Ask For Janice

Bar · Greenpoint

Ask For Janice

Bar · Greenpoint

4

640 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222

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Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by Will Hartman
Ask For Janice by Will Hartman
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Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null
Ask For Janice by null

Highlights

Tucked behind Upside Pizza in Greenpoint, Ask for Janice serves up creative cocktails and nostalgic beats in a cozy, vibey hideaway.  

Featured in The Infatuation
Featured in Eater

640 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222 Get directions

askforjanice.nyc
@askforjanice.nyc

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640 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222 Get directions

+1 718 498 1043
askforjanice.nyc
@askforjanice.nyc

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Last updated

Mar 4, 2025

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@infatuation

"The vast majority of the city’s speakeasies feel silly, or like a normal bar that hired a new PR firm. But not this Greenpoint listening bar from the team behind Eavesdrop, another place where people use the word "audiophile" in casual conversation. Walk through what looks like Upside Pizza's kitchen door and into a room with perfectly tuned speakers, a mountain of cassettes behind the bar, and olive-oil washed gin martinis. It’s tight back here, but you can boogie in your seat—especially if you reserve one of the three large booths. They have plenty of standing room for walk-ins, too. And, if you get hungry, grab a slice of pepperoni from outside." - sonal shah, bryan kim, neha talreja, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick

The Best, Most Fun Bars in NYC Right Now
View Postcard for Ask For Janice
@infatuation

"NYC has lots of speakeasy-style bars, and lots of listening bars. It also has lots of pizza places. But we're pretty sure Ask for Janice in Greenpoint is the only bar hidden inside a pizza place, that also plays music off an outdated audio format. A collaboration between vinyl bar Eavesdrop and Upside Pizza, it’s accessed through a silver door at the back of the slice joint, and serves "pizza-adjacent" snacks, like meatballs and a chilled romaine salad. The dark, loungey spot has interesting cocktails—try the sopressata olive oil-washed martini ($16), and a retro cassette-player, cranking out everything from yacht rock to jazz rap on a glowing neon system. If you care deeply about sound quality, reserve one of the three large booths, which occupy the room’s sonic sweet spot. photo credit: Will Hartman" - Will Hartman

Ask For Janice - Review - Greenpoint - New York - The Infatuation
View Postcard for Ask For Janice
@infatuation

"The listening bar Eavesdrop, and Upside Pizza have joined forces for their very own Manhattan Ave. collab in the form of Ask For Janice in Greenpoint. The bar, located in the back room of Upside, spins ’90s hip hop, mixes soppressata martinis, and dishes out Italian-American food ready to be devoured by hoards of nostalgic Brooklynites." - Will Hartman, Willa Moore

NYC’s New Restaurant Openings - New York - The Infatuation
View Postcard for Ask For Janice
@eater

"Eavesdrop, a Greenpoint cocktail bar that opened in 2022, is teaming up with its neighbor, the slice shop Upside, to open Ask for Janice, a bar located at the back of the pizzeria. It aims to open this October at 640 Manhattan Avenue, at Bedford Avenue." - Luke Fortney

The HiHi Room Closes in Brooklyn After Three Years - Eater NY
View Postcard for Ask For Janice

Kishi Malhotra

Google
Speakeasy bar located inside the Upside Pizza location. As soon as You enter the bar You immediately get a vibe and there’s great music playing. Made a reservation through Resy before going and were seated promptly by the hostess. The cocktail menu is not too long and there’s various selections of drinks, wines, food etc. One of the hosts came with complimentary glasses of Rose and Pomegranate infused Gin which was lovely and aromatic. We also ordered Rum and Gin based cocktails with some Meatballs, Cheesy Bread, Olives and such The Service was VERY GOOD, such kind and polite people and very hospitable. Made the who experience so comfortable and nice. Definitely recommend this place….

Dwight Kenneth

Google
Funky little speakeasy tucked behind Upside Pizza in Greenpoint Went here on a Monday afternoon. The decor and ambiance was dope. It’s cool that you can also order from the pizzeria. Didn’t get to try the food, but it smelled great. The staff was friendly. The drinks were pretty good too! Need to come back and check out their other cocktails and drinks!

Mikako Murphy

Google
Very cute hidden bar at the back of a pizza shop. While the vibe was great, service and quality of the drinks were extremely poor. Every time my guest and I tried to move away from the standing area by the door (which was constantly opening and closing), we were told that the seat or area was reserved. Maybe they were low on staff this night but it took forever to get our orders taken (by the door) and for the drinks to come out. After waiting and getting rejected whenever we tried to move closer to the bar, once we finally had the drinks, they were undrinkable. I have never not finished a drink. But these....... Both of them were bad, either too sugary or too bitter. At this point we did not want to wait around for slow service to express our disappointment or order different ones. There's so many other great bars in Greenpoint.... go there!

