Every time I come here the staff are very nice and fairly quick. They do kareoke once a week and that's always a good time. For those chill weekdays it's not busy and you can enjoy a game of connect 4.

Nice atmosphere, jello shot after each touchdown (not a huge football games but watch there makes it bearable). Great and cool staff. Good beers.

Great bar in a good location with a nice selection of draft beer.

Super nice bar to hang out at. Great food and prices. Relaxed and easy going. Karaoke most nights as well. Go get involved you won't regret it

Fair priced drinks and great for a company ot friend get together. Really fun for the themed nights. Went out one friday and it was karaoke night and it was really nice to be able to have a drink, dance, and sing our hearts out.

Went on NYE for a Bar Crawl. Waitress was amazing & gave us extra jello shots for free after she forgot to bring something we ordered. Jello shots were amazing!

Great service and a lovely atmosphere. JP runs a great bar! The grilled cheese, burgers and fries are amazing. I always have a great time at AWOL even in the time of Covid!

A nice neighborhood bar with good board games! Has a very old school charm. They have karaoke on some nights and some really loud singers frequent here 😀 a great place overall!

Great sports bar with lots of TV screens, a decent crowd, a very nice crew and the occasional karaoke event. Haven't tried the food yet, but from what I saw on the table next to me, it looks tasty.

Great bartenders that go above and beyond. Good prices for the area. Usually come here for drinks and karaoke on Friday’s. Recommend if you’re in the area.

Dive Bar but better. We passed 5 bars packed and came into this bar. Food was great, drinks were awesome. Games out to play, like 4 square, Jenga, Rock em sock em robot....

The bartender was amazing, gave free shots to the whole group. Had an amazing time, drinks are reasonably priced. Had a wonderful atmosphere

Funny and chilled crowd - great late night place

Nice atmosphere. Great cute fun bar to visit if you're in the area! Good bartender too.

Paul and Jason were the best bartenders. They made out experience exceptional on both nights we were in New York.

I adore this place. What a great atmosphere - it's one of the best dives in the area. The prices are great, the bartenders are friendly AND they have tons of board/party games you can play. It is quite intimate, so I wouldn't recommend rolling in with a huge party, but my group of six fit comfortably in a booth in the back. Check out their karaoke nights - definitely entertaining.

Such a fun place!! Its always live and busy during the week and big on karaoke 🎤 . Also has that sports bar feel and upscale atmosphere. There's tons of lights fog and bubble machines make it a ton of fun to sign and dance.

Great new bar on the east side! I have been a couple of times and the experience just keeps getting better. I went first to meet some friends and catch a football game. The place was rock'n and the food, drinks and service was great. Everybody there seemed to be having a great time. I went back a week later on a night out with some friends and it was even better. The music, food and drink menu are all great. It doesn't matter if you want to chill with friends or talk it up at the bar this place delivers on so many levels. Definitely check it out.

Lights! Karaoke! Action! Always fun to hear people who couldn't carry a tune in bucket sing! Perfect jello shots. I don't know how they get them so perfect. Have a great time and remember to tip your bartenders!

Really cool bar with a nice emcee. The best part is that, with each drink you buy, you get a karaoke ticket. Oh, and don't even THINK about trying to get in with a fake because they are really good at checking IDs.

Great bar for Patriots fans. Free jello shots every time they score. Drinks and food bar are about what you'd expect from a bar, but it's the atmosphere during game day that makes this a fun place to be

I wandered into AWOL this past Thursday in the midst of a dude where’s my car moment (in this case it was my hotel that was lost-my phone was dead) and a very kind non-judgmental bartender helped me out, just wanted to say thanks. I hung for a bit and eventually found my way back to my hotel (which was half a block away, lol). Thank you mystery bartender, for not making it more embarrassing than it already was. 10/10 would recommend. ;)

Super cool bartender (and thick accents certainly never hurt). Gave us lots of cool places to visit. He and this really cute girl a little further down the bar were flirting it up when we left, I hope that worked out for them.

I love the place, I love the vibes, i didn’t like the fact that they have a menu but they don’t have food 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Amazing vibes! We slipped in here after a comedy show to finish out our night. It was karaoke night and it was off the wall. The drinks were great and the vibes were immaculate. I’m happy we accidentally found this place.

Nice friendly, cozy bar. We went here on Thanksgiving and they made us feel very welcomed and we felt free to get a few drinks and spend a nice evening. We had cocktails and they were good. Would come back.

