Drop Off Service
211 Avenue A
(between 13th St & 14th St)
New York, NY 10009 (212) 260-2914
- Nearest Transit:
1st Ave-14th St (L)
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Music: Juke Box
- Best Nights: Mon, Wed, Sat
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Coat Check: No
29 Reviews for Drop Off Service
I've been coming to this place for like 5 years and I love it. If you are a beer drinker and like cool music coming out of a jukebox, you'll be in heaven. It gets really crowded for about an hour every weekend night, but for the most part, it's totally relaxed and hip. Delerium anyone?
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I walked by Drop Off Service venturing to another nearby bar and stopped by later on because it looked like a pretty cool bar. All in all it is. It does get to that perfect level of crowded as Jenny S. points out and the music is pretty decent. My only fault with the place, and its a big one, is that as I went to the bathroom the bartender made a crude comment to my girlfriend knowing full well that I was with her. I know one is not really supposed to Yelp a place mentioning a specific bad instance, but come on how can that not affect my experience. Fire that guy and I'm good.
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I split my time between the Upper East and the East Village equally and, while I don't have a local in my own neighborhood (UES), I do have a local for those nights I sleepover in the East Village.
Drop Off Service is my non-local local for the following reasons:
* Delirium Tremens on tap
* Dogs are allowed in the bar as long as they're mellow
* The music is varied and never too pretentious for my tastes
* Tons of cozy corners or seats at the bar depending on what tickles your fancy that night
Minus one star because they only take cash or AMEX, neither of which is a staple in my wallet.
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Great beers on tap, but I wasn't really feeling the vibe.
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4 stars when its not crowded.......do me a favor and don't go! I love this place at ideal capacity! The bartender (or tendress, she was a lady) made me a delicious white Russian.
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This is the kind of bar I like to hang out in. Even on a Friday night, it wasn't too crowded, and I always could find a place to sit and talk to my friends. I like a place where you can sit down, listen to some sweet music and chill out. The juke box had a commendable selection, with highlights including radiohead, blondie and the sex pistols. the beer selection is fantastic - any bar that has delerium tremens is sure to be a good time.
the crowd was laid-back and interesting, and i just couldn't get over the fact that it always seemed to be at perfect capacity - never overly crowded, but always enough people to have a stellar time. the only con was the bathroom line, but even that moved quickly and made for some interesting fellow bar goer conversation. it seems like this bar is a place where people end up saying "wow, it's such a small world!" because i heard about a bunch of random connections the night i was there. great place for a low-key birthday party.
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I've been to every other bar in the area except this one. Why? I'm not sure; it's one of those bars that because you can see everything from the full windows in the front, you can pretend to gauge whether it's happenin or not. Oftentimes, truthfully, it just didn't look that crowded.
Granted last night there were about 7 birthday parties, including Dave P's. The bar area had heavy flow that's what she said and it was a titch difficult to get a drink but they have a lot of good beers on tap, although none necessarily cheap (why charge a 5 spot for a Bud or Bud light bottle? I feel like I've been to enough places that pride themselves on having a cheap option, this place isn't it). It was crowded enough but you could still walk around, which was nice. There were many ladies who were kinda pseudo hipster, like they dressed halfway there and then realized that they were NYU students so they had to cut back on being "edgy".
We occupied the two spaces in the back by the bathroom. The first, right before you hit the ATM, was not convenient at all. At all. The second, shoved in the very back of the bar, was actually excellent as you see the bathroom line just get incredibly long. It's one of those bathroom lines that extends by a wall mirror so everyone is checking themselves and each other out. There was a cool girl, Jess, who had the whole backward shirt look, kind of like when Celine "i suck" Dion wore that backward tux that one year to that award show. She didn't have a tramp stamp though.
Anywho, the space is very open and it is a sizeable bar that's not cluttered with tables (any seating is in booths which keeps the parties to their areas and everyone else just mixed into the darkness).
In the end though, I didn't think too much of it. If I go back and have a decent time I'll consider it a solid option anytime I'm around there but for now it doesn't move me either way.
