The West End

This review is for the «Back Room and Stage» section of the venue. I’ll keep this short and simple: Space was adequately sized (tables were rather small) and Service was TERRIBLE (for example: second and third drinks were ordered and waiter did not remove old drink cups from the table, he had to be reminded every time; another example: food order of wings took one HOUR to arrive; then maybe 5 minutes after the order of wings was placed an additional order of pizza rolls was made (which lacked flavor and came with pepperoni which was NOT listed in the menu description) and those arrived approximately TWO hours AFTER the wings). Lastly, there was an automatic 20% gratuity added to the bill as a line item which was then included as part of the total prior to the addition of taxes.
I absolutely cannot support this business in the future and wouldn’t recommend anyone else do so. There are plenty of other options within walking distance of this place. Skip here. Cheers.

I will NEVER come here again! The wait for chicken tenders and fries was epic! The minimum wait was one hour and that’s being nice. The excuse was that there was one fryer and a little Mexican in the back. –_​– When it finally came, it looked like a babies handful of fries in my basket that covered 2 heavly battered chicken tenders about 2 inches long. Now mind you this is an item priced at $ 15. –_​– I complained to the manager who condescendingly stated that I should’ve gotten 4 but the price for the portions are due to the cost. Grant it, I know that could be a reason but that is not what you tell a customer. Poorly handled. Asked for a drink 4 times before I actually got it. I sat right next to the bar. My friend’s fries were undercooked. Who undercooks fries?! My other friend never got her order. When I finally got the bill I was shocked to discover that a ginger ale cost $ 5. Unbelievable. Neighboring tables shared my dislike for this place as well.
Stay away. You’ll be happier at McDonald’s and I hate McDonald’s.

Decent spot but that pool table is pretty useless. You’ll get frustrated trying to play in that small space with short sticks.

Um…
FOOD:
Never coming here hungry again. Paid $ 50 for two orders of chicken tenders and 2 beers. Only to wait 35 minutes for it… o_​O that’s $ 25 a Person. Dude @ Popeyes that’s no more than $ 9. (granted, it’s NOT Popeyes, I get that. But still)
If there’s ever a next time that I’ll be visiting the West End, I know to come with a full belly :)
VIBE/​MUSIC:
Idk what was going by the bar/​sitting area, the music was all over the place. One minute something good plays, then the next minute you feel like your in a relm of madness.
However, in the back room, the music was decent so that made up for it i guess.
I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. Meh.

Went for happy hour on tuesday night with a friend. Great atmosphere and friendly bartender. My friend asked for a drink that they didnt have but the bartender made her a drink based on whatever she requested. It was a delicious mix of cucumber vodka and grapefruit, garnished with an orange. The bartender even said she would name it the «elena.» The happy hour special is great and they had live music with a comedy show later that night. We will definitely be going back!

Came here the week before Pride for their Uptown Thursdays party. I didn’t really get a drink or food, since the place looked pretty dead, even though the event was all over Facebook and in the gayosphere. There were only a few people at the bar, the DJ was no where near his set, and there was a drag show towards the back, which was where most of the people were, but it was not very good as the drag queen’s wig kept falling off. I only stayed for roughly 15 minutes and then left. Heard that the Uptown parties don’t occur here anymore since then.

Came here for a friend’s cabaret. Drinks are moderately priced. The West End Brew is terrible, you should just splurge for a real beer. Food orders automatically include gratuity, so don’t come here if you’re looking to save. The waiters did a great job of moving in-​between songs and keeping quiet during performances. Overall a good atmosphere, but not a place I’m dying to return.

This place is soooooo dope. Seriously…
Words are endless how fun this joint is. Rolled in here for a show and the service was fantastic. The production of their shows are top notch, the performers are all professionals of NYC, and the venue is superb! The lounge’s food and drinks are delicious too! If you want to go out with friends, or even by yourself, for a fun night — DO NOT PASS THIS PLACE UP!

I recently moved to the UWS/​Morning side heights area, and I saw «The West End» banner from a distance and thought «why not go try out a new place». I’ve officially decided I need to come here more often! Entering felt like an underground NYC location that was meant to be secret, and the environment was friendly!
The food was your typical bar food, I didn’t try anything special, but the jalapeño poppers were tasty. Good prices for beer.
I love anything with karaōke, and the fact the voices that come here are fierce made it even more entertaining!
I’d definitely recommend this bar if you want to chill and fantastic enjoy entertainment, but not have to pay the touristy-​midtown-​prices.

