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Categories: Restaurants, Lounges [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Theater District, Hell's KitchenDo you have a holiday venue booked yet? Social has private party rooms for your event!
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50th St-8th Ave (C, E)
50th St-Broadway (1)
49th St-7th Ave (N, R, W)
Mon-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 3:30 a.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 3:30 a.m.
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Social is socially acceptable in my book.
Despite what others said, the food isn't that bad. It's bar food people! I hope you didn't come here expecting a gourmet meal, unless your idea of gourmet is cheeseburger and fries, which is fine by me. I don't judge ;) The service wasn't bad or slow at all. I got my drinks pretty quickly. If you're that impatient, walk up to the damn bar and order you own damn drink. Shish!
Social is spacious, with multiple levels. The noise level dies down a bit the higher you go. On the 3rd floor, there's a patio for all you smokers out there. There's enough TV's where I can pretend I'm watching the game when I'm really just checking out the girls ;). The drinks aren't ridiculously price, which I can totally appreciate.
I don't usually do recaps, but I'm gonna take a shot here. If you want a cool bar to chill for a while, give this a shot. Folks here are pretty chill, and when you have booze, you'll almost always have fun. Wow, that wasn't that bad, or was it?
Social Bar is definitely the most friendly bar within a 5 block radius. I guess that's why they called it Social. Social occupies 4 floors in a building each with a slightly different layout, but with its own bar. Since it's so big (vertically), this place is great for planning private parties.
So here's my take on Social:
1) During the weekdays, it's an after-work bar. Lot's of suits here with the I actually saw a famous person here one night, who happened to be wearing a suit, after work...
2) During the weekends, it's a tourist, sports bar.
3) If you order one menu item, try the sliders.
4) Ask for the beer specials, they have one every day of the week! $3.50 beers, anyone?
5) Good availability of barstool to table and chair ratio.
6) The staff here is friendly, compared to the other bars nearby. (I will not name which ones.)
7) On occasion, they would hire a deejay to spin music over the past 25 years. Yay for Gen X, Gen Y's and 20 something people!
8) Lastly, they'll change the channel if you ask. I tried several times and they did!
Have fun!
Social was cool, I went there last night (Sept '09) had a good time with friends .
My friend was having a get together for his lady which was nice, tho i don't think I would go back just to randomly party.
There wasen't much diversity there and the music was eh, but got better towards the end of the night.
The good thing was that they didn't bust my balls about wearing a hat or sneakers. I hate when these glorified sports bars and lounges won't let you in if your not wearing fuckin' roach stompers.
I've been here on two separate occasions. The first was for a friend's birthday on a Saturday night. Even though he didn't reserve the 3rd floor loft, our group almost took it over. I say "almost" because there were only about 10 of us. The music didn't reach up that level. It felt more like a waiting area with a bar one flight down. Drinks are pricey and strong.
The second time I went (also on a Saturday night), the upper floors were closed off so everyone had to gather on the first floor. The music was good but a dance floor would have been perfect.
A solid three stars here.
I came for a party, where the fourth floor loft was rented out. It's a nice space for ~40 people. However, it overlooks the third floor, which was incredibly loud.
We had one waitress come up to the fourth floor, who was pretty good at coming by often.
The crowd here seems to be of the old frat boy scene. However, if you bring a big posse, it'll be what you make of it.
Fun Place
When I went here, the place was packed. Service was OK, by crowded bar standards, but sometimes one thing can ruin a bar. In this instance, that one thing was that they were apparently going through glasses too quickly to have time to rinse the dish soap out of them. Dish soap really ruins a drink.
Also, who serves a Jack & ginger with a lime wedge in it? If you think that my drink needs a lime in it for me to drink it, that means you think that one of us F'd up. Either you think that I ordered a drink that I don't like, or you think that you made it wrong (with dish soap in it).
By the way, the place was packed to the point where it was virtually impossible to move, yet somehow had almost no attractive women.
There was no cover, though, and I don't think they charged extra for the dish soap.
Good choice of beers. Surprisingly good sliders, fries and 'wings'. Lots of screens to watch sports. If it's not too crowded great spot to catch a few drinks on the way home. Put it on the list.
Allow me to dissect Social on two different levels: why it offends the senses in general and why is specifically offends me.
