Lakeside Lounge
Categories: Performing Arts, Nightlife [Edit]
Neighborhood: Manhattan/East Village162 Avenue B Front
New York, NY 10003 (212) 529-8463
- Nearest Transit:
1st Ave-14th St (L)
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Music: Live, Juke Box
- Best Nights: Mon, Tue, Wed
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: No
- Coat Check: No
29 Reviews for Lakeside Lounge
Love the photo booth, if I was here with a few friends for the night and was wasted I'm sure this would have been the ideal bar companion to capture those special moments. At $4 it's only a bit pricer than the $3 or so you might pay for a strip of photos if you weren't in NYC. The Ms. Pacman game is also a very nice addition to the place. If I went to check out a band I would have just fallen for this place, however I just went to check out the place itself and as there was no live music Lakeside just couldn't stand up on its own. The drink prices were definitely of a NYC nature, the actual bar is extremely small, the beer out of the tap was disappointingly warm, and there just wasn't anything that made me want to stay.
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I have been here many times and have had some odd experiences here. Years ago it was mugging near the booth with some random, a few months ago it was stumbling in here late night for whiskey shots and blacking out - last night was for happy hour with some folks new to NYC! I gotta say, the 2-for-1 is sweet but dangerous! We had many beers, were able to sit on the side room and have some great conversation. The place is the perfect place for happy hour - not crowded, no suits and an overall very unassuming spot. I can't believe this is the first time I'm reviewing this place!
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This place really made us 3 Montanans feel at home. 2/1 drinks until 8 pm. Kate H. ordered a vodka soda-$5 (that's $2.50 each folks). I had a Blue Moon/Hoegaarden, can't remember, love them both, for $6 (do the math, $3 each). They give you a ticket even, so you don't have to get both of your drinks at the same time.
The bar and bathroom were clean, really empty on a Tuesday night, and yes, they do have a photo booth that was in working order.
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4.5 if i could.
photo booth, old school gripper machine, nice crowd, chill mode... very typical alphabet city dive... the only thing i could have used was more character... maybe i was already out of it... but i really liked this place and will go back again.
this place is good for a group of people and you CAN hear each other talk usually....
will come back for live bands and open mic.
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I love bars with photo booths. I do. I love waking up the next morning and finding photos of me and my pals drunk faces stuffed into my bag. Lakeside caters to my photo booth needs, and serves me cheap (by NYC standards) booze.
There's a good mix of patrons. We met a few interesting folks the night I was there, not to mention that no one seemed to mind the group of happy drunk lawyers acting silly by the window (that was us). Did I mention they have a decent jukebox, because they do.
5 Stars for a mostly-working Photobooth
I will forever have a soft spot in my heart for Lakeside Lounge, because (approximately) 18 out of 20 times that I've gone there to bask in the glory of their photobooth, it has been in working order.
I have yet to find another bar in the greater New York area that can boast the same. (If I'm wrong, SERIOUSLY tell me.. I would love for there to be another)
Enid's removed theirs, Niagara's is now digital, Otto's has been working ONCE when I went there but no other time (which sucks, because their background is leopard print- so fun), Union Pool's is terrible even when it claims to be working (pale, streaky, not cute), Lost & Found's was just shut off for no apparent reason when I went there, and I haven't been to Bushwick Country Club but I suppose I should just to cover all bases. (I'm obsessed, okay? I admit it.)
Anyways, every photo taken at Lakeside has been fabulous, and the drinks are strong and the crowd is much more low-key and less "let's go barhopping in the east village and be douchebaggy" than some other area bars.
Resident band The Izzys play the first Saturday of every month to a nice little crowd. I've only been twice, but they're really good and I keep meaning to go back. It's a really intimate performance space - the "stage" is the same level as the little tables and benches around it.
When live music isn't playing, you're still in luck, because their jukebox is awesome.
My one complaint is that the bartenders always seem to have a bit of an attitude problem. They do NOT want to be your friend (or at least not mine), and I guess that's all well and good... but I kind of love bars with friendly bartenders. Plus, I tip those ones better, so it's a win-win situation, no?
To sum it all up, Lakeside is dark and kind of smelly, with strange things adorning the walls, a great sign, a jukebox, a photobooth, and tabletop pacman. As all dive bars should be.
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One of the better bars in Alphabet City. Lakeside is dark and cozy on the inside, with a smallish bar decorated by dim christmas lights, under a cloth-like ceiling that droops here and there, giving you the impression of hiding under the sheets.
