On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: Music Venues, Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesanthome of the Bushwick Book Club, the Tuesday Teacup Open Mic and
freeform booking
Kosciusko St (J)
Myrtle Ave (J, M, Z)
Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
I'm trying not to repeat other reviews, but this bar/venue/whatever is captivating, and is definitely not for everyone. My first visit was around Christmas, and there was a drunken Santa on stage crooning out his ridiculous renditions of Xmas tunes. He even gave me a free CD of his tunes. We sat at the bar, and the bartender was a bit standoffish, but whatever, he (or was he a she?) got us our drinks without a hitch. I like Goodbye, however my friend that I came with absolutely hated the place. So I guess if you can appreciate the absurd, you will like Goodbye Blue Monday.
Note: I do not get why people comment on the hipsterness...yes it is, but shit, if you let crap like that get to you, then you're the one missing out. Who the hells cares? Create your own vibe, dweebs.
I stopped in here on Halloween with my boyfriend for a beer & an empanada before a show at the Market Hotel. The beer was a $5 Yuengling bottle, the empanada was a little bland, and tinier than I'm used to (I guess we're spoiled in DC, empanada-wise). If I came again, I'd get one of the wraps-- either the spicy veggie wrap and the Thanksgiving leftover wrap (turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce).
My boyfriend and I spent about ten minutes trying to figure out whether the decor and soundtrack were contrived or not-- we decided not, but you may disagree. I guess they were expecting slow business on Halloween night, because there was some kind of rehearsal going on. However, the bartender was very welcoming and even had a bowl of Halloween candy on the bar.
I don't know if I'd go out of my way to come back here, but if I'm in the neighborhood again, I'll definitely stop by.
There is a Goodbye Blue Monday in every metropolitan city in America, with its antiquarian-retro-kitsch-yardsale-grunge aesthetic, with its tattoo-eyeliner-bearded-flannel-bleary-eyed-strugg ling-musician behind the counter, with its organic-vegan-microbrew-espresso-live-music-beat-h appening consumption zone. Hipsters everywhere are just yuppies, only with different consumption choices.
And whenever I'm in Minneapolis-St.Paul-Raleigh-Durham-Scottsdale-Mesa , I seek out its Goodbye Blue Monday equivalent because at such a place I am more likely to find the indie-stoner-starving-artist-goth-hipster-freak crowd that I wallow in here in New York, I can thumb through a local zine, and figure out what-if-anything is happening in that otherwise-dreary-suburban-strip-mall-of-a-city that night. I harbor no illusions about my consumption preferences.
But when I'm actually in New York, I can, on any given night, find 219 better things to do than to schlep all-the-way-the-fuck-out-to-Bushwick just to have a beer in the company of the younger brothers of the dudes still sitting in the Minneapolis-St.Paul-Raleigh-Durham-Scottsdale-Mesa cafes.
This place is on the front lines of the gentrification of bushwick. You walk in and are immediately taken back by how eclectic the décor is. Or at least how intensely eclectic it's designed to be. This is the go-to local place for all the hipsters living east of Myrtle.
With free wireless, good coffee, friendly staff, it seems well deserving of 4-5 stars.
I would surely not designate this spot as one habituated by droves of hipsters. I have been frequenting this bar/coffee shop/internet cafe/music venue off and on for two years and not once did I get any attitude from any of the staff or attendees.
While the bands playing in Goodbye Blue Monday are not always the greatest--sometimes they are just plain bad--I have been witness to some fine aural wonders, once or twice.
I appreciate that on their wine menu there are both 'good' white and red wines and 'cheap' white and red wines, and 'better'--or something like that. They have cheap prosecco. cheap beer, and questionable drinks. Also, the food menu is being expanded upon.
There have been several occasions where I have sat with a friend or staff member, chatting and hanging out for hours, and no one gave a damn if I did not buy anything more than a measly cup of coffee.
So, set aside your judgments about if this place is too hipster, or a signifier of gentrification. There are more important things to worry about.
The gentrification station.
Just walking by this place makes me feel like an asshole.
I don't know why other Yelpers seem to dislike GBM so much, because I really enjoyed it! And sure, it was saturated with hipsters, but you have to know what you're getting yourself into, don't you? And where do hipsters who can't afford BillVille live? Yup, you guessed it, East BillVille/Bushwick. You want to avoid them, go live in Canarsie.
GBM is very no-nonsense: dingy seating, tons of quirky bric-a-brac and junk all over the walls, a wine selection that is comprised of: red, good red, white, good white. And let me tell you, the "good red"? Not one I'd ask the barkeep the name of. At least it didn't come out of the Carlo Rossi jug I saw behind the bar. Oh, and they have Sparks too, which may interest those of you who think taking caffeine and EtOH in two separate steps is too much work...
