The Gate

I don't know why it took me so long to write this review. I came in during brooklyn pride and there were two big boys behind the bar (love it). One of them was showing a bunch of chest hair (rawr). The place was absolutely packed and those two really held it down. I've been back a few times since and it has never disappointed.

Authentic Gothic dive bar with great neighborhood vibe! Awesome craft beer selection, and Freshest beer in Park Slope, always friendly crowd of patrons, and super nice staff. Their location can't be beat in the heart of Park Slope, across the street from historic Washington Park. Reasonably priced beer, and drinks. Highly recommend this place to all!

Came here after a nearby work event, and experienced deplorable service — cannot begin to convey the degree of upset as a result of one of the bartenders poor behaviour. Literally left the bar in tears. Bartender clearly hates his job and created such a miserable atmosphere. Don’t get into a line of front-facing hospitality if you’re not interested or equipped to handle basic human interaction.

This is a great place for a large selection of drinks on top, it’s very dog friendly, the staff is all so nice I can’t even explain. Going to the outdoor section, there’s plenty of space, plenty of dog lovers and is just a nice place to hangout.

I’ve gone to the Gate for many years (since it opened) but had an unfortunate experience and won’t be going back. My partner got us a couple of beers and my mistake, I ordered a saison on the extreme end of that style (think beer-flavored kombucha). I couldn’t drink it. I asked if I could swap for something else. I was dumbfounded that this courtesy could not be extended. So I’ll take my business where bartenders are smart enough to know that one pint would have kept me coming back in the future.

We googled "dog friendly bars" and brought our dog here based on the results. We walked in and the bartender immediately told us that dogs are only allowed in the outdoor terrace area. Ok, fine, we'll follow the rules. Then another dog came in, and no problem with that dog being inside the bar. We felt that we were singled out and discriminated against because we have a larger dog. If you have a policy, define it and follow it. This uneven and discriminatory enforcement is extremely unfair and left a very sour taste in our mouths. The bartender told us that no dogs were allowed in, then blatantly contradicted that in front of us. Safe to say we'll never return, and we'll tell everyone we know not to go either. And we urge you, reader of this Google review, not to patronize this bar either.

Great bar in a wonderful location. Love the outdoor space and cozy inside.

Longstanding local Park Slope bar with interesting craft beer selections. Spacious outdoor patio.

First time customer. Great drinks, great service from Ed. treated us like family, let us hang out with his friends.

I'm surprised that this place has a few negative reviews. My bf and I stopped inside for a drink on a Saturday night and had a great time. Dark, speakeasy and chill vibes inside with the game playing in the background. It was actually very cool inside and big with a decent amount of seating. Only one bartender working and he was generous with the liquor in every drink he made. Good vibes and a place I'd hit up again if I were in the area!

The Gate is Park Slope's perfect local pub. Bonus points if you score an outdoor seat for a long, warm summer afternoon.

A neighborhood staple! A day or night at the gate is a guaranteed good time. Always a good crowd, nice staff, and all around good vibes. They don't serve food but they'll allow you to bring your food inside, just clean up after yourself. The outdoor patio is super cute and during the summer, it's always busy and fun.

SHUSHED us at midnight. When 8 people were present at the bar. On a Friday night. Odd vibe. Felt unwelcoming.

Nice staff. Good selection. This place is really chill and peaceful with a nice outdoor section