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I've been going here for a while now, and it never disappoints. You can never beat mixing it up a little, though.
Last night I decided to start picking beers to drink based not on traits such as typical ones like color...but by the content of their character. (Ba dum dum....kidding.) Yeah, anyway, I started picking them based on the coolness of their names alone. It was fun to sit there drinking a Secret Ale and having my friends ask me what it was:
"Oh, I have a Secret."
(pause) "Okay, yeah, but what are you drinking?"
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Too loud to talk in, okay music, good beer selection (including cask ales, and lots of Chelsea beers), way too crowded at night/on the weekends.
This bar very recently joined the short list of places I return to repeatedly. The decor is typical village bar - non-dive, non-lounge, non-club style. There is a juke box playing popular rock hits from the ages and a great beer selection. You can usually snag a table if you're in a big group as the place never gets too crowded...but it always seems crowded enough to be fun.
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Pros: great selection of beers on tap, plenty of space, good jukebox, low-key crowd. Cons: almost too much space? I was there from 11 to 2 on a Saturday night, and the place is so big that even when there's a solid number of people there, it doesn't reach critical mass. And while I hate sweaty, overcrowded bars, I do like to people-watch, which you just can't do in a bar that magically never seems to fill up. Would probably be a Great place to throw a party, though, since you could totally take it over.
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Loved this Bar. Found it through Yelp of course!
Went during thier amazing happy hour on a Friday night. $3 for most draughs (3 or 4 special ones were $4) and HALF OFF the rest of the BAR from 5-8.
The crowd was very mellow and relaxed, and it wasn't packed at all. My friends and I were able to get a nice booth and could actually hear each other talk and found ourselves singing along to most of the songs on the Juke Box.
Their food policy allowed me to go two doors up to my favorite cheap mexican hole in the wall for $2 tacos and bring them back in to enjoy with my $4 Absolute Ruby Red with Soda and a Splash of Ginger Ale which is my new favorite drink.
My friends were so impressed with me for picking such a cool bar. Thanks Yelp.
UPDATE: went back last night ordered same drink. It was totally weak, tasted of no ginger ale and pretty much sucked.
UPDATE 2: went back again and this time drink was PERFECT!! so I think it was just an off night or off bartender. Reveiw going back to 4 stars
in other news they also got new booths.
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Interesting spot to end up at, considering I started in midtown, but whatev. Nice place, much love to bartender (Mike?) who got slammed and ran around like a lunatic, but remembered my drink and my name anyway! Woot!
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I've been racking my brain to figure out what about Drop Off Service has led me to end up there at least once a week for the past 2 months. Decent beer selection, but nothing crazy. The music's nice enough...your standard EVil indie mix. The atmosphere, at least when I'm there on weekend days, and early-ish in the happy hour, is strictly neighborhood. $3 pints of Six Points Sweet Action are a plus. I would note that during non-happy hours, the beers are $6 and up.
Nothing special, but it works. It doesn't hurt that it's next door to Zaragoza, land of the $2 taco/tamale extravaganza.
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One of the only places to find 1) a cool crowd, 2) a sweet jukebox, and 3) Fullers London Pride on tap. All three make this place a crowd favorite. Sometimes that crowd is suspect but most of the times it's juuussssst riiiiigght.
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1, i knew the bartenders, 2, i liked watching world cup, 3. i met some interesting people, 4. they had a couple beers i couldn't find elsewhere. oh, and when i lived up the street, it was way too convenient.
i agree with the other posters, though. it's always too empty. weird feeling.
if there were more lounge areas that would radically improve the ambiance, but as it is, there's a lot of empty floor space.
i'm not a fan of the owner.
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Among my favorite bars in manhattan. leave your pretense at the door, please. a nice selection of beers on tap without the feeling of beer snobbery from the staff or patrons. oh, and $3 real pints (20oz) from 5-8pm? SIGN ME UP!
