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Terrific food!! Not cheap but not out of the ballpark either...

I was surprised to see some of the recent negative reviews here. I have been coming to Half King for the past ten years, and I have never been disappointed. The food is far and above any other pub food I've ever had. It's far more inventive, healthy and delicious. I love that they use local and organic ingredients. The bartenders and waitstaff are attentive without being annoying. The readings are a wonderful plus. And I love the revolving art. The atmosphere is warm and rustic. It's also nice to utilize the outdoor garden space in the back during the summer. What's not to like?

You need to fire your entire wait staff and start over...including your bartenders if you hope to keep your restaurant. They're all angry losers with an attitude and nobody likes them. We will not be venturing back to your restaurant anytime soon. As a matter of fact...what we saw in your restaurant and the energy we felt, we don't think your restaurant is going to be open much longer. We give you a year...TOPS!

We've gone to Half King for a late dinner every few weeks for several years. Service hasn't been perfect and the kitchen occasionally screws up, but really it's been reliable and good if not cheap. We went there last Wednesday and were extremely disappointed. The first sign something had changed was a reformatted menu, though most of the same items were there. The next was when our beers arrived we hadn't asked for "small glasses" but that's what we got, those sleazy 12oz "small pint" glasses that are made to look like pints but contain less beer. Now, I didn't expressly order "a pint of guinness" but then again I didn't order a half glass of beer either, and I paid the same price I paid two weeks earlier at the same place for an actual pint. When our food arrived, the same thing had happened the hamburger patties and even the rolls were miniaturized compared to prior visits and the plates had been piled high with extra fries (cheap saves the kitchen money compared to meat!) to try to hide this. I guess they haven't bought new smaller plates yet. We won't be back any time soon. We would gladly have paid an extra couple of bucks even over Half King's already high prices for the normal size drinks and entrees we expected. I wonder if there's been a change in management if so, it's very much for the worse.

I had heard a lot about The Half King due to its reputation as a writers’ bar and their weekly Monday night readings. So I decided I would make a trip over but before doing so I had checked menu pages to see what their recent reviews were. I was surprised to see the latest and was slightly put off by them but decided that I would go and see for myself. I went this past Monday for the reading which was great; it was the biography of Hunter S. Thompson. They had a large selection of beers on tap and in bottle with a great selection of dinner specials. I have to say that I am glad I finally went and will definitely be returning.

It's no secret that The Half King has gone badly downhill recently but I thought I would give it another chance. I went there for brunch on a Saturday, it was moderately busy but by no means overwhelming so. Even so I still had to wait for almost an hour before I gave up and left whithout my food. I asked the waitress for an explanation and she said " Oh we're busy" I looked around at the now half empty restaurant, pointed out that they were not busy and she shrugged and said "yeah whatever". I think that comment sums up the Half King attitude.

First of all, I have to commend Half King for making an effort to serve organic and local foods. Not enough NYC restaurants do that. The service is spotty, though, as other reviews have implied. Usually, you have a great time and are well taken care, but sometimes the server is way too cool to check on you or help you. Once I was there for breakfast and asked for my granola/yogurt/fruit bowl to be served without the granola and they said there was no way the cook could accommodate that, which is odd. (It's a three-ingredient meal.) But some of the food is great. I highly recommend the chicken fingers. They may be the best ones I have ever had. The fish and chips are definitely not to be recommended. Way too much breading and not tasty. Oh, if only their fish and chips were good!