Desert 5 Spot

Came for drinks with friends for a birthday party. We arrived at 8pm and it wasn’t crowded but by the time 10pm hit, this place was full. They also had a live band and some great DJs while I was here! The drinks were great! Bartenders were nice and efficient. The decor here is so cute. I came during Christmas time so it was very festive. There’s a mechanical bull you can ride! Riding earlier is always better because a line start to form. Great place! Next time I will come and try the food. My sister and I had the Jolene cocktail and it was the perfect blend of sweet and tangy.

The unexpected live music was so so great. Gotta lean into the bit if you aren’t a huge country fan, but it was a good time & a fun change of pace !! Busy but attentive bartenders. Yeehawwwww.

Only mechanical bull in the city!! That alone makes it worth a visit. Good drinks, good vibes, good live music — definitely bigger inside than expected! Lots of seating, the dance floor is a little smaller but it didn’t stop anyone from dancing!

As my friend lovingly said, both she and I are "baby cowgirls" as we both are not as familiar with country music, but that didn't stop us from having such a great time at Desert 5 Spot! Our group of friends love country music and we equally had as much of a blast as they day. The bar itself is themed beautifully in true Southern realness, the decor was on point, and the entertainment (though a bit off schedule) was fun to watch as we came on a day where they had live music (Saturday), and the drinks were named so cleverly. My personal favs were called "Jolene" and "Redneck Woman". The mechanical Bull required you to sign a quick waver but the guy running it was selective on how hard the Bull would go. If you could handle it he'd turn up the heat but if you couldn't it wouldn't get too crazy. Overall, I'd definitely go back! Had a great time, even out of my element :)

This is actually my favorite bar ever. There's quite a few country bars in the boroughs, but none that could even begin to compare to Desert 5. They have the sickest decor, they're the ONLY bar with a mechanical bull in the area, it's always popping, food is fire, staff has THE southern charm the city needs. It's the perfect hospitable atmosphere. I love that they support local musicians, they host karaoke events and have live music all the time, plus their DJs are so fun. Plus the line dancing on Sundays is an absolute must. You can tell the people who service this place do it with love. I cannot even fathom having a negative experience at this place. It's like Western Disney World.

Every time you step foot into Desert 5, its like transporting straight to a honky tonk the south. From the different cacti, to the Marlboro men on the wall, to the thought clearly put into the furniture and the cowboy boot disco ball, this place is truly special. AND I didn't even mention the dolly corner. Everyone that works here is so lovely, I've never had a bad experience. Every weekend is like the best party you'll ever attend. The drinks are so great, and not even that expensive. It's clear most people leaving bad reviews have never been outside. Desert Five 4ever!!!

A movie set rendition of a country bar. Meticulously combed over preplanned new decor to look old. Pleasant still. Cauliflower tacos and chocolate dipped soft serve

Not sure of they have food but came for the $8 beer and free music and it was totally worth it. A nice country bar with a mechanical bull. 10/10 come check it out

Great time! My girlfriends and I will definitely be back. Heard about this place from a friend and did not disappoint!

Amazing staff, amazing door person (shout out Reuben!). My new local bar. They could use some more bathrooms though!!

PHENOMENAL service! I lost my coat on a busy night and two employees made an effort to help me find it. I really appreciate it and will totally be coming back to this spot!

This place is a great time to hear some live music and get some delicious drinks! Will be going back again to ride the bull.