Went for a quick drink at The Gate on Friday evening. A pretty standard dive bar with a nice selection of beer and in a good location for people watching. Quality: The Gate is a typical dive beer bar. They have a constant rotation of beers on tap, showcasing both local favorites and some unique beers from across the country. They also have a few old world beers, and I assume they always keep Guinness on the menu. If none of the draft beers catch your eye they also have forty or so can options as well as a couple of cocktails. During our visit I ordered a Brooklyn Cider Bone Dry and a Firestone Walker Velvet Merlin nitro milk stout. Nice pours and served at a good temperature. I also always love to see some emphasis placed on nitro beers. Quantity: Standard draft pours for beers, unless noted on the menu. Value: $5-$9 for Draught Ales & Lagers. The bar is cash only. Ambiance: The Gate is located on the corner of 5th Avenue and 3rd Street in Park Slope. Across the street from a busy park, it has a ton of foot traffic every night of the week. They are not currently allowing guests to drink inside. The darkened interior is currently an emptied out room, where you just order and grab your beer. It isn't too problematic because they always had a large fenced in patio area, and now have spread additional tables onto the sidewalks surrounding the building. Classic rock music played inside, but outside it was frequently overwhelmed from the noise of the sidewalk and street. Crowd: This bar is always busy with nice weather, and this Friday was no different. It is in the middle of the action, so it is a great place to sit back with a beer and watch the chaos of the neighborhood. Service: They currently have QR codes with the menu on each table, but you go inside the bar to order. The bartenders were friendly and efficient, keeping things moving and preventing guests from congregating inside. Parking: A fair amount of street parking in the area.

Love the beer selection and quality. Wonderful atmosphere except for the speakers. Tinny and bad speakers. Would be great to have them updated!

Do yourself a favor and check out this spot!! Best neighborhood bar in the area! Great rotating beer selection, staff is great! Had the privilege of meeting the owner, real down to earth, humble guy. Can't wait to go back.

This is my favorite neighborhood spot. There's always a new beer to try and the outdoor space is wonderful.

This spot is cornerstone in Park Slope, it has been around long enough to survive a pandemic. Great tap selection, and obvious staples for a great bar in terms of liquor selections. I've attended parties here thrown by the NY Cyclones, different NY breweries, Blue Ribbon(RIP). Outdoor seating in the front or their backyard for now. Huge Gate in the front, you can't miss it.

I live in the neighborhood for at least 14 years and I have never been thrown a banana pill at, or anything for the matter. We were a party of 4-5ppl sitting outside on a Saturday afternoon. That's when 5th avenue is pedestrian only. We had a few rounds of beers. When we left someone in our party left an unfinished banana on the table. The guy who was cleaning tables threw that banana at me. I was stunned. When I approached him to ask what his issue was his sentiment was: "I am not gonna clean your garbage!" Whatever the motivation behind this ridiculous act may be I will try to avoid this place at all costs. The bartender was jerk as well despite us leaving hefty tips. There are much better spots in the area with much better staff and selection.

Wow, never met such an asshole bartender in my life! Poured me the wrong beer, and then got really nasty about it interesting that I didn't know what I was drinking.Won't be back. Too bad you ruined a good neighborhood bar

Cash only. ATM conveniently located in the back. $3.00 ATM fee. Won't be back. Shameful and disgusting. Normalize this reaction!

I love this place, reasonable prices for beers and great knowledgeable staff. I've been coming here for yrs and plus they let dogs hang out here!

Has a menu on its web site but disappointed to learn that no food served. Also, bartender played Rap music for the four hours I was there. I politely commented on it but he kept playing it. Park Slope?

Dogs! Beer! What could be bad?! A part of me wants to call this a dive bar, but it's so much more than that. The outdoor space has been so great during COVID. The bartenders are friendly. Beer selection is good & hot toddies are at the ready!

One of my friends called this the OG of Park Slope bars. Yup. Great beer selection.

Cool, casual bar in the neighborhood that is my go-to spot if I'm around Park Slope. Very reliable, great dark ambiance, almost dive bar like except its way cleaner than that. They have a huge beer menu, which as a beer Fan, I'm pretty happy and ecstatic about. Good prices on all drinks as well, so pick a seat, put your feet up and have a few beers here.

Have been having a rough time lately, but I came in the other night and the bartender Avi totally turned my day around. Good convo, great beer suggestions, excellent mohawk. Definitely going to be coming by more often.

