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Category: American (Traditional) [Edit]
Neighborhood: Upper West Side86th St (B, C)
86th St (1)
Mon-Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 4:00 a.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 a.m.
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Good live music, tasty food, energetic crowd. This place gets loud with live music, so don't go if you are looking to debate the finer points of health care reform. This place is a solid option for drinking and dancing.
I came here on a date a while ago, and I have to say that if not for the good company, I probably would have left.
The drinks are so-so, the food tastes warmed up, and the crowd was a bit odd. The music was good though, although it did seem to attract all the unattractive people to come dance in front of the stage (let's keep it real here, no one wants to see that)
The lighting is nice, the service was decent, and the only perk is that it's one of the few bars with live music on the UWS. But other than that, not much to offer.
A few friends are in bands who frequently perform here - I've been visiting for a couple years now. For the UWS, it's not a bad place. The food is pretty decent (love their fries), but the crowd is getting increasingly worse - lots of desperate cougars, lonely single middle-aged men, and drunk B&T bachelorette groups.
But aside from that the thing that really chaps my ass is that the busboys at this place consistently swoop your drink off your table before it's empty. Don't think I don't know why they play this game - they want people to order more drinks, then the busboys come around and grab your drink when there's still a few swallows left. AND I HATE IT. It's like you have to guard your drink. I have it on good authority they do this under direct orders from the management. Not cool.
One Saturday night, all the other 80-block bars were suspiciously empty and/or lame, so when we saw Prohibiton was packed we had to check it out.
I'd heard rumors of 80s dance night and cover bands and was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by Tom Petty, Rick Springfield and Journey.
I'm easy to please, what can I say.
Beers were a standard $6, and I'm glad my friend and I were able to snatch some bar stools because it was crooowded with drunk kids rocking out to the cover band. You can see how this would be obnoxious, but watching from the sidelines was entertaining and kept us from getting too overheated.
The crowd is pretty standard UWS, but we were hit on by a string of Europeans ... and not the cute "ooo you have an accent!" kind. Sigh.
This is the kind of place you come with a bunch of friends to get really, really drunk and rock out like you're from Jersey.
We went to Prohibition last Friday for my GF's bday. She had called and reserved the back room for dinner, and they offered to keep it private until 11pm as long as we had people coming and buying drinks.
The staff was all very nice. The waitress was attentive, willing to deal with us splitting up our check and taking a bunch of different credit cards. We had our own bartender and a waitress for 2 hours which is pretty sweet in NYC if you don't have bottle service. Only strike against the place is that their drinks are steep. 7 bucks for a bottle of Amstel Light? Prices like that pushed us out of there real quick after the back room opened up to the public. The band wasn't as great as they thought they were either.
I have a great time here each time I go (once every two months), but I don't know if I could go more frequently - how many cover bands can one handle? I swear each one plays the same playlist .... HOWEVER, there are epic people watching opps here: the area closest to the bar is PACKED PACKED PACKED with cougars on the prowl!!!
We went here on a loud and crowded Saturday night for pre-drinks. Prohibition was filled with friendly patrons, we chatted with a bunch of random people before the band started to set up. I must admit, I am not a fan of live bands but my friends kept raving about the 80's band that plays here. Being a connoisseur of 80's music I had to judge for myself. OMG they were so talented! I cannot remember the name of the band but they sounded exactly like Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band! I was very impressed! I would come back. (3.5 stars)
Nothing too special about this place. We were here on a Wednesday so it wasn't too crowded or anything. We got a nice booth, stuck with the standard beers they had on tap, and enjoyed the background music of the cover band (they were playing mostly songs from the 90s, and took requests).
It's a nice bar, but I don't think they do enough to live up to the name Prohibition! Listening to U2 and drinking bud light doesn't really remind me of the 20s.
Fun place. I mostly go here because it is local and has a pool table. Live bands do fun covers. I almost want to give it 5 stars because I love it here... but something is stopping me. Not sure what it is.
we went for the first time. we went to hear some music and have a few drinks. it was very crowded, but it does not take much to get crowded....as soon as the bad started, they rocked the joint and you forgot how packed the place was....my recommendation go for drinks and music. we did not eat so i can not comment on the food
I had a great time here last week. I saw an okay (not great) cover band that had a phenomenal bass player that was frankly way too good for his band. Live music is Prohibition's thing, with music played nightly.
