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now this is what i am talking about.
photobooth bar crawl. all of us are squeezed in the back, but the beers were cheap, and even though the ceiling had a leak and it dripped on me, it didn't dampen my good time! the photobooth takes good pics here. not too dark.
come early. it gets really packed.
Totally punk/dive bar.. not really my style but with a photoboot in the back it could be a plus.
It was quiet packed the entrance area.. and once you passed that part.. they have tables in the back like I mentioned.. PHOTOBOOTH YESSS!!
People thought this was:
There are some people I may be acquainted with that never go anywhere but 7B. Having visited them many times at their self-proclaimed home away from home, these friends move about this large dive bar with ease. Floating from Buck Hunter to $5 tall boys at the central bar circle to the sticky plastic booths I can't help but wonder what makes this place great.
It's such a typical dive bar: short tempered bartenders, cheap drinks, gross potties...why here above all the rest? Well, you can always get a drink since the bar circles around and dominates space. You can almost always get a seat with the big bar and booths galore. There's entertainment in the form of juke boxes, pin ball, BH, etc. And really most everyone is just as drunk as you hope to be if you're not yet there.
Simply put, this is a drinking person's bar. They welcome a black out and if you're in the mood for it, they'll make it happen for cheap.
People thought this was:
It's a bit pricier than some of its Alphabet City dive brethren, but there are enough flourishes to make up for that extra buck on your Labatt Tall Boy.
The photo booth in the back is an excellent touch that is guaranteed to leave you scratching your head the following morning. Who are those people, and why is that dude licking my nipple?
And then there is the piece de resistance. The Jukebox. Metallica. Vintage Punk. I could list more, but I'm already in loud obnoxious music heaven. It's the kind of music I'd feel bad about blasting in other joints, but I don't need to worry about it - because Master of Puppets is already playing thanks to someone else's quarters.
So grab yourself a tall boy, cram into that photo booth, shoot some video game deer, and head bang until you get dizzy and puke on someone. Yup. This place is alllllright.
People thought this was:
I visited a bunch of bars during a span of one weekend, and this bar was definitely my favorite.
Drinks weren't too strong or weak, but they were on the expensive side for a bar. It's relatively large inside. The music was at the right volume, allowing you to carry a conversation without yelling, "What?" There are tons of seats, whether at the bar, booths, or table and chairs.
I don't know anyone that calls this place Vazacs, or the Horseshoe Bar. Or Vazacs Horseshoe Bar. It's 7B. I used to live here. I used to love it here. Now when I go in, the crowd is awful and the bartender is horribly bitchy. Perhaps the two are related.
But they still sell a 24 oz LaBatt cans for $5, which is a good amount of alcoholic content for your money. And the pinball and Buck Hunter are free. OK, that's not true, but for some reason someone had put money in both and then walked away. So I played for free, as my friends wondered if I was asleep in a pool of vomit in the bathroom. (And yet no one came to check on me...)
The pinball is "CSI Pinball." It's the worst. I don't understand why people continue to buy pinball machines that are not the Addams Family. That's what we all want. (When I say "we," I mean the pinball-playing public. I speak for them.)
Buck Hunter did not suck. But I sucked at it. I kept shooting the females. I must've been drunk. Or maybe I was just unleashing some pent up rage. Perhaps both.
And that's all I have to say about that.
People thought this was:
A favorite of mine for nearly 20 years. Jukebox, ambiance, and amusing canned beer select make it all worthwhile.
Only disappointment is the encroachment of flat panel tvs playing sports. Bear in mind, I love sports... Just not here.
