P.J. Hanley's

OK,\r \r I'm a life time Carroll Gardens resident and I remember when Hanley's was an "" Old man bar""\r and then a neighborhood "" thug"" hang out. I avoided this place because of locals and no ambiance\r and drama. Fast forward to winter 2008 I decide to go to Hanley's for SUPER BOWL SUNDAY\r with friends from out of town. A lot of the old crowd was gone, the place ws "" spruced up"" and best of all\r I met our fearless leader /bartender/friend ...MJ........ I walked in and found my new HOME.\r The winter became more cozy and happier thanks to MJ and the nights at Hanley's.\r It was great, she was great and a lot of new staff and new crowd made Hanley's awesome.\r As winter turned to spring the manager "" Reuben"" got a bit of a BIG HEAD and became\r a lot less friendly and was changing & adding staff daily. The wait staff seemed to be nice people\r who were afraid of their boss "" Reuben"". One night I paid a waitress a compliment & she begged \r me to tell Ruben that she was good because he was being awful & verbally abusive to her\r and she feared for her job daily. Bad situation. As the bar crowd grew the vibe in the bar got more\r uptight thanks to Ruben. Biggest mistake was when MJ was fired by Ruben in July.\r A good business is built on a sense of comfort and community and Ruben ruined this with his\r attitude & by letting MJ go. He seems to not respect women staff very much & that forces me to \r be offended as a woman & as a friend of MJ. I'm done with Hanley's now. It's too bad that \r the owners have such faith in such a poor leader. Look local for MJ the GRET !! Pros: Nice outdoor area in summer Cons: Bad management more

OK, I'm a life time Carroll Gardens resident and I remember when Hanley's was an " Old man bar" and then a neighborhood " thug" hang out. I avoided this place because of locals and no ambiance and drama. Fast forward to winter 2008 I decide to go to Hanley's for SUPER BOWL SUNDAY with friends from out of town. A lot of the old crowd was gone, the place ws " spruced up" and best of all I met our fearless leader /bartender/friend ...MJ........ I walked in and found my new HOME. The winter became more cozy and happier thanks to MJ and the nights at Hanley's. It was great, she was great and a lot of new staff and new crowd made Hanley's awesome. As winter turned to spring the manager " Reuben" got a bit of a BIG HEAD and became a lot less friendly and was changing & adding staff daily. The wait staff seemed to be nice people who were afraid of their boss " Reuben". One night I paid a waitress a compliment & she begged me to tell Ruben that she was good because he was being awful & verbally abusive to her and she feared for her job daily. Bad situation. As the bar crowd grew the vibe in the bar got more uptight thanks to Ruben. Biggest mistake was when MJ was fired by Ruben in July. A good business is built on a sense of comfort and community and Ruben ruined this with his attitude & by letting MJ go. He seems to not respect women staff very much & that forces me to be offended as a woman & as a friend of MJ. I'm done with Hanley's now. It's too bad that the owners have such faith in such a poor leader. Look local for MJ the GRET !! Pros: Nice outdoor area in summer Cons: Bad management more

M.J. was the best thing that ever happened to Hanley's since it's opening in the 1800's. You would figure a good thing would be allowed to remain a good thing, but somehow, the natural balance of the universe was skewed by the forces of evil or just misjudgment and now there is a great hole in the bar culture of this great neighborhood. We are all suffering for it, and it could so easily be rectified. I hope they fix this soon. I hope Hanley's sets this right more

M.J. was the best thing that ever happened to Hanley's since it's opening in the 1800's. You would figure a good thing would be allowed to remain a good thing, but somehow, the natural balance of the universe was skewed by the forces of evil or just misjudgment and now there is a great hole in the bar culture of this great neighborhood. We are all suffering for it, and it could so easily be rectified. I hope they fix this soon. I hope Hanley's sets this right more

Let's face it: MJ was a genius. Anyone with half (1/2) (50%) a brain realized that. ............... Pros: When MJ was there. Cons: MJ's not there. more

Let's face it: MJ was a genius. Anyone with half (1/2) (50%) a brain realized that. \r \r ............... Pros: When MJ was there. Cons: MJ's not there. more

I love hans! They have a great selection of beer, tasty food, and a fun staff. I am pretty much guaranteed to have a great time if I go to any of the 3 bars there. This is an awesome neighborhood joint that I would highly recommend to singles, couples, and families. \r And despite what people say about the staff and how Ruben manages, he's done a lot for Hanley's. He's a great manager who knows the business well and he's a great addition to the hood! Pros: boozes more