The space is tiny, so a lot of people tend to stand by the bar if they dont get a table. if you do get a table, there is a 2-drink minimum per person, which isnt a big deal. i mean, who doesnt have at least 2 drinks? Certainly not this Irish-Catholic lush anyway. There is a back room with another bar and a pool table where you can escape the live music if it's too loud for you or if you feel like engaging in conversation.
Net/net, it's not the greatest place, but if the music is good it can be a fun time and it's worth checking out.
Ok so I would have given this place two and a half star but since I don't know how to do that (can you do that??)so I gave it the benefit of a doubt with three...
Came here on a Saturday night with 4 people around 8ish I think. We got a table to eat first and stay for the live band. It was very squishy. They sat us at one of those half booth tables literally two inches from the table next to us. The food was decent for bar food though. We got mini-burgers and mini-chicken sandwiches which actually aren't so mini as our waitress was nice enough to advise us on. Also some quesedillas and spinach dip and booth were good.
As the night progressed here are the things that were annoying:
a) crowded!
b) we wanted to move to a bigger table because friends had joined us and there was no way they were squeezing in at our existing table, it was kinda an ordeal to move...
c) one rude bouncer with an ego kept harassing my friend not to sit on the ledge of our round booth, even though people were standing all around our table making it impossible to see the band and it posed no danger whatsoever. The "ledge" was against a wall and about a foot high.
For one of my first times out on the UWS, it was a fun enough place to go with friends and drink some beers, however if we didn't have a table I'm sure I would have been annoyed by the crowd and could only imagine what the wait for a drink would have been. My advice, get there early...or late if jumping around to a live band with lots of drunk people is your thing!
Here is the deal with this place: Don't take yourself too seriously and you'll have a really good time.
The bands are cheesy, the patrons can be cheesy, some of the servers don't speak English and there are way too many tables on the floor.
Other then that, the drinks are strong and the food is pretty decent.
That being said, I wouldn't come here before 1AM and with less then 5 drinks in me.
So go late, and bring your sense of humor along.
This weekend I went to The Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival at the American Museum of Natural History -- I know someone who worked on one of the films there -- and we needed a place to grab a bite before.
This place has a great bar with a pool table, clean and not divey, VERY creative name (or, at least I thought so), very nice wait staff, and decent dinner menu.
I had the Organic Herb Chicken with sauteed spinach and mashed potatoes. Nothing like a good home-style meal to finish off the weekend. They also had Magic Hat #9 -- one of my favorite beers.
I was recently in NYC and checked out this place on a Friday night. First of all, it was SUPER crowded. Second, the place was too small for the massive amount of people in the place. As my boyfriend and I squeezed our way thru the crowd, I kept thinking that it had to be a fire hazard with so many people.
The place has live music, which was very cool, but again, it was so packed, I don't know how anyone could really enjoy themselves. I guess if you were drunk enough, you probably didn't mind all the people.
Once we got to the back of the place, we saw an upper level and eventually got adequate seating. My bf ordered 2 mini-burgers. They were $10, which was super pricey in my opinion, but they surprisingly came with fries which made it a little better. The burgers, to my delight, were GREAT! I would have loved to have a larger version of it. My bf also ordered a black cherry mojito. I had a few sips and frankly, it tasted a little like medicine (like a Sucret lozenge). Yea, not tasty although it smelled really good, which was very deceiving. Overall, the place would've been better had it not been so super crowded. Oh and the service (once we got to better seating) was pretty good, especially since it was so packed.
I got drunk here (off 3 drinks). Take it as a compliment.
Haven't been here since sometime in '07 though.
I need to make a return trip.
In my yelp profile, I say that when I'm not yelping I'm walking past any bar with a line or a cover. I sadly had to break this rule a couple of weeks ago when 3 of my friends had a combo birthday party at Prohibition.
It was only about five minutes in line, but I felt like I was going against all my principles. Normally waiting in any sort of line would lead to a 1 star review from me, but a couple of things led me to add a star.
1. The area in the back is actually really good for private parties. We had our own bar and plenty of space for 20-30 people. I would never want to go here on a regular night out, but it's good for a party.