I remember hanging out at this bar 20 years ago when the crowd was more diverse and clouds of smoke filled the air. I'm glad the smoke clouds are gone, but I miss the crowd. It's mostly college kids and the same middle aged Asian lady who sits at the end of the bar since my first visit 20 years ago. Every so often she'll be making out with a NYU kid at the bar, she must live within walking distance, she's like a permanant fixture of the place. They have a decent jukebox selection and seating can be tight, but I still go there whenever I'm in town and get nastalgic over the good old days of East Village and how it's changed. There used to be a place on Ave. A and St. Marks around the corner called Alcatraz, that was my regular hangout for several years. I think it's a sushi restaurant now. Sad.
Great jukebox - problem is, I was well on the way to getting completely smashed when we got here that I was drinking Miller High Life - the Champagne of Beers! We sat in a booth, drank a couple of buckets of beers, got somewhat annihiliated, and moved on somewhere else (Doc Hollidays?), vaguely thinking that all the bars down here start to run together and look alike.
First bar i ever drank in in nyc, so i'm nastalgic. This place is great: Tall boy Labatt, $10 pitchers of miller lite, Buck hunter, and the bartenders want to get you drunk. C'mon, i dare ya - challenge them...
PBR in a can + Buck Hunter + Naked Photo Hunt + Great juke box + Three blocks from my house = Heaven
People thought this was:
This place is ok. I remember going in here wasted a few times. My friends got kicked out of here, hate it. I dunno why or even how they got kicked out. I remember one bar maid not being very hospitable. The other simply did his job, nothing special, didn't go beyond his duties. They have a round bar, but if the girl's talking to some schmoe, one the other side, chances are real good you're not getting served for a while. They have some drink combos that aren't cheap, are ok....Could be cheaper. They have buck hunter, a couple of other games in the back. Their juke box is amusing. Despite that one weird bar maid, I can see myself coming back here minuse the two friends that got kicked out. They hate this place. I think it's slightly below acceptable. The location ain't bad. Uh.
This is the kind of bar where it's okay to drink alone. I hadn't been to 7B in years, but I revisited it on Friday. Thank God I did, because I have a lot of drinking alone to do.
Upon arriving at 7B, I was thrilled to see that it hasn't lost any of its old school Avenue B charm. It's still dark, kinda dirty, and the jukebox was stocked with Social Distortion and Fear records. They have a Jim Beam and can of Rolling Rock special for $6. I am a sucker for any special that involves a shot of whiskey and a cheap beer. Incidentally, the whiskey shot was the size of roughly 3 regular shots.
There was also a wonderful sheepdog in there who had what I erroneously believed was a ponytail on top of his head. I was informed that as a male dog, he of course does not have a ponytail, but rather a top knot because he is a samurai. I love him. I wish all bars came with samurai dogs.
My original reason for re-visiting this alphabet city institution was that I heard a rumor that they still have a working photobooth. Since photobooths are going the way of the dodo, I couldn't wait to check it out. I admit that I am usually a photobooth purist who holds photobooths to very high standards with specific criteria. Technically, this is not the old-school kind that I love (the strip is too wide) but it's black & white and the picture quality is good and I love this bar so I don't mind at all. Plus, we got two strips of pictures and my friend and I looked good in all 8 pictures, which is rare. I wish I could've just sat there all night by the glow of the jukebox and drank cheap whiskey and listened to old punk and petted Samurai Dog.
People thought this was:
It's still okay, but I can't help but remember when the dudes in ripped jeans would be actual junkies, not some $200-jeans-wearing, sports-on-TV-watching faux-junkies.
People thought this was:
While I was visiting New York recently, this was my favorite bar. I don't know if I would have felt that way if we'd hung out in the front, which was tightly packed with people, but in our booth on the backside of the bar, we had easy access to the bar itself and didn't have to shout too loud to be heard. The booths are very roomy, by the way - we had 8 people in there. It's not quite dark in there and the bar is laid out in the round so you can come at it from wherever you make your base for the night.
The pitchers are cheap and everyone was nice and I liked the photobooth in the back. I was actually surprised not to see more people invading it and taking drunken photos.
