Mug's Alehouse, Reliably Good
So, I’m getting ready to take a quick breather from NYC. I should probably spend my last days enjoying my favorite places and people before I go, but instead find myself at two locations: my bed and Mug’s Alehouse. The first because I am about to spend 3 weeks staying in the kind of cheap hostels I won’t tell my parents about, and the second because Mug’s “Williamsburger” is one of the most perfect meals I’ve come across in years.
Topped with barbecue sauce, American cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms with a generous side of crisp fries, at $7 I have eaten this… well, actually, I don’t want to think about how many times I’ve eaten this. I sometimes swap it out for a veggie burger because that’s better for you in my head (and I feel better eating all of the fries), which they do quite well also–no crumbling apart and substantial enough to hold it’s own under those messy toppings.
When I want to eat real vegetables, a big surprise given its Alehouse status is their good salad selection. The Mug’s Salad with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, and avocado topped with sun dried tomato dressing is my go-to at $6, and for just $2 more you can add chicken. Friends have ordered the pasta dishes and they’ve been good, I just personally feel weird about eating pasta in a bar because of reasons that don’t actually make sense and I have yet to understand.
Deciding what to wash your meal down with is the hardest part, but usually the $3 daily beer special makes that a lot easier. Sometimes it’s Yuengling, sometimes it’s a barleywine I had never heard of before and can’t remember because it was very high in alcohol content, but it’s always $3 all day until it runs out and that’s good enough for me. Their draft beer selection is worth the extra money, though, with a rotating cast of seasonal crafts as well as old favorites, clearly marked on a chalkboard so you don’t have to play the “what is that tap head?” game. The bartender is nice about anything you want to try, though, which is exactly the kind of thing that makes it a nice place to be.
Mug’s Alehouse
125 Bedford (at N. 10th) [Williamsburg]
