Need a bar in Manhattan for a hot/sweaty/sexy/danceparty birthday...
April 8, 2011 4:31 PM   Subscribe

Yes, it's yet another person asking for the perfect bar to party at... help me find the perfect(ish) bar for me to throw my 28th birthday party.

I've lived here my whole life, so I know the bars, but when it comes to the ones that will let you go relatively nuts, that is where I fail.

Last year I threw my birthday party at Barramundi in the LES. I rented out their top floor for $400 dollars and had to guarantee $1000 in drinks or pay the difference. It was pretty awesome because I had a private area that was able to accommodate the 80 people I invited, I was able to bring my own DJ (or an iPod if I chose) and I convinced them to do a drink special of sorts. The only downside was that we had to be out of there by 2am. That sucked. I would like to do all this again, with a few minor changes... my list:

1. It must be able to accommodate 80-100 people until 4am. Realistically there will be at most 50-60 at a time, but I don't want to limit the guest list.

2. I am willing to pay for an area, but it has to be worth it (ie, not one table). Same goes for if there is a drink amount that must be reached. We could probably do $1000 with ease.

3. I want there to be some sort of shot special such as Kamikaze or Jameson (since the cool kids seem to be drinking that stuff) for like $2-3 each. The advantage to the bar here is that my friends love to drink and they will go for the shot special. At my last birthday my friend walked in and ordered 12 shots in addition to drinks, and he was just one person.

4. Music! I don't need to control the music, but it needs to be GOOD music to dance to. I'm talking hip-hop, pop and other good but recent music. (Some of my favorite bars are No Malice Palace, Arlo & Esme & Fat Baby). If I have to I can still bring a DJ or bring an iPod loaded up with CHOONS.

5. Location. Manhattan. Period. (preferably East Village or LES, I think I would kill myself if the words "My birthday" and "Upper East Side" were in the same sentence.

6. Vibe. This is important. Last year people kinda sat around and by 2am when people were grooving (ie, drunk) we had to go. This is also where having other people in the mix could be good since it won't just be my crew in the bar. I want people to want to dance and grind each other like they were at a bar mitzvah.

7. Date! This is the best part, I already missed my birthday due to life in general, so it could be in late April or May on a Friday or Saturday.

Essentially, I want an environment where my friends bring their friends to meet each others friends and get 'friendly' with one another or just have a great time dancing until 4am. Help me MeFites, you are my only hope!

PS. I have read lots of the other threads, and pretty much all of them list bars that are on the small side for parties of like 20 people.
posted by darkgroove to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (2 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Is there a reason you can't do this at No Malice Palace, Arlo & Esme or Fat Baby? I've been to birthday parties at all 3 that sound similar to what you want to do. (I will say that the party at Arlo & Esme was kind of a mess that involved a LONG wait in line even for people on the guest list, so not sure that would be my first recommendation.)
posted by cosmic osmo at 12:56 PM on April 9, 2011


Response by poster: Fat Baby would require I buy a table and one table can accommodate like 8 people. So to buy 10 tables is not going to happen.

The reason you listed is why Arlo wouldn't work (line, cover, no area for us, probably make me pay a boat load of money).

No Malice is too small to begin with
posted by darkgroove at 9:44 AM on April 10, 2011


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