The Tunnel Bar — Restaurant in Northampton

Wow! What a cool place. Let me start by saying I was visiting the area as the guest of a wedding. The rehearsal dinner was nearby and I had to find some place to spend a couple of hours while my girlfriend did the wedding thing. I quickly searched for whisky bars and thus establishment came up!

Upon entry, the scene is right out of a movie, cool little outside with a slightly speakeasy type feel. On entry, the tunnel shaped subway tile really set the scene. I sat at the bar, enjoyed a cocktail since I did not see many whisky’s at first glance, but then I noticed part of the bar I couldn’t see from my original view. Although I would not call this a whisky bar, they had a great every day selection of more than a dozen whisky’s that even an aficionado like myself can be happy with for an evening. This however was a martini bar! People all around were ordering them and if I went back, I’d do the same!

I decided to try the smoked wings and a couple of shrimp cocktail while I waited for my date. The shrimp were part of their raw bar menu and you order by the piece. The shrimp were the colossal size which was a real treat for a guy that now lives in Atlanta and doesn’t get much good seafood. The wings were smoked very very well with a great flavor sauce added in just the right proportion.

I had written this review initially while at the bar and specifically mentioned the three folks serving me but the original review appears not to have posted probably because of service. I wish I remembered their names because they were great!

If you’ve made it this far, just go to The Tunnel Bar, I promise, you’ll be...

It’s started as we walked in and were greeted by a host that was more bothered that we took him away from his phone than pleased that we showed up. We sat 10 feet from the door that blew in cold air every time someone came in, of course the host didn’t mind since he had a nice space heater by his feet. Our waiter was less than pleasant and seemed as if we were getting in the way of him doing nothing. The icing on the cake was when we ordered their specialty drink the “Charles B” it was supposed to be served in a smoked glass. Well it arrived (15 feet from the bar) smokeless and when we asked if it wasn’t suppose to be smoking he said yes but it was lost because the bar was far away. When we were ready to leave and asked for the check he just told us the amount and if it would be cash or card, we never saw the bill as he hovered over us to scan our card. Huge disappointment since this was on our list of places to visit. On a positive note it was our first time to Northampton we walked around and found a great place to eat amongst many. I would highly recommend Fitzwilly’s great meal and drinks at a...

Was not the best experience. Went as a group of 3 on a Friday night, was not packed but not slow either. Hostess informed that there was no seats available for us, despite nearly every 4 seat arrangement beinge occupied by only two guests. With a large selection of 2 seat arrangements being unoccupied, we took up residence just to have the hostess remove us from those seats because our third person was "blocking the aisle." We then positioned ourselves in the absolute rear of the tunnel at another set of two chairs, completely out of anyone's way (positioned against the far, rear wall of the tunnel), just to be told to move again by the hostess. Parties that arrived after us were sat by the hostess at 4 seat arrangements, and we were finally placed by the hostess at the two chairs next to the stairs. Establishment rated only 3 stars because while the ambiance was superb, being ordered around was detrimental to the overall experience. Did not make sense to keep parties of two at 4 seat arrangements when there are 3 and 4 person parties being moved...