I really enjoy The West End! It’s a lot more laid back than some downtown bars, and it’s in a GREAT location for those of us who live uptown. I’ve been coming here for a few years and always enjoy the shows, the drinks and the atmosphere. There’s always something great going on here!

First time here at The West End. Came for the singing contest and found more than I expected! Such a cool and intimate space. Great live music and the staff are all so wonderful. I love the variety of events happening in a single night: when we were here there was a singing contest, open mic, karaōke, and a drag show all happening throughout one night in different areas of the bar! Definitely would make a night of his place again. Check it out!

Great UWS addition! Such a wonderful spot. Clean, great service, awesome beer list and a tasty menu…
Can’t wait to return and happy we only live 3 blocks away.

Awesome spot, staff is friendly and attentive. Happy hour includes two for one well, wine, and draft beer which is good for the UWS. It can get pretty rowdy late night so come ready to party if you’re coming after midnight.

One of my go to neighborhood bars on the upper upper west side. This place has never failed to deliver a good time.
I’ve wandered into the following on random days…
Topless Tuesdays — Body painting
Drag Wednesdays — They have a different section where you pay for a drag show then later go back to the bar for open mic karaōke.
Bartenders are friendly and awesome… need I say more?

This place has something to offer EVERYONE! So many shows, so many opportunities. Body painting? Say what? The last time I saw something like this was in Greece. Way to bring a fun way to embrace all of our beautiful bodies to NYC. This place is welcoming to all and the staff goes above and beyond to make sure you feel welcome, invited, safe and have a wickedly fun time! If you’re looking for a heck of a good time, this is your place. Follow them on Facebook to see what events/​shows they’re doing and check out the fabulous photos. It will justify this review for you. Go check it out!

This is not a review for the food! (And thankfully I checked Unilocal before I ordered anything.)
I came here for a friend’s show on open mic night, and it was a lot of fun. Mad props to the MC’s and performers for giving a great show with very minimal awkwardness. Though a little costly for amateur hour ($ 15), we were going for a friend (and apparently the audience is comprised of friends and family) so the $ 15 for support seemed very cheap for an hour of entertainment.
When we came out (apparently they were double booked for the night, busy!), I had some hard cider on tap and it was delicious — thank you Johnny Appleseed. Highly recommend. But to get to this nectar of fall, I waited a good five minutes at the bar for the bartender. Seriously woman? There was literally no one at the bar… serve your customers instead of idly walking around between the bar and the kitchen.
Do note that the open mic stage is in the back, through a not-​so-​secret door. And there’s maybe enough seating there for 50? It does get packed, so get there early! Outside at the bar, there’s bar seating for maybe ten and five tables for 2. Very minimal seating.

This place is a true dive bar. We came over because a friend invited us to an open mike jazz night. The music was great & wish there was more of a crowd but we had a great time. It was nice to see all these different folks get up & sing or play for us all the great standards. There is so much talent in NYC!
Now the food & drinks. Meh…
The food needs more salt or something. It was pretty tasteless. The bf ordered chicken tenders & fries & they were just bad. I ordered a dirty martini with 3 olives (yeah, the olives were my dinner. Lol). It was just fine not because it didn’t taste good but it was served in a regular glass drink & not a martini glass. That kinda annoyed me & I didn’t finish it. I asked what happened & the waitress said they ran out of martini glasses. What? Ran out? Isn’t this a bar? How can a bar run out of martini glasses? That was odd. Btw, my martini cost $ 20. I know this is NY but that’s ridiculous for an ok martini not in the proper glass. Come on!
I’ll come back for the music & although there’s a 2 drink minimum I won’t be ordering interesting cocktails. Just give me a regular rum & coke. Meh…