Anyway, I found the place charming and engaging, and the live music we heard was really great. It seems to be a great place to go hear some indie rock and other eclectic music (the final and best act of the night was an incredible group of jazzy-ish, gospel-ish singers and musicians that brought down the frickin' roof!) without having to fight the Pete's Candy Store crowd.
Highly recommended if you're in the nabe and have a hankering for music!
Just wayyy tooo hipster for me, sorry. I get it. It's funky. The music on your mac is rare and really shitty which in turn makes it cool. The coffee tastes like mud, and the beer selection is a step below a high school keg party - which is also apparently cool. And sorry but welding a chair to a vaccum cleaner to a lamp to fan and calling it a sculpture is lame.
Anyways, the people there have always been nice - and its a good place to go chug a PBR if you are running down broadway, escaping from many of the insane junkies in this area ahah. Mostly it's like this freak of nature - white-people-safe-haven-sort-of anomaly that keeps us all interested. Including myself.
I've been wanting to check this place out for a little while since it's a 10 minute walk from my apartment. The walk there is pretty deserted and long, but once you get inside it's got a very warm and Southern feel.
The decor is ultra tacky and run down, but in a fun and artsy way. The atmosphere is really laid back and chill, great music, bands and approachable clientle.
Disclaimer: GBM does not serve liquor. However, Sake, Wine, coffee, tea, soda, etc are all on the menu at a decent price.
Oh, this is the biggest one I ever had! You hear that Elizabeth? I'm coming to join you honey!
This place is not as much a bar as it is the junk shop from Sanford and Son with some inexpensive beer and wine thrown into the mix, which makes it pretty awesome. I am between 3 and 4 stars here. I live nearby, and was happy to find a place besides Life Cafe 83 that I could walk to from my apt and not feel completely out of place or endangered. One of the downsides of Bushwick is that there is little in the way of local bars for those nights you aren't looking to go to manhattan.
I think your impression will differ based on what kind of music is playing when you got there. When we entered, there was a band on stage with an awful singer, a drunk guitarist, and an overzealous (and over-sized) fan club. Had I entered and found a folk singer or talented punk band, I might have given four stars.
Decent enough bar, close to my apartment, the atmosphere is cool and the crowd is mostly neighborhood hipsters, when there is a show it usually get's pretty packed, it's affordable, a can of PBR is $2, a bottle of decent import is $4-5, wine is $5, Sake is also $5. The bar also features free wifi and coffee, think of it as sort of a Cakeshop but in Bed-Stuy.
The downside is that this is not yet a safe area and you get alot of people wandering in asking for change, it can be a bit unnerving.
i drop in there whenever. its like home. food is so-so. Cheap coffee. Really really sweet people. Sort of makes bushwick homey and a bit grounded. Crowd varies with the night. Sometimes nothings going on and I like it, sometimes some goofy wino from the street is in there trying to sell some piece of shit whatever to steve (the owner)... and so its a bit fun... nights can be a bit crazy but theres always the backyard thats more chill...
seeing the random line up is half the fun... even if its just walking in and walking back out...
An impossible oasis in the middle of a not-very-inviting part of Brooklyn.
Once inside, it's chock full o' hipsters, plus memorabilia (most for sale) and random antique/genuinely retro nouns covering every possible surface. Plus: A chubby cat who genuinely grooves on the music and vibe from his perch atop the fridge.
Cheap drinks (beer/wine), plenty of atmosphere, random couches and elementary-school chairs for seating.
So jealous of my friends who live around the corner from this, my favorite weird bar in the city. They can call this their regular- ooo! i've seen great music there, and love the back areas- very eclectic and fun.
oozes atmosphere, and other things
My boyfriend's band played a show here almost a year ago now, and they're hosting Song Fight Presents pretty soon and I'm excited to go back.
This place is awesome. It's part bar, part bistro, part museum, part venue, part store. It's pretty much whatever you want it to be. Their chicken noodle soup is superb, even if a tad ghetto. Coffee, while not the best, is still very good.
The owner is one very rad dude. He'll sell anything for the right price, which, in most cases, is pretty cheap. It's in a not-so-inviting part of Bushwick, but you'd never know it stepping inside. Everyone's really nice and friendly, though watch out if some of the dudes playing are super pretentious. They can be ass hats and the owners so nice that he won't always say no, even if he should. So you do sometimes get some pretty douchy music, but it usually evens out the later it gets.
My favorite part is digging through the vast amount of stuff that's in the space and the juxtaposition items. Why is Batman repelling down a 1930's art deco lamp? I dunno but it's damn fun!
