Proof Bar & Lounge

Loved the roasted beet salad. Comes with goat cheese. Also, the tar tar was very different from any other I’ve ever had – quite good. Not perfect for kids if you don’t love a super drunk wait staff. Otherwise good, quick food. Great comedy club downstairs.

Prrof is/​was a great bar to have a birthday party. I’ve been to numerous parties here and was always pleasantly surprised by how well the bartenders were able to keep drinks full and people under control. I mean c’mon, 30 23 year olds screaming for booze isn’t always easy to handle, but they seemed to do it with ease. Big shout out to Heather behind the bar.

Came here for a birthday party. Literally could not move it was so crowded downstairs. Hello? Can we say fire hazard?
Open bar was a jip ($ 30?). There was ONE bartender. Unbelievable. That is how they get you. People crowded against the bar waiting for the bartender to get to you and you can only get one drink at a time.
Absolutely ridiculous. DO NOT come here!

This was the first club/​bar I was taken to while in NYC by friends and I was so disappointed. It was a HUGE cover and when I was finally let it the dance floor was packed with disgusting make-​out couples and groups of men cackling at women wearing enough clothing to cover my Barbie doll!
I suggest heading somewhere else and saving yourself $ 20!

My alumni association typically meets here for sporting events and while I’ve attended a completely private event (read: open bar + food) I figured I’d give this place a chance as a regular guest sans the special deals. I’ve come to the conclusion that Jekyll and Hyde do exist, however, it renamed itself Proof Bar & Lounge.
Upstairs in the rowdy sports area one will find plenty of sports fans screaming (depending on the game night) where it is crowded as hell and tough to find a spot to sit down and enjoy the games. The best bet is to have someone get here early and rope down a couple of seats or pre-​arrange something with management. Even then, that may not be enough.
Sure enough downstairs is the «lounge» area where the advertised pictures on flyers and websites note the somber, intimate décor but it was everything but that. There were still TVs down here, just seemingly not as much. Most people who had come here for the date, would soon realize this place is nothing more than a dive joint with a penchant for college aged kids.
Drinks can be stiff but I have found that it varies on the bartender. Make friends with the drink juggler behind the counter, one may luck out with a good deal and a good drink. The price to pay is not bad, but its certainly no deal. Hence, one should come here for private events and keep these expectations in mind so that no surprises are apparent.

Proof is without a doubt a dive bar. I’ve been there a couple times now and you definitely find a number of college kids who snuck in.
The upstairs is generally pretty crowded – though most of that stems from a poor layout. The downstairs area is more spacious with comfortable seating.
Their bartenders are nice enough, although the large speaker behind the bar area seems to have impacted hearing – I had to ask 3 times for a beer – each time the gentleman asked if I wanted a RedBull. Fail. Fail. Fail.
The crowd is generally pretty attractive. Folks shouldn’t have too hard a time finding good company. Proof tends to host a number of events – especially in the downstairs space – in the past the All Ivy Association, Oriented, and EcoTrends have all hosted events there. That said… two weeks ago, they had round robin drinking games: Quarters, Beer Pong and Flip Cup.
Yippie!

LADIES!
do not be fooled by the pictures of a chic lounge. this is a dude’s dude bar. like sports on tv? good. don’t mind the dirty wet towel smell? good.
came here with my bff, who was intrigued by the martini specials she’d seen advertised, i had heard of this place as having really good specials.
well, the second we walked in we knew our prior impressions were far off the mark, and that our actual first impression would be lasting. for far too long. we still gave it a go, sat down, ordered a drink. my Guinness as always was loyal. my friend, holding steadfast to that martini drink, ordered a cosmo and received her first cosmo on the rocks, in a snifter. i actually peeked behind the bar and finally saw a solitary martini glass on the shelf. looked very forlorn.
needless to say, our conversation went from reminiscing about other terrible bar experiences, to noting that the only other people were dudes yelling at the game on tv, to realizing that we were too old to appreciate the dirty towel bar smell of the place, to remarking when we would wise up to walking into a place like this and walking back out. then we finally did give up. only then we were trapped, her cosmo on the rocks still rockin it un-​drank, and my tab hijacked by the absent bartender. he was nice enough though, once he returned awhile later to release us.
LADIES. if you’re skittish about bathrooms, this one has nice red shiny tiles, but as it is shared with men, expect the toilet seat to be up and actually, just don’t expect anything.
good drink specials from tuesday-​friday. may not be good enough to lure me back though.

this place should not be a club… it is a bar and should stay that way…
went there last night and the place was packed to the max
–on the other hand the music was awesome… the dj didnt leave one song on for two long… he mixed it up which was a plus
–drinks were reasonable
–its not worth it to go there… u can find better bars/​lounges/​clubs/​anything in NYC

The biggest shitshow in the world. This bar is always packed with drunk NYU students who generally end up puking all over the bathrooms and going home with sketchy older dudes. Not exactly my cup of tea, but if you’ve got nothing better to do, you can bet that there’s always something going on here…

Ummm not too impressed. I went here with an alum group to watch a football game (which was fine) but I have to say, I found the service here to be pretty darn awful. The bartender, while managing to feign a randomly high level of enthusiasm for our team, seemed like he was there to socialize more than to actual um work? He spent most of the time outside smoking or running in and out to talk to the plethora of friends he had stop by throughout the course of our football game. I finally ordered something from him and then had to beg for the next half hour for him to bring it back over. Um, two thumbs down. I won’t be rushing over to hit this one up again anytime soon.

