Parkside Lounge

Parkside is maybe one of the best bars in New York City and Lower East Side. My hockey league has their end of the season party. If you ask about our BTSH parties then they can tell you its EPIC!

You can order food here at 3am on the first day of the year. The people are international and chill. Its LES rocking with the best. A place that make you wanna freestyle for a while.
Like that baby?

One of the three times I went to this bar, some guy pooped on the floor. The staff seemed nonplussed by this occurrence, which I think tells you most of what you need to know about it.
It gets a third star because the prices are okay and there is a pool table and they let you bring in food, but this is a dive bar… and a pretty bare-​bones one at that.
It’s worth stopping in if you’re nearby and need a drink.

Parkside Lounge
NY: Manhattan: LES
9pm Saturday 21^st November 2015
Four Stars
They had Old Overholt and table for us to sit at.
They have ski ball, pool, and stage. None of which we partook in. The atmosphere is fun and lively. I will be back to get my game on.

Stop by here to have a drink with my husband and possibly play a game of pool. The table was taken with a couple of guys playing, but after they were done the winner of the game came up to us asking if we wanted to play. We ended up winning after which the two men ended up pretty much bullying us out of playing by suggesting that, for example, the cue ball hit the opponent’s ball first when it clearly did not (obvious to even the people watching). It was pretty apparent that the guys just wanted the table to themselves and mid game they realized we were winning again and will end up taking over the table. It was evident that the guys were regulars, although they were not drinking, therefore spending absolutely no money to benefit the business. Yet, they made us feel so uncomfortable and angry that we left without even finishing the game or the first drinks we bought — the last thing I want is get angry or get into an argument on a fun night out. I don’t know if the owner of the bar is ever around, but I hope they do come by to see what is happening and will get rid of these assholes — they are ruining your business and spend no money in it other than paying for the pool table.

Love me a good olé dive bar. To die for bloody mary. yeah really, but they run out cause the mix is so darn good. spicy, dark, lots o garnish. mmmm good! excellent beer selection. Good times ;-)

Old-​school dive bar with character, good drinks and tunes, as well as a great performance space in the back.
We came for a special event (my brother’s theater company was doing a special Halloween reading of Poe and Lovecraft). I did not expect they’d have such a classy little backroom with round tables, atmosphere, and everything.
Our waitress was great and kept the drinks flowing unobtrusively during the reading. I tried one cocktail – a mad concoction of absinthe, bourbon, and bitters, and it was pretty good.
There’s a pool table, photo booth, and fun front area that keeps the locals happy.

A good dive bar to check out. We happened to go in there on a Saturday afternoon where there was a wake/​remembrance for a young man who died under mysterious circumstances so the mood may have been a bit off. However, most of the people were in good spirits and I had fun — is that wrong? I don’t know but I think we were about the only people there who were not friends of the others.
However, if you like bar games, low light and a little live music this spot should suffice for your needs. The crowd is mellow and the drinks are not very expensive. It’s a good hangout bar, with friends or to just show up and pass some time.
If the band isn’t playing and they throw on the jukebox, make sure it’s playing blues. They have a great selection and the atmosphere screams blues. So don’t walk up in there trying to bump U2 or Biggie because it ain’t that kinda party.

I love this place. Good to see a show but the bartenders may not know when the show actually starts which is why I missed one of the bands tonight. But it’s a friendly low key place that I’ll definetly make my regular spot.

Came here to see a friend perform. Definitely a dark, hole in the wall type place. It’s not fancy but does seem a lot like what you’d expect in an old NYC Lower East Side music venue. They do have a 2 drink minimum if you’re watching a show here & bathrooms are tiny but the overall vibe is pretty good, definitely not stuffy or pretentious.

It’s a serviceable dive bar. The drinks were stiff and I appreciate this but I wouldn’t find myself here if it weren’t for the D20 burlesque show that is held in their back room performance space.

I’m only giving 5 stars because I had so much fun here on my birthday.
Definitely a fun place to start the night with your friends. This is a good bar to meet up with your friends, and their friends, if you are planning on bar hopping.
Divey atmosphere. It’s large for a bar and they have a room in the back where they hold events — check their calendar! I would love to come back for one of their burlesque and comedy shows.
The drinks are fairly priced, but the bartender might be really slow although the place is relatively empty. I think there was a waitress for the room in the back but seem to be the only one there. Don’t come here expecting to play pool, the chances are that there’ll be a group of regulars that has already been hogging the poor pool table all night.

Major props to this spot for hosting a Serial listening party!
Not sure how representative of a bar an early morning gathering of podcast obsessed nerds is, but I loved it here. The bartender working was super nice (even if he tripped over the speaker cord and cut off the the podcast midway thru hehe) and he poured us strong drinks… perhaps even a bit too strong for 730am.
they have a great selection of arcade/​bar games. you get the idea this is a neighborhood favorite dive spot. would recommend!

FABULOUS burlesque show! I’ve been to a decent amount of burlesque shows by now and this place has great audience interaction. Some places have standardly hot girls performing away from the customers, this place had queer-​themed curvy women performing and interacting with the audience.
Great cocktails to order. $ 20 min to pay by card, 2 drink min per person for the show in general. $ 10 cover for the show when I went. The highest priced drinks inside the back room burlesque venue were the $ 10 cocktails.
The front bar room looks like a regular dive bar. The back room where the burlesque happens looks very different and swanky. The air was even better back there.
Great place to see a NYC burlesque show with a queer twist.

