UC Lounge

The Goth party has moved on. It went to another location. Therefore it’s not worth going to this club. Next.

Will not return to this bar and I recommend everyone else stays away! The bouncer and bartender were so rude — it was awful.

Avoid this place. They’re extremely rude to their customers.

Awful management, very rude to our group.

We stopped by last night as a last resort because the lines at every good place nearby were too long. We made a huge mistake. There is a reason this place had zero people. The bouncer was extremely rude and the owner equally distasteful. They would not let a friend in who had lost her id (she’s 30 and obviously of age). They gave us a really hard time and wouldn’t be reasonable. OK, fair enough. But when 10 more friends showed up, they suddenly got friendly and wanted us to stay. OK, fair enough again. But when I pointed out the hypocrisy of the situation, they got mad and physically shoved us out the door and started yelling for the cops across the street to come arrest us. We had drinks and bags inside and they would not let us re-​enter. I would NEVER return to this place.

Rude management… Avoid this place

This place will only ruin your night…

I came here last night with a bunch of classmates and we were highly disappointed by the staff and bouncer. Our entire group was treated badly. The staff is rude and made us all want to leave immediately. Note to the manager: hire a new bouncer and new staff or nobody is going to return to your venue. I used to live in the area and can think of 100 better places to go in the area.

Very bad management. Avoid this place.

Terrible place, extremely rude staff.
Also, they hate puppies.

The staff at this place is atrocious. I frequent (and skip the line at) many hotspots in this area as well as in Meatpacking and have NEVER been treated so poorly.
AVOID this place.

I’ve come here for some house/​DJ events. It’s clearly not the type of venue that is used to having this type of music, but they actually have a great space in the back with a dance floor and fun lights. The sound system is a bit harsh, though. Decent drink deals — and the drinks are strong!

The most unprofessional and nastiest staff I’ve ever experienced at a live music venue or a bar in general. I would avoid at all costs. Plenty of other choices to go to in the lower east side, like behind a dumpster or hanging out in a parking lot.

Awful place, awful location, TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, RUDE MANAGEMENT. I’d rather eat chips and drink beer at a Chipotle with my iPod on.
Run away.

This little unassuming LES bar is actually quite the event space for performing artists??? There is an odd narrow space near the back that features a mini stage and mirrors all along the side. We were all quite surprised to see a rapper perform on that stage, with two gyrating half naked dancers around him, and a crowd snapping pictures. Actually the music was quite good, but that was his last song…
The back room is good for pool or dancing, but actually the whole place isn’t that big. The bar is very narrow and barely two people can squeeze by side by side. The only negative thing that really put a damper on the evening was the DJ who couldn’t spin for his life. Every good song he ruined!!! I am convinced he was doing it on purpose, to rile people up and then dash their hopes when the music goes completely dead for 5 seconds.
All in all, friendly owners, laid back vibe and unique feature of that little back room with the stage and microphones. I would come back if they get a new DJ.

A terrible place to play or see music, due to incompetent management who can’t remember how many (or which) bands they’ve booked for the night.
If you’re planning on playing a show here, make sure you’ve triple-​checked that your set is happening. Otherwise, expect the management to screw things up.

I loved this place! The staff was crazy friendly, especially the girl at the door. I went with a group of about 5 friends as we were in the neighborhood and looking for a spot to hang out after leaving a friends house. They had an awesome list of various bands for various tastes, which was great! I came home with a list of quite a few that I really liked. The drinks are stiff, bar tender very friendly… it was nice!

I like the place. I go here every week for a goth party called Absolution. The music is always great. The staff is wonderful. The drinks are strong. It’s absolutely worth going to check out.

I ended up at the UC Lounge when word of a friend’s band performing there hit my music journalist desk. Located on Ludlow St. off Delancey, the place is not too far off the beaten path if you wanted to hit Arlene’s Grocery or The Cake Shop before of after visiting this establishment. From the outside you can see that there are two entrances but I believe the right side one is locked and that all patrons must enter on the left or bar side. Here is a little more about my experience.
The bar is long and offers visitors ample seating but there is limited space right behind you so let’s assume a person is positioned right behind you to talk, it will be very congested to those who wish to walk back and forth. Someone like me does not work well in such a tight quarters and I cannot usually remain in one place when there are others to talk to if a band is playing. The bartender was amusing and offering up an acerbic wit for the most part, but he was not obnoxious and it was all in good form. Now moving further into the club.
In the rear of the bar there are a couple of tables, and the entrance to the performance area of the space. That is separated by a curtain and you pay to access that area unless the show is free. This evening there was a weirdness as to whether there was a cover or not, and while some people paid there were others that did not. That was confusing for many who attended.
Here is where the stage and dance floor are located. It’s not huge on either regard and right off the bat I felt that this did not work for the band that was going to play. They are a four piece Rock band and the drummer’s minimal kit was hogging up the whole thing. The singer had to stand eye level with the audience and the guitarist off to the side blocking the second bathroom. Weird I know. Further back were more tables and a full sized pool table. There were lasers being used during the bands set and I felt that this worked better for dance music than Rock and Roll and there were considerable sound issues during their brief set.
My experience with places like this is how they have some potential, but seem to be trying to be «everything» as opposed to a single kind of place. If you are a singer songwriter and have only one other person in your group or you play a small piano then this will work for you or a DJ looking to spin some tunes for a small group. A four or five piece Rock outfit is not going to work out. I didn’t hear anyone mentioning food so I shall assume none is to be had here and while it was an okay setting for what went on, I don’t see myself adventuring down here again for anything. I can always change my mind, but there are plenty of other places that I go to with ample room for the fun and I shall stick with them.

Is this place new? Or really old? Am I ahead of or behind the business peak of UC Lounge? No idea, so I’ll throw out my impressions from walking in, cold, wet and thirsty, last Friday night.
Fat Baby turned down my 37 year old roommate because she didn’t have any ID on her. Flattering? Maybe. Anyways, where to then? UC Lounge welcomed us inside.
Cool couches and lighting… extremely friendly service… devoid of company on a rainy, treacherous night. Which meant lots of seating at the bar and lounge and unlimited elbow room on the dance floor. We literally ran the bar. DJ complied with our request to play salsa music within minutes.
After some fun times, it got a little too awkward dancing while everybody was watching. And sitting with nobody else around us. And being the drunkest people in there (completely unusual situation… promise…).
This place totally has potential – but where all are the patrons?!!