Tropical 128

Cute place the bartender was pretty cool !! There are pool tables in the back and there is plenty of seating areas ! The music is all the way popping up in here. When you check in on Unilocal you get a buy back drink so be sure to check in. Happy hour is 3 dolls beers, and half price well drinks ! It’s on a side street so it’s really not any parking (typical in NYC). They have 1.00 oysters as well.

I used to frequent tropical 128, but the new management has ruined what used to be a quirky and fun dive bar. Drinks are overpriced, card minimum is $ 30. I reserved a table for my birthday at 9:00, but they kicked us off the table at 11:00 unless we ordered bottle service (at $ 200/​bottle). DUMB.
They pumped all this new money into this place and there still aren’t locks on the bathroom stalls…

New management has ruined what was great about Tropical 128 in the past. It was a divey place, where whiskey met Rainforest Café with a couple pool tables in the back and an always welcoming dance floor. Cheap drinks, a fun crowd, and decent DJs made it a fun place to come.
Now cocktails are $ 10+, the pool tables get covered in tarps by 10pm on a Saturday, the credit card minimum is $ 30, and menus for bottle service are on tables with options from $ 200 – 300. There is clearly a cash grab going in here without actually improving the quality of the environment, drinks, or food.
Whatever was good, weird, and great about Tropical 128 is now ruined by an increase in prices and an influx of yuppie clientele.
And to top if off, we had made a reservation for a birthday party at 9pm and after 8 of us were drinking for several hours, we were informed at 10:58pm we had to leave our table unless we were buying bottle service because it’s bottle only for a table after 11pm. Really a poor way to treat a group at your establishment.
I’ve come many times very the years but this is my last.

$ 15 for a Jameson on the rocks? Gimme a break. For that price, I could get a real cocktail at Leadbelly or Apotheke, with the bonus of hearing my conversation with friends. Manhattan at its worst.

$ 40 minimum for a credit card for drinks. WTH? Furthermore, the bartender was a huge jerk when he saw my surprised look after he told me the minimum. Would never return. It was also incredibly hot in the downstairs area.

Let’s just say. I came to this place at random and the reviews were good.
FOOD DELICIOUS… Omg for sure fresh and yummy. Had a nice convo with the cook, his energy is awesome. Had to tell him how good the burgers were. We had two one medium well, other medium rare, also calamari and fries. All yummy.
Happy hour until 8pm so let’s say I got happy.
The energy is good in this spot. I didn’t stay for the late night dancing but I’ll for sure be back
But pool is $ 30 an hour… Only downer

This place is great! They got pool in the back. A party room downstairs and a double sided bar. Happy Hour oysters and a friendly staff. Must check this place out!

LOVE THIS PLACE!
The service is amazing, music is perfectly chosen, the bartender Blaise is the nicest person in the world, everyone is incredible kind and welcoming!
Loveeeed it. Great place for when you’re unsure what you want to do and just want to have fun.

Omg. This place is scary. I’m giving it 2 stars because it’s a train wreck one must experience. It’s so strange that it’s good. Like a bulldog… it’s so ugly it’s cute. The front of the place looks like Asian restaurant met Rainforest café met dive bar. Koi fish, plants, «cajun» food (it’s not), and really crappy beers on tap.
In the back, there is another bar with even crappier beers and a «dance floor». It also smells like urine.
Finally, even further in the back is what I like to call mafia alley. Pool tables and some bar games, really sketchy asian guys playing pool and leering at girls. Not a lot of people. Looks like the kind of place you would find some sketchy deals going on.
Check it out, but go with a friend. And don’t touch anything.

My friends and I came here Friday night for her birthday. She bought a bottle and almost immediately after it was stolen by another patron. The manager wouldn’t do anything about it, so she was out $ 200. As much I love this place, the service was completely inadequate. If you go, watch your items closely. And certainly don’t buy a bottle unless you plan on watching your table like a hawk.

Came here Thursday evening as part of a meet-​up event for a group of 8 ladies. The place has a unique tropical/​aquatic décor, but the music is bad and it’s too dark. There are a few tables in the front of the establishment and smaller sized tables toward the back. There are also pool tables in the far back. The bar is shaped like a 360 degree circle, so you can order from either the front or back of the restaurant, depending on where you are. We ordered a variety of appetizers, mine being french fries and spring rolls. Everyone else had wings and calamari. I did not like the spring rolls. On their website, it states that the rolls are vegetarian, perfect for someone like me on a modified fast. But the rolls I received were filled with a mix of crab and shrimp wrapped in a brown crispy stringy wrap; I have no idea what it was but it wasn’t the typical spring roll I was used to and I felt sick afterwards. The fries were good and crispy, just like I would expect. It seems they do a lot of fresh seafood and sushi along with burgers and wings. Drinks were good but we were told servers don’t come until 11PM, so you have to go to the bar and order your drinks. Lastly, the music. The music was bad and too loud for a place that seems to be a bar to socialize. I could barely hear the people in my group speaking, I just kept nodding and smiling like a crazy person. I read other reviews that mentioned dancing, none of that was going on. The music was a mix of underground hip-​hop and pop. Overall, it’s a nice place for drinks and small appetizers, but I don’t think I’ll be returning. I would recommend anyone in the area try it out though.

