02/12/09

Not Only For The Weekend Anymore.

by NameYourMember

The last time I went to Savalas on a weekend, the crowd was cool, the DJ was great the PBR was... $4!?! Needless to say I suffered a little bit of sticker shock, but I paid my $4 and went out for a smoke. Outside I realized I had missed that for a dollar more I could get a shot of whiskey with my PBR. I went back in and after little coaxing, the bartender happily gave me the forgotten whiskey shot for a buck. I have since been back during the week when PBR is sold for a more reasonable $3 and a couple of their pints are only $2 all night. Oh, and ask the bartender what a 'pickle back' is. She'll probably do one with you.

• Pros: cheap weekday drinks, great DJs, dancing, outdoor patio, nice staff
• Cons: loud, packed, hot

09/03/08

Crazy Bouncers, Over-Crowded & Rude Hipsters

by gjashnan

Savalas has always been either dead or way too packed, and the drinks are hit-or-miss, but I have a friend who DJs there, so I've gone a handful of times.

I've heard rumblings of "racism" at Savalas, but I figured it was people reading into things. I WAS WRONG. I invited some friends to meet me there, and they invited their friends. When I got there, we all showed our IDs & walked right in - mostly whites & Asians. It was jam-packed, and people were drunk and rude, bumping into us and our drinks.

Then, the friends-of-friends showed up. They were young Black and Latino men, three of them, dressed "hip-hop." One of them was 12 O'Clock of the Wu-Tang crew. As soon as they walked up, they were told it was a private party, & that they couldn't enter. They were far more polite than the drunk hipsters inside the bar and totally sober. They asked, they pleaded, and 12 O'Clock said he just wanted to celebrate releasing his first album (which had come out earlier in the week). Our mutual friend tried to intervene, and as she argued w/the bouncer, he let more white & Asian hipsters into the bar without a word.

The bouncer kept insisting on the "private party" story, and wouldn't let in the people dressed "hip-hop," while inside, the desirable clientele danced away to that exact kind of music. Finally, after 20 minutes of arguing, these three men cursed out the bouncer & left, as did the dozen of us who were already there. I talked to the DJ, who said that this had happened before. Then, I spoke with the party promoter, who thanked me for telling her and said she would talk to them right away. Unfortunately, she's still throwing parties there, but we all vowed never to go back.

I had a hard time believing what I had seen happen, and then I looked up reviews of Savalas the next day. THEY'VE DONE IT BEFORE. SAVALAS IS STRAIGHT UP KLAN, TRAPPED IN THE PAST. Don't give them your hard-earned money when there's a thousand other bars in Billyburg.

08/17/08

Entitled Bartender Ruins Night

by SpringBreakJake

Since when do bartenders enforce the "leave a tip or I'm kicking you out rule"? If the handsome mustachioed bartender here knew anything about customer service he would have thought twice before opening his mouth and demanding a tip on $4 PBR can, which was $3 during my last visit. What's customer service. How about a sorry you thought that, we've changed a few of our prices update? Inform and engage your customers.

Only in NY do prima donna service staff so often feel that 20% tip is expected. Gratuity by definition, a tip, is never legally required, and its amount is at the discretion of the person being served.

Telling a customer that they are going to be kicked out of your venue as a result of not leaving a tip is absurd. Maybe your team should use all those tips to hire a busboy to clear off all of the bottles and glasses that sit around every table and ledge EVERY NIGHT until the end of the night. Above all else worry about keeping your venue clean and serviceable.

Maybe you should put your back into it, drop your head - make drinks quicker, prep more mojitos, check your back stock and properly stack your napkins, ensure there's soap and toilet paper in the bathrooms etc. then when it comes time for customers to dole out cash drinks a tip won't even be considered it will be delivered.

Get a grip homeboy, you're entitled to nothing. Although, I do appreciate having a trashy go to venue. Thank you for your hard work! Your venue no longer merits consideration.