I have had two memorable experiences here, and both on the same night:
1) a female friend of mine pissed underneath the table (into a cup)
AND
2) we met Dave Attel (from that T.V show "Insomniac") and he uttered the following unforgettable "compliment" to me:
"you're really hot, you look just like my sister."
(HECK YES!!! I'LL TAKE THAT!!)
other than that, this place is a pretty "run of the mill." Also, it's generally uncomfortably crowded and you have to wait a long time for the bathroom (hence the aforementioned ingenious idea to piss in a cup ).
Good Jukebox though (punk rock, metal, etc.).
People thought this was:
1. I didn't know this bar had a real name
2. I only ever found this bar stumbling home from Sunburnt cow day of drinking aka brunch
3. I like this bar because: buckhunter, photobooth, bean-bag toss and doo dooo dooo doo(trumpets) pinball.
People thought this was:
Haven't been here in over 9 years...spent NYEve of 98-99 here...they had KISS' hotter than hell & van halens fair warning on the jukebox...which works for me.
I have NO idea what this place is like in 2008-09...but if you can go 10 years into the past, you'll have fun.
People thought this was:
Okay, I really like 7B. I've wound up there for the past two NYE nights and it's always entertaining. Yes, it gets crowded (especially on NYE) and yes, sometimes the crowd is weird/douchey/sketchy. BUT the beer is cheap. Drinking is cheap. And that's ALWAYS a good time. We always have found amusing people to talk to/make fun of/be annoyed by while there.
Plus it's very friendly and decked out like a winter wonderland for NYE an they give you noisemakers and have hats and things sitting around. Drop by and have a drink; it's fun, I swear!
Listen, the formula for success is as follows . . .
1. Natural Light Tall Boys
2. Metal, Punk rock, ska, Van Halen on the juke box
3. Beanbag toss video game
5. A bunch of your peoples
Done and done. DONE...throw in a bitchy bartender who yells at customers for having fun, and I'm sorry...best bar ever. Done.
G'night.
Best...bar....ever...
i came here to play horseshoes. they didn't have any. wha tha?!?! oh i'm sorry, pinball does nothing for me.
i hear this bar has many names. i'd like to add one to the list:
douche central.
People thought this was:
"Vito Corleone says hello"
No one calls this fucking place Vazacs Horseshoe Bar, unless you are from fucking Ohio and think St. Marks is really cool.
IT'S CALLED 7B.
Good Jukebox and depending on the night, good to lame crowd.
C'mon this neighborhood has gotten lame...and it's all your fault, you NYU frat fucks with your shorts, caps and flip-flops. FYI: Straight men should NEVER were flip-flops outside. You fucking dingleberries.
________
People thought this was:
After a Library happy hour sesh (http://www.yelp.com/bi...), my friends and I sought, unsuccessfully, to extend it beyond that early hour of 8. We headed first to Boxcar Lounge for their 10pm happy hour deadline, but were severely disappointed to find that theirs also ended at 8 (only Friday and Saturdays, 10pm the rest of the week). This almost raised my ire to the point of lowering my appraisal of that bar to two stars, had not what reason I had leftover after a few heavy happy hour drinks intervened.
So we all backtracked to 7B aka Horseshoe, which piqued our curiosity the first time we passed it on the way up to Boxcar, with its blue and red neon glow emanating from fogged up windows and the friendly voices within floating out onto the sidewalk. No happy hour specials here (well, that we were aware of at least), but we decided to quickly enter a bar before our drunken high ended and the night of drinking became a night of wandering and indecision.
Inside is just what we expected - a half-dive half-sportsbar hybrid. A few flatscreen TV's hang from the ceiling, but other than that, no other sign of modern technology in the old wood-paneled bar. The beefy bouncer at the front door caught us a bit off-guard at first (what is this? Some fancy Midtown lounge?), but after that, we quickly settled comfortably in a corner booth.