My girlfriends and I are in NYC for the weekend and we wanted to go somewhere where we could sing and dance our hearts out. AWOL did not come up in our google search for karaoke but luckily a friend recommended we stop by and check it out. The atmosphere was amazing, the drinks reasonably priced with great service from the bartenders and of course the karaoke and subsequent dance party made our whole trip. We came two days in a row because we didn’t even want to bother with any other bars or clubs. I cannot recommend AWOL enough.

Excellent vibe, low-key and fun place with surprisingly great burgers! Highly recommend!

Exp based on st Patrick's day visit It's a karaoke bar! We didn't know that going in. They also didn't serve food today. All they had was liquor and vibes! It was soooooo fun! We got Hella drunk and just enjoyed singing along with everyone! Will definitely return! Drink review Apple jello shots - full of liquor and delicious! Strawberry margarita - a bit too limey for my liking Tequila sunrise - a bit on the sweet side but still really really good (just had it back to back)

Sean Cunningham

Best karaoke bar I’ve ever been to. My friends are regulars and I’m glad they introduced me to AWOL! It wasn’t too crowded, it was super cozy inside, and the drinks weren’t too expensive. I found it to be a great experience. It’s one of those places where everybody knows everybody by the end of the night.

Rebeca Paredes

Had a great time on Halloween with the karaoke, they have a ticket/ per drink system where it's also a ticket per singer on stage. Not bad prices and good drinks

Ash N. Smith

Super fun karaoke spot in grammercy! The best part is the crowd. They want to sing their hearts out and pick great tunes! Absolutely one of the top karaoke spots in the city !

Darius Guerrero

This place is super awesome, the AC was very cold. The vibe is super fun and our bartender Inna took great care of us!! Stop by if you wanna have the best time of your life!!!

David Strassburger

Not only did I have the best night ever singing and dancing with the nicest strangers, i also lost my passport and just picked it up today (two weeks later). Awesome service, awesome people, can recommend everybody traveling solo wanting to meet cool people.

Katherine Oswald

Went here for st.pattys day. Atmosphere was amazing. Very clean bathrooms. Readily have water available. Nice songs, (even if vocalists suck you don't really hear them) it was a very fun time!

Danelis

I saw this place on a friend page and love it so decided I should pay it a visit. I went with a friend who was visiting from out of town and I loved the vibe, service, food and the music. It’s a small restaurant but it has a great service. I would love to go on a more upbeat night and would definitely go with a bigger group. I ordered a regular cheeseburger, nothing special but was I wrong about what I expected. This burger was one of the most juiciest and complete burger I’ve had in awhile, the fries where delicious with a sprinkle of black pepper. I just feel like the patties could of used just a little bit more flavor but I still enjoyed every bite of it and finished it (something I don’t usually do). The only thing this place is missing is more advertisement and a better website. I would definitely recommend this place and if you’d like to go with a group bigger than 4 people, call ahead to make sure there’s a table available.

Young K

Super fun atmosphere and bartenders are very kind! Love the music choices too from alt rock to house music. Great hangout spot after work. 🎸👍🏻

Great happy hour prices at $5/draft. Cool bartenders too. Ask for Paul, very knowledgeable sport enthusiast

Small, friendly bar. Good nachos. They have some games to play like Jenga and Connect 4. Lots of karaoke.

I usually have fun at this bar. I’ve noticed them over charge my card so now I try and pay cash when I go.

Good ambience.. A small place with a lot of games to play. As Reasonably priced as any conveniently located pub in NYC. The nachos were great!

Great karaoke spot! If there isn’t any karaoke happening then it’s a pretty standard bar otherwise.

This place seems like it has potential as a neighborhood dive bar. Unfortunately for me I went on a Monday night. Monday nights are The Bachelorette nights there. OMG. If this is your thing, then this is your place.

Decent bar with a great happy hour menu for drinks. The food was okay but not worth the price.

Chill spot if you need a quick pint.

The staff is really nice, and if you have the desire, there is sort of enough run to dance in the back depending on how crowded it is.

Dive bar trying to be something more. I wouldn't recommend this place if people are asking for great bars in the area, but I always stop in if I'm passing by.

Decent little bar, plastered with televisions. We went for a Game of thrones viewing party, but I imagine that's not their usual fare. Even for a week publicized event, it was pretty quiet of a Sunday afternoon. Good nachos.

Lit up karaoke spot with a stage. Drinks get you songs. Can be rowdy or quiet depending on the night.

Came here to watch the Game of Thrones Season 8 premiere and it was so much fun! The bar has a cool vibe and the drinks are pretty standard.

Stopped in here before a show at The Comedy Club. I thought my Stella was kinda skunky, would prefer cans. Wasn't too busy around 10pm on Saturday. Glad they had "Love Shack" by the B-52's. I came back later and it was way too packed, I ended up leaving. Would come back again when its less busy, lots of positive vibes!

