Crocodile Lounge
325 E 14th St
(between 1st Ave & 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003 (212) 477-7747
- Nearest Transit:
1st Ave-14th St (L)
Union Square (4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R, W)
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: No
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Music: Juke Box
- Best Nights: Thu, Fri, Sun
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: No
- Coat Check: No
92 Reviews for Crocodile Lounge
This place is cool except for when its overrun crowded with college students. Free pizza and skeeball rule!
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I came here on a slightly rainy Saturday afternoon with a friend. Honestly, we only came for the skee-ball, and that was fun.
But then...
we discovered that you get a free personal pan pizza with a beer. Nice! Even though we didn't drink (we were there just for skee-ball, remember?), the pizzas looked mighty yummy. There's a little outdoor area attached to the arcade, which is cool because, you know, New Yorkers don't spend enough time outdoors... so how about we kill two birds with one stone and DRINK OUTDOORS! yes!!! good times!
I will definitely be back. Maybe for more than just skee-ball.
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Crocodile Lounge is a great place if you're looking to revisit the glory days of college. The crowd appeared to be mostly NYU students, there's arcades and games in the back, and the best part is that you get a free personal-pan pizza with every beer! Beer and pizza, the key necessities for any college student.
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This place is a little young for me, but that aside it's not bad.
It's a fun, happy crowd. There's free pizza which makes that place great for the end of the evening or when you're low on cash.
It does get packed though. It can be hard to find a spot. It can be hard to get your pizza. You will get knocked around and you will get beer spilled on you.
I've only been a few times and never because I particularly wanted to. I'd go back if and when friends want to go there. But I can't see myself ever really wanted to go hang out there.
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A free personal pizza with every drink you buy?? How is this possible? If this were to happen at a bar in Boston, it would probably be the worst pizza I've ever tasted, but here it was actually pretty good considering it was free. By the end of the night, we had an influx of tickets for free pizza... We couldn't possibly have eaten all of them if we tried. Awesome.
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Interesting mix of people. Not my style. The free pizza tickets if you buy drinks is a great touch though I cant lie. I wish the decor and clientele was less ecclectic and then id say this place wasnt horrible but since thats not the case ill get my pizza elsewhere after a night out.
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It's crowded. It's loud. The bar isn't that quick...
...but you get a "personal pan-sized" pizza with each of the $6 pints you would have bought at any other bar anyways.
Honestly, it kind of makes me feel like every other bar is ripping me off now. Thanks Crocodile Lounge for ruining lots of good pubs for me, solely because they don't feed me for no additional charge like you do.
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Been here once, and didn't have a good experience, but I'm definitely willing to give it a 2nd try as it could have just been a mistake... I ordered a pretty nice/pricey beer and paid for it, but when I got back to my group and tasted it, it was pretty horrible. I really should have gone back and had him give me another (I know my beers). Anyway, the free pizza tastes free, but free is always welcome, right!?
The downside, the back patio closes at 10. TEN! the night still had many hours to go, and they closed it.
okay, but anyway. the pizza thing is awesome. If you're curious to know the pizzas resemble the Gino's or other inexpensive personal frozen pizzas in terms of size. and they're pretty small. I ate two pizzas in four hours. Normally eating two pizzas in any day is grounds for being horrified, but not here. Trust me, with a free pizza with each drink, you'll have a hard time resisting the second pizza.
Other than that, the beer selection is decent, and it's a pretty good place to hang out an eat some pizza.
I agree with Resa about the tip jar shaking. It gets kind of old pretty fast. Especially because I did tip them on my first pizza. and the only money in that jar that he shook was the money I put in there.
despite this, I'm still giving it 5 stars.
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Best place to hit up at the end of the night, when appropriately inebriated enough to really, really enjoy your own personal pizza.
Almost want to take away a star because pizza man kept shaking his tip jar at me. I GET IT, HOMIE! You po'. I'm an intern. I po' too.
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.
I was there today and as always I ordered a macho drink... AMARETTO SOUR.. Yes.. I am strong I drink it on the rocks. Shaken not stirred
Looked around in the dark room and for my surprise.. I saw that the place was full of good looking girls... I was wondering if girls really liked little pizza and beer or they knew that this was a watering hole for guys...Because guys would be attracted to this place like bees are attracted to honey.