I love hans! They have a great selection of beer, tasty food, and a fun staff. I am pretty much guaranteed to have a great time if I go to any of the 3 bars there. This is an awesome neighborhood joint that I would highly recommend to singles, couples, and families. And despite what people say about the staff and how Ruben manages, he's done a lot for Hanley's. He's a great manager who knows the business well and he's a great addition to the hood! Pros: boozes Cons: none more

This place has gone completely downhill as of recent. The service has always been slow but the food was worth the wait. Now the prices have gone up significantly, there is no consistency with the staff, and frankly the place is just terribly managed. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone until they 1) Revamp the menu making better quality food for the prices they are charging (NOT ALL FRIED GARBAGE LIKE WHAT'S ON THERE NOW) 2) Stop the teeny bopper fiasco that comes along with playing video games at a bar (we're out of college, let's act like it) 3) Simply put; get a manager with competence, who treats their employees well, doesn't embarrass himself by being known as a womanizing p.o.s. who fires women for sticking up for themselves. more

This place has gone completely downhill as of recent. The service has always been slow but the food was worth the wait. Now the prices have gone up significantly, there is no consistency with the staff, and frankly the place is just terribly managed. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone until they 1) Revamp the menu making better quality food for the prices they are charging (NOT ALL FRIED GARBAGE LIKE WHAT'S ON THERE NOW) 2) Stop the teeny bopper fiasco that comes along with playing video games at a bar (we're out of college, let's act like it) 3) Simply put; get a manager with competence, who treats their employees well, doesn't embarrass himself by being known as a womanizing p.o.s. who fires women for sticking up for themselves. more

Ok. This is a cool bar, oldest in Brooklyn I am told. Trouble is, as read about in previous posts, Manager is clueless. I, by no means grew up in the hood, so the mix of people is great. The music used to be terrible, then they got a younger bar staff who cared. My friend MJ was responsible for bringing good music, thus a more eclectic crowd. Well those days are over. MJ was fired for standing up for herself, because Reuben basically was abusive, verbally to her. (I know I have witnessed it many times) Reuben obviously doesn't care about the customers who spend their hard earned cash there. He loves to walk in a turn the music up really loud, or change the game you are watching on TV, then walk out. He treats his customers and his employees the same, he doesn't care and it shows. I really think this place should be avoided at all costs. the aggravation isn't worth it. I know I wont be back unless they reconsider and bring the funnest bartender in the area back!! more

Ok. This is a cool bar, oldest in Brooklyn I am told. Trouble is, as read about in previous posts, Manager is clueless. I, by no means grew up in the hood, so the mix of people is great. The music used to be terrible, then they got a younger bar staff who cared. My friend MJ was responsible for bringing good music, thus a more eclectic crowd. Well those days are over. MJ was fired for standing up for herself, because Reuben basically was abusive, verbally to her. (I know I have witnessed it many times) Reuben obviously doesn't care about the customers who spend their hard earned cash there. He loves to walk in a turn the music up really loud, or change the game you are watching on TV, then walk out. He treats his customers and his employees the same, he doesn't care and it shows. I really think this place should be avoided at all costs. the aggravation isn't worth it. I know I wont be back unless they reconsider and bring the funnest bartender in the area back!! more

I do not know where to begin on this once great place after seeing the transformation being a patron/employee at one point for a few years. The food and alcohol are way over priced and the service from the kitchen has gone down in the bar area. The bottle beer is always warm in the summer and they have an attitude when it is brought to their attention. The waitresses are really nice, but sometimes not efficent. The owner Jimmy is a clown that has no clue on owning a bar or pizzeria. The Manager Rueben has a horendous attitude and thinks he transformed the place into something it wasn't before he was even thought of as an employee. I get the biggest laugh now seeing the owner Jimmy roll up his sleeves and attempt to make pizza in a brick oven that he thinks is really good. Each pie that I witnessed him making comes out burned and he was over heard saying either take the pizza the way I make it or people don't have to come here at all. That is a great attitude to start up a business with remarks like that from the owner/pizza maker. Not to mention he decided to go on vacation and close after opening roughly a month or after a full year of renovations. It is a comedy strip in that place that is poorly owned and managed. The Hanley's should take him out of his misery and get the place back to where it once was for many years. Pros: CONVENIENCE/YARD Cons: EVERYTHING ABOUT IT FOR THE MOST PART more

