Lit

04/27/2008 Posted by 324raygirl

I was extremely disappointed by the way that I was treated by the bar tender at LIT last night after having frequented the joint for about 2 years. rather than leave a wordy synopsis for the reader let's just say I was shocked (to say the least) that any service providers would treat customers in such a way. I did not even get to have one drink (for the evening) when the bar tender told me and my girlfriend that we were losers and that we should go back to queens. not only am I not from queens (not that there's anything wrong with that) but to me, the real loser is a bar tender that talks to a young lady like that and an establishment that employs such workers. he was frustrated because he kept forgetting my order and then didn't understand my response when he asked me the second time. a light beer-is that so difficult? bud, coors, amstel-it didn't matter. I was appaulled to be treated so poorly and immediately left the bar. I will never go back and encourage you to follow suit before finding yourself in such a degrading and similar situation.

Cons: poor service, poor attitude

03/17/2008 Posted by EKS15

I had never been to Lit before until this past weekend. It came recommend by a few of my friends, whose opinions I usually trust. However, they never mentioned that the guys at the door are d-bags. You would have thought that they were manning the doors at Marquee. They took themselves way too seriously, considering Lit is a fun, casual bar best known for playing hipster music and having a great vibe. They got an attitude when I tried to bring in 3 guy friends, as if it mattered. The bar wasn't that crowded! In addition to the nasty Kevin James look-alike bouncer, and his skinny, idiotic sidekick, the bartender (the one who wears a fedora) was a complete a-hole. He yelled at my friend because he couldn't hear her order. And kept up this attitude for about 5 minutes, yelling at her and rolling his eyes. Aside from the staff consisting of a bunch of tools, the bar is fun.

Pros: Great music, cool vibe

Cons: Awful bouncers and nasty bartenders

11/24/2007 Posted by mcantoneart

Lit was always a favorite stopping-off point for my friends and I. Sadly, those days are long gone. When I was going there regularly (2003-2005), it had a good vibe to it and the DJs would always play good music. Even I, a fellow who prefers to make and listen to music instead of dancing, would be jumping about like a nutball. What I always enjoyed was when the DJ in the downstairs lounge would play classic 60's music (Who, Stones, Kinks,etc.) and early punk and some glam. The staff were great and it was a good place to people watch and even pick up a girl occasionally. However....... That was then. Now, I have only been there three times in the past year. In those times, I have been severely disappointed with the service (it took me almost 15 minutes to order a stinkin' pint of beer), the DJ's (they never play the classic stuff much anymore and the same new wave-y dance music got on my nerves after five minutes), the clientele (goofy college kids, pseudo-hip idiots and stuck-up, too-cool-for-you girls) and the stupid coke dealers and users (I was approached by these two groups on multiple occasions). One of the last times I went there with my friends (Halloween, 2006), we were pestered by an annoying coke head and one of my friends spewed in the back area. I considered it a compliment to the place. To add insult to injury, when I went drinking with one of my friends this past Halloween, Lit was turning guys away at the door. In all the time I had been there, I'd never seen anything so ludicrous. Even though my friends and I had been there multiple times and the staff knew us by sight (and to say hello), we would not be let in. That was the deciding factor to wash my hands of Lit. "A place for painters, musicians, writers and performers whose visions are not accepted by the mainstream to hang out and build a community"? Not anymore. It's just a crappy dive catering to people who think they are hipper-than-thou, and they obviously ain't!

Pros: Great music, good staff, decent beer, good crowd

Cons: All the pros were in the past. It stinks now.

11/04/2007 Posted by sugerfoot

Yes, Lit is a dive and i should have known better than to go to this dump. But i went against my better judgement and what happens?.... I opened a tab at the bar and closed my account at $38. well..... when i went to check the account activity on my debit card the next day, i was surprised to find that there were three charges from Lit. one charge for $50 and another charge for $40... and a charge for $38. hmmmmm. I'm going straight to the better_business_bureau, cause if i'm gonna spend that much on cheap beer and bottom shelf vodka tonics at least, at the very least do something about the aweful stink! you'de figure that a bar that has an HR Geiger exhibit would somehow keep themselves from slipping into the pits of bridge and tunnel hell!

