three seperate beers we ordered 2 were poor in qaulity one was average). They REALLY need to work on there beers. You are better off drinking anything else really. The cost for the actual food was on the high side of average. The cost of the beer was far more than it should have been considering the quality was not there.

So cost for value your paying FAR more than the worth of what your getting. A example of the rip of is the cost of a growler of beer here they want 22$ for a full growler (standard American 64 oz style) were the average at similar institutions with far superior beer is in the average range of 15$.
The run down is Bru Rm is not worth it.
Dec 09, 2012
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Reviewed by Onetrackminded1

1.83/5  rDev -50.4%
vibe: 1 | quality: 1 | service: 1.5 | selection: 3 | food: 3
Very disappointed in BAR New Haven. I drove 45 minutes to Bar on Wed in part, due to a special, that they were advertising on their own website. When i got there, i was greeted rudely by some useless tool of a bartender, who claims no such special ever existed. When i pulled out the smart phone to show him his own bars website, and that IN FACT bar was advertising the special, i received NO APOLOGY just a snide "You can have that one and thats it" "The rest are full price" Mind you the special was supposed to last till 11:30pm and it was 8:00pm at that time. I then spoke with the Manager Frank, who was equally useless, stating only "Oh im sorry to hear that ill have a talk with him". How about you at least buy a round on the house you unprofessional twit. I DROVE 45 MINUTES FOR THAT DAMN SPECIAL. I WILL NEVER VISIT THAT SHITHOLE AGAIN. AND DO YOURSELF A FAVOR PEOPLE, stay away, they wanted $17 for two small ass rum and cokes, Their pizza SUCKS go to Pepes and eat a real pizza
May 12, 2012
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Reviewed by FrankLloydMike from Massachusetts

3.69/5  rDev 0%
vibe: 5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5
We stopped in here after cruising through the free Yale museums and before grabbing lunch at Claire's. I had read Andy Crouch's not very glowing review of Bru Rm awhile back and had little interest in visiting, but then I saw some photos of the place about a month ago and was really taken aback. They looked like something out of Portland or Seattle, and I knew--nightclub or not--I had to visit this place... during the day.

The space is really incredible--an old industrial building on a leafy side street with two distinct spaces that we saw: the Front Room and the Bru Rm apparently. Both were airy and bright on an overcast, but dry winter day, and both exuded an industrial chic warmth that was just shy of being hip. Its an aesthetic and feeling I really enjoy, with the steel and concrete accented nicely against warn wood bar tops and ceilings, and the giant front windows against the glow of an open wood fire. On a Sunday afternoon, the space was full of couples, families with children and a wide range of New Haven locals and visitors. It was hard to picture the space and vibe I fell so in love with as a nightclub, so I prefer not to.

Service was prompt and efficient. There was no bartender, despite us sitting at the bar, but our waiter was attentive. The beer list was fairly short--the four or so regular beers complimented by two or three specials--and limited in scope, but plenty to get the job done. I ordered the pale ale, which was a pleasant, slightly sweet English version, and my girlfriend ordered the special espresso stout, which was very good. The beers weren't mind-blowing, but they were solid versions of English standards and plenty good for a neighborhood brewpub.

I'm already looking forward to a return daytime visit--possibly trying the pizza, which looked excellent--to try some of the other beers and see how the cozy space fares in warmer weather.
Feb 14, 2012
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Reviewed by FightingEntropy from Minnesota

2.78/5  rDev -24.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 2 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | food: 2.5
For some reason, based on press, I had a better opinion of Bru Rm @ BAR that maybe I should have. I didn't look at my notes carefully, and didn't notice that I was unimpressed with Bru from samples at a previous GABF. Live and learn--use the list.

The height of the evening was the Watermelon ale that we started the night with. Nothing was any better, and the one ale--AmBARale--was serious flawed and I was surprised that it was even being served. I couldn't even finish the beer. The Chinook Pale Ale redeemed them a bit and was an adequate pale ale.

Pizza look great coming in the door--seeming their specialty. It was good, but the the burning of the bottom was intense even for the type of oven used. Don't get me wrong--I like wood and coal fired pizza, and understanding some high heat burning will occur. It seemed to be assumed that a portion of the pizza will be tossed and that you should eat around it--according to the evidence of tables around us.

Disappointing.
Jul 08, 2011
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Reviewed by ThreeDimesDown from Connecticut

3.7/5  rDev +0.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4
Stopped in here last night after not being at the place in about 5 years or so. Hasn't changed at all, decent crowd, good house brews, good food.

The building has a kind of industrial look with exposed ceilings and concrete walls, but still has an easy hang feeling about it. The room was crowded but not too tight to move around.

We ordered their Toasted Blonde, AmBar Ale, and Damn Good Stout. Not sure of their bottle selection, but their microbrews are good session drinkers. A limited selection but good quality.

Brick oven "New Haven" style pizza is very good. Mash potato and bacon pie is a must try.

The service was good, especially on a busy night. Attentive waitress handled our party of 9, keeping our glasses filled and the food coming.

This is a good spot to hit if you're looking for pizza and good micros. Nothing that will "wow" you but you won't be let down either.
Mar 27, 2011
The Brü Room at BAR in New Haven, CT
Brewery rating: 3.7 out of 5 with 217 ratings