Ok, just moved to this neighborhood a couple days ago. Cable people will be here uh...whenever the hell they feel like showing up. Meanwhile I have to WORK. I found Goodbye Blue Monday and it saved my life. Good coffee, free wireless, all kinds of music and live entertainment, chill vibe, and really cool staff. I've pretty much lived at this place for the last 3 days.
This place is great!
It's like an antique store threw up on the walls. The items are placed in such a whimsical way. Umbrellas draped around the lighting and chairs on the walls. I felt like I should have came an hour earlier just to look at all the stuff and artwork.
The band "Play With Me" invited my friend and I to come to their very first NY show the night before while meeting randomly in the streets.
It was open mic night[which I assume is every Wednesday]--no cover or ID check. Friendly people all around. Some were coloring and other were on their laptops. The bartender was really nice. The tables were a bit crowded and forget about walking space....but that's not something I really care about...just something I noticed.
The sound system was lacking, but I don't know if it's always like that or if they were just experiencing technical difficulties. The band just ended up singing a little louder.
Inexpensive beer and wines[I had some kind of dragon beer that I can't remember the name of]. Coffee served from a huge jug.
Lots of free stuff[like magazines/pamphlets] in the entryway.
I had a really great time here and if you don't judge the place or the people that go[hipsters?! squares?! who cares!] then you will also have a good time.
Good Bye Blue Monday is the Underground's Underground. A place of gestation where for original, powerful music. Hipsters, and artists actually listen to the music here. A place of oddities in the way of artifacts and junk that are strewn all over. Cheap beer, and free coffee. A secret place only those in the know know about and support. A skanky neighborhood. I'll be singing here. Opening for the eccentric and moving ChingChongSong aka Julie and Dan. Come and support this place and the artist that like dandelions, grow admist the asphalt wastelands due to the diasporas born of realestate greed. When we are pushed out of one neighborhood, we create a magical venue like this. Be here. Be a part of this place. COME HEAR ME IN PERSON NOV 20 TUES 8:00pm Luv ya*
the iced coffee is the best thing on the menu. with food (get the leftover thanksgiving dinner wrap) you get chips and an apple...a nice rounded lunch. my favorite time to go is during the afternoon, when there are only like 3 other people. it's easy to talk with whomever you're with when there's less people (and there are plenty of conversation starters glued to the walls! ) wifi, too, quiet web surfing in the afternoon. at night during shows, it gets loud and crowded, but has a peculiar energy. 5 stars if you live within a three block radius.
For being so funky, and always having at least one hot artist sitting around, and having really cheap beer and coffee, free internet, and records and brick-a-brack for sale, and for having seriously good music every night of the week, and having a scary but cozy backyard, Goodbye Blue Monday gets my award for 'Single Coolest Spot in the Five Boroughs'. There you go.
Ok, so this is Bushwick? They seem to think so. I saw a few punk rock kids hanging around somewhere down the street. Maybe I shoulda gone there, but my friends were playing at GBBM (haha), I didn't think it was that hipster or that trashy. Sure, it was decorated in junk, but it was artistically done. I was hoping for a basementier feel, but that's me. $3 PBRs and $4 cups (cups!) of Carlo Rossi. I woulda brought that from home had I known. Anyway, the sound was ok and there was no cover. Can't complain too much, hey?
Really different place...more like a very funky living room. Really great atmosphere. So much interesting junk laying around. You can look around for hours and just contemplate all the stuff. You'll never see another place like it. Slightly sketchy neighborhood keeps the tourists away. No velvet rope here.Adds to the surreal atmosphere. Only locals in the know show up here.
People show up to listen to music...actually listen and absorb. Clientle is critical hipsters, but at least the live original music here isn't a sideshow..which is more than I can say for any venue in Manhattan. And no cover... Owner does great job booking interesting (but not always listenable) original bands regardless of their draw.
Drink selection is quite limited, but this is more than a place to get drunk.
This was one of my favorite places to see shows while I was living in New York.
the only reason i leave a star out is just for the hell of it-i mean there's always room for improvement-why take away incentive!
i dunno what to improve though-great place! only place i've found in brooklyn that is worth driving from sheepshead bay to get to--to sit listen and relax and feel comfortable.
good sandwiches--really!-affordable beer-hi class sodas and sake--sweet staff and always music in front and back of the house in the yard(no cover yet!!)
Steve the owner is a peaceful laid back and non intrusive man who lets the music and the crowd(and it usually is full!) flow as they will.
feels like the east village thirty years ago when it was real --
up goodbye blue monday!
WiFi and 10% Student Discount!
Neighborhood: East Village
Yaya Combo
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - North Side
Category: Music Venues
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - South Side
Category: Music Venues
Brooklyn, NY
Category: Music Venues
Neighborhood: Park Slope
Category: Music Venues
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
Loading...
