NYC bar for a Saturday night gathering

June 9, 2014 12:47 PM

Seeking an NYC bar for a gathering of around eight people in their mid-to-late 30s. Requirements: quiet enough to talk; spacious enough that we can all congregate in one spot or will take reservations; in downtown Manhattan (roughly speaking); reasonably accessible by subway a big plus. Difficulty: event planned for a Saturday night, around 8 PM, and I don't expect everyone to show up at the same time (which makes reservations tricky). Thanks!
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

This may sound crazy, but I think the Playwright Irish Pub at 27 W. 35th Street would be a great choice for you.

It's really a pub so they're set up for groups and conversation. We had yummy pub food there and a really good burger. It also has the distinction of not being terribly overpriced by NYC standards! Great access by Subway. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Across the street, Saturdays didn't seem stupid-busy, just pleasantly busy. The bar maid was super helpful and let us try different beers.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:14 PM on June 9, 2014

My goto for this sort of thing has always been Grassroots on St. Marks between 2nd and 3rd. On the bigger side, cheap pitchers of beer, and we've never had a problem grabbing space for 10-30 of us arriving around 8 pm; it seems like the rush doesn't come until 10 or later. YMMV on noise, but it should be okay until later in the night. Also, total dive and will be overrun by NYU kids later on, but don't let that dissuade you.
posted by The Michael The at 1:20 PM on June 9, 2014

Cienfuegos. Delicious rum punch bowls and they take reservations, but the decor is pretty feminine if its a group of guys
posted by puertosurf at 1:23 PM on June 9, 2014

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I love Cienfuegos, but I doubt they'd be cool with seating a partial group of 8. This isn't a group of people all going out to dinner together and showing up more or less at the same time. It's a reunion of people who mostly haven't seen one another in 20 years, so we need someplace flexible depending on when folks wander in.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 1:34 PM on June 9, 2014

Headless Horseman on 15th and Irving. It's big enough for your group and has tables for conversation. I don't think they'll take a reservation but you can call and ask. It does sometimes get crowded later in the evening, but summer weekends there so far have been pretty quiet.
posted by bedhead at 1:34 PM on June 9, 2014

I love Swift Hibernian Lounge and have used it for more-or-less this precise purpose.
posted by 1adam12 at 10:43 PM on June 9, 2014

Decided to go with Swift Hibernian. It sounds pretty perfect. Was able to make a reservation for the time in question, and the person I spoke with assured me it wouldn't be a problem if the whole party didn't arrive at once. Also super-convenient to multiple subway lines. Will report back afterwards. Thanks so much, 1adam!
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 8:25 PM on June 12, 2014

Swift Hibernian was great. We had our own table in the back corner, and it never got crowded. It did get a little loud later on as the DJ started to crank things up, but it was fine. Also, our servers were happy to keep separate tabs for everyone (we didn't ask for that—they offered), which made settling up at the end of the night a breeze. Good beer selection, food was decent, and I even had one of their cocktails (a mai-tai), which was quite good. Big thumbs up. Would recommend for similar events. Thanks again, adam!
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:11 AM on June 22, 2014