Reeks Underground

A small list of some sweet NYC dives you gotta check out. Mostly in Lower East Side, Chinatown, and Lower East Village area.

1.) Mars Bar- 25 East 1st Street, New York, NY 10003 *

I talked about this place before, still takes top notch NYC dive. A bunch of punks, drunks, NYU students, old gnar dogs, and a cool Juke box. Unfortunately, NYU has bought the area where it’s at and Mar’s drinks prices went up, and the bar may not be around for much longer, which sucks a lot. Check it out while you can, rad! Cash only.

2.) Parkside Lounge- 317 East Houston Street, New York *

This place is a more traditional dive, pool table, old guys getting wasted etc. Still, great atmosphere, nice/cool bartenders, and good music playing. Great atmosphere to just kick it and have a pint. Very laid back and cool spot. Cash only.

3.) Iggys- 132 Ludlow St. New York, NY 10002 *

Iggys was pretty cool, nice atmosphere, prices weren’t bad, and the bartender was dressed like a pirate. $5, shot and beer, very doable.  Though the places atmosphere and location were divey, the people hanging were a little yuppie. Still consider the place a go, a couple bars next door to the place were not so good, they seemed to be places that were very dark and themed like dive bars, but full of yuppies. Cash only.

“..and you know, I actually mostly stay on the upper west side when I’m not in L.A., you know.. higher society, but it’s cool to come down and slum at a dive every once and a while.. yup, just waiting for my friend, he’s the best IP lawyer a dollar could buy..” -Random yuppie at a near yuppified dive bar,

4.) Motor City- 127 Ludlow Street. New York, NY 10002 *

I love this place, so far, still tied with Mars Bar on my favorite LES spots. I’ve wrote a little about this spot before, but it’s worth another mention. Dark, always playin some rock and roll, friendly bartenders, decent prices, themed with cars and motors for seats and decoration. Awesome. Cash only.

5.) Lucky Jacks- 129 Orchard St. New York, NY 10002

This was another one of those “yuppified dive bars”, well I would barely consider this a dive. The place is dark, pool table, decorated with a couple strange framed pictures around the place, and has a large bar. This spot is worth mentioning because they had a free comedy show downstairs, in the small basement which was very cool, and they were passing out free pizza! Cool comedy show aside, the beer was overpriced and the bartender/service was pretty bad. Debit and Credit cards are cool.

Note:// I did not take these photos.