Ding-a-ling

One of the best spots on Avenue C. Great atmosphere and music. Great spot to drop into and amazing cocktails. DJ’s are way more diverse and the whole staff makes the crowd feel like locals. 100% better than Joyface, Studio 121 and Summit. Check it out!

Super chill bar. Bartenders are nice. Much was good!

As an Alphabet City resident, Ding-A-Ling absolutely has my heart. There is no better place to step out on a Friday/Saturday night. Ding-A-Ling has reached a goldilocks scenario of the amount of people they let into the bar at one time. It is just enough where it is ACTIVE and there are a good amount of people in there, but it is not too crowded to the point where you are sweating, have to fight for your life to get to the bar, can't move, etc. It's ideal. The Music selection is also perfectly curated. They play songs you haven't heard in forever, but you will know some words so you can sing along and look cool. hahaaahahahaha. It's a great dopamine hit. Ding has also perfected the music volume levels. You can vibe out to songs for sure, but not so loud where you have to yell at someone to have a conversation. Also I need to shoutout Ernesto who works the door. I imagine it's such a thankless job but he does great at it and almost always has a smile on his face. Great energy from him always! Y'all need to be nicer to bouncers smh. Also I'm seeing a lot of reviews that this place is racist. I can only give my first hand experience: My roommate, a black man, and I, a proud latino, have been met with nothing but open arms whenever we have been here. CANT RECOMMEND IT ENOUGH!

big big fan of the decor!! dj plays good music, small place but still lots of room to dancing and vibe on the night out

A fun place to grab a drink or go dancing later in the evening. Very nice decorations and they don’t let it get too overcrowded. I’d come back!

The frozen cocktails didn’t seem to have any alcohol in them?? I’d definitely not recommend any of the frozen drinks.

Homophobic and blatantly racist. Do not go here if you have morals. EDIT: Tried to reach out to management. They won’t return calls & their email address is fake.

This place is so fun!!! Thank you Tristian, we loved the banana drink:)

The frozen drinks had around 5 sips each, but costed over $20. I was shocked by how little liquid there was. Might as well buy a shot at that point.

As an Alphabet City resident, Ding-A-Ling absolutely has my heart. There is no better place to step out on a Friday/Saturday night. Ding-A-Ling has reached a goldilocks scenario of the amount of people they let into the bar at one time. It is just enough where it is ACTIVE and there are a good amount of people in there, but it is not too crowded to the point where you are sweating, have to fight for your life to get to the bar, can't move, etc. It's ideal. The Music selection is also perfectly curated. They play songs you haven't heard in forever, but you will know some words so you can sing along and look cool. hahaaahahahaha. It's a great dopamine hit. Ding has also perfected the music volume levels. You can vibe out to songs for sure, but not so loud where you have to yell at someone to have a conversation. Also I need to shoutout Ernesto who works the door. I imagine it's such a thankless job but he does great at it and almost always has a smile on his face. Great energy from him always! Y'all need to be nicer to bouncers smh. Also I'm seeing a lot of reviews that this place is racist. I can only give my first hand experience: My roommate, a black man, and I, a proud latino, have been met with nothing but open arms whenever we have been here. CANT RECOMMEND IT ENOUGH!

I am long time ding a ling supporter. Around 12 of my friends have had their birthdays at ding a ling and we usually have a great experience. Tonight was an exception. I received the worst service in my life. As I was granted access to the bar I heard a bouncer utter " she is insufferable" , I turn back and say " what did you say?". He shys away in embarrassment. I have provided this bar ample business over the last 3 years. I explained that I would like an apology. This bouncer then decided to go over to the line of customers and say " she fucking sucks" considering the people in line were my friends this did not go over well. After being forced to apologize to me, I asked " do you really mean that" he turned away with disgust and asked his boss " do I really have to do this shit?". My final and last time to ding a ling. I will be sure to make sure anyone I know in New York will never attend this absurd and utterly rude business. The bouncer in question was light skin, wearing a beanie and a trench coat. ( I hope he gets the help he needs to stop being so miserable one day) . DO NOT SUPPORT THIS AWFULLY RUDE BUSINESS

Immaculate vibes, good drinks, great service. So cool to see it transform throughout the night from a chill cocktail joint into a dance party. Truly a great time!