Since the bottom feeders who run this place got all of our reviews deleted from Google, I'll also post here on Yelp. UPDATE: The employees are now getting all their friends to write phony 5 star reviews to counter the multitude of REAL 1-star reviews that have come in. This place is a joke. If you don't want to read my novel, here's the punchline: money-grubbing bar with horrible management ruins bride and groom's wedding night. I recently had the displeasure of waiting outside of Desert 5 Spot in the freezing cold and witnessing one of the managers berate my friend, who was holding her wedding after-party there. There are a few other reviews and comments on Google about this particular night, and I hope to share my perspective and knowledge of the facts as well. Here's a brief summary of what happened: my friend had reserved a private area of Desert 5 spot five months in advance of her wedding night for an after party. It was known by all that the private area could only accommodate 40 people, but it was also communicated that more than 40 people could come in but had to mingle in the general bar area due to fire code safety reasons. It was communicated multiple times that approximately 60 people were expected to show up to this after party. This all sounds simple enough and my friend paid $3,000 up front for the private space. Despite this clear plan, I arrived at the bar for the after party and witnessed one of the managers berating my friend (the bride), screaming that she couldn't let "her whole wedding party" inside and that nothing could be done. My friend's wedding night was ruined and ended in tears because of HORRIBLE mismanagement of the situation. The manager did not seem to have an empathetic bone in her body and resorted to screaming and gaslighting. I understand that it was a very busy Saturday night and there was a long general admission line to manage as well. However, things went south very fast and there was NO attempt to accommodate our party whatsoever. I also witnessed other people who were NOT part of the wedding party go inside saying that they were part of our party, so the true 40 person cap was not even reached when they stopped letting others in. I keep reading in the manager's responses to reviews that the bride provided a list of 90 people to come inside. Let's set the record straight about that. Yes, a list with 90 names was provided because it was impossible to predict exactly which guests were coming to the after party in advance. Some people would get tired and go home, which can't be predicted. So 90 names were provided to encompass ALL who could possibly arrive. In reality, approximately 50-60 showed up... which was exactly what was communicated to this venue multiple times. About 10-20 of our guests had to wait out in the freezing cold for about an hour, and not even on the general admission line, which was moving! On a separate line to nowhere. Ridiculous. My friend requested a partial refund, which was not provided. They offered them some free drinks if they returned to the bar another time - that was the "compensation" they keep mentioning. As if any of us would ever go there again. Oh here's one last kicker - the mechanical bull was broken that night. LOL. P.S. I read every single email to and from the bride/groom to this venue, so I'd appreciate the management NOT trying to gaslight me in the comments. Thanks.

Incredibly rude and condescending manager and front door staff ruined my wedding after party. I have never left a review for a bar/restaurant but I can't let this go: We chose this place 6 months in advance to host our wedding after party and we were so excited to enjoy the unique space and Betsy the bull. Our package included a space and a base number of alcoholic drinks. We were very clear that our party would be ~60 guests. Kayla and Colly said that our space would fit 40 and the rest of our guests would float closer to the bar and share in the alcohol / event. I specifically asked, "I know you [Colly] said the Dolly's Corner easily fits 40, but would we work be able to have more people come and partake in our drink package, etc, even if they're mingling around the bar?" Colly answered, " Yeah we can fit 40 and the rest of your guests can partake in everything you are availing of - it's just that that space is more private on a Saturday but only fits 40ish, the rest can squeeze and mingle and still be part of the celebration." We booked the space and couldn't wait! Our guests started over at 11:30 pm (the time we reserved), but we hung around at our wedding venue just to make sure everyone left ok. When we arrived, most of our guests had been waiting on a "VIP line" as they were told our guest count was above 40 and they wouldn't accommodate. After another 15 minutes of arguing they told our guests to go to the back of the general admission line, a 45 minute wait. NEVER was this possibility communicated to us in any of our email exchanges. We knew Dolly's Corner held 40, but they never said our guests would be held in a separate line where they could never actually be admitted. Even had they sent the rest of our guests to the back of the GA line when we hit 40, they would have eventually gotten inside, but instead they were told after being held outside for a half hour that they needed to go to the back of the other line. They could have apologized for the confusion (caused by their emails!) and blended our group into the GA line instead of forcing them to the back since we paid $3K for a space already. Perhaps our guests beyond 40 people (we probably had about 15) would have only waited 10 minutes, which would have been fine. But there was simply no attempt to rectify the situation. The door person actually said to me that if I wasn't okay with the 40 person max, we could just cancel our reservation altogether (obviously not helpful and extremely rude as we booked it 6 months in advance, told all our guests, had people inside already, etc). The icing on the cake: Betsy the bull was not up and running! That was 75% of the reason we chose this bar in the first place! Not to mention we only got 3/4 of the alcohol offered in our original package. I am sad to have wasted so much time and energy on this place and these people. It is a shame that I couldn't end my wedding night with all my friends, but I hope this review can help someone in the future avoid the same issues. TLDR: Do not choose this space for any event you're thinking of hosting; even though you will be told it is easy for any of your extra guests to "mingle and still enjoy the celebration", they might just leave half of your guests out in the cold. Desert 5 Spot/managers Colly and Kayla) ruined my wedding after party and were unwilling to find helpful solutions to the confusion they created by being unclear about what we should expect on our event night. I regret not choosing another bar, as we were considering several options. I would really like to prevent any future brides from crying at their own wedding after party. Instead of apologizing that this was not clear (I offered to review the entire email exchange we had had in that moment), they argued with us, were incredibly rude, and had no helpful solutions to the issue. To top it off, we watched their bouncer let in several people under our head count that weren't part of our group and then deny it to our face. Save yourself the trouble and choose literally anywhere else for an event.