Stopped by there during the World Cup. Decided to sit outside since we had no interest in anything other than a plate of mini burgers and a couple of beers. We settled into a table in the "smoking section" where we were told we'd have no wait service and everything would have to be ordered through the bar. Fair enough. We ordered our mini burgers, a round of beers and some Thai sweet and spicy wings. They brought the food out to us just as it started to rain. While there were 2 umbrellas (apparently one was broken), neither was offered to us or set up for us. The bartender who was waiting on us was told she'd need to "check with Reuben before giving us an umbrella". We tried to bring one over and were told it was too big and wouldn't fit under the overhang. Oook. A waiter or busboy decided to help us and brought over an umbrella stand. He was promptly yelled at by the manager Reuben - no hang on let me get another table set up or find you a different umbrella, etc. Reuben said, and I quote "what are doing that for? You can't do that." So we sat there in the rain with our burgers getting increasingly soggy. We were finally "moved" to a different table where the umbrella fit. We had to put the umbrella up ourselves. It was several more minutes before we were brought ketchup or napkins. So there we sat with our soggy bunned burgers, getting soaked with a crowd of waitstaff, bartenders and Reuben hanging out under the awning smoking and drinking beer occasionally shouting over at us asking if we were ok. The food was delicious. The beers good. The waitstaff was nice but totally lame, and Reuben was a class-A you know what. Go for the food, but do yourself a favor and get it to go! more

Stopped by there during the World Cup. Decided to sit outside since we had no interest in anything other than a plate of mini burgers and a couple of beers. We settled into a table in the ""smoking section"" where we were told we'd have no wait service and everything would have to be ordered through the bar. Fair enough. We ordered our mini burgers, a round of beers and some Thai sweet and spicy wings. They brought the food out to us just as it started to rain. While there were 2 umbrellas (apparently one was broken), neither was offered to us or set up for us. The bartender who was waiting on us was told she'd need to ""check with Reuben before giving us an umbrella"". We tried to bring one over and were told it was too big and wouldn't fit under the overhang. Oook. A waiter or busboy decided to help us and brought over an umbrella stand. He was promptly yelled at by the manager Reuben - no hang on let me get another table set up or find you a different umbrella, etc. Reuben said, and I quote ""what are doing that for? You can't do that."" So we sat there in the rain with our burgers getting increasingly soggy. We were finally ""moved"" to a different table where the umbrella fit. We had to put the umbrella up ourselves. It was several more minutes before we were brought ketchup or napkins. So there we sat with our soggy bunned burgers, getting soaked with a crowd of waitstaff, bartenders and Reuben hanging out under the awning smoking and drinking beer occasionally shouting over at us asking if we were ok. \r \r The food was delicious. The beers good. The waitstaff was nice but totally lame, and Reuben was a class-A you know what. \r \r Go for the food, but do yourself a favor and get it to go! more

Honestly, I just love this place. The beer is cold, the food is good (standard fare, we are not talking or needing five stars - it's a pub) and the people are real. The bartenders are awesome and this place has taken a huge turn for the better in the past year. \r \r Yes, if you are a single woman you may run the risk (or reward - it's all a matter of taste) of a Sal trying to pick you up - but that just goes with the territory.\r \r Check it out!!!!\r \r \r more

Honestly, I just love this place. The beer is cold, the food is good (standard fare, we are not talking or needing five stars - it's a pub) and the people are real. The bartenders are awesome and this place has taken a huge turn for the better in the past year. Yes, if you are a single woman you may run the risk (or reward - it's all a matter of taste) of a Sal trying to pick you up - but that just goes with the territory. Check it out!!!! more

Honestly, I have gone to PJ Hanley's about 20 times. I try and convince myself that because of its great location, and proximity to my house, that the horrendous food, and AWFUL wait staff are my imagination. BUT every time I leave, I promise myself that I will never go back. I typically tip 20%, but when I see the PJ Hanley's bill staring me in the face, after being virtually ignored by my waitress, and trying to stomach an inedible burger, I cant help but barely tip at all. You're better off going up the street to Abilene- better beer, food and company. Pros: Their live outdoor music Cons: Everything else more

Honestly, I have gone to PJ Hanley's about 20 times. I try and convince myself that because of its great location, and proximity to my house, that the horrendous food, and AWFUL wait staff are my imagination. BUT every time I leave, I promise myself that I will never go back. I typically tip 20%, but when I see the PJ Hanley's bill staring me in the face, after being virtually ignored by my waitress, and trying to stomach an inedible burger, I cant help but barely tip at all. You're better off going up the street to Abilene- better beer, food and company. Pros: Their live outdoor music Cons: Everything else more

Great outdoor space for the summer. (Good beer selections) Beer garden plus good food. All the big games on the many flat screens inside. And it has a pizza bar next to that. A little pricey though. Pros: Out door space and sports bar more