Arrived on a Saturday around midnight and only waited in line for 5-7 minutes. Bouncer very cordial and polite. Music was EXCELLENT a lot of Top 40 Songs from the past and present, pop, R&B, hip hop etc. Bartenders seemed overworked but everyone got the drinks they requested. Overall super fun place to dance

This place had a really long wait to get in about an hour or so. From the outside it seemed like it would be a great spot for drinks and to dance. We got vodka cranberries that literally tasted so weak that I'm doubting if there was any vodka even in them. It was really surprising to basically just be drinking cranberry juice. The music here was not at all what you might expect - it was heavily alternative rock which I guess if you're into that it's nice but not at all what you might expect when you're waiting outside to get in.

Bouncer who worked n February 2nd is god awful and so rude, didn't let me and my 2 female friends in at 11 pm

This place is hype. Two stars is solely for the name. I've really given it extra chances because I think the name is cute! If you roll up late, enjoy standing in line. If you conquer the line, enjoy the shoulder-to-shoulder chaos, but the crowd seems to be mostly a line to order or a line to the bathroom. Reminds me of Hair of the Dog. Even so, we tried coming much earlier one day, 6ish on Fri. Much less crowded, maybe two occupied tables. The sole bartender chose to straight up ignore me for 10+ mins. She was helping a girl who walked in asking about a group of 30 for later. I am absolutely willing to wait, but look in my direction and say "hey it'll be a minute" -- better yet, take my group's order, then make the requisite phone calls, so I can rejoin my table while everything is sorted out. Oh well. PS -- the bathroom is an experience, a bad one, where turning on the faucet seems to expose you to tetanus. Genuinely memorable for how shockingly bad it is.

Me and my sister came here on a Saturday night and had a bad experience. I ordered a drink with just half a shot and the bartender charged me for 2 drinks, which I didn't realize until I later saw my credit card bill. When I was ordering the drink he had me pay and sign and then he handed me my drink and asked for me to pay again... and when I said I had already paid he gave me a dirty look. We thought that might have just been an accident and later in the night I went to get my sister a drink and witnessed another bartender asking a customer to pay twice too!! They are fully scamming and trying to take advantage of people.

They serve $20 drinks and we saw rats running across the floor. So gross, and terrible service!!!

The service, the workers, the bouncer; everything was so unwelcoming and just not the vibe I was looking for. I was with my girls and it was just not ok.....there was a male and female at the front door who just didn't act accommodating & the "manager" who dressed trashy wasn't helpful...

Came for a Friday night reservation with girlfriends. We all tried different margs and got the vegan nachos-- which were surprisingly good and a huge portion. The drinks weren't very strong so we obviously had to order shots. The DJ was absolutely nailing every song... great mix of EDM and throwbacks. The place was starting to get more crowded by like 11 when we headed out, but was pretty empty before then. Overall, a great place to start or end your night!

Happy hour review: good drink!!! Cute bartender!!! No patio or outdoor space :/ The marg was $7 at happy hour, which was good. I didn't try the food so unsure the quality. Wish they had outdoor seating

DO NOT GO HERE. This is a mediocre bar in the East Village that thinks it's an exclusive nightclub. Men and gender non-conforming people aren't allowed in. Non-white people aren't allowed in. Only skinny white girls. You will be decorative placeholders for the line outside. Even if you do get in, there's no atmosphere or entertainment that would justify exclusivity or a wait.

I was very excited to go to this bar, but was extremely disappointed by absolutely everything. The bar tenders were extremely rude. The music was terrible - the worst I've ever heard at a bar in NYC. The transitions made zero sense and the genre was inconsistent from song to song (think Dancing Queen transitioning into 50 Cent into country). The bar was packed from head to toe, which normally doesn't bother me but given all the poor service this was just the cherry on top of a bad night. On the way out, I gave the manager some constructive feedback regarding the music choice. His response (in a snarky tone): "Our applications for management are on our website, if you have something to say you can apply." Needless to say, we will not be returning here and I do not recommend to anyone.

good vibes, there is food, and service tries it's best to keep up w the parties. this is like, where people would have their birthday great drinks

i waited in line with a group of LGBTQ+ people for over an hour while the bouncers over and over again let in random groups of people who hadn't been in line. the bouncers told us to leave when we asked why they seemed uninterested in letting queer people into the bar. They said they were only interested in letting in "hot girls." Please avoid this place at all costs if you're LGBTQ+ because it's not worth it.