All too often people use the term "vanilla" to describe something that is bland. Personally, I like vanilla and even if I didn't, the adjective does nothing to relay to the user the sheer vapidity of this dump. Social is just a hair too polished to be a neighborhood dive bar and too much of a dive bar to be a reputable place. It's the pub equivalent of a paper clip; utilitarian but nothing thrilling.
The service here is pretty unreliable. I can't tell if it's because the servers/bartenders are washed up off-off-off broadway actors from the theater district or miscreant overflow from the Port authority but it shouldn't take nearly that long to get me a beer off of the tap on an empty Friday night. I mean, pry your chubby fingers off of your t-mobile sidekick for 3 minutes, look up from what I'm sure will be an unsuccessful eharmony-date and get me my drink before the 2012 Mayan doom prophecy rolls around.
The food here is just beyond crap. Its like crap ate crap, crapped out the crapped crap, tossed on some cheese before passing it through an old-person's fart, covered it in rotting chives and served it with disdain (I didn't like the food is what I'm saying there).
The atmosphere here is so desolate that you can actually hear your own thoughts of regret echoing off of the emptiness at the bar seat next to you, while the neighborhood junkies tie off in the women's room. It's like solitary confinement but with overpriced drinks and an equal chance of getting involuntarily sodomized on the way out.
For those reasons alone I would never go back here but now let me tell you why I, personally, hate this place.
My wife left her sunglasses here, not to brag, but they were nice sunglasses that I bought for her. She called the next day and spoke to a girl who said that they found the glasses and that they were being held for her in the manager's office. When my wife went in there the and spoke to the manager regarding the previous conversation, the manager informed her that there "was no conversation that he knew of" and that the glasses were gone(because to his knowledge they were never there!
Now shitty service I can handle, rude bartenders and watered drinks overlooking the Port Authority I can live with, but flat out lying, thievery and incompetence are just too much.
Let me say this about Social, if I were to walk by this place and it was burning down to the ground, I would smile to myself because a) there is some degree of karmic justice in the inverse and b) it's likely the only way you could actually get a hot meal from this dump.
There's nothing really wrong about this place, but not really anything special either.
It's conveniently located near the Port Authority, yet not on top of Times Square, so it's got that going for it. $3.50 bud/light bottles during happy hour is straight biz for the neighborhood, but it's a very buttoned up happy hour crowd (dare I say even bordering on anti-Social??), and I can't really tell if anyone (besides me) is ever having fun (although Jenna W. seemed to be swaying pretty good until David G. bailed her out the other night).
Lots of TVs, good apps, and they've got shots named after the Yanks and Mets (and although I have no clue what they are and can probably assume they're gross, I have a bad feeling both sets of NY fans are going to need lots of them to make it through the '09 season).
I'm yet to see the rooftop lounge, so who knows, maybe there's another star or 2 for them up there when I inevitably end up back here on my way back to beautiful New Jersey.
Nothing special here, sorry to say.
We went here to continue watching the Yanks vs. Red Sox game (after leaving Tonic, one of the worst bars I've ever been to). The place was nice enough - typical beers on tap, but a weird crowd. For example, there was a table of bleach blondes that looked as if they stepped off the set of Rock of Love.. and then the two guys that were persistent on flirting with every woman in the place, including the bartender, who barely acknowledged us because of these two guys. I understand the bartender has to be nice to the skeezy dudes who have nothing better to do, but annoying paying customers who want a beer (or a round of expensive shots) probably isn't the smartest thing to do.
This place was a good standby for us, but I wasn't amazed and probably wouldn't return unless I was in the area and every other place was packed.
Social is great for a group get together on a weeknight. Pre-curtain times (6pm to 8pm) can be a little crowded...but there are many places to sit, a good menu for a quick bite, good prices for the bar (compared to most midtown/theatre district bars) and service that is acceptable.
I'd come here again. It seems a little generic and doesn't really have an atmosphere that you would want to take in and enjoy...but it is good for what it is: a midtown bar with many places to sit and a menu that has basic bar food.
Came across it when i was looking for a place to get out of the -5 degree cold!
Glad i did - cheap drinks, plenty of space to sit down, and a friendly staff. Lots of TVs playing sports if you're into that... Did i mention the cheap drinks?!
