Wow. This place has really descended. Fights breaking out and people kicking each other on the ground. Door staff totally indifferent. A real shame as I have many happy memories here. Almost a scary place to be these days. read more

Had the best time Monday night 11/20/17. The staff was FAB! A special shout out to our Bartender Nathan (Holly Box Spring) he made our trip a memorable one at the Drag Show. Thanks ! Love you guys , see you soon. read more

Tbh if you enjoy waiting in a crowd of sweaty & self-centered 20 somethings at the bar for 15 minutes just to pay like $18 for one tiny drink in a clear plastic cup while being unable to even move, then come here. Otherwise, there are more enjoyable establishments in the area. read more

I'm aalllllways here. Well, when I'm going out, that is. It's just my standard bar. It's familiar and comfortable, and I know I can have a good time here. As for the boys, it's hit or miss sometimes. I've always had more luck on weeknights, when it's less crowded. I love coming here and letting go and dancing the night away. The DJs are awesome, the bartenders are friendly, and the crowd is fun. Of course there's a little bit of additude, but it is a gay bar. People complain about it being too crowded. It's crowded because everyone goes here. Everyone goes here because it's a good time. And sure, it can get a little messy. But that's expected when you get a lot of gays packed into a small space and everyone is dancing and drinking and all. Drinks are moderately priced. You'll pay a hell of a lot more if you try to go Splash. I love that there's no cover, too. And Frank is awesome at the door, right? I'd much rather be here than Therapy or Vlada. read more

I go to the ritz all the time! And I think Is one of the best gay bar in HK. 1.the music is great 2.bartenders are nice and funny 3.the place is always clean All the people who works there is always nice and friendly The place is alwAys busy,I love it,cause who wants to go to an empty bAr??? I gave it 5 stars cause every time I go there I have a blast!! read more

My feelings toward The Ritz are mixed and I tend to have a love-hate relationship with it. The vibe of this place depends completely on the day/time that you go. I've heard that it is much more chill on weekdays (earlier in the evening), but I've only ever gone on a Friday or Saturday night. On weekend night from 11/11:30, it tends to be VERY crowded- and because of the small square footage of the space, it probably seems more crowded than it actually is. On the first floor, there is a bar, a "men's bathroom" with a trough-style urinal, and a dance floor in the back (complete with DJ area, another small bar, and odd bleacher-style seating). On the second floor, there is another bar, two single-person bathrooms, a lounge (or coat check if it is cold out), and another dance floor with mirrored walls and laser lights. Dancing here can be fun depending on the crowd and the music they're playing; usually it's remixed versions of top 40 songs. On certain nights they will have cool light effects and fog machines. Like every other club in NYC, gay or straight, there will be creepers here, so be mindful. The dance floor on the first floor tends to be more fun but it can be very crowded and sweaty. The drinks here tend to be much stronger than drinks you could get elsewhere in the city, especially the long island ice teas. They also have drag queens that serve jello shots. Overall, this is a good place to stop at if going bar hopping around Hell's Kitchen. read more

I had THE BEST TIME everyone is friendly no drama, everyone kust wants to dance drink and have a good time. I loved the go go boys and the drag queens. I really liked how the go go boys don't pressure you for money they just stay up on the platform and dance. music was awsome a mix of everything old and new deff coming back also loved how there's no cover charge. Drinks i only had screwdrivers and cran-vodka ad they were $8 dollars fine buy me they tasted great and the bartenders are really cute and polite. Deff found my new spot.. read more

Have been coming here for a while now! And this saturday was the first time i walk in and theres actual stools to sit by the bar. I pick the corner seat available so i can have a good drink after work mind u theres like 10 people max at the bar at this time and this bartender with pink hair, which u could see that hes so full of himself and his BROness to even have any room left for anyone else, took a good 10 minutes to approach me and see if i needed a drink after serving everyone else who came after me. I guess you cant really teach kindness and attentiveness. read more

Walked in with my girlfriend and they immediately told us we couldn't sit down. We asked why, and they told us because it's a bar. Didn't even bother to ask us for ID before thinking we were both underage. We told them we were 25 and 23 and have them our ID's and they looked at them for like 3 minutes before I just said to forget it and we left. They were very rude. Wouldn't go back. read more

solid a/c and the music is good af but honestly VERY GOOD a/c LMAO can i just say!!!! read more

A Fun Gay Bar with great dance tunes It used to be a rock Club Go here. read more

So I'm here now and I order a drink. Vodka and cranberry. I get my drink and it's all juice so I have to order a shot or vodka because the bartender feels he put vodka in it. I had someone else taste it who said it's all juice. This continues to happen every time I come here and I'm over it. I only come because I know one of the deaf queens. This shit is unacceptable and it's always a different bartender so I'm starting to feel 1. They treat all patrons this way or 2. It's due to my ethnicity and number 2 is in the lead. read more

So many thoughts on the Ritz. If you are looking for a good time to dance to great current music and toss your cares away with a couple of vodka sodas-YES. This is the place to come. However, if you expect to actually have a conversation with someone, you should definitely rethink your experience. This place is way way loud to dance music and way way crowded, especially on Saturday nights. My boys who like boys and I will go and dance for hours on end in the same place taking turns for who goes to refuel at the bar. :) It can be fun for happy hour and less crowded, especially in the summer as they have a super cute outdoor porch. read more

The drag show was everything! Great drinks and atmosphere is fun. Great staff, music and bartenders. Dj had us dancing all night!