7B has an unusual but interesting setup with the bar located in the middle, in the shape of an oval (or "horseshoe"), with bartenders serving drinks in the middle to the surrounding patrons. There's a rusty, industrial feel to the place, with parts of the bar looking like it was put together by patchwork, and a seemingly casual disorganization of tables, chairs, stools, posters, neon beer signs, and beer glasses littered throughout.
The beer selection is plentiful, but nothing out of the ordinary brews found in most bars. They do have pitchers, however, which is not common in this area, and while they are not cheap, there are often specials listed on a chalkboard ($10 dollar pitcher of MGD, for example).
We didn't really have a great time, but we didn't regret walking in either. Later on that night a few girls working for Bacardi or some other rum company came by and dropped off a couple free promo drinks for us (one with Diet Coke, unfortunately), which was nice, but ultimately unsatisfying (what is the point of a free drink if it's not the one you want?).
People thought this was:
My best friend recently moved to Morocco from our E.7th street apt (spit with some degree of force and you could hit the fake snow that coats the windows of 7B from November til March), and in her first salvo home said:
"Morocco is amazing, but Oh! To have someone to go to 7B with (and a 7B to go to), it WOULD be paradise."
It's true. She wanted to us to get matching 7B tatoos (on the bottom of our toes)- and did you know 7B had a logo?
In addition to all the wonderful things everyone says (great selection of beers on tap, just the right amount of grime and spilled beer smell, big buck hunter, and cheap whiskey), I'd also like to add that the ladies room is always really clean, well lit, and stocked with toilet paper. I've even had to stop in on the way home for an emergency pee (and requisite after-shot of jameson) and everyone is casual with that. This IS paradise.
Whether you know it or not, you've been here. This bar has been used as a location for many film/tv scenes including The Godfather and Law and Order.
Empty, the place looks like an old man's bar. Filled with East Village party people and it is as festive a place as you'll find downtown. Great jukebox, decently-priced drinks and a bar that goes on forever so it is easy to sidle up to order a drink.
I think Vazac's has lost a step since their late 80's heyday but it is still a fun place to spend a few drunken hours in Alphabet City.
People thought this was:
I swear I already wrote a review for this joint. But doesn't exist, so apparently, I only wrote it in my head. Fine. Here goes.
As stated by Chris H. http://www.yelp.com/bi... already - the damned skinny Asian beat me to the review - we were disappointed by the fact that the Boxcar Lounge's Happy Hour ended at 8pm. Chris was especially upset - the rest of us were just really cold from all the walking - and he kept saying that he was going to downgrade his rating of Boxcar as soon as he got home.
Yes, we could hear a collective gasp and sobbing stemming from the Boxcar all the way down the street as we traced our steps back to 7B that we passed on the way. Not to mention multiple cries of, "Please, Chris H., don't do it!"
At around 9pm, 7B wasn't too crowded nor too empty, and the vibe was that of casual relaxation - yes, as opposed to tense relaxation - but there was an undeniable sense of Butt-Rock, probably mostly due to the Butt-Rock that was playing constantly.
I didn't get around to checking out the jukebox - which is too bad, since maybe I could have done something about the Butt-Rock - but what was being played was terrible. Yes, I hate Butt-Rock, and if you don't know what I mean by Butt-Rock, then you probably like it.
One of the pitchers we had - Bass - was skunk and we nearly took it back, but by the time we had a 3-1* consensus, we'd already drank half the pitcher, so it was pretty much pointless.
I guess we visited the joint at a funny time of the night, the dead hours between Happy Hour - not sure if 7B does such things, being all famous and all - and the time normal people come out to drink, but the overall impression of 7B was just that of, "Huh, it's not bad. But nothing special."
* Chris H. vehemently denied that it was skunk and claimed that Bass tasted like flat piss.**
** Not a quote.
People thought this was:
7B. Not a bad dive bar just depends when you go.