Not a bad bar, just nothing too crazy about being packed inside like sardines. There's some decent music thanks to a DJ (although he was tired of requests after a while), and a list that made it difficult to wander from in to upstairs (VIP only apparently party), so we didn't get to see any floor but the first.
Drinks weren't bad, but weren't particularly strong, and shots of vodka - not chilled, that made it tough to drink.
Overall, not a bad place, just needs a bit more, fortunately relatively cheap, and a $2 coat check in the lower level. At least they weren't picky about attire.
ok bar....nothing special. Its pretty spacious. When i went they had 2 levels or so......I just got ordinary mixed drinks, shots were pricey.
It is very clean from what i saw but the seating was uncomfortable. just average
Before Joining Yelp I look this place up on other sites. Yes, I know omg - not joining yelp? I too, am ashamed. It seemed like a nice place....
I decided to meet up with a friend at Social before going to see a show at Wamu.
Elements: A Sunday evening (should that really matter?), It was raining (maybe that should matter)
I walked in and the place was a ghost town, there were about 7 people inside, and that included the staff. I sat down, since my friend was on the way and order a drink. The waitress came over to take my order and I ordered some grub. Wings were 75 cents a piece (only on Sundays) and Calamari. UGHHHH, the Calamari tasted like a tire. Yeah a tire, because it had no taste, and no seasoning. The cheapest thing, the wings were actually good.
The waitress seemed a little ditsy since she placed our food as if it might have fallen off the table. And it took about a half hour to get the check, when again -- only 7 people in the entire place.
I am so-so on going back, maybe because it was Sunday + rain. For now, I have no plans on going back.
Pleasantly surprised by this sports pub - ended up here by accident, and was presented with a $7 sliders platter and $3.50 Bud special. As far as a bar goes, it's clean with a good selection of beers including Guinness on tap, and a full bar if liquor's what suits you. Roof top patio for when it's not pouring rain!
And the food - wow! was not expecting such quality. The BLT came on sourdough focaccia, and the sliders were juicy, flavorful, and overall yum-inducing. but, the real winner was the fries. as others have mentioned, they are awesome! crispy, with a light beer batter and the perfect amount of salt and pepper. absolute goodness.
great service, and they have several tv's on various sports games including American Gladiator, haha.
I wandered in here with a friend after we ate nearby. This is a banker bar/sports bar/ex-frat boy bar. Don't get me wrong, I love sports bars, but bankers in sports bars...n'thanks. It's just too boring, too conservative, too New Jersey for my taste.
On the plus side, it's large, has a big ground level floor, then the "lounge & tap room" on the 2nd floor are a bit more intimate. There's a typical bar food menu and plenty of TVs.
But meh, I dunno...it just feels a little depressing and boring to me. For a similar concept done MUCH better, try Mustang Sally's on 7th around 29th St.
just got back from nyc and we loved this place. Now I am a tourist so if that changes your thoughts on my review..sorry. this bar was clean, awesome door guy, good/affordable drinks, and great music. If you want to sit somewhere where it isn't to loud you can go upstairs but if you want to dance and get a little crazy downstairs is the place to be. We met the manager and he was great as well as the bartenders. I thought it was a good mixed crowd of locals and tourists.
The service is incredibly sporadic and slow. We were served the wrong order twice. All we wanted were turkey burgers, some appetizers, and fries on the side. Simple enough, I think.
The space is less crowded during after-work hours. Maybe a good place to meet up if you need Top 40 hits from three years ago to fill awkward pauses in conversation.
Came back to the city after a few years away with a few newbs. They wanted to do the whole Times Square-Rock tourist thing. Not my scene. I ultimately followed and then went out to Social because it was recommended by a bridge and tunnel friend of the groups. It wasn't bad per se, just wasn't exactly what I'd be looking for in a bar. I agree with previous posters who mentioned a disproportionate girl:guy ratio. Then again, I was with Five guys and 2 girls - so I contributed to that mess.
Overall - I would call this par. If you end up at Social or the many other places that are like this. But there are so many other options - you may as well choose those! (I went on a Thursday night, for the record)
Social is a great spot to go to after work for a great Happy Hour, or even at night with friends. They have a huge menu, with really delicious food (especially the buffalo chix wrap.) There is also a roof top are on the 3rd floor if you want a change of scenery! I have always enjoyed the atmosphere, music, ad the HDTV's everywhere to catch up on my favorite football team!!! The bartenders will even put on any game you request if they can!!! Social is fun, modern, and has pretty decent music to dance to! I would recommend going!!
