Parkside Lounge

10/06/09

Best in the East

by DMilfort

I love the live band every fridays..........I was also amazed on how cheap the drinks are..........This is a must go.................

• Pros: Cheapest drinks in town
• Cons: none

07/08/09

Not too many like these left...

by Grinch83

My girlfriend and I found this bar when she first moved to NYC a few years ago. I still lived outside of town, but every time I came to visit her we ended up at Parkside for drinks or music, or both.

While there's no grill (even though the sign atop the building says otherwise), there's plenty of booze at unheard of prices for Manhattan, and at night, a little hidden room in the back plays hosts to live music.

We've seen everything from bluegrass to punk rock to Latin music in that back room and most of it was free and actually pretty good. We almost always found a seat, except for the time when it was absolutely packed for some live karaoke band.

The front is more of your typical LES dive bar, but we had many late nights playing pool or chatting up some locals. Just make sure you bring your A-game for the pool table, some of the players are really good.

• Pros: Cheap drinks, live music
• Cons: Bit of a walk, bartender with dreads isn't there anymore

07/02/09

One of the last great music venues

by Thedudeabides

Wow! What a gem of a bar. It's like going back in time when you walk in. This place has been around for over 50 years and it has kept some of the original fixtures. I've been told that it is the most filmed bar in New York City and i can see why. It's a movie directors dream bar. The service is always friendly and the drinks are always cheap. They have a pool table and a fooseball table and a great jukebox. But i haven't mentioned the best part: They have great live music there every night and it's mostly always free! You have to come down here and experience a taste of what New York City has to offer.

• Pros: cheap drinks, friendly service

06/18/09

Bartender smoking (not hot, actually smoking)

by Barronesssss

This place is a pathetic excuse for a dive bar, with TERRIBLE service and SMOKING inside! I used to make this a regular stop on Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons, but haven't seen my favorite bartender since March and figured I'd hang out anyway. I loved the cool girl with the tattoos and dreds, I figured her coworkers had to be equally as awesome. I never expected her fellow bartenders to be the complete and total opposite - incompetent, slow, rude. I also did not expect to be in the middle of a smoky bar since smoking was made illegal inside bars in NYC. So you can imagine that I was upset to find out my favorite bartender was gone, that this guy (new to me, said hes been there for years) couldn't even come close to her level of service, and that I had to deal with drunk people waving cigarettes around me & the bartender blowing it in my face while I waited tooooo long for a flat pint & never got the fresh one promised. Although he did disappear downstairs for a very long time. I seemed to be the only person in the bar not high as a kite, bartender included. I see why I liked it so much when my fave was there, and why I never stepped foot in there when she wasn't.

• Pros: has a fire exit
• Cons: drunk rude slow bartenders

12/29/08

The champagne of dive bars

by butterfly69

The Parkside Lounge is "the champagne of dive bars." With happy hour until 8 p.m. 7 days a week, a divey relaxing atmosphere and constant entertainment in the back room. There is always something happening

every week at Parkside!

Saturday and Sunday ? Liquid brunch!

Saturday: Clothing Swap?bring in your unwanted clothes and trade them. Starting at 3:00.

Sunday Night: Potluck dinner? bring a side dish and have dinner at 6:00.

Monday Night: Half time pizza party on the Parkside.

Tuesday Night: FREE pool & foosball from 9:00pm to 4:00am.

Wenesday Night: Beer Promotions and give aways at 6:00.

• Pros: Most of the shows are Free! Happy Hour 7 days a week.
• Cons: None

03/13/08

OK but for the pretentious performance art stuff

by tortoiseshell

The service was fine, the drinks were fine, the music was fine (the right volume, an OK mix of old and new, etc). But there weren't very many places to sit, and I was so distracted by what looked to be toe-curlingly bad performance art going on in the back room (it was also played on a TV over the bar) that I didn't enjoy my time here very much. After squirming around on the floor in lycra outfits for a while, performers wandered from the back room out into the bar, bleating artily and congratulating themselves, and I felt a bit like I was backstage at some horrible awkward college improv night from which I could not escape. At least until I'd finished my drink. Which I did, and promptly left. I peered in the window at the nearby Vasmay Lounge on my way out and that looked far more promising.

• Pros: not rammed full of people on a weeknight, bar staff were nice
• Cons: attracts medicre performance artists

03/03/08

The nightly drink special gimmickry of a college club stowed inside a neighborhood dive.

by Kara Zuaro

The Scene
Pools sharks, live bands and grisly regulars add L.E.S. flavor to this no-frills corner watering hole. When live bands aren't blasting bluegrass, garage rock or Latin beats into the indoor space, the long bar and shadowy back room lack character. But cheap liquor and bartenders who call you darlin' remind you that bars are about drinking, not decor. A posse of menacing local grandpas rules the afternoon scene. If you and your gang can endure their stares, you deserve some cheap booze.

The Draw
You'll want to hit the extended happy hours, which run from 1pm to 8pm and 2am to 4am daily; the specials include deals like two-for-one well drinks, $10 pitchers of Yuengling, PBR and Brooklyn Lager. The liquid brunch on Saturdays and Sundays quenches patrons' thirsts on the weekends.

02/16/07

A note from the owner

by parksideny

This is the owner of the Parkside Lounge. I am very sorry that anyone received poor service in my bar!

I can only say that the server mentioned was new, and very short lived at Parkside. She only lasted a week, as she didn't seem to get our vibe. Please try us again.

Meanwhile, Citisearch has the same review up that speaks of the "afternoon grandpas" since I purchased the bar in 1996! At this point, you are more likely to see young neighborhood bartenders enjoying happy hour on their days off. At night you will find many studio musicians working out their original stuff and occassionally you will site soap stars, many NBC cast members, and a star or two, mixed in with people who actually still hold on to the last affordable apartments in the East Village. We are the real deal and proud of it. Thank you for your patronage.

• Pros: One of the last of a great thing!
• Cons: A bit of a walk from the subway

06/20/06

Truly the "champagne of dive bars"

by poppy681

I have been to the Parkside many, many times and have always had a blast (and I am from out of town!) There have been some great music acts over the past few months, which I have enjoyed. Beyond the music, the Parkside is just a great place to hang - either for drinks with a friend or a birthday bash. It is unfortunate that the last reviewer had such a bad experience with the waitstaff, since I have always enjoyed the company of the waitstaff. I truly blame that one incident on a "bad day" sort of thing. In any case, the Parkside is a must-see staple of the Lower East Side with EXCELLENT and AFFORDABLE drinks. May the PBR always flow at the Parkside Lounge!

06/20/06

the best bar in new york city.

by doodlebugnyc

I've been going to the Parkside since I arrived in nyc about a year ago. I take all my friends there regularly and I've yet to find someone who didn't instantly love the vibe. It's completely unpretentious, yet genuinely cool. Table-top pac-man, foosball, a pool table, and an internet jukebox in the front are more than enough to keep you entertained. And the back room hosts live music every night. If you like bluegrass they have a Monday night series with the best local bluegrass bands around, plus nationally touring acts. On other nights you can find top-notch Indie-rock, alt-country, and even comedy back there. The drinks are super cheap by nyc standards, $3 Pabst on tap??! Can't beat that. I've seen lots of famous actors and comedians checking out the bands and hanging out at the bar, but nobody bothers them because everyone is too busy having a good time themselves. The Parkside is one of the last remaining true lower-east side bars, definitely check it out

• Pros: fun, affordable, great music