The Volstead

06/12/2008 Posted by UndertheHill

I went here last Friday evening and had a decent time. The DJ was great, and whatever crowd that was actually there were pretty cool and unpretentious. I would give it a higher rating, except for some incredibly rude, hipper-than-thou bartenders. I just don't get it. I think this place needs to work on their customer service.

04/09/2008 Posted by Kastchei

I've been to Volstead a couple times recently. I really like the place. It's very nicely designed and decorated. Having two bars really helps. The place is classy without being snooty or trendy. The patrons - at least at night - are quite diverse. Some are in suits, some just walked in wearing whatever; and no one seems to care. To me, there was very little pretension. The bar tenders are very personable, and I've always gotten a good pour. I haven't sat at a table, so I can't attest to the wait service. Nor have I ordered food. The music was fun, but not too loud. It's not a dance club, and I was able to carry on a conversation with my friend and the bartender just fine, even at the height of the crowds. They serve some really good cocktails as well. The Eastsider is excellent - you can barely recognize that it's gin based. I wouldn't call it a singles bar, but since I'm not straight, I'm obviously not going to Volstead for that. Overall a great experience.

Pros: Great atmosphere, attitude, and service

Cons: A tad pricey, but it's midtown east, so not bad. I don't think there is happy hour.

02/15/2008 Posted by musix

Visited the Volstead last Saturday and I was blown away. I am a single guy and I came through with a buddy and we were quite pleased with the potential both at the bar and at the tables. Both bars were totally packed and we had a tough time getting a drink, but once we did we were very pleased with the quality (strength) of our drinks. We decided to sit at a table and order one of the bottle coctails from our waitress. It was only 50 bucks or so and ended up being 5 drinks. By far the best deal in midtown... The music was exceptional too, with the DJ seemlessly going from 80s pop, Southern Hip Hop, Classic Rock, Electronic, Reggaetone and anything else he could think of. It seems dancing is mandatory after midnight which we found quite amusing as we sat there and chatted up the girls next to us. Overall, our waitress was great along with the music and atmosphere and I will definitely be back.

Pros: Bottle Coctails, Seating, Music, Girls, Staff

Cons: Location, Crowded Bar Area

02/02/2008 Posted by baractress

the first time i went to the volstead was for a friends' party. we were treated so well by everyone. a small group of friends and i decided to go back last week. we didn't get a table this time but hung out at the bar. the two bartenders on our side treated us so well! the dj was great too! played alot of old school music that was just a lot of fun! my only complaint was that a couple of us wanted either bud light or coors light, and they didn't have it. but whatever...no big deal. the bartenders gave us a complimentary snack, which added to the experience as well. thanks guys!

Pros: easy going staff and fun music

Cons: no bud light

01/26/2008 Posted by Volsteadmgr

As one of the managers from The Volstead, I wanted to personally respond to some of the back and forth that is going on in these posts. First off, let me stress how valuable all of this feedback has been. While perfection is hard to achieve, it is certainly something that the entire staff of The Volstead is striving for. Hearing reviews-both positive and negative-help us to know what we can do better. Several reviews have mentioned security. Let me stress how embarrassed I am that security is even mentioned in these posts. After hearing several negative security comments, we have let the person in question go. I do not need people to have bad experiences in any way here, particularly for something as trivial as the doorman. For everyone else out there, I would encourage you all to keep coming to The Volstead. While we may experience some growing pains as a new venue, I am very proud of the type of place this is, and more importantly, the type of place that this can be. I look forward to welcoming you all back and hopefully meeting some new faces. Ask for the citysearch “poster”... I'll buy you a drink! Thanks for your continued support and advice. We take it all to heart. Thanks!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

01/24/2008 Posted by FiNeGentleMan

I recently went to the VolStead cause a friend told me it was a nice little place to get some drinks and mentioned there was a gorgeous coat check on staff. Had a good night. Saw the beautiful coat check on staff that looks like Kim Kardashian. I gave the place 4 stars , will give 5 STARS if she is single. Told some buddies from work about it, they will be checkin it out as well. Plan to go back. Go!! - its a good time.

01/23/2008 Posted by ryansunnn4

One of the posters on here said this place was "solid solid solid." So I thought to myself, how could I go wrong? Well, that wasn't very hard. The drinks are watered down and pricey with a stuffy, ditzy crowd. If I wanted to snag a hot trophy, I wouldn't do it here. There are so many other places in the city that are so much more fun!! If you do go, here's a tip. Don't check your coat. It took me like 20 minutes to get it back when I was ready to leave. That's about 18 minutes too long...

Pros: Good marketing to make a drab place seem cool

Cons: Bars in brooklyn have more pizazz then this palce

01/15/2008 Posted by susanl1978

they tried to do too many things with this place. they tried to make it classy so they put this huge chandelier but then downstairs they put large tvs all over and they play sports. it is like they cannot decide what type of bar they want to be. also the atmosphere was kind of lame. drinks were good and there is not many other places to go to in the area.

01/12/2008 Posted by sabethgross

Dear Mr. Hsimon-or Mr. Doorman, Since this probably is you -there was nobody smoking next to us when we were talking- it was inside, you remember? Plus nobody was there throughout the whole conversation which lasted for 20 minutes and cigarettes last for 5. This is actually my first post ever on Citysearch and I am posting here because a few of the people told me what you wrote about our little incident. I am sorry if I was rude but I was just never treated that way in my life and I didn't expected to get treated that way in a supposedly classy place. And I even grew up in Europe and people tend to be ruder there. The young man you did not let in didn't do the smartest thing but that wasn't why you didn't let him in. You didn't let him in because you thought he gave you attitude- remember, you strongly told me that in my face. My husband was there and he actually knows very well the young man you didn't let in and he said he wasn't giving attitude to anyone. So maybe it was just you and your ego that got in the way. There was no bribe involved either--we are after all poor grad students. I came up and I begged you. After that I try to reason with you by saying a group of us would have to leave because we don't want to leave our friend (who was still waiting outside) and from a business perspective it would not make sense to lose a whole group of people just for a one little innocuous incident -to which you responded with yelling and being extremely rude! Well this pushed my buttons and I yelled back. You also got a number of people wrong.It was ten of us who left immediately and more of our friends left 15 minutes later to go to another bar. We were also planning to celebrate another birthday party in Volstead at the end of January but I think we will not do that.You didn't say goodbye in a nice tone, you yelled at us and told us not to come back. We aren't planning to. Finally, you called me names but I am not even going to go into that.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

01/12/2008 Posted by akreiger

Pros: decent selection Cons: overpriced, understaffed, and increasingly dull atmosphere and unacceptable service I work in the area and a bunch of us from work used to go to Volstead every Friday. it was a decent place to grab a drink and unwind from work. Much to our dismay this place has fallen way downhill (thankfully a quick search on citysearch provides a bunch of much better places in the area to go to!). Part of it is that they are understaffed. Volstead was never that crowded of a place and we used to get great service. Now it takes ages to get anything, even though it isn't crowded at all. Volstead is also losing whatever "trendy" vibe it had. Now it is more crowded with wannabe "trendy" people. And the girls are not as hot as they used to be-yes I know I am shallow :) Because I work in the area I'm bound to get dragged into going back there in the future so if anything changes I'll definitely post it here. I'd love to see the fun vibe come back to this place like it used to have!

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful