Reviews
If there is a bar that is still a part of New York life, this is one of them. Gussy is a great man to hang with and the music and drinks are fun all night.
Stage sound are great definitely gives that old school music venue feel. Gussy is the man he bailed us out when our venue had to cancel.
Very cool place to see local punk and alternative bands. Music is loud enough to enjoy, but not too loud, so you can get close to the stage. The locals are easy to get to know and the bartender took care of our orders very quickly.
Fun place to have a drink. Best part is they have life bands on stage. They don't serve food but they allow you to bring your food. We had pizza and sandwiches delivered. I'm not saying it's the nicest place but it's fun.
I don't know what this place is supposed to be. It's an old bar on a residential street in the far corner of Astoria with a small, open back room for live music played at very loud volumes. Typically, the music is punk, and while the feel of the place is definitely that of a dive bar, they have no well liquor. At the same time, they have a horrible selection of beer in bottles. Something tells me that they're not really interested in online reviews and would probably hate it if you went there after reading a review, so take that as you may.
If you find yourself in this place, your friend's band is probably playing here. That said, it's a great dive bar and definitely off the beaten path. Most times I've visited there's been live music, but also a cover. Expect to pay $10 bucks at the door to support the scene. It's a scene worth supporting.
One of the last few authentic local bars that book live bands. If you want to experience true history and culture of astoria that's more than just greek food and hipster bars you should not hesitate and come here for a drink. The staff is friendly and down to earth. Might even hear some stories of what astoria used to be.
**Ill start off by stating that Im sure it was an "off night"**, according to my friend who frequents the estsblishment but I had a really embarassing, uncomfortable experience. I had invited a friend of mine to join me to meet another acquaintance of mine there. We both happen to be African Americans, and they were having a ticket raffle event, so entry was $15. Which wasnt an issue, what caught our attention was the reaction to our entry into the establishment, the woman collecting money, practically leapt out her seat obviously panicked you may think im exaggerating but growing up a black male gives you an unwanted advantage of knowing when you've made someone else uncomfortable, body language isnt hard to read after decades of practice. After we told the first startled lady that $15 is no problem and we were going to pay...Another staff member comes from outside and taps us specifically to explain that we cant come in unless we pay $15. Now either she thought the lady collecting at the table wouldnt be able to communicate that to us on her own, or she too pinned us as a supposed threat and wanted to deter us from coming in. At this point my friend, who so happens to be Caucasian see us being hassled, and she begins to explain that we are her friends, a fact at which she had to repeat loudly and three times, which then made it ok for the two of us to be there. Now im by no means a avid bar goer...but Gussys is a small establishment that caters to locals, and doesnt quite fit the vetting at the door qualifications, so this was very disconcerting. For one this was obvious discrimination we gave no cause for the over reaction, we were wearing regular clothes and probably dressed nicer than anyone else in there. And now so much attention was brought to us that everyone in the bar was staring i cant assume im psychic, but anyone looking would assume my friend and i were causing some sort of disturbance, again...not hard to read people when they stare at you like you did something wrong. We then told my friend that this is an uncomfortable situation and we wanted to leave, she begged us to stay for a drink...which was the last thing we wanted to do. The staff now realised they obviously made a mistake and were aware that they unknowingly offend 2 normal patrons, so they proceeded to tell us no one in the establishment is racist and not to worry we'll be fine...when your to the point that you have to tell people that, why bother? the staff then proceeded to justify her reaction toward us because "well you guys werent wearing costumes, so...you know how was i supposed to know". I simply stared at her and looked away, ignoring the comment, because if anyone with 2 eyes were to scan the room, a total of 4 people had costumes on. The rest of the patrons didnt 90-95% were already drinking, laughing, and not being asked where their costumes were...horrible excuse...insulting. That was the first 5 minutes of trying to get my foot in the door. Afterward im assuming the news must of spread amongst the staff because the immediate feeling of over compensation ensued. The manager of the bar "accidently" bumped into me when there was about 4-5 feet of emptiness he takes this opportunity to shake our hands and introduce himself, why? No idea...it was all so uncomfortable and awkward. Again, id like to say this was MY experience, and you can take it with a grain of salt, I hope this was a lapse in judgement on their part and just an off night. Im going to assume its not always like this and wish the establishment the best in hopes that they take this as a learning experience in over reaction, they seem like nice people as we kept being told as if we were being brainwashed. I personally wont be going again because of this and other factors that include patrons bothering us.
Gussy's is for everyone! we are not just Metal and Rock,we are so much more,Indie,Grunge,Industrial,Techno,Acapella,Celtic,Classical and Beyond,we are here for you,Fun,Cheap to Drink,and always cheap to see Live Music! so come on down and see what the Buzz is about!
Looks like a car mechanic from the outside and the inside isn't much better. If I could give less stars I would. As mentioned in other posts this guy Ozzie is a crook, he is awful. Back away slowly and don't look him in the eye if you cross him. Beers are overpriced for bottles $5. Also, the artwork is tasteless and offensive to women.