Wow I haven't been to a bar this bad in a long time. Don't go. I went at 830 on a Saturday to hear the live music they toot all over their social media that is 8 pm Friday and Saturdays. Got there and vibe was weird- not at al welcoming but interior was cute so we stayed. I liked that it was spacious and had seating. Interior was fun but the actual atmosphere was real bad vibes. We ordered a drink and the bartender was not nice, not welcoming and had a bad attitude. We ordered margaritas they had no salt, that's ok. The drink came in a very small water class for $16, hey it's Williamsburg that's ok. The margarita even with a better non well tequila still was gross bc of the bad mix they use, whatever. Then the bartender asks where we are from- I tell him we are NY natives. He starts carrying on about how he hates the area and would never go (to Williamsburg) unless he had to for work. ALL the bartenders seemed legit miserable, no one wanted to be there clearly. They all were scowling and very unapproachable. The one bartender has some snarky quip for anyone who talked to him. The dark hair Dahmer looking one. Music never came on- staff says it never starts until AROUND 10:30- that's 2.5 hours past when they advertise which is really not ____. My friend hit the nail on the head the place was COMPLETELY soulless. I wouldn't even go back in for a free drink. Terrible vibe, staff and false advertising. Go to skinny Dennis bc this place was awful.

As my friend lovingly said, both she and I are "baby cowgirls" as we both are not as familiar with country music, but that didn't stop us from having such a great time at Desert 5 Spot! Our group of friends love country music and we equally had as much of a blast as they day. The bar itself is themed beautifully in true Southern realness, the decor was on point, and the entertainment (though a bit off schedule) was fun to watch as we came on a day where they had live music (Saturday), and the drinks were named so cleverly. My personal favs were called "Jolene" and "Redneck Woman". The mechanical Bull required you to sign a quick waver but the guy running it was selective on how hard the Bull would go. If you could handle it he'd turn up the heat but if you couldn't it wouldn't get too crazy. Overall, I'd definitely go back! Had a great time, even out of my element :)

It has the makings of a fun country bar, but a bit too full of either bridal parties or urban cowgirl wannabes. The space is new but a bit too clean/sterile/manicured to give the feel of an organic spot. The music featured more modern pop-country than I would've liked: more Florida Georgia Line than George Strait. The service was prompt, but the lack of seating meant everyone wanted to lean on the bar all night, making it impossible to get to the bar to collect your drinks or pay (and, of course, those individuals hogging the bar couldn't fathom why other people were trying to lean over or around them). Overall a decent spot, but I'm not sure Brooklyn has the right crowd for this kind of bar.

smells like fucking church with the amount of incense they use. Disgusting. Over crowded and overpriced. Go elsewhere. Ugly crowd too.

I came here one night to catch a performance and I fell in love with this spot. Super cool atmosphere. Love the funky Western decor. The staff is always very friendly. Definitely worth checking out!

Such a fun gem in Williamsburg! Awesome energy, decor, and Southern vibes. Range of live music, djs, and line dancers. Great sound quality . The bottle service option was great as we had a good location by the stage. They could use more bathrooms.

I had been to the Hollywood location, so I was excited to check out the new Desert 5 in Brooklyn...and...It's even Better! Everything works...the music, the food, the location...and the Drinks!...ask the drop dead gorgeous V (I think that's what she said her name was) to make anything and it will be the best you have ever tasted. an espresso martini with tequila and frangelico? Fuggetaboutit! Go early before it gets too packed.

Desert 5 Spot is easily one of the coolest bars I've ever been to. I came dressed in my finest cowboy attire and really loved the country western vibe. Everyone seemed here to have a good ole drama free night. The staff were super down to earth and the people at the door even complimented my outfit, which I definitely appreciated! The live music was the cherry on top. I didn't get the band name but they absolutely crushed it. They had everyone, myself included, dancing up a storm and even finished with a country version of Cher's "Believe". Can't wait to go back!

Before they had my credit card, they could easily fit our 60 person guest count. Once our guests were at the door, they could only fit 40. They wouldn't even send the last 20 to the regular line, they kept them separate in a line that didn't go anywhere! Rude staff unwilling to admit that they gave the wrong information when they wanted to make the sale (even when copy and pasted back to them). They had my wife in tears on her wedding night. Also, no mechanical bull and no live music! Anyone thinking of going here let me know and I will buy you a drink as long as you go to a different bar.