The Gate NY Brooklyn Park Slope 8pm Thursday 12th February 2015 Three and Half Stars It seems like a great neighborhood pub. There was plenty of seats but enough people to give a lively atmosphere. I had the happy meal to start which was a shot of Ezra Bourbon and PBR ($5.50) - very hipster of me, I know. The music was low key and it easily to have a decent conversation in here. I tried the Rushing Duck Brewery Dog's Bollocks which was a 9.5% English Ale/Barley Wine. It was pretty intense with lots of malt, oak, and caramel. Overall the place was quite enjoyable.

Great chill place to have beers, sit outside, huge canned beer selection.

The Good. The patio. You know it already, and it's one of the best. The beer selection is huge, varied and stellar. The horse-sized dog that comes in often. Other dogs, as well. But mostly that one. It's only $39 for 6 shots of good tequila. Maybe I've been hanging out in the wrong bars (I have been), but that's downright cheap for NYC. The Bad. Weekend nights, the scene is not awesome. Occasionally the bartenders are surly. Babies and beer are not always a winning combination. The Ugly. This bar used to let me come in and drink back when drinking was more fun (read: illegal), starting me down a long road to functional alcoholism and undoubtedly injuring my brain permanently. I am much more to blame than they are, but to be fair, when I was 19 I looked 12. No one should let 12-year-olds drink at the bar.

I got no beef with the Gate. It's nice inside, the beer selection is impressive, and the bartenders are friendly. The outside seating is fun, if it's not too crowded. (Sidenote: I do actually have a beef with the Gate, but it's not their fault. It's the people that bring their strollers and brood along with them while they booze it up. I wish parents would stop ruining everybody else's fun by toting their babies everywhere. It's a bar, people. You don't get to hang out and have beers with your infant anymore. That phase of your life is over once you pop out a kid. Them's the rules. No one wants to hear baby-talk and smell diapers while they're having a drink with someone they're trying to hook up with. Pay for a baby-sitter, you selfish Bjorn-jockeys!)

Just moved around the corner. Love this place. Great beer selection, super cool bartenders, totally no frills.

Very unimpressed! First, CANNOT HAVE A DOG HERE!!! We were booted out. The bar is very dingy, the names of the beers are written in microscopic letters on a tiny blackboard (with chalk, so nothing is legible). Selection is meh. Employees very sour-faced and glum.

This is my go-to on quiet, summer weeknights, when all you need is a cold one with your buds. I've been here a few times, and never have left disappointed. The atmosphere of the inside room is perfect for giving a sort of communal beer hall feeling. The beer list was full of surprises from local breweries and the Tap Takeovers are ideal if you want to try something new. I'm definitely coming back for trivia night! FYI - there is a 10-dollar minimum charge.

Great local Park Slope place for craft beers. They always have something different on tap but they also seem to have my Weiss beer waiting for me. They do not serve food here but you can bring it in or get it delivered there. There is a gated outdoor area that allows strollers and dogs. Been going here for years and never had a bad experience. If you're in the area, check it out for the chill spot. Cheers Happy Hour: Monday thru Friday 3:00pm-7:00pm $1 off most, 50¢ off some. They are open: Monday thru Friday 3:00pm-4:00am Saturday & Sunday 1:00pm-4:00am

I have been coming here for twenty years, and have always enjoyed this place like no other. It has such a great old time Gothic atmosphere, friendly staff, and awesome selection of beer. It is located in the heart of Park Slope, across the street from Washington Park, where people watching is a great joy while sitting in The Gate's quaint outdoor space when weather permits.

Super cool outdoor lounging with a beer and your dog. Great place. Monday night is trivia night..I ROCKED the JOINT! Great selection of beer! You can order food from any Park Slope restaurant and have it delivered right to your table. And Your dog is always welcome!

#1 beer bar on 5th Avenue. A great patio to hang out on during nice days and a relaxed indoor spot that feels extra cozy on a cold day. All the bartenders are really nice and make you feel at home while serving really good beer and cheap pours of premium whiskeys. We're so glad they've managed to pull through during the last few months and have the patio open again.