2. The cover band playing that night wasn't all that great, but they played Sister Christian. Any band that plays songs from Boogie Nights is ok by me.
Basically, don't go here on a random night but if you're looking to plan a party and can reserve the back room, it's not bad.
I loved this place! Went on a Saturday and the live band was great, they let a friend go up and sing along with them, they sang to my favorite 80s songs. The drinks were great and the atmosphere was friendly and upbeat. Mingled with everyone in the crowd and found so many interesting funny people. I'd go back in a heart beat.
I love the live cover bands they have every weekend! What a great place to meet friends on a Saturday night. It gets a little crowded in that front room, but if they aren't hosting a party in upstairs section in the back, its a perfect place to get away from the crowd but still hear the music downstairs. I've also heard rumors about their "Tuna Tacos", but I have yet to eat there. Again, a great place to hang on a saturday night!
Very fun place to go with your friends if you are in the 27ish to 40ish demographic to hear live acts play stuff you might have grown up listening to (70's - 80's) while being served by attractive, fashionable, fit ladies. The place can get very jammed on good nights and it's a heck of a good time. It's almost impossible not to meet someone here if that's your bag.
As far as the layout goes, once you enter you are right at the front bar and a small dining area. Across from the bar about 20 feet or so is the stage which hilariously is about the size of a desk from elementary school. In the back there is a nice loungy-type bar. In general it had a slightly upscale feel to it except for the fact that the doorman was friendly. Everyone was rather nicely dressed. The bathroom and coatcheck is down a bunch of stairs and sorta out of the way past the kitchen.
I found Prohibition while looking for a bar/restaurant after work with a friend, and I'm pretty surprised it has such shitty reviews! But, I also must make it very clear, I went here while the sun was still out and the patio was almost completely empty. It was maybe 6:45-7:00.
We requested to eat outside and were seated at one of the tables on the sidewalk, literally in the open spaces between barricades (some old guy hit us with his cane), so then we asked to move to a four-person table. Waitress kindly obliged but said we would have to move if it got crowded, which I thought was kind of laughable seeing that there were MAYBE 10 people inside and no one else outside.
We both had a few frozen margaritas (only five bucks - but since when the fuck does margarita mean martini glass?) I had the mini grilled chicken sandwiches, $10.00, and I thought they were pretty good and the portion of fries was huge. Friend ordered steak frites, $20 (ON ME!), and they were mediocre at best. Stick to reasonable bar food.
Forget the waitress' name already, but I liked her too.
I would definitely go back, but clearly based on other reviews, never at night when the single desperados come out. And for the record, cover bands suck, and seeing one there live would be enough for me to never want to go back, despite those mini chicken sandwiches....
Whoooo ! I only suggest going to Prohibition if you're drunk enough to dance on a chair to a bad AC/DC cover band and yell Whoooo!
So I had a blast, and boy am I paying for it today.
Bring your drinking hat, your dancin' shoes, and your earplugs.
WHOOOOO!
Self-segregator that I am, I don't often find myself in straight bars, but for some reason I was recently here on a Saturday night. My first thought upon realizing I had to wait behind a rope: "Guh? For this?" Clearly I did not have high-apple-pie-in-the-sky hopes.
So, yeah. It was way crowded. I think I paid around seven dollars for my lite beer, which, no. The clientele was a little fratty-boom-batty for my liking. The cover band was loud and "ironically" (i.e., unironically) toolish. And as much as everybody likes to hear the greatest hits of Ratt...oh wait. Actually that's nobody. Ever. In history.
I wouldn't call it a one-star experience, necessarily. If you're hetero, drunk, and just gotta dance to eighties metal covers, by all means go and rock out. I'll be alone in my room rockin' out with a six-dollar bottle of brut.
For that live band in the UWS move.
The only reason this place has not received less than two stars are for two reasons, the live band, and the pool table. This bar is avoidable at best. The crowd usually sucks and is composed of women that are either far too old for you or far too stuck up to talk to you. The men usually wear the business casual on a Saturday night which is just another of many reasons to hate this place.
The drink prices are average and the place is crowded, so if you are stuck in your apartment contemplating suicide for even living in the UWS, then this place might be worth going to...although those three bottles of aspirin and fifth of liquor are looking like a mighty fine alternative right now.