Great little neighborhood bar. Loved the mugshots of famous celebrities/people outlining the wall and the military memorabilia hanging from the ceiling. Definitely gives you that rebellious vibe. The drinks are reasonably priced even when it’s not happy hour. The Matcha Shot was certainly a unique drink I haven’t seen elsewhere; wasn’t able to ask the bartender what was goes into making it, but it was great nonetheless. The only detraction from the bar was the sound mixing for karaoke. My friends and I were excited to learn they had karaoke; but once the first person went, we could barely hear the voice of the person singing. If the person managing the karaoke is able to fix the audio mixing issue, it would make the experience much better.

Solid karaoke bar with reasonably priced drinks. Gimmick is you buy a drink you get a ticket to sing. It's small so it can get crowded but a fun spot.

As I was walking on 3rd Av. Looking for a less crowded and less noisy bar this one seem just right for a date or a meeting with friends and have some fun. The laid back casual bar is excellent for a quiet evening in NYC. The chairs facing the sidewalk was for me the perfect spot to have a conversation while getting the fresh air of NYC, did I said fresh air? Yes! The night had a great weather. This bar has the Presidente beer which is the top beer for the Dominican Republic it was recommended to me by the other customers sitting by the bar, how cool is that? ;) There are many more fun and cool things about this bar and the food menu seems really tasty which I didn't taste this time, that's why I am keeping it at 4 stars.

Fun place to sing Karaoke! It is annoying though that you have to buy a drink for every time you want to sing. Also BEWARE: they add gratuity to your bill without telling you. So your total already includes tip.

Pretty solid karaoke bar. Their selection of songs is huge. The beer selection is decent and I haven't tried the food.

John

Classic karaoke bar with chill vibes. Be ready to sing and dance. Near Baruch. Fun place in kips bay

Steph W

Fun place. Spacious. Alcoholic drinks give you 1 ticket for karaoke songs, 1 ticket per person if singing together. Regular soft drink is $5, $9 well drinks, $5 jello shots. Some songs will get rejected for being too slow-paced, while others would not. BE AWARE: 20% gratuity already included on tab.

Glenn

Fun karaoke bar that we accidentally stumbled upon on a Friday night. No cover! Cheap drinks! Hilarious karaoke by anyone and everyone. Only negative is that it’s a bit hot inside. But the fun atmosphere and hilarious decorations of celebrity mugshots made up for it.

Nice local bar. Wings are good. Beer is cold. Wait staff was very friendly

Okay place for a drink but they automatically add 20% gratuity which I missed. I ended up tipping 15 dollars on a 35 dollar tab not realizing as I was in a rush. I was never told this at the beginning and the receipt was quickly taken back. Otherwise it’s a reasonable place for a drink or two.

Decent beers and chill vibes. Bartenders were fun, but the crowd is mostly college students

Great staff except for the dude who runs the karaoke booth. Never met a more miserable person working at a karaoke bar, and I’ve probably sang across 15 countries at this point. “Alex” you don’t have to bring everybody down if you don’t like your life, just quit instead of killing everybody’s vibe.

I had a good time. You have to buy a drink to sing karaoke, and there’s a two drink minimum. When I went it was really crowded and the wait to sing was super long. If you can maybe go on a weekday or earlier in the weekend to avoid a long queue

Justin Hayworth

Fun karaoke bar and neighborhood eating hole. Cheap drinks and Jell-O shots. Unfortunately, the karaoke DJ on Saturday night was a total jerk. Refused to play requests for classic rock, so instead it was endless Taylor Swift and similar. Also called out some guests for being off key and terminated their song early. Not cool!! Just let the patrons have their fun…

I’ve been coming to AWOL for at least 2 years now, since I moved to New York from Boston (probably more than 2 years). Been there since Hector was the karaoke DJ and now Eliza and a DJ I don’t know the name of that DJed Saturday night (1 AM 3/9/2025). When I came in I found it odd that I couldn’t really hear singing from the back like I usually could. You could sometimes kinda hear 1 girl but I heard the dj singing the most. For some reason this DJ keeps muting the mics of the people singing and unmuting his. Pretty sure no one is there to hear him sing and are there to hear their friends singing no matter how awful or great they are. This was not how I remembered awol to be. I guess don’t come on a Saturday night if you’re looking to do some Karaoke. The bartenders, drinks and everything else was amazing as always though!