Add to it a very nice jukebox, some interesting little areas to sit, great people watching from the bar stools by the windows up front and the ability to bring in food... well... i'm sold. then again, i was sold at the $3 pints til 8pm
Crowd has always been a nice mix of people you'd like to find at a bar in the east village as opposed to those you actually do find most of the time in the neighborhood (hope that makes sense)
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I went here last weekend for the birthday party of a few friends (including my own), and it was the worst bar experience I've had in a long, long time. We didn't have a problem getting the first round of drinks, but the second round was absolute hell. I stood at the bar for at least 30 minutes while the bartender never even looked at me. People were realizing how horrible the service was, so when they finally got her attention they'd order drinks for themselves and 10 of their friends. Unfortunately I'm not exaggerating. What bartender makes a dozen drinks for one person on a super busy Friday night?? Luckily there are plenty of other bars around with good service to go to when the service here is awful.
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The $3/pint Happy Hour has pulled me into this establishment more than a couple of times before and I've always have a good time. They have a great selection of beers on tap and the price encourages you to poke around a bit and try something new.
After 8pm the Happy Hour ends--I've never stayed much later than that so I'm not sure what the night scene is like, but if HH is any indication I imagine it's pretty chill.
Heads up: the service can be slow and, ladies, you will be hit on by the bartender.
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fantastic space, not too crowded and not too many damn dirty hipsters (even on weekends.) they also have fancy glasses for stella. W00T!
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The name of this bar is a tribute to its former incarnation--a laundromat. While it bears very little resemblance to a laundromat anymore, the spirit of such still haunts the place: I had several beers there last night, and this morning I woke up to the faint smell of bleach, with a fabric softener sheet in my underpants. It was weird.
The bar is spacious and welcoming, with some booths along the wall and plenty of room at the bar. It's a great venue for a small party. Happy hour was great ($3 drafts), but prices doubled at the stroke of 8. Friendly staff.
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great selection of draft beer, and super happy hour prices. minus one star for the_ way_too_ loud_ jukebox.
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A cross between an English pub and a German bierhaus, this spot is a cozy hideout from the "scene" of so many other Manhattan bars, yet still retains a definite element of cool.
All 19 beers on tap go for $6, no matter if it's Guiness or Stella, served in a fresh, cold 20 oz. glass. You can tell yourself that you're only going to stop in for one drink, but as I have come to discover, it is basically impossible; each time I go in after work around seven, I find myself stumbling into a cab at eleven wondering where the time went.
Simple candlelit tables, comfy booths and chatty bartenders make Drop Off Service unpretentious and friendly. Order a pint, grab a bowl of the complimentary (and never empty) Chex mix, and settle in for the night.
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Good spot for large groups... Just went with 16 other people here on a Fri night and it was an ideal spot for our hodge-podge group. A little something for anybody: lots of beers on tap, cheap cocktails, booths to sit & relax, back area for more privacy, and a jukebox with some good tunes. A cool and casual, fairly typical EV type of a bar... but nothing terribly special or memorable.
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Not the most original design (esp. as pub-wannabes are concerned), but there is plenty of room to pull up for a pint at Drop Off Service. Good music (although they definitely tipped their head to the former fraternity brothers in the crowd with some of the choices). A good choice for a large group gathering as they have decent square footage.
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this place is alright. it's right near my apt...so A+ for convenience. friendly bartenders and a bunch of seating. always pretty full.
Just attended a party here this past weekend and the place was perfect for the occasion. Lots of room & corners to congregate, good music, and hardworking bartenders. It's a great addition to the EV bar scene!
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we went to this place after reading yelp reviews that led us to believe it would be a perfect place for a large group of people to meet up over the course of a night. we were pleasantly surprised by the cozy atmosphere and the friendly staff. in particular big kudos to the owner martin, and his bartender adam a.k.a. peet.... spelled like 'feet'. thanks for a great night! we'll be back soon.
-a&j
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for my 100th review, i pick drop off service because i had an amazing night here after i had had a pretty rough day. the bar is large, spacious and overall pretty chill. after having been crammed in tight at so many EV bars, it was like a revelation to be able to move around without knocking people over. but the best part was the friendly staff who saw me looking pretty down and went out of their way to make sure i had a good time. definitely will be going back.
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