So after my first strong sip of amaretto, I got a ticket to go to the back oven and get a pizza from the guys... I almost did a cheerleader dance... but I haven't been in any cheerleading squad so I decided not to run but walk to the back room and ask for my pizza.
Funny enough the preparers spoke Spanish so I started to chat and tried to get extra cheese on my pizzas.. je je je.
I had many drinks a beers and each time the bartender asked me if I wanted a pizza . I don't like gluttony so after my third one I declined to eat more.
I am not doubtful not more.. the mystical place exists : Alcohol, Pizza and good looking girls..
The only thing missing from this place would be that the telephone numbers of the girls were written on the pizza tickets..
the bar is not beautiful but it does its function serve drinks servers are nice.
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Beat the student-rush by coming during the kids' spring break/winter recess, or whenever it is that NYU students are not bursting out of the seams of this little bar. You'll get the attention, space, and (better) pizza that you so deserve. Crocodile Lounge gets four stars then, and only then--otherwise it's a two for this narrow little dive.
Came with a group of people a few times after work, and we always had a great time. As everyone tells you, you get a free personal pizza with every beer, which I thought weren't half bad. Bartenders are friendly and funny; some night has trivia night, which is pretty cool, and in the back, there's a ghetto sticker picture machine, buck hunter (I think), and a skill ball machine. It's not much by any means, but with good company and a few drinks, CL turns out to be A LOT more fun (at a much much much cheaper cost) than Dave & Buster's.
Catch me there (tipsy) and I'll still be able to whoop your ass at ski ball. Really.
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I went here with co-workers after work one afternoon, and it was a very enjoyable experience. We all sat in the back patio area which was very nice and relaxing. You get a free pizza if you order a drink - and the pizzas were decent - and you get a pretty good portion. Really, the pizzas are enough for two people.
I asked a fellow co-worker how they could afford such an enterprise (i.e. free pizza with every drink) and he retorted with, "it's called $7 beers." So, yes, the drinks a bit pricey. My house white wine, which was just "okay" was $8, plus tip: that makes it a $9 glass of wine.
They have a skee-ball area adjoining the outdoor patio deck - which many people seemed to enjoy. The crowd was chill and it had a good vibe overall.
Now, I went on a Thursday at around 4:00pm - and wasn't very crowded (very good thing in my opinion). However, like all else on the this side of town: I'm sure it turns nuclear on the weekends with NYU students. I'm sure I will be skipping it during these times.
Overall - this place is very much recommended!
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I love this place. Cool underground feel. For the most part, I always get a good vibe from the patrons thee too. Seems like everyone in there has their own style so its a good mix of different people. The pizza tickets are great for the end of the night. I wouldnt make this my destination, but I would stop in before heading home.
Overall, its a cool underground vibe with pizza, and arcade games. Who wouldnt enjoy this place?
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I'm basically obsessed with this place. You get a free personal cheese pizza with every drink (you have to pay a little extra to get toppings on it), and for free pizza it's actually pretty good (and big enough to share with 1 or 2 other people). My friends and I are regulars at Wednesday trivia night, and the teams that finish in the top 3 get bar tabs of various amounts. On trivia night, I would recommend getting there early because it gets packed. The patio out back is really nice but closes at 10, and the game room is a lot of fun too. The only downside is that it gets ridiculously hot in the back area of the bar during the summer.
Pros:
1. *Right* across the street from Artichoke
2. Free pan pizza with a beer
3. Bartender dissuaded me from ordering, sight unseen, a really crappy tasting beer
4. Other craft beers on tap are great
5. Free lighter
Cons:
1. Pizza is ok, but then Artichoke is right there
2. Seats are not comfortable
3. Dingy
4. I didn't see any crocodiles.
review 5/28/2008
I.M.Y.
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My friends have been going to Trivia Wednesdays and one random Wednesday night that I wasn't working I came by... it's pretty fun!
Total dive bar, but they do the trivia games from 9:30pm on, and team winners get bar tabs, and a bunch of other shot prizes... haha, so if you have a group of smart/random intelligence kind of friends, come by, but come early cause the place gets mad packed!