Came to this place with a group of jugglers during our Juggle This! Annual juggling festival. We had the cellar booked for a secondary show Jiggle This! Basically a 21 and over jugglers’ juggling show.
When we arrived at the location we all gathered outside as the venue prepared the space for us. From the outside the place has a nice look. As we walked into the location we had to walk down some stairs to get to the door. Coming into the door we found ourselves in a general bar area that we had to navigate through to get to the cellar or private backroom.
The cellar was cozy, looked like seating for 75 or so people, but I can be way off on that count. There was also a small stage with a low ceiling; that looked good for comedy shows and other 1 or 2 person acts. The ceiling of course prevented us jugglers from doing many tricks; but it was fun to watch one person attempt to juggle 7 clubs with the low ceiling limitation.
The staff seemed a bit over whelmed by the size of the crowd we jammed into the cellar. The food was not very good at all. I had a Myer’s Mac and Cheese; it was small and had very little cheese. A friend of mine ordered some nachos and was upset by the quality of the food. I really felt the food should have been better. There were several people in our event that were upset to be told that the show was long enough to order a burger. Not really sure how long it takes to make a burger at this place but it is clearly longer then in the rest of the world.
One of our friends also had an issue with the fact that this backroom /​cellar imposed a 18% gratuity even for a party of 1. When our; friend complained the waiter said «I am taking this shit tonight»; he literally cursed at her and was very nasty. Unfortunately I did not get the name of the waiter.
During our 1 and a half hour show the waiting staff was only able to make one round — which meant some people did not receive drinks until near the end of the show.
I really wanted to give a better review of this place but I do feel they are understaffed for waiters, food preparers, and bar tenders. On the other hand to say something good about this place — it looks amazing outside /​inside and has a warm feel. The location of the venue is great as well, I hope to return sometime soon to change /​update my review but for now this is the experience I had — so it’s all I have to go on so far.

DO NOT GO HERE.
Seriously you’d be better off getting a frozen pizza.
So first of all, what do you picture when you decide you want a pizza delivered? Probably something round, cheesy, hot, and roughly food-​like. This was really none of those things. We got the «pizza,» opened up the box, and literally my first thought was… is this someone’s leftovers? It was this bizarre, somewhat rectangular mass of hard dough and what seemed like string cheese melted on top, that was roughly the size of two normal pieces of pizza. But two slices of pizza that cost $ 17 ($ 13 for the pizza, plus tax and tip). I’m sorry. That’s not what I ordered. I ordered a large pizza. Not the leftovers from someone else’s meal.
So getting past the actual presentation of this thing, I figured you know, we had bought this «pizza,» may as well eat it. I mean, pizza is a pretty simple meal… I’ve had some really unremarkable dollar slices around the city. At least if it tasted okay we could say that looks can be deceiving. But no. This is the first time that I felt that it’s my responsibility to warn the rest of Unilocal about something that’s calling itself food and really probably shouldn’t be. Looking at the three main parts of a pizza:
CRUST — hard on the outside and weirdly chewy in the middle — imagine if you got a frozen pizza and baked it a little too high, so that the outside got a little burnt, but the inside of the crust is still kind of uncooked.
SAUCE — 100% unremarkable. Retrospectively, probably the best part of the pizza because it pretty much on par with pizza sauce from a jar at the grocery store.
TOPPINGS — cheese was a weird congealed mess that yet again reminded me of what I expect from a frozen pizza, not an actual restaurant. Pepperoni was utterly unremarkable and overcooked to the point of being completely dried out.
After finishing the «meal,» I realized that I honestly would have been happier ordering Dominoes. At least the pizza wouldn’t have looked like someone’s leftovers, and it would have been the size of a meal, not two slices. And any pizza in New York City that is so terrible that I would rather get Dominoes should be ashamed of itself.
I will never ever come here again, and I will warn anyone in the area who mentions pizza to go anywhere but here.

After spending 3 nights out eating at different restaurants we tried this advice from a friend and it was amazing! Nice relaxed staff, good food, good drinks and a romantic place to be. Both me and my brother left the building VERY happy. I will definitely come back whenever I have the chance. Probably one of the best all around bars I’ve been to in NYC. If you are in the mood for a cocktail and want it done right, then this is the place to be. Perfect bar, outstanding cocktails. Tell the bartender the kind of liquor and depth you like and he’ll make a recommendation that won’t disappoint. Doesn’t get too crowded, great cocktails and not loud enough to disturb a conversation. We will be back!
Oh yeah. and try the Ginger Smash!