Phoenix

02/06/09

...The Witch is Dead!

by BBeattie at Citysearch

The crazy manager at Phoenix has been let go, but I will not return there.

I followed the previous management and staff of the glory days to Section 8 where you can find the relaxed vibe that was once the Phoenix ? HALALUGHYA! Section 8 is located on Avenue A between 13th and 14th streets on the east side of the street.

10/14/08

Last time I'm ever going

by Muggleson at Citysearch

It's official: The Phoenix has jumped the shark.

What is wrong with that blonde, plump, screechy bartender? Is it the candid camera? Can we throw a sheet over his head and call it performance art? F--k this scene, I'm outtie. The bartenders at Eastern Bloc are NICE. And easy on the eyes, for what it's worth.

09/18/08

Phoenix is Burning

by Schamhaar at Citysearch

Last night, I (a straight woman) walked into the Phoenix to get a drink with my friends (two gay men) who are dedicated clientele of the bar, visiting the Phoenix multiple times a week for the last several years; I am often with them. So it was pretty much a typical night. But when I had to use the restroom, I was verbally attacked and then asked to leave the bar by the manager. I have never in my life been the target of such unsolicited hostility. First, being called a crude expletive (c**t) for walking past him on a staircase. (Really! There was NO prior interaction.) And then, after I responded by calling him an a**le (a kind of natural reaction, I think) being physically threatened - he said that he would remove me from the bar if I didn't leave. I have never experienced such blatant hostility or sexism. His behavior was inexcusable, unprofessional, and completely ignorant. This guy is the MANAGER! Apparently this behavior is par for the course with this guy - when I began to describe the incident to a friend who knows the Phoenix, he jumped in to identify the guy saying that he is known to be openly rude to any woman who walks into the bar.

I am quite familiar with several of the bartenders from over the years. The nicest of them which have left the Phoenix and opened their own bar (Section 8); they took their fabulous jukebox with them. So, frankly, unless you have a bad sense of smell and are willing to risk being not only harassed, but physically threatened, the bar does not offer much. The depressing atmosphere always seemed tolerable in the past because there was at least an unpretentious and relaxed quality about the bar. And they made strong drinks. However, with the dwindling cool factor and the management's apparent poor judgment in choosing this manager, I would recommend staying far away from the Phoenix.

08/31/08

Gone over to the dark side

by evnycguy2 at Citysearch

Sadly, this bar has succommed to the new a priori modus operandi here in the East Village. What used to be a good local neighborhood bar, unpretentious and without the bridge-and-tunnel crowd trying to grab the so-called "East Village Hype", has gone the way of every other place in the community. These guys used to operate the now-defunct "The Bar", a great and legendary gay hangout for many years for locals, and it's a shame to see the change in attitude toward the locals and long-time patrons (of either establishment.) Rather than staying cool and hanging onto the traditional alternative/counterculture vibe of the neighborhood, they've become like every other place. Tonight, a friend of mine and I, long-time patrons of all the various East Village bars, were carded at the door, even though I am 52 and he is over 60, each of us looking WELL OVER the legal age to drink of 21. When we questioned this new procedure as uncalled for, disrepectful, and insulting, and then asked to speak to the manager about it, we were summarily thrown out and called "a**holes" by the bouncer. I can understand needing to card some people at the door to preclude serving drinks to those underage, but there clearly was no need of us to be treated the way we were -- they should allow their bouncers some discretion and/or hire bouncer are able to discern when a given procedure is necessary and when not. This is really sad, because now I can nor will no longer go there, as I no longer feel welcomed and appreciated and respected. Maybe this is part of their plan: to screen for a younger, hipper, more affluent clientele. If so, they have totally betrayed their roots and all of us who made The Bar and then the Phoenix the places they were (at one time.) Time to move on.... to someplace else that wants and appreciates my business.

• Pros: (used to have the) neighborhood vibe
• Cons: rude, undiscerning staff

07/04/07

totally true...

by sarababygirl22 at Citysearch

i have been and successfully avoided the rude staff and overpriced crappy liquor by making my gay boy friend buy my drinks but he had a similar experience and when we were smoking a cig outside a group of guys confirmed that we weren't alone. Bartenders there are really lame...

• Pros: never too crowded
• Cons: staff