Easily the 8th best bar in the neighborhood. The beer list is good, but then again, so is almost every other bar in the area. Typical Park Slope toddler-and-dog-a-teria; cruddy staff; nice patio, but it's in front of the building, so it's loud and not relaxing. Inside is uncomfortable at best. You'll enjoy any of the other 5th Avenue bars more.

It's nice to have a neighborhood place where you can drink beer outside and they have an OK beer selection. Aside from that however, I'm not a big fan. It's definitely a place for 'regulars' and doesn't offer a very welcoming vibe. In my old(er) age, I've also begun to appreciate bars that don't smell like ... um, well, bars that don't smell.

The beer garden here is cool. The booths are also great for big groups. I wasn't particularly impressed by the beer selection, to be honest. A lot of them seemed to be dark - then again, I think a lot of them are different than what you'd find at a dive bar. Anyway, I'm glad I stumbled upon it.

Seems to me a pretty solid neighborhood tavern. I was carded and not allowed to even sit down to look for my ID when I walked in - which I guess is a good thing, keeping tabs on people. The bouncer didn't seem to think it was funny when I told him "I'm like a hundred, are you serious?" But once I found it and flashed my legal drinkin' dates at him he backed off. Other than that and the millions of people crowding around our prime locale wooden table last night during the big game I had a great time, not to mention yummy beers - and a fantastic selection at that (written on a chalkboard, my fav!) The bathrooms downstairs were fairly clean, perhaps I'll check back on a night when everyone isn't glued to the tube. I saw a big dog in the bar last night too..

This place has a nice patio area- but little sun hits there. Hoping to return when it's hot and I'm thankful for the shade. Decent beer selection and pretty average prices.

Super chill neighborhood bar with a nice outdoor space. Good beer selection and you can bring in takeout or have it delivered. Trivia Monday's at 8 is always a good time.

Cool place for an outdoor drink (though those opportunities are quickly waning). They have a few cocktails specials and some beer, as all bar should. Decent for people watching, but can be dead mid-day. Bring the party, I guess. They also sell beef jerky, so I guess that's a thing.

Best place around! I love taking my pup here and sitting outside enjoying good company, great beers, and such a wonderful staff! I've been coming here for the last 13 years of living in the neighborhood and it's so consistent! I love the awesome beers! Great spot and fair prices! Highly recommend!!!

I don't love The Gate, but damn it, their patio is fantastic. Overlooking the corner of 5th Ave and 3rd St, across from Washington Park/JJ Byrne Playground, it's an ideal spot for chilling, swilling and people watching. Sadly, they no longer allow dogs, which used to be a bonus. They don't allow strollers, either, but that doesn't seem to stop throngs of customers from bringing their children here. When it's colder and I'm relegated to the inside, I can't say I really care for it as much. It's dark and has this overpowering 'blah' effect on me. The service is inconsistent at best, often slow, and usually unfriendly. That's not exactly a winning combination, but what saves them is their generally excellent beer list. The taps are rotating and they often host special brewery nights to highlight the delicious efforts of lesser-known breweries from far and wide. The crowd here can leave a bit to be desired, but is generally inoffensive. It can get crowded on weekends and on beautiful days when outdoor day drinking is job 1, but aside from that, it's a chill spot worth checking out.

Wonderful selection of beers. Nice classic bar atmosphere. My wife and I went on our first date here and have been married for 11 years...Enough Said!

This place was very cool. The bartenders were not attentive at all. Beer selection and drinks were great. The patio is by far the best attribute of the bar. The men's bathroom stunk, but my girlfriend told me the ladies room was better than normal.

