A crowd descends on Harlem Tavern opening night

Jul 2, 2011 @ 11:56

By HarlemGal
Harlem has a new beer garden and locals definitely turned out in large numbers to be the first to see it first hand. Harlem Tavern, located on the northwest corner of 116th Street and Frederick Douglass Blvd., opened its doors at 5 PM sharp July 1 and folks were lined up along the outer wall to get in. By 6 or 6:30 PM the entire place was packed with uptowners. And when I say packed, every table inside and out had patrons sitting anxiously awaiting to try out the food and beverage menu. By 7 PM, I checked my online accounts and several people
checked into Foursquare from Harlem Tavern and photos of the place from inside were posted immediately to Facebook. The place was completely full in two hours and the kitchen and bar were blasted with orders. The design and layout of the place had no problem seating the crowd. We had seats outside and it was nice and comfortable. Harlem Tavern is going to be a great place to drink, eat and people watch. Stop by this weekend. They are starting brunch from 10-4 PM.

As for product, I am not going to get into reviewing the food, drinks or service yet since last night was their first night of business. I want to give them some space and time to get their service dance down. All I am going to say is the wait staff and owners did their absolute best given what was presented before them-a tsunami like large crowd. The bar and kitchen got so backed up, it was going to take them all night to get caught up. I left before 9 PM so not sure what happened after then.

I know the owners of Harlem Tavern are seasoned restauranteurs. They own several joints in the City so they know what they are doing. I plan on
returning real soon. However, when I left the place last night all I kept thinking was “they better hire more staff pronto!” They need more workers ASAP! Last nights turnout proved, along with bier international’s success, there is a demand in Harlem for outdoor dining/beer gardens. Last nights attendance proved that-in my view. There had to be at least 300 or more people in attendance.

There was one more thought that crossed my mind when I left Harlem Tavern last night “gold mine.” Harlem Tavern and bier international are complete gold mines. It is obvious or it will be. Walk by these places and see for yourself! Beer gardens in Harlem…are gold mines!