Motor City Bar

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SJPStar

Joined 4 years ago

still a gem. I still love this place, & altho some b&t will linger on weekends, the overall vibe 7 atmosphere & the music keep it real. I still appreciate the attitude from all the staff which gives this place its charm. I did see a fight inside towards closing time last time I was there which made me a little uncomfortable, but staff was able to handle it well. Still a definite stop on the weekedays & even on the weekends when a sea of fratty b&t types stroll into the les. There's not too many places in this neighborhood with a vibe such as Motor City has.

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callahannnn

Joined 5 years ago

fun time but don't take it seriously. This is a good bar but it's the kind of place where you have to look the part. I have a good time when I wear a metal shirt, but have been treated poorly when I've come from work and had a suit on. There are two metal DJs, the male one is very nice and conversational, the female thinks she knows everything about the history of metal (she does not) and is extremely rude. The bartenders are accordingly extremely rude and will say "that's it?" if you tip under $2 (especially if you don't look the part!). This isn't a place to expect good treatment - it's a Detroit-themed dive bar in hipster central: Ludlow & Rivington. Every night is different in this place. Just make sure you have the well-constructed starving artist look and act at least a bit pseudo-intellectual and aloof, and you'll be fine.

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leedsinger78

Joined 6 years ago

great LES spot. what can i say great LES spot! been here many times & it has a great LES crowd & there are only a few spots in this neighborhood that draws a unique crowd

Doesn't Recommend

newyorkdetroiter

Joined 7 years ago

Good drinks...idiot staff. I recently had a birthday party here. I am originally from Detroit and had a great time picking out all of the signs and references...it was when I ordered drinks that things began going down hill. Out of three bartenders, one was nice. The other two women shared the same grimmace and slob-like disgusted look on their faces. It's another "you're lucky to get a drink from us" type of mentality. The bouncer was about as pleasant as throwing up on a humid summer day. The go-go dancer, with her "man-ish" expression, was so incredibly rude that her skimpy outfit became more offensive than it was attractive. Overall, these people need desperately to get off of their miserable high horses and realize that they should treat a party of 50+ paying customers with a bit of respect rather than retardation. Being from Detroit, I was not impressed...bunch of sorry a-s empoyees at this place...

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Rockabilly style at a Ludlow Street biker bar.. In Short
Step through the door and past the '50s luncheonette-style windows, and flash back to another time. The big, L-shaped bar and couches, little booths dotted around the room and giant tire with the red wing of Mercury across it scream "Rebel Without a Cause," and there's usually a punked-up, leather-clad crowd to match.

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bingbangbong

Joined 7 years ago

User review by bingbangbong. This whole place looks as if it was perfectly planned to seem randomly gathered. Even the staff appear to have been cast rather than hired. The bouncer is the Lower East Side and the bikini girl dancing in the window is directly out of 1950. Cheap beer, decent drinks and a Star Wars pinball machine. The only problem is the same as every bar in this neighborhood, holier than thou hipsters and happy hour warriors dividing the bar like a scene from West Side Story.

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slippek

Joined 9 years ago

Fakery can be fun. Coming from the west coast, I'm always blown away by how much NYers seem to like 'theme' bars: tiki, fake white-trash, cowboy, whatever. So this is a Detroit Theme bar full of meshback caps, rockabilly chicks with bangs, and a whole lot of Detroit paraphenalie that someone spent a lot of money to collect. It can be fun, there's lots to look at, but it's too fake to be great.

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ajmeah

Joined 10 years ago

Trying Too Hard. It seems everyone who has reviewed this is concerned with 'yuppies' not frequenting the place and the unpretentious decor it provides, however, I'm one of those 'yuppies' who also happened to grow up on the lower east side and I didn't appreciate the major attitude the bartender/owner exuded when I ordered my drink. I found the place a little too grunge and it seemed it was working way too hard on playing everything down, that it failed to realize that it is just as guilty of gentrifying the lower east side like any other yuppy lounge in that area. There are way too many cool 'hole's in the wall' to make this one of your main stops.

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slotch

Joined 10 years ago

Great place. Great place, except for the loser women from the UES who seemed to be there juse because someone told them it was "cool." A word of advice, don't point and laugh at people with mohawks.

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dgilas

Joined 10 years ago

Strong drinks, great music!. The drinks are cheap and strong, there are usually seats and this is the place to go for great music!

It's a great space for large groups - or for a couple to go get a few drinks.