This place is so dope! The new owners have done a stellar job of revamping since the summer of 2015 when they took it over. They have an awesome bar menu now with amazing food which includes everything from oysters to your juicy burgers. This place is live on the weekends and I mean live. The line is known to wrap around the block but it moves quick. There’s never a cover and it’s far from a pretentious crowd. The bartenders are so on point here as well. Solid crew until the wee hours and the music is always fire w some of NYC’s best and well known dj’s. Spotted Alexander Wang one weekend and Zoe Kravitz another. This place is blowing up. Def recommend!

I came by here last night for a little bit of Santacon revelry with friends and have to say that I really had a wonderful time and the bartenders were awesome and super accommodating. I’ve been here in the past and each time has been a pretty solid experience and also, the prices aren’t bad at all!

I liked the laid back dress code and hip hop music. The doorman were very nice and the crowd wasn’t bad. Very «college» but a good mix of people. A little too busy and crazy for my taste but I will definitely recommend this place for people in their early 20s.

its a very good place to hang out and dance and drink in lower Manhattan, not expensive, many beautiful girls and no trouble at all. All peace!

This is a nightlife review.
I’ve been to a bunch of different bars all over NY and this one stacks about as just about middle of the pack. I went on a Friday night with a bunch of friends up in NY for a weekend kegger. This place was a good springboard into the weekend. The music was solid and they have pool tables in the back. It was far from packed though and I think my group did a good job of keeping the place pretty live. The draft beer selection is pretty dismal though so if you like a solid craft brew this really isn’t the place for that. The drinks prices weren’t horrible but I was paying 6 bucks for a Sam Adams summer ale so, the jury is out on that. This is probably a good place to come with a group or maybe if they have some event going on.

Showed up about 5:30 on Thursday after work. There is a sign by the door that has their hours as opening at 3PM everyday but the door was locked and they would not answer the phone.
Waste of time. I hope their landlord triples their rent and they go out of business.

I mean, they were playing Beyonce dub step remixes on a Monday night, there are fake trees and a gold fish tank. I don’t know if this place means to be hilarious but whatever they are going for is weird and I like it.

We came here on a Friday night and it was pretty dead, surprisingly so. Maybe because it was Memorial Day Weekend? Who knows. I expected it to be more ‘hoppin’ — but the DJ was still playing some good music, a combo of modern pop and throwback tunes, and he took most of our requests too! Drinks were relatively cheap, cool colorful and vibrant atmosphere inside.
But nothing too special or memorable about this place. A little cheesy to be honest!

The bouncers to this place (Saturdays) are pretty nice. Especially the black dude. But being nice doesn’t mean letting you slide in. Don’t be THAT guy/​girl. Still for NYC standards I’d consider it cordial.
This place is like a bunch of things mixed into one. It LOOKS like a theme restaurant from the outside. You walk in and see fish tanks tables for sit down (more like club tables). There are bars on both sides of the main floor (lounge-​y feel). Then you walk all the way in the back and it’s billiards galore. I mean, I guess if you’re bored with dancing or ogling at hot girls or both, you won’t be hard pressed to find other means of entertainment. You go downstairs and it’s another bar with a definitely lounge like feel. I’m not sure if the music upstairs is the same as the music downstairs because they weren’t open at the same time due to some kid’s birthday being there. BUT I’m curious to find that out on the next trip here.
The clientele here RANGES. I mean REALLY ranges. On on hand you got people who are clearly starting out in college in here. And when I said clearly starting out in college I simply mean just turned 21. Then you got those in betweeners quite possibly just out of college looking for a good time with still in college chicks. Then you got people here on their birthdays celebrating which could go either way. Then you got people like me who are just chilling but are with friends or a smaller group. Then you got solo dolo people’s that are just taking in the vibe. You add these all up and you get a smörgåsbord of people.
When this place gets packed it gets PACKED. I can’t recalled how many buttcheeks and fronts I rubbed by every time that I needed to re-​up on a drink or going to the billiards area or just trying now to rub cheeks. Some accidentally cheek rubbings were hot chicks which was okay I guess. But then a lot were of other men and just other people that I’m not quite sure where their pants have been this evening.
I did 2 full laundry loads that night to rectify that. Ew.
Did I have a great time? Yup, my homie were sporting me drinks and the company was cool.
Would I come back? Yup, but I will bubble wrap myself… at least the jacket area and maybe the crotch side of my jeans.
FAN.