Pros: place is a living history- you can go to see how a bar can run itself into the ground

Cons: the staff is so pathetic that you actually feel embarrassed for them.

10/29/2007 Posted by ihatelit

I would rather swim in raw sewage than ever return to Lit Lounge. The crowd is a joke, trying way too hard. The owner Max needs a serious attitude adjustment. The type of person you hate the second you lay eyes on him. Real slimy guy who thinks he's god's gift the world when in fact he's getting laughed at by EVERYONE. This place should be shut down. From the stench of the main room I'm sure there are multiple health code violations

Pros: If you really have daddy issues and no self esteem, this place is for you

Cons: You'll need to take a long cold shower the second you get home

10/29/2007 Posted by maxbrennanisacokehead

Lit is truly the worst that New York has to offer. I had just about the worst experience possible on Friday night thanks to Lit's horribly moronic pompous hipster owner Max Brennan. He truly represents everything that has gone wrong with live music and the bar scene in New York City. This guy screwed over a hundred people who were enjoying themselves for no good reason but to massage his own drug-fueled ego. It's the type of place started by a rich kid with daddy's money, who is attmepting to act like a big shot because he got beat up in high school. DO NOT GO HERE. By setting foot in Lit you will immdiately be alligned with the sad wanna be element that has recently run rampant in the East Village. The clientele is a joke; people who moved to NYC last week and revamped their look based on terrible MTV bands like Fall Out Boy.

Pros: Pompous Owner, ugly people, place smells, annoying drugies everywhere, bad music

Cons: poor service, owner with an ego as big as daddies wallet, worst kind of trendy people

10/27/2007 Posted by litslame

lame bar lame owner (max ) a bunch of people who think they're too cool for school bands getting treated like trash , the sound is terrible, and it's quickly becoming a trendy nyu hang out where no one wants to be. they try to play it off like they're a cool punk rock club with good values and ideas, but u can see right through that the second u try to get a drink. DON"T PLAY HERE! DON'T GO HERE! i can't believe i just wasted more of my time on this place.

Pros: in the east village

Cons: in the east village

10/27/2007 Posted by litloungesucks

This place exemplifies everything that is wrong with NYC these days. Yuppie hipster patrons from out of town, a supreme d****bag owner (Mat or Max ...who cares), a dank insidious basement where you can't smoke cigarettes but where the coke is out in the open, and a bar staff that is composed of art school rejects who vent their frustrations on the patrons who pay their rent. This is the worst venue for a band to play in NYC. The bands are not even comped drinks and have to fight with staff to get their pay even if they have packed this urinal. Bands... DO NOT PLAY HERE! The sound is horrible and you are probably better off playing in your friends basement (with the exception of PJ's). The most absurd thing you will probably notice in the dungeon basement is that you cannot simply order a drink. You must go through an interpreter who relays the bar order to the bartender at the extremely small bar. Guess what, neither have any work ethic but they have plenty of "I'm cooler than you" attitude! On a positive note, this is the kind of shady place where if you do enough coke and drink enough watered down liquor you might wake up with a nasty scar and a few missing organs. Feel free to fire bomb the illustrious Lit Lounge.

Pros: none

Cons: mildew

10/09/2007 Posted by leggo

Coming from England we generally look for places in Manhattan that can accomodate our Indie tastes and this place does. The Libertines, The Stone Roses, Morrissey, the list goes on and on. Great crowd, great music, cheap drinks. Great place.

Pros: Very Good...

Cons: Very Few...

04/15/2007 Posted by bdanicky

i could say the workers are very friendly but the crowd is not great at all. you could pretty much guarantee a fight to break out, you'll find plenty of minors drinking here and being even more immature than they are when drunk, the place smells horrible and they illegally smoke in the basement. if you must go to this bar, i would recommend sometimes between monday-wednesday. other then that you should be careful.

Pros: good bartenders

Cons: the rude crowd