Great Divey Bar. Friendly Staff and great location.
Very Giraffe friendly.

Parkside Lounge is what a bar should be. Bar tenders are personable and attentive on a Tuesday early afternoon with a party of two. Live performances of music and spoken word poetry open-​mics occurs in the rear. Oddly upon entering there was a musty odor of a dive bar. Our bar tender, Alicia is very personable, warm, attentive, down to Earth and very cool.
Happy Hour
Good drink prices especially for NYC for well drinks and beer. Price is reasonable for my Cosmopolitan and for my friend’s beer totaling under $ 20.00 (including tax and gratuity).
Games
Pool, foosball tourneys, Ms. Pacman, alley ball, darts, and a photo booth for old fashion good clean fun (without the use of smartphones, and no tech gadgets for your face to be glued to the screen). With all these games it is hard not to be competitive with friends in a rowdy state or to be playful with your significant other.
Music and Performance Venue
A juke box is readily available for background music. Parkside Lounge’s website has a calendar of events for bands, poetry open-​mics, and live performances. They readily provide a working PA system to project one’s talent be it in spoken word poetry, music, or comedy.
Beneath the bar counter there are hooks for purses and bags rather than to uphold on one’s lap. Dive bar yes, but there is never a dull moment spent at Parkside Lounge with all the merriment options.

A great bar that veers toward the divier end of the scale. I came to watch some burlesque and drink some beers and I was served well on both fronts.
Beers on tap range from the fancy to the hipster low-​brow, so my buddy was able to have a PBR and I got a Abita Lemon Wheat.
There was room to talk and sit and the noise level was acceptable for conversation. But raccous yelly conversation, not intimate date conversation. And there’s a foosball table, when you’re done with conversation and you just want to be awesome for awhile.

This is one fabulous bar and music venue! 5+ stars for the service alone. The service is absolutely stupendous and I’ll tell you why:
I was having technical difficulties with the annoying website where I bought tickets for a music show. Since the website had a deficient customer service helpline, I called the venue, Parkside Lounge, instead, and spoke with a wonderful female bartender who took the time to help me out and reassured me that my tickets would still be valid. She was patient, kind and incredibly helpful, even promising to leave a message for the manager should I have any problems. Even though the ticket buying problem which was from a different service entirely had little to do with Parkside Lounge’s management, they still made an effort to respectfully provide a solution to my problem. Now that’s what I call real customer service!
Next, let’s turn to me going to the actual venue. It’s a wonderful cozy bar with a delightfully elegant back room for live music bands. I witnessed the incredible talent of bands such as CMajor, SheKnows and the New Earth Band there. The drinks were delicious and I highly recommend the margarita (part of their $ 10 speciality cocktail menu) for a night out. Their beers are cheap, from $ 4 – 5, and their wines are in the middle, around $ 7.
As you’ve heard from the other Unilocalers, their food menu doesn’t exist. But don’t let that stop you from ordering food there, because they have a huge binder filled with menus from places that deliver locally. There’s a whole variety of options, so in a way, you can get whatever you want at this venue — Thai, Mexican, Indian, Vietnamese… the list goes on.
Our particular waitress who was responsible for the entire back room was extremely helpful with this. Because there was a delivery minimum for food, she offered to pick up the food from the restaurant itself so we could avoid the charge. Wonderful! Since the crowd was only beginning to form by then, she also used the time she had to make the phone calls to deliver for us. Really made everything very convenient.
I am highly impressed with the excellent service at this venue and recommend it to any music lover and/​or dive bar cruiser. Even the music that played in the bar was top-​notch. The crowd was versatile and fun. They even have a cute little bench outside for people waiting for their guests on sunnier days (it’s the small things that count!) This is truly a gem on the LES, and I will be back!

As far as dive bars go, this one is only okay. Sure the drinks are cheap, but you are a long way from the main streets on Houston and most taxis going down this way are heading towards FDR Drive or the Williamsburg Bridge, or in other words, already leaving the borough.
The pool table is at a right angle from both the bar and the bathroom, which means it becomes annoying to play once the place starts to fill up. There are 2 skee-​ball machines in the back you can play for $ 1 but that game gets old fast.
If you make a right at the skeeball machines, there is a room with a small stage and tables/​chairs to sit even if there isn’t a show going on.
I was brought here by friends who love the place, and have told me that it was a weak night. I think if there was actually something going on, I would have enjoyed myself more, but it was a starting point for a Friday night, not where I want to end it.
As for what other Unilocal reviews are saying about the diverse crowd, I was once here with a girlfriend who recognized Nickelodeon child star Danny Tamberelli, and I was drunk enough to call him over so that we could share a round of shots!

Walk down East Houston until you’ve crossed over to Alphabet city and you will find this complete package of a bar. Home of drink specials every night, with Trivia night on thursdays! ($ 25 towards drinks if you win!)
This is a beers and shots kinda place (a little stingy on the well drink pour) but the tap selection is pretty good and the liquor is the same as everywhere else! Parkside lounge offers a great selection of drunk pass time games like every board game ever, foosball, billiards, and even skeeball!
We must have spent 30 minutes at the bar drinking and playing games before we realized that there was a show going on in the back by the skeeball. On weekends, behind an unassuming curtain, parkside lounge is also a music venue with no cover! Talk about having it all!