Got dragged here for someone’s friend’s birthday party and regretted it the moment I walked in. As I walked through the door, I was greeted by the strong odor of sweat mixed with something I could only describe as ass. I think my high school locker room smelled better than Proof. I had to stifle my urge to vomit as we descended the stairs to the downstairs room. It was truly disgusting…
Speaking of my high school locker room, most of the patrons here looked like they were still in high school. It is definitely a young bar… which is a double edged sword, as college girls are wonderful but dealing with college aged guys can be a bit of a hassle. At the ripe age of 26, I haven’t had someone try to fight me in years… until last night. I was standing at the bar (which had plenty of room) when I got shoved from behind. I turned around and asked whether his mother ever taught him to say «excuse me» and was greeted with some sophmore looking kid complete with puberty onset acne getting up in my face. One look at him and I broke out laughing and turned back around, but that is just an indication of what to expect at this place.
I did score a number of a cute junior at NYU, but I’ll admit that even she was not worth the smell and hassle of staying at proof. (though my friend knew the bartender so we were drinking on the cheap… so that made it somewhat tolerable)

This place is weird. Crowded upnoxious bar upstairs. Loungey, cushiony not as crowded downstairs. Helluva good time for a Rutgers game though.

Been here a few times in passing but not as my destination. Was there last sat for gator game, Zach, waitresses, crowd, were into it, but still have a better time at the Mil. No drink specials as the gator site claims, no gator shots weak drinks but loud and fun none the less. I guess they charge cover later in the night which seems ridiculous for the type of spot and you can go to better locations within walking. If you’re thinking going here for gator games, in a pinch it’ll be fun — standing room only. If you go on other nights expect the same crowds but it’s a forgettable time…

Last night I met friends for Karaōke here. There was a prearranged open bar, of which I had two Apple Martinis, and the food was pretty good. I had a thick grilled hamburger, which seasoned waffle fries. They loaded me up on the fries to where there was enough to share with friends.
Matt the bartender, a very cute 20 something made very good and strong drinks. Regular drink prices are affordable, and happy hour prices are some of the best in the area. Most meals are $ 10.
I am a person who has to budget.
All wait persons were nice and good looking. We were upstairs.
I took a peak down stair, they were having a movie screening and the bartender there and wait people were women. I am glad I was up.
Rob our KJ for the evening was very good patient and a good singer himself. I did not want to sing, but my friends put one in for me, I got up and did my thing.
Everyone had a great time. I even met a very nice guy of Indian ancestry 31, and adorably cute, who hung out with me for the evening even though there were many pretty thin girls his age. «Lets hear it for the big girls!!!»
I definitely would go to PROOF again, I had a very good experience. They are willing to host all groups and outings and give them excellent service and deals. 5 stars.

Came by for a coworker’s 10 year anniversary party. Meh. The place is really not that great, but it was cool that they let her take the entire downstairs for free. The service was fine, the drinks were fine, but it just didn’t strike me as anywhere I would return to for any reason. The karaōke upstairs was fun, but ended at midnight… huh?

Went to a friend’s birthday party, and it wasn’t so bad. I had really expected much worse. The bar is two floors, with plenty of 10-​somethings buying overpriced and extremely weak drinks. So although the crowd at Proof was not actually as B&T as I had heard, the $ 8 vodka tonic was pathetic.
You know what they say… Weak drinks sink ships.

I didn’t think I was going to like this place. And I didn’t. the quality of this place panders to 19 year olds who think they are getting a taste of great New York when its so far from it, especially considering the area, which has countless number of better places. The cover was silly, it wasn’t even crowded, and the bartender was AWFUL she literally skipped me over 4 times for at least 12 minutes just to chit chat with some dude who was at the end of the bar, must have been the boyfriend, or father, or i dunno. coming from a fellow bartender its unacceptable. Me and my friends had one drink and left. Lesson learned.
I’m not sure if they still do it, but for those who are still interested, they do have a great deal 20 dollars all you can drink on thursday nights (NYU shows up basically).

Good place to watch the game.
The food is pretty good and the specials were OK. $ 5 for a Bud Light bottle seemed steep even by NYC standards.

Stopped by briefly last night for an event hosted by PulverMedia. Yes, it was crowded. But then, if you rent out a place for an event, you tend to invite a lot of people to make the event seem popular. So I can’t complain about the crowded nature of the venue.
The event was downstairs, and there was an open bar. I had a 7&7 before getting tired of the crowd and heading out for a burger. The downstairs might feel a little claustrophobic for a crowded industry mixer, but by comparison, the upstairs appeared downright spacious. Maybe it’s a comfortable local bar!

Proof isn’t sure if it wants to be a hip lounge or a sports bar so it instead tries to combine both with mixed results. Something about standing beside a mirrored wall, a mahogany bar, and tea lights that are overshadowed by a huge-​ass big screen tv just doesn’t mesh well. The lounge crowd will be annoyed by the televisions and the sports fans will be annoyed by all the people there who aren’t watching an event.
Probably better off to pick one or the other…
Still, in Proof’s defense, the staff were very nice and obviously some people DO go there because it always seemed to be packed.