A dancey bar with good DJ/music. Solid vibes. Came on a Thursday and still a good crowd.

I came through on a saturday night and stood in line for an hour, legitimately 55 minutes, after being in the front of the line for 40 minutes and being told it would be 20 min. Bouncer was a jerk and kept letting in friends or taking money from people. Absolute joke. Line didn't move for ages because of that.

Aweful bar. Bouncer was very rude and disrespectful. Promise you it is not worth the wait!!!

How are Bottle Prices 10x retail? No wonder this sewer pipe is still open after COVID, that and miserable staff make this place a no go.

45 min wait on a Friday night and the bouncer was super rude. Drinks were weak and the music was meh. The bar is fine I guess but not even close to worth that. Definitely better places to go in this area

Do NOT come here. My male friend was rejected entry because he was wearing shorts (in 88° weather - during the humid NYC summer). All of my female friends were allowed entry when wearing shorts as we were told "sorry, we know it is a bit sexist". Come on, people - NOT acceptable!

this place is super underwhelming and there are so many better places to go in the neighborhood. we waited in line for awhile because we believed the hype, and we watched the bouncers time and time again let "certain" people jump the line arbitrarily. truly not worth the time and really rude staff for no purpose. vibe is so mediocre

Avoid at all cost. I was here with a group of 7 people celebrating a friends engagement (4 girls and 3 guys) did not allow any of the males in our group (including the guy who is getting married), even after we explained it to them into the bar. Incredibly combative door staff and manager. boardering on sexist. Go somewhere else.

I thought this bar was cute. The drinks were really strong too! I actually asked him to put more cranberry in. There seemed to be a good hot dog menu but I didn't order. At first I wasn't let in because of a supposed private party. Guy at the door told me to come back in an hour so I did and then he let me in. The crowd and music were nice! Overall it's a nice spot. Didn't like that the credit card machine was all sticky. I told the bartender who said he knows. So why doesn't he clean it if he knows? Washed my hands immediately because I didn't want to get some disease. Other reviewers are right in that the crowd is straight, white and pretty.

Spicy margaritas and super sweet staff. Love it here! Great place to dance and meet new people!

THIS PLACE IS AWFUL!!!! I was hiccuping in line & they turned me away because I was "too drunk" when in reality I just get really bad hiccups. This place does not give any sh*ts about you. Absolute trash place with even worse workers ewwwww

I've never experienced anything like this before. I had to wait outside for 20 mins in line while 2 girls went inside right in front of me. And I am a hot girl. It's like they wanted an image of a line so that they would look more desirable.

Noble is the man, very noble dude who made sure we had a good time! Good music, reasonably priced drinks and good vibes.

They treated me like a queen here. Everyone bowed down when I walked in. Easy to say I had a great night here.

Never seen a bar reuse drink cups. So nasty, especially during covid. Bathrooms were also left in a disgusting state (no soap or paper towels). There are a lot of other bars in the area so my advice is just to avoid this place.

Waited over 20 minutes for a drink at the bar early in the night before it got busy. I watched one of the bartenders serve other people who hadn't waited as long as I did first, serve other other people more than once, and even take free shots with other patrons sitting at the bar before he even considered serving me. The only reason he asked for my order was because the couple I was standing next to noticed I had been waiting for a long time and fought to get his attention for me. Not worth the price for mediocre drinks and terrible service. Only positive I have was that the music and atmosphere were good. Wouldn't recommend this place or come back.

Was there on a Saturday night and the DJs were playing some great rock/alt rock. Truly made my night and will definitely go back

A great place on ave c! So glad it opened. Amazing drinks - a must see in East village

my favorite bar. the staff is some of the kindest people I've ever met, the vibe is always immaculate! hot dogs 12/10 (unique menu but so delicious!!) drinks 12/10:) music is also awesome- it's a little different from most but in the best way possible