• Cons: Entitled Service Staff

06/16/08

Frozen Margaritas....

by electro125

I visited Savalas a few weeks ago for a Friday night party. The music and crowd were great. My friends and I had a lot of fun. We particularly loved the frozen margaritas for only $6.

06/16/08

Great DJs

by keith1279

I went to Savalas on Saturday for the first time and was amazed at how good the DJs were--a great mix of Electro, Rock, and New Wave. I'm definitely going back.

06/16/08

Still Love it

by DJ1974

I've been going to Savalas for over 3 years and I still love it. The music is great and the crowd is always fun. And they still have great $3 happy hour specials on pints.

06/14/08

No Hip-Hop Allowed, Only Hipsters

by BrooklynAlien

Don't go here! When my eclectic group of 11 got to Savalas the first person to attempt to walk in was my boyfriend, he's black, 27 and wasn't drunk at all. As he tried to walk toward the door, a tall, white, bald, drunk guy off to the side put his arm in front of him and said "Didn't I just speak to you..." and "Don't make me do something..." I think he eventually realized he was harassing the wrong person, and decided to tell my boyfriend it was a "private party... you can't come in" . We weren't sure if it really was a private party, even if it was the bouncer was still acting rude and disrespectful. I decided to walk in and no one asked me for my ID or anything and sure didn't mention a private party. After Mateo came inside, went behind the bar to get another drink, I went up to him and asked politely why he didn't let my boyfriend in, asked if he thought he was someone else. He said "Nope, its a private party" as I explained to him he was lying, he continued to repeat it was a private party and pointed randomly to his right and said some guy over there was having a private party... and my boyfriend "didn't answer his questions right..." Whatever Lyer!.

Outside another bouncer took Mateao's place, James, a "head bouncer". He let him in no questions, behind him were our two Puerto Rican friends. James, now rude bouncer number 2, stopped them and said "You can't come in here like that." They were wearing clean, new, white T-shirts and jeans, the horrer! I didn't realize we were entering such a fancy place. Dick-head number 2 explained they looked to "Hip-hop" and they had problems in the past with this look, and it's their policy... funny that inside THEY WERE PLAYING HIP HOP MUSIC but you can't look hip hop if you want to get in.

Keep treating your customers and people from YOUR neighborhood horrible. Keep pretending like it's 1950 where you can play music by black people but don't let them in as paying customers. You'll be replaced soon.

• Pros: Used to be a cool bar.
• Cons: Can't go there if your not dressed up or have dark skin.

06/11/07

Still the best

by whatsupny

Savalas has it all. Great service, great crowd, great DJs. I went to Savalas for the first time in 2 years--I just moved back to the city. It's DJ talent is still great.

02/15/07

Just for kids

by lynseyhadwin

Been a couple of times on a Friday night, as this place has some awesome DJs and a dancefloor. But what could be a great place is let down by the staff and the crowd. The bar staff are always drunk, make really lousy drinks, are aggressive and make the prices up as they go along. The owner who makes sure everyone knows he's the owner spends the whole night sitting at the bar trying to pick up every girl with a free drink. The bouncer is equally sleazy and literally grabs girls up, when he's not screaming at people. Kiddy badly dressed crowd who spew everywhere. Try Bembe or Triple Crown instead.

11/16/06

An Amazing Dance Spot

by oddfielder

I walked into this place after a failed attempt to chill in Red Hook. It was already past 2 am and I had low expectations, with everthing in the city winding down early these days. At that point anything with loud music would do. But I was blown away. I'm very picky when it comes to good dance spots. This place was just right. I loved the organic nature of it, the fact that it's small and doesn't have an official dance area and that it's too crowded for you to just do your own thing without touching anyone. It felt like a cross between a dance floor and a mosh pit, with waves of energy exploding in response to the music.

• Pros: It's crowded... in a good way; it's the right crowd and a warm atmosphere