The National Underground

I was just thinking about how I miss the after-​hours here because they were so much fun to go to. I remember a bunch of great nights, after everything else closed in the LES, the National Underground would be just opening, which allowed us to dance on. The only major complaints were that it took like 3 showers to fully get the smell of cigarette smoke out of your hair after being here. Also the next to last time I was there, there were these reeeeally sheisty drug dealer dudes and one of them kept trying to pick my pockets while I was dancing. Luckily I wasn’t crazy drunk out of my mind or anything, or that could have ended up being a way rougher situation. Still though, this was pretty much a staple of the after-​hours nightlife crowd, while it was still around.

Been here a few times and have always heard some good music.
Usually stop over for a quick drink whenever i am in the area.
I sometimes switch to this place if there is too much slow music at the Rockwood Music Hall.
There was this one time in summer when the singer was actually standing outside the bar and singing on the street side!

I came here a long while back while waiting for a Unilocal Manhattan event to start and Stephy to get out of work. I like this spot. I think it was closed for awhile because it underwent new management. Bar has really cleaned up a bit since reopening. So says Steph. I never went there before till that late summer day. Fashion week was going on and the bartender was actually playing ‘Sex and the City’ on the tvs. I kid you not. But I also was the only one in the bar and I obviously totally didn’t object because I’ve never watched a girly tv show while drinking cheap beer in a dive bar. He also mixed us free shots of something that tasted of melon. Great deals. Cheap wells, cheap beer. Excellent service and had a fun dialogue to pass the time. They do both 2 for 1s on drafts/​wells and also have $ 2 pbr. Also, ridiculously cheap burgers. But I don’t think the menu was set yet when I walked in.

One of my weirdest experience during my stay in New York and quiet different from the other comments ! We went there on a weekday with a group of friends. The place was almost empty, no live band or so ever but a House music DJ. I think we only stayed an hour in the club but in the meantime we had time to be offered drinks by a weird guy trying to put his own personal mixture in it (was stopped by one of our friends!) and to be offered a pill («better than ecstasy») by another random guy !
Well, this place is indeed totally «underground» ! Be sure that’s what you’re looking for before getting in this basement…

A few girlfriends and I stopped in here one Saturday evening. Something about this DJ, his house music, basement and open till six am. Okay, I said, let’s do it. We went to the stairs leading to the basement, paid an entrance fee, stamped and were on our way. The place smelled a little musky… it being the basement and few people dancing like mad. Bartenders were nice and drinks were cheap. The crowd was mostly 20 year olds, either dancing or watching other people dance. I had a good time, but the music was just too loud for me. I guess I’m just getting old.

Only OK… I usually like a good hole in the wall bar with live music. In this case the bartender was rather cold, and the band was a mediocre cover band at best. I had walked by earlier and heard a decent sounding band playing originals. I came back later in hopes of catching more of them or something similar, but it wasn’t to be. Enter the cover band. And they actually weren’t all that bad, I guess.
On a positive note, the server walking the floor was very sweet and friendly.

I came because I had to kill time. I stayed for one beer.
My experience at this bar was pretty standard. I had a pretty solid beer and laughed at some entertaining locals. There was a band playing that wasn’t bad to listen to while chilling at a bar. If I’m in Manhattan again I would go back again to see some more live music.

Such a fun, chill place (since when do I say chill? Oy.). My bartender Veronica was
. So friendly and helpful and made a bangin’ jack and diet (alright. it isn’t that difficult to make. And stop judging me for getting diet. I have to save calories where I can. GOODNESS).
The live music is usually pretty great and not all up in yo’ grill. Their happy hour is wonderful and they have food which is GREAT after too many of the aforementioned jack and diets.

Went there for after birthday dinner drinks. The only reason we chose this place because there was a woman out front saying there was no cover.
Okay, then!
It was slightly crowded for a late-​ish Monday night. Got a table, while my friend ordered our drinks. Nice and dark. Had a band playing that was pretty good. Decent drinks overall.
Not sure about prices because it was my birthday, and I wasn’t paying!
We weren’t there for all that long, but I dug the bar. I’d go again.

I will always love this place because:
1. My now husband picked this spot for our first date, and he picked this place because;
2. They have cheap drinks and no cover
3. They have an eclectic music scene including an awesome 90s cover band that we jammed out to like we were teenagers in my parents’ basement in 98.
The place is a total dive bar that I would hate to see what it looks like in broad daylight, but give me good music and a drink I can afford, and I will like you enough to maybe even marry you someday.