The main room is sparse, with only a few chairs, but the back room has a few tables, in front of a stage where bands play nightly. Connecting the rooms is a small hallway which is partly filled by a photo booth that still takes photos the old-school way.
Drinks are moderately priced, but there's a 2 for 1 happy hour on rail and beer daily until 8pm. Come early enough and there's seating at the bar, but later on, the place gets packed, standing room only, when the bands start playing.
My favorite time to go is Sunday afternoon happy hour, when the bar is quiet and peaceful, and you can piss away the afternoon in deep thought, reading the paper, or just looking out the bar's large windows, at the many eclectic East Village inhabitants passing by, and letting time slow to a halt.
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Oh my dear Lakeside. Since the very first week I moved here you've been a steadfast and loyal companion. Your darkness and dankness and beautiful concrete floors and even more beautiful girls and beautiful PBR have brought me untold happiness. Your photo booth has crystallized all of those wonderful, hazy nights on to little strips of nostalgia. Your jukebox is the best in the universe. You are a true gentlemen and a dear, dear friend.
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Five stars. Dive Bar Hall of Fame for sure.
They have cheap drinks AND a photo booth.
Pluses for live music, good jukebox, and Pac-Man.
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Awesome dive bar. I read the reviews and for my one night in Manahattan on my yearly trip east to see family and friends I specifically made the trip to alphabet city just to see what it was all about. The place kicked ass. Killer jukebox although not a lot of stuff on it (most importantly, it had some Yayhoos). I went on a Wed night and it was pretty empty but totally cool. I would love to see some live music at Lakeside. The list of bands that have played there are some of my favorites.
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Great, Great Dive Bar, with an excellent Juke Box. All classic soul and R&B. Need I say more? Well, yes.
Was here on a Sunday, and on top of the great music, there were two for one drink specials. For someone who lives in good o'le puritanical Boston, this is very exciting and who doesn't love cheap booze!
Thankfully, I have friend who just moved from Boston down to NYC, so hopefully I'll be seeing much more of the lovely Lakeside in the future.
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Whenever in NYC I usually end up at the Lakeside Lounge. After the sweet happy hour I dimly recall most visits but I do have one fond memory of being in my early 20s and beginning the end of my first "serious" relationship over drinks here -- thankfully there are photo booth pictures that captured the night. Yes, you may not want to remember some things but thanks to a bar with a photo booth you'll find it hard to forget. Good drinks, good times, good memories...
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This is a definite dive bar. And I really don't like dive bars - but I like this one. It's got a comfortable vibe, the bartenders have always been good, friendly, etc. - and they have a fun photo booth.
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The concept of this place is cool. The decor of this place resembles a lakeside vacation house complete with retro 50-60's ads, pinball machines, jukeboxes. If you went to summer camp as a little pipsqueak you will probably get some flashbacks. Best times to go (as in all places in manhattan) are on any night sun-wednesday. Otherwise you get alot of crowds.
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I've only been here once and it was a quiet Wednesday I believe, but that didn't take away from the charm, or the fact that I know a very cute bartender [Alex? not to namedrop.. muy cute] I made eyes with at Otto's works there but that's another store. Flirtations aside, everyone is very friendly and it's a very chillaxed atmosphere. And hello Pac-Man, there's 1000 reasons in one to go. I need to stop in on a different night though because I feel like it probably gets a lot more festive when there are more patrons/local drunks milling around.
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Hats off to the owners of this super welcoming joint. With a photobooth. 2 for 1 happy hour, good live music, friendly staff. Most importantly, though, they're always hosting fundraisers for something worthwhile... givin' back, ya know?
I don't live in NYC but every time I come to town, friends bring me to Lakeside. It's nice to be in a place where I don't get that outta-towner stare. Nobody makes fun of me for being a dork here!
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I don't know why it took me so long to actually go hang out here. I honestly live right above it. I can often time hear the bands playing there from my apartment on the third floor (feel bad for the guys on the first floor.) I finally buckled down and hung out with some of my friends there the other night. I gotta say it was alright. Some on here have called it a "Dive Bar", I guess so. It's definitely run down looking, but that's part of the appeal. But what I'd really like to talk about is...Irish Car Bombs. I am a wine guy, by all means, but you can't order wine at a place like Lakeside. I mean, you could...but why? So I ordered beer. My friend wanted to do an Irish Car Bomb, I had no idea what this was, as you can tell, I'm not a drinker, at least not that kind. Lakeside seemed like the kind of place you'd want to have one of those, so I thought "Why not?" Well they get you drunk, and fast. They taste awful. Now I know why I drink wine.