Fairly good tap selection.
Slightly bitchy female waitstaff.
Mediocre food (tried the buffalo wings, potato skins, and nachos).
4 HD TVs
Large space (lots of stairs and levels and sublevels to explore).
Somewhat handsome decor (dark but clean).
Not too crowded.
I think I covered all the stops. Oh, price? Not the cheapest but not bad...party of four came out to $75.
I'd say, it's worth checking out.
A mix of tourists, regular people, and some midtown suits ... interesting and good mix, I think. Really nice and quick bartenders, and pretty cheap beer.
Sometimes I have a craving for bar food - the sliders and fries were pretty awesome!
Slow service. So-so food. And what the hell is up with the DJ? Knock a buck off each dish and can that guy. I'd much rather have a jukebox than have to scream over the sounds of old-school songs I wouldn't put on my iPod if you paid me. It's a bar, people, not a club, not a lounge. Adding a DJ doesn't make it hip.
No reason to ever return, but it gets two stars since it was actually better than the first place we tried.
I booked a small birthday party here (about 20 people). Obviously we weren't enough of a crowd to take up an entire floor, but the woman I made my reservation with told us to get there early and we'd easily be able to take over some space for ourselves.
She was right: we were there in plenty of time to claim the little upstairs loft area of the third floor, and it was a perfect space for 20.
The three stars in this review, though, are for the roofdeck, the multiple levels with different vibes, and the nice loft space for small parties. Social doesn't get any stars for service. We had to resolutely hunt down the one waitress all night (maybe she just didn't like climbing those stairs to the loft), and eventually most of us gave up and just braved the huge crowd downstairs to get drinks from the bar.
Overall, it was a fun party, but chances are I wouldn't come back just for regular drinks.
This place was packed at the front of the bar but actually boasts a lot of space within. If you venture upstairs, you will find a more private space on one side and more mingling on the other. That night, the private space was empty except for a loner dude sitting on the bar table to the right of the stairs (Actually I don't quite understand this. If you head to a bar alone, I figure you'd sit by the bar... why be a recluse all by yourself in the upper area? might as well drink at home then. However when my colleague mentioned her sighting of a drunken lady lying across all 3 bathroom sinks and mind you it was early - actually just 8pm on a weeknight... I started to think that I'd be seeing a lot of weirdos that night) ... anyway back to loner dude... not wanting to disrupt his solitude, we found ourselves a cosy spot for the 9 of us at the back of the bar on the first floor... which I initially thought to be a pool spot (at least from a distance and due to how the space was structured).
As with most Irish like bars, cocktail menus are non-existent. Boo hoo for cocktail enthusiasts like myself. Settled for a not-so well done cosmo. I definitely enjoyed my plain ole coke much better than the cosmo but I reckon the group liked their beers and were happy chugging along. Bar grub was actually pretty tasty. Props to the sliders and fries which were really good. Everything else was aight.
Oh yes, and this bar has a DJ playing mostly contemp and hip hop...
I LOVE THIS PLACE! I decided to throw a huge party (something I'm known to do) and after searching, decided upon Social. I guess since I called well in advance, I was able to reserve a full bar for my party of 20 with a reasonable 2 hour open bar. Let me tell you, nobody left sober that night!
The only disappointing thing was that it took the staff a little bit of time to figure out who was bartending. Other then that, it was a flawless night. If you are looking to have an open bar with a ton of your close friends, this is the place to have it at! Honestly, at first I was not too impressed but after seeing how much fun my friends were having - I was able to relax.
Definitely would have another party there again in the future! Staff was very accommodating!