My advice: find a house party in the UWS and hit that up, or just go somewhere downtown...if you live within walking distance and already have a good looking girl on your shoulder than this might just be the place to go...but I doubt it.
I'm not a big bar person but I had a lot of fun at Prohibition last night with one of my co-workers. We just had one glass of wine at the bar around 11pm. There was a great crowd but not overly packed, a semi-corny Motown band was playing but it was so much fun to sing along to songs like My Guy and Heat Wave! At one point I was definitely serenading Nikki, my co-worker. I agree with Inna K., you will have a great time if you let loose and act like a goof for the night.
Has been a long time since I been there. However, never felt like I would never go back or I didn't enjoy my time there. The only con about this place would be, that it becomes extremely crowded for such a small and narrow place. Otherwise, it is a nice spot to visit.
The loud music seems to be a common theme, but it's good stuff so who cares?! There isn't all that much space, so the band is right there when you walk in and everyone is basically standing right up at the stage. Lends itself to an awesome experience if the band is really rockin the crowd (was great when I went there) and the Brobdingnagian acoustics (one of my new fav words) that will make conversations impossible. The drinks were really expensive and I didn't even get a decent buzz going. The best (and only good) reason to go to Prohibition is really the free live music.
The waitress, bartenders, and bar-goers had a good number of attractive members. I suppose it's worth mentioning that everyone there was white (Disclosure: I am white too).
I had such a great time at this bar! They had a great band playing the evening I went, and from what I hear that's a natural occurrence for this place. The bartender and staff were excellent, there is plenty of space in this place too so you're not confined to one area- you can mingle! Also the people who came to this bar (maybe it was just me being drunk) seemed to be exceptionally friendly.. Love it!
Of all the bars that I've been to over the years, I had yet to find many bars that really catered to kind of the attractive single over 30 crowd. Kind of like something out of Sex And the City, an upscale bar/lounge but kinda dirty because they just have those shameless cover bands all the time.
This was it. Like I felt like I was at a Mecca of cougarville. I wasn't complaining at all.
I came for an acquaintance's (I can NEVER spell that goddamn word right, probably didn't get it this time either) birthday party for a round or two before heading over to LIC bar in Queens. It was early, like about 10, and the band was starting to gear up and play some tunes. I walk in, and it's just packed with these 6 figure types who actually found a nice place to meet other similar people. The cover band indicates an ironic musk or a genuine love for Tom Petty.
The problem? As with any bar, but especially with the older crowd, they DON'T KNOW HOW TO MOVE AND SHIMMY WHEN THE BAR IS CROWDED AND PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO GET THROUGH. It's like they think they are entitled to just stand there in a perfectly good walkway/path and not move even though you are staring at them and about twice as broad. Come on people; this band isn't that good, and there's no need to be more frozen in place than a freakin' Chinese warrior statue thingie. Like come on, there's lines of people getting through and you aren't helping by being an asshole.
The prices were steep, I think I paid 6 or 7 for a pint, but this crowd could definitely afford it. It's the kind of place you go, and you're under 30 and that makes you a novelty of sorts. The people were definitely energetic though, and I enjoyed that. There were these two women who were especially excited, they were dancing and I don't think there was any music because the band was about to start but they cut the house music.
The Upper West Side tends to surprised me everytime I trek there, and this was no exception.
A lot of people go here to hear the bands play. We arrived late this past Friday and surprisingly enough, there was no line (sometimes it gets busy with popular bands). A decent cover band was playing and the space is decent. The bartender was attentive and nice. They have an awesome bouncer too... he gladly got rid of the beefcake who was being an a$$ to me and my friend.
Came here on a random Friday night and had so much fun! Definitely go when the band Eastside Mix is there, I think they're there every other Friday - they're awesome! They were playing everything from classic rock to Rihanna, doesn't get much better than that. The crowd changes depending on where you are in the bar and what time it is. We got there at around 11 and it was an older 30s/40s/50s crowd in the front, and 20-somethings in the back near the pool tables, but later on the younger crowd takes over and everyone was dancing up near the band. So fun! But no matter what time you're there, expect a crowd - it's pretty small inside and they pack a ton of people in there. Drinks are a little pricey, especially for the UWS, but you don't pay a cover for the live music so it all evens out.