Just bad. Impossible to get a song to sing and the karaoke bouncer/person that " guards the stage " gropes and attacks women.

charged me $7 for water

Poor manager! You seen my car it has no TLC plates so now your lying. I was with my mother Smh. Food&customer relations Disgusting! Never spending here again. Three things any successful business should never refuse to give a person (not knowing if they have been a customer or not). #1 never refuse to give water #2 never refuse the bathroom #3 never refuse to help or offer help to someone who comes in. These are basic human needs! Driving in traffic down 2nd ave being very familiar w/ the area I turned down the street to use the bathroom. I walked in politely and asked if I could use the bathroom although I was not going to patronize this evening. The manager told me NO. I was turned away as he said He’s never seen me before the bathroom is for customers only. What does it mean to be a customer - buying something in the moment isn’t the definition. He assumed I’ve never been a customer (he’s wrong) or he thinks all black people look the same ?!??!? Then he continued to explain how they have a problem with herion addicts. So he’s never seen me before or he just didn’t like my lumber jack button down shirt and boots today ??! I can see why they only had two customers - the nerve to turn away one because I didn’t want to buy a bottle of water to use the bathroom tonight. Managers response as you can see still very rude to someone he can’t prove was never a customer. All you’ve done is insure everyone who reads this will think twice.

They refused to play songs we requested. They yelled at my friends for the requests they made and they cursed them out. They refused to talk to anyone. It was incredibly immature as a business and it was frustrating to receive such utter hatred and have no one to talk to. They wanted us to bribe them to sing a song as well in addition to buying a drink.

A strange smell, plastic drink cups, surly service at the bar, a totally out of if dude running karaoke and a stolen bag/ computer was our first and last experience here.

Cute bar; nice lighting. Drinks are not great. Servers are not very friendly or welcoming. Could be a great place but is subpar as a whole. 3/10

No food available Didn't even see anyplace to sit down or tables to put a drink on

I’ll never come to this bar again. We paid good money for our drinks but the blonde DJ refused to play our song “Marvin’s Room” by Drake for karaoke. It’s one thing to tell us “hey we can’t play your song of choice” it’s another thing entirely to waste our time and take our money. Steer clear of this bar. Plenty of far better spots in Manhattan of all places.

Bartender very politely told me I couldn't use the bathroom unless I bought something. I can only guess as to why they only had one customer during happy hour, but it might be the friendly lack of hospitality. I asked if there were any places I could use a bathroom without making a purchase, and she said, "No." I went next door, and the barIsta let me use the bathroom for free. When I came out, I got a coffee. It was delicious. Don't go to AWOL.

Bartender was really rude and 20% tip was included automatically (BEWARE, CAUSE THEY STILL PROMPT YOU TO TIP IN THE COPY YOU NEED TO SIGN). I got a drink only to get a song ticket and after 1.5 hours didn’t even get to sing even though the bar was empty

karoke guy is an not nice. I don’t use that term lightly - my friend group are the only ones here and won’t let us sing because we are “bad” everybody at karaoke is bad, it’s for fun laughs and being with your friends. Ridiculous and rude. Takes the fun out of karoke! Clearly their comments on the other reviews proves they are not a serious establishment and thinks it’s funny to “clap back” and be “sassy” what a joke…

the karaoke is fun don’t get me wrong but the older tattooed bartender is mad rude. threw my card back at me after his coworker corrected him… edit: it seems i’m not the only one who had a bad experience with this guy 🤷🏻‍♀️

One of the worst places! Worst watered down wine, even beer tap was questionable. They give a ticket for Karaoke 🙄. Worst was the bartender woman - just horrible!!!! DO NOT GO HERE

The dude who hosts their Tuesday karaoke is so rude and, mysteriously, seems to hate karaoke lol.

Horrible service, bartender didn’t even want to make us drinks. How do you not want to do your job? Terrible outdated decor and very old karaoke system. You better spend your money anywhere else. Avoid this place at all costs!

AWOL was our favorite bar in NYC. We’ve been going there for years and love how laid back and fun the atmosphere is. Part of the charm was how you could get up on stage and have fun with the crowd. They have recently hired a new DJ and she completely ruined the vibe of the whole place. Rude, commanding, stiff, militant, and bitter. It’s almost as if she doesn’t want people to let loose have fun there. Unfortunately we will have to find a new favorite karaoke bar to call home.