Came here with a few friends on Friday night, and was pleasantly surprised. I had a friend playing a gig here, which is what led us to this bar.
First, there is no cover, this was a good pro. It was really nice to find a music venue that didn’t have a charge to get in. Secondly, the drinks were cheap and fast. I stuck with the $ 6 for a PBR and a shot of whiskey. Which in hindsight, was a pretty bad plan, but a great idea in the moment. Thirdly, It was kinda divey, which I dig. Lastly, the location is great.
I recommend coming here.

I went to this place with my girlfriend on a Friday night.
We were out on the hunt for live music. Apparently, this place has live music all the time. The band that was playing that night played covers of classic rock songs. The beers were about six bucks a piece, and the place was not that crowded. Will definitely go back again when I’m in the area to see who’s playing.

I came here for a drum n bass event. The DJ booth is pretty cool, and the sound is quality. Nice people and not pretentious. Average prices.

I like versatile bars.
This bar has it all… live bands (no cover charge on a Sat? dope), cheap drinks ($ 5 vodka sodas), food options that aren’t your typical pub grub… and the whitest white girl as the bartener (honey, where from Michigan, Pennsylvania, or Ohio are you really from?)
The patrons are an amalgam of rockstars, brooklyn hipsters (ugh), EVill lifers, UES d-​bags and recently moved-​in locals.
Bar crawl status: 6 hours complete. Hospital time.

I stumbled upon this place while scouring Unilocal for places that have live music late night during the week and hit the jack pot. Don’t get me wrong, National Underground is a total dive bar but that is to be expected on the LES (in my opinion at least). My boyfriend and I ended up having a really great time listening to The Junkyard Gang. They are a cover band and I swear when they sang Romeo and Juliet they sounded just like the Dire Straits! The bartenders could have been better… they could act like they actually wanted to be there, but whatever.
There is some techno party downstairs that goes until 6am. I tried to get the boy to venture down there with me around 3am, but he squashed that (at least one of us was being sensible that night).
Good music, no cover (upstairs at least) and a pretty decent selection of beers on draft = win.

Get out your hipster license to hit this spot. I do believe most of the people here are 5-​star certified hipsters, but for the rest of us National Underground still delivers solidly on all fronts. Decent hamburgers, chilled lounge/​live music bar on the ground floor, and underground dance den. You can have it all here.

Small space. 2 floors. They redid the downstairs so there are better lights and sound. Looks cleaner also. They do a good job with the lights. Saw some of my friends spin. Crowd had a good vibe. Friendly. Good turn out.
But the drinks are a rip off. Especially considering its a dive. $ 7 for a small Stella? $ 10 for a mixed drink?
I never plan on getting drunk here!

Came here several times to see random underground/​techno DJs. The downstairs/​underground part is pretty awesome. It’s nice and dark, but pretty spacey so you get your own space to dance and act a fool. Not the biggest venue around, but it’s never really crowded. There’s also an upstairs «lounge”/bar part for people who come just to drink and relax. Never really spent much time up there.
The underground is pretty cool and chill. Nothing too fancy. The bathrooms leave much to be desired, but nothing really wrong with them.
The drinks are NYC-​priced, nothing special to report in that department. I remember one time I spent quite a load of money on drinks, which ended up being a great night and well worth it.
There is seating all along the walls of the place, so you can relax after dancing for a bit (except I never sit down, so this part is useless to me haha).

My favorite kind of spot. Wandering around the LES in search of a cool spot for a drink lead us here. We were let in, no door guy, no crap, just happy to have us come in. Refreshing.
Cool atmosphere, they had some band playing that night that was awesome. It’s bands like that who should be «make it», not those made for radio bands (yea you kings of leon…)
Good drink. Fast service. Not to crowded. Cool people in the bar. Great music. No trendy b. s that new york seems to be to full of.
Can’t wait to return

Came here to see a friend’s friend play… Cool little underground spot. Atmosphere was awesome… Reminds me of the punk rock venues I used to go to.
Expensive, though… I think we were paying like… $ 7 a pint of Guiness? that’s excessive to me… And… I didn’t tell my friend this (maybe I did get drunk enough by the end of the night?) but, his friend’s band was pretty bad… And didn’t really seem to fit into the environment…

Have only been here once, downstairs they have a lounge with DJ setup. Lately they’ve been hosting some pretty bangin DJs so I’m psyched that this place is so close to me. Otherwise I’d have to trek to brooklyn to get any kinda good dance music.
Drinks were on-​par, good, do the trick. Head downstairs for the dancefloor. I haven’t been here for the upstairs live music stuff so I’ll leave that to others to review.