I would NOT return to this bar again. We made the trip here on a Saturday night because we had heard great things, and ended up waiting outside in the cold for 2 HOURS on the line. Got there at 9:30 and got inside the bar at 11:30. While on the line, we tried to simply ask the bouncer at the front about how much longer it would be, he said "Back of the line is that way" and made many many snippy comments. When finally inside it was extremely packed to the point we barely had room to move around, let alone dance. Not a fun experience at all.

Nice big space, large stage, long bar! The sound system is designed for loud . . . louder . . . loudest only, could barely make out what the band was performing and could barely hear the singers. I was surprised to see so many people vaping in front of bar staff without anyone saying anything. Moderately priced drinks. Country-Western inspired interior, but no real CW vibe. Venue is targeted for the college student drinking crowd!!!

Was very excited to come to check out this location however was severely dissapointed by rude staff/managers (specifically Kayla and Colly).

Came as part of an event that had paid to reserve spots for guests. The door staff and manager were incredibly rude to the individuals who reserved the space. They claimed that there were more guests than agreed upon. However we watched numerous people be let in, lying that they were with our group when they were not. This concern was raised to the door staff who claimed they were checking the guest list. Not once was the list checked. When this was pointed out to the staff, they told us to "control your guests", referring again to people who weren't even with the event. Rudest staff and management I have ever experienced. Do not give them your service.

Some staff was incredible and friendly, and helped us put our coats upstairs. The rest were among the rudest people I've met in my life, especially the guy in the bathroom - who let 5 people into single stall they smoked up and seemed to encourage it? The music and spot itself was great but it kind of shocked me how rude those folks were - wouldn't go back

This bar deleted all our comments on google! Apparently not happy to learn about their subpar customer service. Here's my original review: WARNING: Do not spend a second of your time or a penny of your money here. As others have mentioned, they ruined our friend's wedding after party, after they had already paid and reserved a space. The front door girls were incredibly disrespectful. Their behavior was actually appalling. Never would I dream of speaking to another human, let alone patrons, the way Kayla and Colly did to the bride and groom, as well as other wedding guests waiting on line. I don't care what "misunderstanding" is going on, you don't scream at the bride on her wedding night. Outdoors. In the cold. Any self respecting business would try to make amends and try to rectify a bad situation, but this one will just leave additional snide remarks on your reviews. Seriously, do not plan a bachelorette party, work event, or any other event here. Especially if you're visiting from out of town. New York is better than this and we'd hate for you to spend your money at this one terrible bar. There's a million other places in NYC and any of the wedding guests would gladly compile a list of alternatives for you. PS. RIP to Betsy the bull who was not working that day.

I love the ambiance of this place. The cocktails are great! As a Texan I appreciate a good country themed bar. I wish they mixed in more traditional country songs into their playlist. The line dancing night was fun, but there's definitely not enough space to really dance with lots of people standing around. It's a great vibe and I will be back!

had an amazing time! the live band was insane! the bartenders know what they're doing! V behind the bar was my absolute fav! will be back soon!

so much fun! we hung out by the bar and had an amazing time. drinks are impeccable and bartenders were so nice! definitely coming again

Very cool spot for drinks & music in Williamsburg. Bartenders were on point especially Allyson. Would recommend for a night out with friends

So, we came for a bachelorette party and had reserved a table where min is 500. That's fine. When we get there, the line to get in is insane so we ask the hostess/bouncer/check in people we have a table so they have us stand to the side. We wait there for a very long time as other people arrive skip the line and are let in- presumably because they're attractive??( they didn't have a table or anything booked). So we ask to go in and get scolded by one of the workers there saying they just need a minute and how dare we ask to get inside (with a minimum to hit like if your whole crew is outside waiting forever it makes that more difficult especially when the place closes early). When we finally do get inside they bring us to a "table" that's not a table. It's just to barrels and a couple of high top chairs around them right by the entrance and bathroom line. There are actually nice tables with couches etc this wasn't that. At all. Feels like they just threw something together and called it a table we had to spend 500 for. So that sucked. Then you can't order like single drinks or even multiple mixers with this package. We ordered bottle and they told us we needed to go to the bar to get tonic water since we also had soda water coming. Which is just wild to me. You're supposed to have table service which should mean not having to do that. So we did that on several occasions. The bathroom line is absurd and that's being generous. I've never seen anything like it. So my group held it the whole time and then went to the arlo next door to use their bathrooms. Saw quite a few girls in cowboy attire there so assume they had to do the same thing. This place feels almost entitled like they are allowing you to come into their super fun establishment so they don't need to take care of you or even have enough bathrooms for the space and number of people they let in. They're a bit rude and it's just overall so not worth it. Had super high hopes for this spot, was really disappointed.