Caelin Bryant

Google
Shhh! Don’t tell. This hidden bar in the back of a pizza parlor is top notch. This cozy little spot is my go to when I’m in this area. The staff is beyond accommodating and they make delicious cocktails to go with the perfect drinking food. I scheduled with their hosts to accommodate 15 people for a birthday and everyone had the most amazing time. Always ask for Janice!

Rachel Decker

Google
Love this spot! Staff was lovely, great unique cocktails and easy yummy food. Still thinking about the ranch dressing on the romaine salad, so smoky and delicious! Hostess was really attentive and drinks came in a timely manor. I will definitely go back!

Rachel Lander

Google
Great new bar located behind upside pizza with inventive cocktails and an amazing vibe. The sound system is top notch, so the music that they play through audio tapes sound crisp and clear. The music is not too loud, so you can still hear what all of your friends are saying. The food here was amazing as well. I recommend the cheesy bread and the broccolini. This is a great place to catch up with friends all while having drinks and yummy food. There is a variety of cocktails, all reasonably priced, so there should be something for everyone. Go here before it blows up!!!

Syd Wilson

Google
Such an awesome spot and a cool bar. Great atmosphere with lovely staff (and great music) - on my first visit I took their recommendation and loved the Greenlight cocktail. 10/10 recommend ordering this drink. I now get it every time. I also recently tried the romaine salad and calzone, both were delicious! I’ve been here a handful of times and plan to keep coming back.

Jade Zeller

Google
I went on Halloween for a date night and it did not disappoint! Our bartender was absolutely fantastic, not only did he have great drink recommendations but he also had a great music Playlist! The decor is very cute and I love the bathroom haha I would go back for sure!

Kishi M.

Yelp
Speakeasy bar located inside the Upside Pizza location. As soon as You enter the bar You immediately get a vibe and there's great music playing. Made a reservation through Resy before going and were seated promptly by the hostess. The cocktail menu is not too long and there's various selections of drinks, wines, food etc. One of the hosts came with complimentary glasses of Rose and Pomegranate infused Gin which was lovely and aromatic. We also ordered Rum and Gin based cocktails with some Meatballs, Cheesy Bread, Olives and such The Service was VERY GOOD, such kind and polite people and very hospitable. Made the who experience so comfortable and nice. Definitely recommend this place....

Yvonne G.

Yelp
This summer, I went on a Vinyl Bar tour in Brooklyn, and unfortunately, this was my least favorite place I've been. The concept is cute--it's a speakeasy tucked inside a pizza shop. I ended up here after not being able to get into Eavesdrop, as they suggested this spot since it's owned by the same people. We were immediately seated here. I really wanted to love this place, but it just didn't do it for me. First, the service was awful. Our server seemed completely uninterested in being there, which I get...everyone has their off days, but that energy shouldn't spill over to the customers. We ordered drinks, and despite the place being far from packed, it took about 20 minutes for them to arrive. When they finally did, my friends and I were super disappointed. We ordered espresso martinis, and they were easily some of the worst I've ever had. The music was another letdown. They played Karrahboo the entire night. Don't get me wrong, she has a couple of good songs, but not enough to be on repeat all night. She's a newer artist under Lil Yachty's label--not exactly Beyoncé or Michael Jackson. The vibes just felt completely off. Overall, I love the concept, but between the service, drinks, and music, this place missed the mark for me.

Alex M.

Yelp
My partner and I were having a date night and we're planning on going to Eavesdrop (down the block), but when we got there, we were told it was an hour wait and the hostess recommended that we try their new sister bar (Ask For Janice) down the street while we wait, so we figured why not. Probably one of the best decisions we made all night! Ask For Janice is tucked away in the back of Upside Pizza (speakeasy-esque) and it has a fun tune-forward theme (similar to Eavesdrop). Probably due to being in the back of a pizza joint, the menus (both cocktail and food) lean Italian, and from what we had, executed very well! Drink-wise my partner got the campfire martini (think espresso martini variant with whipped foam on top) and I got the A4J Martini, which was very unique and one of the best savory martinis I've ever had. It is made with sopressata and olive washed gin - and you can definitely taste it - and garnished with mozz, olive, and salami. If you like sopressata - get this! Food-wise we ended up ordering the sausage and mushroom rolls (forget the proper name), but they were like sausage rolls and cooked perfectly- keep in mind the food comes from upside pizza and I think many of the dishes are specially made for A4J. Def don't sleep on the food! All in all we had a great time (potentially even better than at Eavesdrop), the service was friendly, the vibe was fun, prices were reasonable for the area, and libations + food were unique and satisfying. We will be back again!

Mike C.

Yelp
The Upside Pizza crew partnered with Eavesdrop, a nearby bar in Greenpoint, to open this new bar in the back of the Greenpoint location of Upside. I don't drink but the food is good enough to come here just to eat. The food comes from the pizza ovens up front, which means lots of amazing bread, including the great Cheese Y Bread, Stracciatella with perfect Sicilian Sourdough, Rotollos with sausage & mushroom, and the Calzone with chicory, ricotta and basil. Even the vegetables are all worth ordering, so get the Chilled Romaine Wedge Salad and the Spicy Broccolini too. Don't be fooled by the location being in a slice joint, once you go through the door in the back, the vibes are just what you want them to be if you're trying to go to a cool new bar.