Not a huge fan of this place, but I think it was more because I was invited to a corporate party here. The party was on an upper floor and after a while there are only so many times I could stand being bumped into. The back bar upstairs was tiny and one could fall asleep waiting for the bartender. One nice quality was that there was an outside deck to escape to and I think there were heaters as well.
ended up here when highbar was closed for a private function. my roomie and grabbed a drink here, but realized we were starving. she really wanted a burger and i was game.
it took us a whole beer to realize that the place served burgers. i know it's called social bar grill & lounge, but it isn't apparent. my roommate went outside to check the sign. no joke! we had to ask the manager where to get a good burger. his answer, "uh heeeeere." he asked if the waitress brought over a menu and we were like noooooo. by the by, these waitresses are digbats. they gave me a guiness with a quarter of head and it was overflowing when it arrived. they did bring mayo and ranch when asked so they aren't completely useless, but one of the busboys brought the ranch.
here's the kicker. we had already asked if the burger would come out in time to make our 7pm curtain. she said yeah, but when we asked to get the check (i had already given her my card for a tab), she comes back without the card. awesome!
we managed to make curtain with 3 minutes to spare, but i will not be back at social.
Pretty disappointing, although there were some definite ups and downs. The prices are pretty ridiculous given the quantities you get, is really the basic problem here. $6 for a 14 ounce beer...well, it's midtown. The calamari and the long islands were excellent, but way tiny, and left me wanting more! Also, the shots were teensy weensy little plastic cups, and when we asked if we could have bigger, we definitely got shot down!
The roof deck is cool, but small, and the crowd was very corporate on early friday. There was also a private party that we somehow ended up in the middle of, and when we decided to be honest and say we weren't a part of it, the waitress refused to bring us drinks. There are way too many good places for me to have to come back here any time soon.
Great place to go for a relaxing Happy Hour or late-night drink spot in HK. It seems there's always a table there and a good crowd. The drink prices are reasonable and the bartenders handle the crowd well.
The crowd tends to be a little young and fratty, not that there's anything wrong with that.
Go for the french fries.
Stay for more french fries.
i came here thursday night and the crowd was so so.
nothing to crazy, a lot of dudes. like A LOT. like more than necessary for the ratio of girls, i think my friend and i were two of the only 5 gals in the place vs like 40 dudes, guys,FYI, this is not cool...music wasn't tight, maybe this spot just wasn't my steez but whatever, i sucked it up and even sat thru a cran and vodka then left to the bar next door. there are mixed reviews and i too also have mixed feelings about this place too so i'm glad i'm not the only one. i agree with dolores, total banker sports bar.
plus, doorman was nice
drink was stiff!
Don't look for anything extraordinary here, the bouncer guy seemed nice, but the clientele is the typical Midtown banker/ex frat boy/creepy married guys/military bar.
It's just like all the other bars on 8th avenue, over crowded, over priced and over done.
And to the person below who said this place is kinda upscale, it's not, not at all. It has an upscale look about it maybe, but there's no dress code or anything , pretty casual and boring.
Open wine and beer bar is always a hit when the boss is paying (sorry to the shareholders). Cool 3-story bar with an rooftop out door patio. Pretty good service and pretty good finger snacks like chicken fingers, quesadillas, and pigs in the blanket. Seriously inhaled 10,000 calories in my one trip.
a cute three (four?) story bar that mixes stiff drinks. music is not club-loud, but still requires shouting and lots of head inclinations and quizzical looks.
third flood rooftop bar was nice, but in the summer, who wants to leave the refuge of the air conditioning to look at the stars? there's too much smog anyway.
kinda upscale, olderish people. kinda last minute decision to come here
had the buffalo chix wrap which was really good. decent beer selection, had a good time. dont know if i'd go back. maybe in like 5 or 10 years when i'm older and wear a suit to work and want to be creepy and hit on younger girls.
Social isn't really my scene, but I can see how it would be for others. In the middle of midtown, you have to expect the touristy, frat-boy element, so if you're down with that, then cool.
I had a guinness which was decently poured, a tad on the cold side. Also had a manhattan that was decent.
Sports Fans:
They don't have the game audio, and can't seem to figure out how to change to HD channels. That being said, they had a good selection of beers, and the atmosphere was rocking. It looked like a chill place to party, but it was disappointing for Sunday football.
Update 6/1/2008-
I went back again on my last trip to NYC, and they had all of the bars open. Same complaints as last time, and the crowd was full of complete D-bags.
Neighborhood: Theater District
Category: American (Traditional)
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Arts & Entertainment
Neighborhood: TriBeCa
Category: Cinema
Neighborhood: TriBeCa
Category: Venues & Event Spaces
Neighborhood: Theater District
Category: Lounges
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