Retroclubnyc — Restaurant in New York

Myself and 4 friends chose to celebrate my friend's birthday at Retroclub over the weekend. We researched the choices and decided based on music that this where we wanted to be. We made reservations and got a confirmation email. We arrived to the club, which to be clear IS NOT A CLUB, at our designated time. This is an Italian Restaurant where someone moves the tables, puts up crappy decorations and pretends to be night club. There was security outside to be expected. We watched a group of women get into the club without ID (not okay) and wearing light up crowns. When our group approached, our IDs were checked and my friend was told to remove his hat. He was wearing his usual simple, no logo, baseball cap. He was told to take of his hat by a man wearing a hat which is hypocrisy at its finest. My best friend suffers major medical issues and his head is covered in scars. He never takes off his hat as it is not comfortable for him and this request is a violation of his medical privacy and protection. He tried to explain his situation but was told the place was "old school" and "men can't wear hats." When we made our reservations, at no point were we notified of this dress code or we would have never come. We walked into the space thinking we could talk to manager and explain the medical issue, but were met by another security guy, also wearing a hat! How can you have a policy that your staff doesn't even follow?! Yet another person approached us and it was unclear if he was a manager or not (later we found out it was the DJ - note to all, do not go dancing at a place where the DJ looks like they could be your Grandfather!) This person said, "If we didn't like it we could leave" and we did!

If you are looking for a great dance night with Retro music, go to LPR on Bleecker for their Saturday Gimmie Gimmie Dance Night! This is an actual club where they know how to treat people right! We told the security guard there our story and he gave us free drink tickets and access to a VIP sitting area. This is how you do it! Amazing evening filled with great music! Place was packed!!!

No need to ever consider RetroClub when LPR is actually doing it right!

Updated 10/25/24 I was on their Instagram and found the attached photo showing a man in a hat! There is no "old school policy" of no hats on men, they just didn't want my best friend, who is black, to enter the club. I amend my review to say these people are racists! DON'T GIVE THEM YOUR BUISNESS! Go to LPR and have a great time where all are welcome, no matter their skin color...

Edited review after owner/manager made me aware of my mistaken notion that the club had 3 floors/ bars/dance floors. I was under the impression that that was the floorplan but I was wrong. Rest of review is an exact representation of our experience.

Again...maybe this was an off night. I am not a hater, and do not "always hate" as manager stated in reply to this initial review (and to every other bad review). I can only attest to our experience which is in contrast to some and in concert with other reviews here.

After searching for the entrance for 5 minutes, we saw a white paper sign with the directions to the side diner entrance scrawled on it in sharpie. We entered into the diner downstairs, paid our cover charge (really?) and walked upstairs.

To say that this place was empty at 12 on a Friday night is an understatement. There were, maybe 25 people. And to be bluntly honest, we almost walked right back down to demand our money back and look for something else. But we didn't. We decided to give it a try.

After paying $52 dollars for 4 drinks in small plastic cups (and one was a club soda!) some of us danced. The night was not getting better. The music was not good. We heard Donna Summer 4 times, Madonna 3 times and when we tried to ask for New Order, it took forever to come on. We enjoyed that song but when the DJ played Kenny Logins...we knew it was definitely time to go. We needed time to find a new place to save our night, albeit $100 poorer and with one less hour to enjoy our night with.

Others may have had great times here so I guess it's hit or miss. It's NYC...that happens. I'd try again based on other reviews if it weren't for the cover and obscenely expensive drinks. I get it. It's Times Square (my first mistake in choosing a place to dance in NYC) but for that price you would atleast expect an actual glass for your drink and something bigger than a juice glass. With such small plastic cups, they could also lighten up on the ice.

The smell of tuna fish and coffee wafting up from the diner below didn't help the vibe either.

Edited: This next part was added after the manager replied to my review so defensively. Now I'm not ever planning to try it again.

Every bad review is replied to in the same defensive manner (and all with the same complaints) instead of respectful deference to our experiences. I manage multiple business SM accounts for our multiple businesses and I'd never reply to a negative review in this way. There is a way to plead your case in response to bad reviews and this is not the...

Do not support this establishment. My friends and I were harassed and verbally attacked by a man who tried to hit on us. We asked him to please leave us alone and he started yelling at us and calling us nasty, misogynistic names. We asked the staff to please remove him from the bar. They said he was just drunk and to let them know if he bothered us again. We insisted that he be removed or that we would be leaving, as we felt scared and violated. The manager then told me he would get him out. Two security officers came over and we explained the situation. I heard the man tell one of the security guards that I was a “b**”. Then the manager came over again and said the man was “a regular” and suggested we move away from him. Again, I refused and asked if we could just get our money back for the cover charge, as we had just entered the bar shortly before the incident occurred. He directed us to a woman working at the front with a cash box. She said that because we had stayed longer than 10 minutes she couldn’t give us back our money. I explained the situation to her, and told her that the manager had assured me early on that he would get rid of him. I asked him directly to back me up on this and he admitted that he had said that. However, the two of them continued to refuse to reimburse us. The woman was very hostile about it and wouldn’t give us any contact information for her supervisor or someone else we could speak to about it. It wasn’t until I finally told them that if they refused to either remove him or give us our money back, I would have no other choice than to call the police in order to file a report. I informed them that what that man had done was a crime, and that it was unbelievable that they didn’t make their customers’ safety a priority. At this, they finally gave us our money back and we left. It was a terrible situation that was handled inappropriately by all involved. I would not suggest coming to this bar, especially if you are a woman, because they will prioritize abusive men over you and...