Ooh! You buy a drink you get a free personal pan pizza.. haha, yeah, I know, random, but awesome! Haha, so while my smart friends played, I ate pizza! =)
This place is the best. Every time you buy a drink you get a pizza ticket which gets you a free pizza (it's a small pie, but it's enough... and if it's not, drink more beer and get more pizza). The pizza is surprisingly good considering it's free. Hell, I'd even pay money for it. They have an outdoor area, skee ball, a photo booth, and video games. It's perfect.
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Free pizza with every beer....GLORIOUS!
step 1: order from the great selection of draft beers.
step 2: fork over $6.
step 3: make sure you get your ticket when receiving draft.
step 4: proceed to the back of the bar where the pizza station is located.
step 5: drop ticket off in box....get pizza.
step 6: mutilate pizza and beer.
step 7: see step 1
Obviously the pizza isn't great...but it is free (kind of) so who can complain?
This place is fun to start off the night for a free dinner....but not the best to linger or make a night of. I always eat too much pizza if I stay too long.
Make sure you leave the pizza men $1. They will get mad.
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Where else will you be able to get an entire pizza with every drink you buy? 3 drinks= 3 whole pizzas. They have a section in the bar where the pizza guy does his thing and pops out free pizzas with every ticket.
Beyond that, there is a mini arcade with everything from skee ball to a shoot the gazelle game. This is like Chuckie Cheese for adults. Also, a good solution if you are ever broke in NY.
KRIKEE THIS!
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This was a tail end of the night stop for me, sister and a friend so we were pretty good drinking wise, yet we go ahead and get another round in, this was my first time here and I was surprised to see it's true, for one ticket you really do get a full mini pizza that fed the three of us quite well, the fact that we could have gotten two more astounded me, plus the pizza was quite good to
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Okay, let me preface this with the fact that the reason for the 4 stars is bc of the FREE pizza, not because of the bar. The bar is pretty average. Nothing exciting and maybe a little fratty- not a huge fan of the crowd. But seriously how can you beat getting a free pizza with every drink that you order? Free food in Manhattan? This is crazy. And, the pizza is actually good and straight out of the oven. The bartenders are generally pretty nice, so all in all, not a bad spot. Especially with free pizza.
I waited until I had enough time to review both Rudy's and the Crocodile in one sitting to compare two bars with free food.
Now, just to fill everyone in, Rudy's is a dive in Hell's Kitchen that does cheap beer and free hot dogs.
The Crocodile Lounge is not a lounge by any means, rather feels like being in your neighbor's basement. And while that could be a good thing (read: Welcome to the Johnson's), in this case it feels drab.
The clientele is mostly underage NYU kids and skeevy clusters of professional men looking to buy drinks for pretty sophomore English majors. The bartenders look exasperated.
Alright -- free pizza. Unlike Rudy's, which works on an honor system of sorts (1 drink, 1 hot dog) at the bar, the Crocodile's bartender will give you 1 ticket per drink. And the drinks aren't as dirt cheap as Rudy's. And then, you have to take the ticket to the other side of the room (goodbye bar stool...) to pick up your piping hot pizza.
It's not that good. It's mostly crust. There's three square inches of cheese and sauce and a hell of a lot of crust. However, they make it in-house. Major points for effort, Croc.
So that's that. Would I go back? Probably. Would I rather spend $5 on a beer elsewhere and grab a slice of great pizza for $2? But that's New York, baby.
If I was just a bit younger, and just a bit into pizza crust, I'd be there in a heartbeat.
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Recommended for: night/afternoon out with friends, skeeball.
Service 4, Drinks 3, Ambiance 4.
I've heard of Crocodile lounge from friends and on occasion have checked it out. Some of the time, its been overly crowded and just not my scene (more B&T w/massive cologne than my nose can stand); but the other time its got a good crew and of course, I have good friends in tow.
Let me breakdown the awesomeness of Croc:
- Skeeball
- Free pizza with each drink you get
- Skeeball
- Photobooth
- Outdoor courtyard (ok, when warm)
- Free edible and descent tasting pizza with each drink
- Skeeball
I think that sums it up. Drinks are ok, but drinks + pizza makes for happier people. If you are looking for a chill place to hang out with friends and have some good laughs over skeeball, games and then a few blocks from karaoke, I'd say to give Croc Lounge a try.
Sean Approved: Definitely Yes!
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Free pizza pie with each beer you order! It sounds to good to be true! But its not! This is a dream come true!