Prohibition is highly recommend as a one-stop-shop, has live music every night of the week, it's a good idea to call ahead and see who's playing, busy, packed bar scene, wide age range, 20-50, which makes for an eclectic atmosphere to say the least, where else can you meet a mafioso wannabe, yuppie 30 somethings, former strippers, and preppie coeds in one place. Best advice: get there early, around 7:30-8pm, establish yourself at the bar, order the miniburgers, and sit back and wait for the band to go on, and enjoy the show as the night goes on and it gets packed until you can hardly see the band. When your sick of that scene, go to the back pool hall and relax and have a beer and a game of 8-ball. It's like 2 completely different scenes.
One of the worst bars I've been to in a while. I usually don't come up the UWS for a reason. The band was awful and way too loud. It was really crowded with drunk people that had no game and were just bobbing up and down and trying to hit on anyting that walks past. I would just say it was abad night. But I've been there twice. It woudl be fine if if was dive place, but the drinks are really expensive for bad alcohol and a bad atmosphere. Better to go to Loft next door where at least the drinks are worth the price.
I have a good time everytime I go here. I really only go when my friend's band is playing so maybe thats why. If you enjoy listening to live music from the 80's and early 90s you'll enjoy prohibition. They have a decent selection of beer and great mini-burgers. Good place to go on the UWS but prob not worth coming up for if you dont live close by.
Trust me, I am getting up there...but there were a lot of old people in this bar. Too many for my taste for a Friday night. I think I was the only one there that was truly appreciating the Pearl Jam/Guns N Roses/Journey cover band. I guess that's my generation? Something aside from the crowd left that shut-up closet, pack of saltines left open overnight taste in my mouth..........Who really likes to be reminded of a time when drinking was illlegal, anyway?
True Stories From My First Two and Only Visits
Downtowner moves to UWS and is excited about Prohibition from walk-by menu review and venue aesthetics during a tour of neighborhood.
On my first trip to Prohibition, well, let's just dub the visit "The Tartare Strikes Back." The waitress was lovely and skilled, but I'm afraid the food wasn't as fit and caused my toilet unnecessary duress.
My second visit ended in shame as well with a soiling of the crotch area. After dinner and a couple of drinks up the street, my dinner companion wanted to check out the live music. Since my gullet was full, I didn't think there would be any harm in having a couple of cocktails.
Again, the waitress was equally as lovely and equally as skilled and my extra dirty, raunchy martini was so good I, I had a human moment and was actually happy.
The joint is dark and seductive and they place (illegal) candles on the table. The light was very bright and causing discomfort to me and my lady friend so I extinguished the light. Moments later, a busboy relit the candle. I extinguished the flame again. He turned around picked up the candle to light it again and I grabbed the candle and said please don't do that. He's flicking his Bic as I continue the protest and then he makes a move that causes my pornographic martini to land in my crotch. As much as I loved that martini, I hadn't planned on bathing my twigs and berries in it.
I freak out, ask the waitress for the check and her manager comes over and asks me what's wrong, I explain the story and she says it's my fault because he's trained to light the candles and people play pranks and blow them out.
I explained I wasn't asking for any compensation, but I think it's interesting she blamed me for the ordeal.
Cocktails and service are excellent, the cover bands are what they are, but the food and goofy company policies make it unbearable.
No stars for you, but one of Yelp's five flaws is you have to pick a star.
Great live music, playing covers of old songs that you always want to sing to when drunk. Food was OK, but the service was great. It gets a little too young after 11- kind of like a frat party.
There aren't a lot of places on the UES to see live music, which makes this semi swanky haunt worth checking out. It is also not that expensive, and the bands play for free nightly. There aren't many places that can boast that. And they even have a pool table
Great place to have drinks, eat good food and hear great live music. What else can you ask??? Quite a friendly atmosphere. Little bit loud if you want to maintain a conversation, but a great place to hang out and have fun.
Consistently a good time. The drinks are yummy, the food is good, and the live music is unheard of in this area. Always a fun time after a few drinks to break out on the small dance floor with friends or with a date. If you're not into the dancing scene, the pool table in the back is a good alternative.
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