Anthony P.

Yelp
RATING: 6.6 PRO TIP: Get the calzone, and the breadsticks. Speakeasy inside Upside pizza. CALZONE: This was the best thing we ate, which was very cheesy and lots of filling. It was creamy inside, too, which was pleasantly surprising and gave it even more heaviness to kind of fill you up. A good savory bite! BREADSTICKS The bread was quite fluffy and the marinara sauce with ample cheese sprinkled on top - you can't go wrong. It has a sharp umami-ness that takes it from a basic breadstick to a good, maybe even great one. DRINKS - they were pretty interesting, but nothing really blew me away or was too memorable. I hate to compare mine to a spiked blue kool-aid but in a way, that's what it was giving (it was the one with pineapple juice and blue curacao). CANNOLI - not sure that the sprinkles really add much besides child-like fun which I can't hate on, and it was good as far as canollis go. I would say this is a great neighborhood spot and if you're in the area check it out but if you don't live nearby it's not necessarily a destination spot yet. FINAL CATEGORY: OK (terrible / bad / OK / good / great / excellent)

Steven Z.

Yelp
Randomly came here one Friday evening. It was poppin, luckily they had room for 3 pretty quickly. I love the retro diner feel. They had a dope sound system around the main bar, with a cassette tape setup as well. All the staff reminded me of people back in Seattle, without the Seattle freeze (in line with the music setup haha). Some of the drinks are pretty cool! Campfire martini was a treat, basically like dessert. The Cozy Up came with a lit cigar. It was cool in theory, but IMO the smoke conflicted with the bright profile of the drink. I'm glad we got seated, but the seating in the middle was pretty cramped. I had to get up multiple times to allow their food cart to pass (no big deal, but it happened a few times). If you can get a reservation, the bar or the booths are the way to go.

Vashi C.

Yelp
the whole bar team was absolutely remarkable. they handled a situation with a frustrating party so kindly and did whatever they could to accommodate their preferences (i was a bystander). i really wish this place had more signs or something. it's an awesome hidden spot but maybe a little too hidden. awesome service awesome food awesome vibes. also the pizza attached to here is fire.

Sophia N.

Yelp
What a cute addition to Greenpoint! I loved the vibes in the bar and it was perfect for a little date night. We tried to get in on a Friday night as a walk-in because the online reservations were full. We left our name and they got back to us probably within 30 minutes. I got the jam & juice and the green light. Both drinks were yummy and tasted like juice. Neither drink tasted strongly like alcohol.

M J.

Yelp
They charge a mixtape fee for playing normal music. I had a pretty good experience. Good wine, decent food, okay atmosphere, good service. Then... when the bill came there was a charge for mixtape curation. What? Places that have DJs don't even charge you.

Julia H.

Yelp
Have been hearing about Ask For Janice for the past few weeks and impromptu walked in this week for a drink. I heard that reservations were fully booked for the foreseeable future, so was pretty surprised to see that it was pretty empty on a Thursday around 10 pm. The vibe is very cute, classy and moody decor. I did feel that the seating was a tad too spaced out for my liking? There were some tables, booths, and also a few seats at the bar. Maybe it was because there weren't a ton of people but I felt like I wanted it to be more cozy inside, it gave a bit of sterile energy. If I rated this place solely for the cocktail though, I'd probably give it 3 stars. I got the martini and it was...bland ? Not a ton of flavors going on there and it felt very flat to me. Perhaps other cocktails would be better though!

Gabriel T.

Yelp
The hidden bar trend continues in Greenpoint. In the back of Upside Down pizza, is not quite a speakeasy, but a sleek fun bar with an underlit cassette collection. Their *thing* which both works and doesn't work, is that it's a cocktail bar with a pizzeria twist. My martini had pork-infused gin and a tiny mozzerella ball stuck on the toothpick. Gross? Maybe. But I had three of them. Their small plates of food are excellent. Definitely get the cheesy bread with the ranch sauce. Don't sleep on the calzone either. The guy behind the bar was sweet and efficient. The unnecessary bouncer out front seemed confused by the concept of reservations, which the restaurant smartly acceps, and which you should make. It's a popular place. But why warn people away? He was saying to everyone they were so crowded, people with reservations were going to be waiting a while. Uh, no we won't be? "Maybe you should go inside and talk to the hostess?" he finally suggested. And there she was, smiling, waiting for us, a reserved sign on our table. Besides the communication flaws, I would describe ASK FOR JANICE as a really nice surprise.

Dynamite T.

Yelp
Cute, low key, romantic spot with great music and drinks. I love that it's tucked away and bc it was quiet when we went, service was quick. Make a reservation to secure a seat, and order at the bar.