The Gate may have been one of the first bars I went to in Brooklyn when I found out that there were other boroughs in New York after first moving here years and years ago. I lovingly have always referred to it as 'The Drusilla Bar'. (Crazy, Psychotic and Psychic Vampire from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). There are gothic crosses, figurines, dark red lights to set the mood in the interior of a bar dressed in almost an ebony wood. But the good news is that its kind of cool looking! And if you feel depressed from the gothic theme and dark lights there is an outdoor patio that looks onto the street and its rather large for the area. They also allow doggies inside and that makes for great entertainments. I haven't ever been privy to seeing hoards of babies in here . . . . yet. But I don't doubt the community in saying that they see them here. They allow dogs so I'm sure they allow babies. No food. But great selection of beers on tap. Tried both a Oak Aged Mocha Stout from Peak Organic and a Beanhead Coffee Porter from Rushing Duck. It was cold outside and stouts sounded great. Darts in the back. Bathrooms downstairs. Which is complicated even while sober. But the Gate is Great! Probably honestly one of my favorite North Park Slope bars.

Random Tuesday night, strolling along 5th ave at about 11pm, I walk past The Gate. The patio is entirely full, giving off the good kind of energy, with the Christmas lights shining, and I can hear a nice murmur from the completely occupied tables. I can't tell you how many times I saw this happen. Every day of the week, every time of the day, if sitting outside is an option given the weather, the patio is full. I've only been two or three times, but living in the neighborhood I never saw a down moment. If you're trying to sit outside, it's an ideal place to go hang out and have a beer. It's also not "cheap" per se but at $6-$7 a beer it's standard-ish for the area.

Came here during HH. Selection was pretty average. I really liked the patio area though, and I can only imagine how nice it would be to wind down after a busy week at this place. The service is pretty rocky - sometimes good, sometimes bad. I'd love to try this out on a weekend night!

This place is great. Seeing as how they are one of the only bars in the area who still allow our furry friends admittance. We go to The Gate at least once a week, with the dog in tow. He enjoys it, we enjoy it, a great time is had by all. True, they are beer-enthusiasts, but I have found from my own experience that if you approach the bar-staff with a smile and a good attitude, they can't help but be friendly in return. Any regional accent probably helps, at least in my case. I can't say enough good things about the Value Meal. If you know it, you know what I mean. If you don't know it, imagine a shot of bourbon and a PBR for 5.50. That's right, 5.50. Who knew? A southerner's favorite. Take it from me. The patio is my favorite place to be here. It is quite crowded during peak times, but totally worth it when you manage to snag a seat. I love being outside with a cold beer and fun people. I have honestly never been here and not had a conversation with a "stranger" at another table. The dogs always bring people together! I will continue to frequent this bar. Not only because they know our dog by name, (and only me by face), but because it's a chill place to be. I always try to get my gf to walk home from work with me. I always turn onto 3rd St in hopes that she will say, "Oh, do you want to stop at The Gate for a drink?" and I always nonchalantly say, "Well, sure, if you want to." (wink) She always wants to. Score one for each of us!

How many big bars are there in the heart of the Slope with outdoor space that can still attract a totally varied crowd? The answer is ONE and it is The Gate! Sure you might have a weird character sitting at the bar, or several really weird characters on both sides of you, but the key word here is character. Not to mention of course that this is the first craft beer bar around and still one of the very best. A double sided chalkboard list brimming with rotating taps and no attitude to speak of. The vibe is dark wood Gothic charm and friendly conversation. The outdoor space is not only generous in its size but uniquely located on the front corner of the property as opposed to hidden behind a building. Chilling outside with a pint on a pleasant evening watching 5th Ave is a treat. Viva la Gate!

Great bar, great beers. Love the music. Really good bartenders. During summer the patio it's a nice place to sit, chill and have a beer. Nice decoration

Two-and-a-half stars. For the most part, I admit -- I don't get it. And I feel like I should, really. After all, drinking outdoors is practically my summer sport. But have you ever, say, been at a restaurant eating a perfectly fine meal that technically has nothing wrong with it -- but it just doesn't hit the spot in terms of what you really wanted? That's me at The Gate every time. There's something about this place that always sort of makes me want to be elsewhere. ::coughprobablythechildrencough::