Recommend a good Manhattan bar/cafe for a real world meetup of online people!

November 8, 2011 8:18 AM

Recommend a good Manhattan bar/cafe for a real world meetup of online people!

I'm going to be in New York in early December and I'm thinking about doing a meetup for people who are interested in a zombie game that we've been developing - nothing big, it'd probably only be 10-20 people max - but I really don't know the area and could do with some tips on places that might be good.

I'm thinking that it should be:

- not too noisy
- relatively accessible
- fun (everyone will probably be strangers so any way to reduce stress/weirdness would be good!)

and we'd be doing it on Thursday 8th evening. We'd also want to reserve a table or an area. I'm happy to pay a bit of money (e.g. putting some money behind the bar) but I just want to make sure it's a good experience for everyone! I don't need a projector or screen or anything, although that would be nice.

Alternatively, this may just be a really bad idea since it's so close to Christmas, and if so, do say!

posted by adrianhon to food & drink (6 answers total)

Manhattan is big, can you narrow down where you're staying and how far you're willing to travel?
posted by teabag at 8:33 AM on November 8, 2011

One of my pals and I hosted a birthday party at The Pegu Club; it was just about the size you describe, they set aside a convenient corner of the establishment for the 20 or so attendees, and it worked out really well. We had them set up a tab for the party which we capped at somewhere in the $300 range, and I tipped the our waitress with absurd generosity, which kept things running very smoothly.

Incidentally, if you're doing it early in December, you should start making phone calls today.
posted by pts at 8:38 AM on November 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Heads up, the Pegu Club is on the expensive side. Not, like, Meatpacking District-expensive, but definitely not for people who aren't comfortable.

Revival was a spot for lots of NYC MeFi meetups until everyone got sick of always going there.
posted by griphus at 8:44 AM on November 8, 2011

I'm staying near Penn Station. Happy to travel 30 minutes. Not so sure where everyone else is but most have volunteered to travel a fair distance!

If things are this busy I wonder if there are other places we could just meet up at?
posted by adrianhon at 9:26 AM on November 8, 2011

Pegu Club makes excellent cocktails, but each drink will run you $13. They take reservations for large groups (10-20 people) only before 6:30pm. Most likely they will hold a long section of the banquette for you. It's workable but not terribly conducive to mingling. The cocktails are very high quality though, and at that hour, it wouldn't be terribly crowded or noisy.

Some ideas off the top of my head:
- Rent a karaoke room in Koreatown (Duet 35, perhaps).
- Make a reservation at Birreria, the enclosed rooftop beer garden at Eataly (note: they are very strict on their rule that they will not seat you until your entire party arrives, and they don't allow late-joiners to the table).
- Go bowling somewhere? I've done small company outings at Bowlmor.
posted by kathryn at 10:10 AM on November 8, 2011

For a straightforward bar with food near Penn Station, take a look at Stitch. I'm not sure how the noise level is, but it's pretty big and you may be able to reserve a table or area.
posted by andrewraff at 11:25 AM on November 8, 2011