The pros:
1. Cheap drinks, especially happy hour.
2. Lots of tables to hang w/ a group of friends.
3. Bar is pretty large and is horse-shoe shaped so you and your friends, (or just you --nothing wrong w/ that) could sit at the bar and kibitz with the bartender and still hold a conversation amongst yourselves.
4. Really good jukebox
5. I saw a really cute dog on the bar one time.
I like going for happy hour during the week...
The cons:
1. 7B gets a douchie crowd if you go at the wrong time.
2. It can be really packed with before spoken of douchie crowd.
3. Bouncer can be a snot but then again I'll cut him some slack, he deals with alot of douchie people.
People thought this was:
PINBALL Alert ! ! ! Stop 3...
The third one was a charm tonight (9/18/07). This was the most crowded of the 4 bars I hung out in on a Tuesday night in search of pinball machines. Vazacs has:
Spiderman (see: http://www.ipdb.org/ma... ).
Very good to excellent condition. Very playable. $.75/game or 3 games for $2.00. I met a cool dude named John, who's also a pinball fanatic who told me about Ace Bar (see: ), which also has a couple of pinball machines (Spiderman and The Family Guy).
Tuesday night was the $2.50 Rolling Rock Special (among others on the chalkboard above the bar).
Check out my NYC pinball list here: http://www.yelp.com/li...
pix laters...
People thought this was:
So I was on Jeopardy!
The whole experience was somewhat humiliating, so I wanted to watch my episode surrounded by friends, with plenty of liquor at the ready. Unfortunately I have a tiny apartment an hour's commute from work with a crappy old TV and no cable. The only solution was to bring the party to a bar. And that bar was Horseshoe/7B.
There was a bit of tension because even though they'd told me they'd be able to devote one of their 4 or 5 TV's to Jeopardy!, I showed up a half-hour early to discover they were in the throes of a Yankee game. However, the owner was on hand and sympathetic to my plight (and realized that 20-30 people were about to show up and drink their butts off), so a truce was brokered and we were able to monopolize the back area. I think we might have been out-cheering the Yankee fans, even.
TV, lots of liquor, Big Buck Hunter, a photo booth, and plenty of room for everyone (even when it's crowded, it's not clausterphobia-inducing). They also have a damn good happy hour, and are pleasantly close to Thompkins Square Park. The only thing that causes me to leave off a star is that the surrounding blocks are becoming too gentrified for there to be a really good cheap takeout really nearby. Though Kate's Joint isn't far. And you could always schlep through the park to Hummus Place.
CRAZY CRAZY crowded on the weekends...
but if you can find a table to chill with your friends then its all good..
went there once when there a special on Natty light tall boys...
that was a night i didnt remember.....
its fun pinball machines...
drunk ppl..
a bar shaped like a horseshoe... what more do you want...
.. c'mon... try to DIG it
People thought this was:
Stars missing for the long wait for a drink, and one for the bathroom- the stall door got stuck, and I had to pound and yank it to try to get it open, which led someone to ask me, "You need some help in there?" which is something no man should ever have to hear in the bathroom of a drinking establishment.
Otherwise, it's a damn fine dive bar. Lots of character and dankness, and the crowd didn't seem as cheesedickerous as some of these reviews suggest. A good choice for fans of San Francisco's Lucky 13 & Zeitgeist (but there's no outdoor area here).
People thought this was:
This place was absolutely raucous, and I loved it. We had a group of about 7, sat down, drank tallboys, chugged mug after mug and pitcher after pitcher, and definitely didn't hit on anything remotely attractive. Unless you consider the wall some hot stuff.
I even had a nosebleed here in the middle of drinking my beer. Not to be deterred, I put a hanky up to my nose, and continued to drink. Hot mess right there.
The bar is big and wraps around to multiple sides so its like the center of attention and everybody just comes at it from all sides to order pitchers and keep the party going.