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Fabulous dive bar. Live music, kick-ass jukebox, rockin' photo booth. And the 2-for-1 happy hour is a BIG BIG BIG PLUS. This bar has everything, without the pretentious cooler-than -thou hipster vibe. The East Village is not dead yet.
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loooooooove. love at first sight, love at first beer, love at first hilarious strip of photos.
i came here for my birthday with just a few friends. i wasn't expecting live music and sort of hoping for what i heard was a great jukebox, but the band was great. my friends particularly liked the song they sang about loving cocaine. the bartenders are attentive and it never took more then a few minutes to get a drink. the people there are friendly and chill, and quick to strike up a conversation. the photo booth though, is by far my favorite part about this bar. beware that the first flash goes off VERY SOON after you put your token in. we definitely weren't ready the first time! when the strip popped out on the outside the smell of fixer took me back to my high school dark room, and we all poured over the photo with exclamations of "ohh thats so cute! look at your face becky! alysia what are you doing??" i can't wait to go back here and check out the jukebox. highly recommended!
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Photo booth: cool. Ms. Pacman/Galaga: cool. Cheap beer and a neat almost-dive-bar feel: cool. Not so cool were the tunes on the jukebox that were so obscure that we didn't know what the heck they were. But overall, quite a good experience out of the mainstream and away from the hipster crowd.
All the other reviewers mentioned the fun stuff, of course the photobooth. Me, I like to drink here, is that ok to say? I like to drink. Here.
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Lakeside Lounge is a solid go-to dive. They have live music - rock but not hardcore, I guess it could be considered folksy but I don't know if I would call it country. I personally prefer the bar without the music since it's smallish and the live music makes it a bit too loud inside. Not to mention, I'd much, much rather listen to the jukebox here; Lakeside is a bar with soul, quite literally, thanks to the classic soul/R&B stocked (also old-school rock) jukebox.
The photo booth, two-player Pac Man/Galaga video game machine, plus the (as-yet unmentioned by other reviewers) Love Machine are happy extras. [I'm Ardent.]
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I almost feel like this is the quintessential East Village dive bar. Between the cheap rheingold beer and the great live music, Lakeside Lounge is a great place for a night out. Bonus points for the photo booth.
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I am only giving this a 4 because of the photo-booth. I LOVE that photo-booth. And, I think they fixed it up in the past couple of years, because the quality of the photos has gotten better. Old-school black and white photo-booth that you need a token from the bartender to use. I like to hit this place after I have been drinking a bit for cheap beer and drunken photos. And to talk to people. Interesting people come here. I like this place more than when I started this review. I am remembering some good nights. I am in the mood for more photos.
I love this place! It's a dive no question - sticky floors, dimly lit, peeling walls and cheap drinks. But it has charm & a great vibe. The photo booth is fun & only like $3 if i remember correctly. The first pic is always the funniest because you're never quite ready for it. The second part of the bar has a stage which gets too loud (ooph, the band that played there when I was there last was AWFUL) but if you can avoid that, it's all GOOD.
dear lakeside lounge.
i love you so much. i've never been a faithful mistress; often after i leave you i'll hit up 3, 4, even 5 other bars that same night - right there in your neighborhood. but out of all my lower east side lovers you're the only one i remember the next day. the only one i visit on my next trip. the only one that leaves me with the photos to prove it. i'm not saying i'll ever be only yours - doubtless i will continue to slut it up with all the lounges in your hood, but no one holds a candle to you baby. you're the best.
licks and kisses.
m*
p.s. andy is my new favorite bouncer! thanks andy!
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A laid back bar with candles on the tables and nightly music, usually folk/country-ish, that matches the mood. A two-player Ms. Pac Man machine and a photo booth are especially fun after you've enjoyed the happy hour 2-for-1 special. If you get drunk and hungry, you can head to the semi-historic Life Caf right next door.
oh lakeside,
where have you been the last two years of my life? i miss our weekly thursday-night happy hours over the course of 2002-2004. then i up and broke up and you and city for 9 months. sorry for not calling.
i promise i'll be back soon b/c my feelings for you have never stopped. i love you.
mbh
A photo booth, pac man AND galaga, and two for one happy hour at $4. a drink- you can't go wrong. Sure the atmosphere isn't the greatest, but after a few drinks all that dingyness clears right up. Give it a try! It will grow on you.
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