I walked in feeling nostalgic after a few years because its where my partner and I first began our love and was met with an unpleasant experience. The tall bartender with the ball cap was rude and dismissive. We ordered 2 drinks and he put an auto gratuity on our tab even though it was not disclosed to us before hand and only presented on the check. Typically an auto gratuity is reserved for parties or 6 or more. This is an industry standard I mentioned this to the bartender and he argued, And did his best to gaslight me. (I've worked in the service Industry for over 10 years and this was wild to me ) I mean I guess at the end of the day its his loss because I was going to tip over 100% until his attitude chimed in. This places service use to be better . I still had fun regardless of the attitude. The environment still just as pretty in there I just miss the good service that use to be there (Also see pictures to see how the owner treats one star reviews. This was on someone else’s review ) The law has these requirements for auto gratuity First, businesses must disclose their automatic gratuity policy to customers in advance. This can be done on the menu, on a sign at the entrance of the restaurant, or verbally by the server. Second, automatic gratuities cannot be used to reduce the minimum wage that employers are required to pay their employees. Finally, customers are not required to pay automatic gratuities if they are not satisfied with the service they received. However, they may be asked to leave the restaurant if they refuse to pay.

Courtney

This place is terrible. I had back surgery so I have trouble standing too long and was very relieved to get a stool in the corner to sit down for a bit. Until the bartender (John) pulled it out from under me while I was still sitting on it. I tried to explain that I had back surgery and really needed to sit and his response was 'then don't ever come back here on a Friday or a Saturday night'. I was horrified. I won't be back here on any of the other days either.

Art

Bouncer positioned near the stage threatened us around 11pm after not moving out of the way fast enough for him. We were just trying have a good time and causing no trouble. We're also paying customers. So I don't know what the hell was his problem. You really don't need people like him losing causing you to lose business at your establishment. Because you for sure lost ours.

NY Mapper

Small, overcrowded space with a foul odor. Drinks were outrageously expensive and outrageously small. Bartender was not polite. There are plenty of better karaoke bars in NYC.

Jacob Little

A woman in front of us used a photo of her ID and was born in 1998 the so called bouncer let her in and then my friend who also used a photo ID was rejected, mind you we’re all born in 1999, I guess they don’t wanna treat everyone the same, treat everyone the same that’s all we ask for

Gary Brown

Drinks were very expensive, service was trash. Bartender got my drink wrong when it was me and one other person in the bar. I tried to close out and the bartender said "is a two drink minimum buddy" when I ordered 4 drinks. Wouldn't recommend this bar to my worst enemy.

Alexander Langadakis

Karaoke is 1 ticket per person per song. 1 duet will cost you 34$+tip (17$ drinks yummy). Just go to a karaoke spot. The mic is meh Poor service too. I ain't blaming the bartenders, they're probably deaf and pissed, but they got my drink wrong and then blamed me I didn't hear em right instead of blaming themselves they didn't hear right. I get it's noisy and we misheard each other, how they alerted me how entirely my fault it is was hilariously terrible customer service. C'est la vie. Pricey, noisy, crammed, and the customer isn't right 👍

Tom Kinstrey

STAY AWAY. Used to be a blast, now openly scamming their customers. The clearly listed “$5 all day, every day” shots are charged as $6 during karaoke with no warning. If you point out the nonsense, they’ll point to the receipt and say “well it says it on there”, and then argue that this is somehow a normal practice. That’s not how this works. Posted price = amount charged. Anything else is ridiculous.

Luis Ospino

This was, without a doubt, the worst bar experience I’ve ever had. From start to finish, everything about this place screamed unprofessionalism and poor customer service. I walked in on a Monday night, and the bar was almost empty—there were only about eight people there, including the karaoke DJ and the bartender. Yet, despite this, the bartender completely ignored me for over six minutes. I stood there, waiting to order, while she chatted with other patrons and acted like I wasn’t even there. No “I’ll be right with you,” no acknowledgment at all. It felt as though I was invisible, and I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt so disrespected in a business setting. When she finally came over, her attitude was shockingly rude. She didn’t greet me or apologize for the wait. Instead, she took my order with the bare minimum of effort, and when I handed her my credit card, she threw it back at me. Let me repeat that: she threw my card back at me. Not only is that unprofessional, but it’s downright disrespectful. As a Latino, I couldn’t help but feel like I was being singled out and treated poorly because of my ethnicity. To make matters worse, I was blatantly overcharged. The beer was listed as $6, and I tipped her $2 out of courtesy, despite the abysmal service. My total should have been just over $10, but my bank statement shows I was charged almost double that amount! There is no excuse for this—it feels like I was outright scammed. I left feeling humiliated, frustrated, and ripped off. This bar doesn’t just have bad service—it has the kind of service that makes you never want to come back. Rude staff, discriminatory behavior, and shady billing practices are completely unacceptable. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone, and I’ll be warning my friends to steer clear of it.