People thought this was:
Spacious, quirky dive bar in Alphabet City. For me, the pinball machine is the main draw, but I also like this bar because it's pretty big, has a lot of TVs, and has some good drink specials during their happy hour. A good place to meet up after work or maybe to pre-game on the weekend. Cool place, but nothing too special.
People thought this was:
Talk about belligerence in Alphabet City...
I actually didn't know this bar was called Vazacs Horseshoe Bar until I Yelped it yesterday and I've been going there for weeks. My roommate and I had just been calling it "7B."
This bar is the quintessential dive bar of the Lower East Side. The barstaff are friendly, the drinks are cheap (both in price and in reputation) and the filthy ambiance is endearing in a way that only a shithole can pull off.
The jukebox is full of Johnny Cash, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Metallica, Joy Division's greatest hits and obscure country, 80s music and indie. It's worth checking out.
One of my favorite specials: $6 for a shot of Jim Bean and tall boy of Rolling Rock.
This bar also gets big ups for having Buck Hunter. I swear to God, I am fully addicted to killing innocent animals now because of entire nights spent pumping cash into that machine. Bonus points if you can come up with a drinking game to go along with it, and don't be greedy: spread the rifle around.
This is hands down one of my favorite spots. No frills, no pretentious crowds... you'll forget you're in the East Village.
People thought this was:
This is dive status at it's greatness. This bar has some not-so-hot, not-so-nice bartenders that only like you after you stay for a while and tip well. That being said the scene usually abounds with good looking women and great conversation. I have been turned down by the just-out-of-nyu yesterday crowd almost too many times to count here but I still go back to it.
The ultimate in places to stumble to after a long night of striking out in the city. Go here, drink heavily, leave inhibitions at the door and you will probably meet new and interesting people...you might even get lucky.
People thought this was:
Video Games and Beer - What else do you need?
That's right. Nothing.
7B (at the corner of 7th street) offers a huge variety of drinks at reasonable, but average prices. The bar is really old and filled with everything from college students to east village elders - even living accross the street didn't bring me in that often, but it's a hip place to check out and play some pinball.
People thought this was:
The frat bar revisted - I wont knock this place completely because some nights all you want is a beer and a wooden bench to chill inw ith friends - but I dont think I can really give this bar anything more than three stars simply because it is remniscent of many nights spent at a similar venue in Boston (Crossroads on Mass Ave and Beacon) - the frat bar of Boston.
The bar is stocked fully with a good selection of domestic beers and also hard alcohol (grey goose @ a frat bar? why not?) Service was a bit slow - they had two bartenders covering a lot of bar space. Overall though - no complaints.
People thought this was:
Gothic Sports Bar. That is what we nicknamed it years ago. It is a bit different in here than when I used to go 5-6 years ago all the time. I guess it is the whole EV that is a little more yuppie-ish or something. Or fratty. Not sure. Anyhoo, I have still had some great times and met some interesting folk here. Though I don't hit it as often as I used to. Music is still pretty fun, though.
The bartender brings her dog sometimes- you can pet him on the bar :) Nice icebreaker for strangers.
I was saying to my friends last night that every time I visit NY, it baffles me how they know what bars to go to, since there are so many of them all over the place and I would be overwhelmed. And yet, somehow we always end up going to 7b...and I like that. This "dive" bar has ample seating, $10 pitchers, and plenty of other beer, including a 24oz. Tallboy of Labatt Blue that stopped me dead in my tracks on the way back to the bathroom - "how much is that blue?" "$5" says the bartender, "SOLD!" (i'm Canadian...) The bar has a very unassuming chill atmosphere and blue flourescent lighting that reminds you that you're not drinking classy, and that's just how I like it. I agree with the bartender situation - they could easily use 3, or just let the busboy serve drinks as well....but with NYC bars staying open 'til 4, who is in such a hurry?
Great place. Lots of beer. Good music and fun times with friends - a great "sit down and pound" place. I"m sure i'll be back again....
2for1 happy hour and 3.50…
Neighborhood: East Village
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