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It's an OK bar with a decent amount of beer on tap - they have Goose Island on tap! $6/beer - not horrible/not great. But throw in a ticket for a free pizza and that $6 beer becomes a lot more attractive!
The pizza is nothing to write home about but it's free so who am I to complain. It's basically dough, some sauce and a little cheese. It fills the black hole of my stomach so good enough for me.
I'm sure this bar would be a lot more fun if you aren't sitting by the pizza area (way too hot) or if you are in your early/mid 20s.
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Beer and a pizza pie for $6. Too good to be true? Well this is exactly what you'll find at the Crocodile, or its Brooklyn counterpart Alligator Lounge.
However, once a good deal is spotted in NYC everyone is on it. Every time I go to this spot it is obscenely packed. And I've showed up some days at 8pm, some days at 1am. Each time the spot is packed wall-to-wall.
The bartenders do their best to serve everyone quickly, but as in any packed bar it can be slow. Also, I am not sure if they just want to save money or are forgetful, but many times I have to remind the barkeep to give me a ticket for my free pizza. Then, I have to migrate to the back of the bar, pushing past drunk patrons all the way there, to get my pizza, usually served on a scalding hot tray, then carry said tray bare-handed (while holding my beer in the other hand) back through the crowd to my party.
Other than that, it's a great spot to start since you can eat and drink pretty cheap. I use this place as a selling point to get my cheap Jersey friends to NYC. ("Pizza AND a beer for only $6? I'm there!")
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Been here only a handful of times...
It's pretty divey in an NYU-bie way. The bartenders are cool. The policy of one beer/drink gets you a ticket for a personal-sized pizza pie is awesome. Plus you can pay a tiny bit extra and get toppings to the dude in the back. Definitely tip the pizza guy because he is a hardworking mofo.
The pizza itself is okay. It's more like what your mom would have "made" when she stuck Elio's or Tombstone in the micro and hit the "nuke" button. It's good stuff when you need a cheesy-bread bombing after getting bombed!
The bar has sports on the small TVs at the bar, and it has a decent selection of video games in the back.
If you get there early, it has a pretty decent female-to-male ratio before it gets all sausaged up by the suit-wannabes, the untouchable (the nyu guy who can't seem to get a girl to touch them) or the dirty old men (40s/50s+) who try to ply the nubilettes with free drinks. In fact, I got hit on by some altern-ettes the last time I was there. Very cute attempts. Too young. To be in college again...
Minus one star for its way too divey bathroom. Aargh...
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Off the beaten path draft beer available - check
Free pizza with every order of said beer - check
A surprising number of attractive women considering it's a low ceiling-ed dive looking type of place - check
Skeeball - check
Is there any way this place couldn't get a minimum of four stars from a red blooded American male?
I've been to Crocodile several times, most recently being last night for a friend's birthday. It's always a good time. Crowd is generally unpretentious and just looking to chill out and have a good time. I also really like that their beer selection isn't just the standards (I noticed Goose Island, Rogue Chipotle Ale and Dos Equis last night). The pizza isn't the best, but it's good to munch on while drinking, and it's free, so don't complain. It's also the kind of bar that is busier at 2:30 than 11:30, which works for me.
The only thing that bugs me about this place is I know, and I mean know as in I know with every cell that makes up my body, that the Stacker game is completely rigged and I'll never win, but I still play it anyway. Damn you Stacker!
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Hello, thirty, meet my twenties...
I still like to kick it old skool on the d-l. Especially if it means a friend bites into another year and out of town friends are in for another hurrah night in the cit-ayy. Free pizza with each beer??? Werd! Serve me up some of that shizzle! More bones in my pocketz for more beer action! Skeeball and Buck Hunter??? What? Dude, it was a totally rockin' night in the E to the V, yo!
/twenties
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You can't go wrong with a place that says "buy a beer, get a free pie of pizza." Especially when the pizza isn't half-bad. Plus, having a game room in the back has got to count for something. I came here with Timo when he was visiting NY and, I gotta say, I had a freakin' good time.
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This place became a regular hang out. Where else can you buy one beer and get an ENTIRE PIZZA PIE for free! I still have tickets lying around in random purses and clutches for free pizza from Crocodile Lounge! It's a fun place, can get a bit crowded on trivia night, i wish they had more seating though. Whenever I hear that my friends are going to NY, I tell them to come here.
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Had a lot of fun at this bar. Pizza with every drink? Come on, how cool is that? It was quiz night when I was there, so it was a cool way to get people talking to each other. Date had a good time. Will check out again. Fo' Sho'.
Chuck E. Cheese for "adults" - minus the ball pit and florescent lighting.
Sorta feels like you're in a cave, but that's fine. Free (pretty decent) pizza with every drink ensures you won't go home hungry (or broke). Woodchuck Pear cider on tap earns another star from me. Ski ball, hunting, photobooth, all cool. Garden terrace kinda thing in the back if the weather is good and you want to sneak outside and make out with somebody.. orrr just talk.
I've been there twice, once on a (kind of) blind double date and another time for happy hour with some friends from college. Both times it was a good crowd but not stuffy, comfortable, and a really great time.
Also, be sure to tip those poor little pizza guys who slave away all night to feed our drunk ravenous asses.
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to denis k.:
you didn't see any crocodiles?
look up, you'll see plenty.
i love this place.
it opens til 4 and it's a great place for drunken munchies.
plus one of the bartender's real cute.
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Free personal pizza with a beer/alcohol purchase. Need I say more really? Dive bar feel with arcade games in the back. It gets pretty crowded and for good reason. Very low key, go for good times and to get some bang for your buck.
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I am a fan. Free Pizza, a good Juke box, and Skee Ball. I will definitely go back. It was also affordable.
Free small pizza with every drink. Period.
I went on a Saturday, they have $3 Yuengleng draft during happy hours. Thats a four dollar dinner with a drink. Can't beat it.
They have a great selection of beer on tap. Craft Ale Righteous Rye (brewed in Brooklyn, really strong flavor), Stone Smoked Porter (tasted like drinking a fireplace, but some people might enjoy), Honkers Ale (a Chicago ale), Wood Chuck Draft Cider (a ladies favorite and rare on draft), Lagunitas IPA (Indian pale ale), and Croc Lager (which in my opinion tastes like a crappy(crappier?) Bud Light).
They also have Rouge on tap, which is one of my favorite beers and very hard to find, its got kind of a McSorleys taste to it. I was informed by the bartender that for some reason the brewers of Rouge are increasing the price of their kegs by $40 because of a price increase on their hops (which apparently isn't affecting any other brewer). So, he said they stocked up on 10 kegs while the price is cheap, not sure how it'll affect the price or availability of it.
They also have a game room in the back with a $3 black and white photo booth and big buck hunt. Makes for a good time. Also, the bartender was playing good indie music from his ipod.
Everything together, a five star joint in my opinion.
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Trivia night, free pizzas, mini arcade room in the back
This is a pretty cool place. I have been here only 2x though, I will probably go back if I'm in the area. It is really long, but gets super crowded on Trivia night, which is also when they have free pizza. The pizza is a personal pie cheese pizza, no toppings. It definitely is not the best tasting pizza, but not the worst either. Just avoid the crust unless you like huge chunk of dry flour-y bread.
There is also an arcade room in the back. I never actually went in, but I noticed it when I got my free pizza. I will check it out the next time I'm there.
I hate losing, hate it. More than that, I despiiiiiiiiiiiise losing. And even more importantly than that, I despise losing.....to a girl.
But alas, that is what has happened for going on, it seems, 100 games now. I play Audrey in skeeball, and she's pretty much kicked my ass and handed it to me, without even blinking an eye and with a grin from ear to ear. I shoot the balls, emerge with sweat protruding from my forehead, barely breaking a 180, and there's Audrey, sitting with her pinky to her mouth, saying "hi there" with a 300 on the scoreboard. she sucks.
Yet I love this place. Is it because of the fact that they have two skeeball games? Is it because they have Big Buck Hunter? Is it because they have free pizza with every drink ordered? Is it because they have those table top trivia games? Is it because they have a back patio where you can hang, drink beer, eat pizza AND smoke at the same time? Is it because the bartender is beyond gorgeous? The answer to all those questions is a resounding YES. This is just the perfect place to hang for hours on end, and you don't even need to get drunk to enjoy yourself.
PS by the time you read this, Audrey will be wallowing in defeat from my historic skeeball victory. Granted, by the time you read this it will be 2011 but whatever...
EDIT: Audrey just beat me two more times again. I hate her.
EDIT #2: Audrey gave me a +100 handicap. i still lost.
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