To all of you who read this . Do not go there ! This is the most disrespectful place I ever visited in my life , dirty and sneaky . JUST DO NOT GO THERE ! Me and my friend came last night for a drink , it was a Russian party and it was a good music too. We were sitting at the first floor sitting at the bar. At 9pm one of the stuff , a guy (nasty) came to my friend and pull the chair under him and walked away , he almost fail on the floor . He was looking at him and trying to ask him what he is doing . He didn't turn and running away through the all crowed . He was in shock . He came back after 10 minutes and told me "move from the chair"! I told him excuse me ?! He said give me a chair . I said to him Sir I'm sitting on the chair . He said "give me a chair , stand up " ... I said no Sir I'm not going to stand up from the chair . He rudely walked away . Another guy came and did the same . The third time they sent big guy with piercings on the face . He was screaming and saying move out or you will see what i will do to you. My eyes was full of tears I never been treated this way in my life . My friend went to another guy security and told him that we are having and issue in the bar he didn't want to do anything about it. The big guy with the piercing pull my friend arms , punch him and throw him on the street , in the same time his wallet was missing . We called police and give report and not only that we will take this case further . We do not want anybody be treated this way ever. DO NOT GO THERE !!! read more

i wasn't expecting much from here. i had a tiring work week, ate a huge dinner with friends and walked down to this club to meet up fellow Yelpers for a "Gay Night". Audrey J. and i looked at each other... then agreed- let's not stay here too long. seems boring. i was wrong. the music was pumping from the entrance. Irene F. was texting me: "WE'RE DANCING IN THE BACK" and so we shuffled our way to the dance floor. it was right before Halloween; lots of decorations accommodating to the occasion. "meh"/average looking boys lounging in the cabanas and its chairs- there was a lot of naughtiness and sexy dancing amongst our friends and random strangers. i couldn't make out who was who... all i knew that the music was vibrating from the speakers and it was our time to shine! we jumped on the elevated floor in which it hosted a secretive but attention-savvy cabana and joined in with everyone else. from Scott B.. to Yosh H.- all the fabulous boys were shakin' their rump shakas! it was quite the event! additionally, the music was quite enjoyable. i even danced to Britney Spears' "Gimmie More"... I KNOW... THREE TIMES... I KNOW... from reggaeton to a little old school hip hop, the DJ wasn't horrible-but not remarkable. we had all the sexies of Yelp bumping and grinding to so-so music selections, good drinks and good company. two hours later and a Notorious BIG song later- we were good to go. well, good to go to the bathroom. you see, an hour earlier, we were bombarded by a group of lesbians. they were wildin' out and dancing with our crew--- causing a ruckus here and there. Irene and i tried to pound on the bathroom door for 30 minutes and there was no answer. no peep. nothing at all. we basically begged the bartenders to use the upstairs bathroom. it was a good thing we did- i was able to check out the 2nd floor. pretty spacious and lots of seating. it would have been fun to have that section open that night. when we walked downstairs- the bartender barged in the occupied bathroom. it was those girls! doing who knows what and looking pretty sloppy falling out of the bathroom. lol. they were kicked out. hooray. for the most part, i had a pretty good time. the crowd is fun and it's a great vibe to make new friends. i will learn to always trust my beautiful gay boyfriends. always. why three stars? well, without the fabulous Yelp Gay team... i don't think i would have had a better time. as soon as more Yelpers went home that night... the less fun we were having. i just think watching Sam P. dance is a thrill all on its own. =) read more

Bougie little dance club in Hell's Kitchen. The Ritz already sounds like some fancy shamancy hot spot, but is it really? On a weekday night this place was actually quite poppin. A mixture of young and old all around. Pretty hot poppin music as well. The bar is split into two areas. The front end is the bar area where traffic and an un-ideal organization of the place creates a huge clump of people trying to get out or make it to the dance floor. While I could get my good dance and drink on here, I was a little disappointed in a few things. First was the bar service. We ordered drinks right away and had a shot. Then as the night got busy we tried to get another drink, but the bartender kept stalling and taking other peoples orders after we had already placed ours. I saw like 3 people get their drinks after me. So we went to the other side to order from the other bartender who was less busy. Immediately he was willing to make our drinks, but then our initial bartender ran across to stop him and tell him that supposedly we were his customers. He was basically trying to get that tip from the initial order we placed, but he realized too late what mistake he made pushing us to the side. This was annoying as heck. Another thing I am not too fond of is the tiny tiny area for the dance floor. Too narrow and it gets very crowded. We had to dance on the chairs to get some breathing space. Overall I would come here again because it is OK, but definitely not a top hot spot. read more

Great music. Cool atmosphere. Great drinks. Nice staff. Great security. But gets very crowded at times.

Amazing music! Amazing dance floor - yes drinks aren't cheap but you're in NYC what do you expect?

The Ritz is one of my go to gay bars in Midtown. Friday and Saturday nights get PACKED so dancing becomes almost impossible, its more like standing, sweating, rocking in place while spilling your drinks on your neighbors H&M tank top. The music is usually fun and you can get some good happy hour specials through out the week. There's a cute (see: small) outdoor space in the back of the dance floor area there you can go to get some "fresh" NYC air after a few hours of the "dancing." read more

Standard fare. Good crowd. Pretty good dance music...

I am never going here again! They have the worst staff ever! The bartender asked me for my id and when I showed it to him he couldnt even read it and kept saying you are not 21! HE kept misreading the expiration date for my birthday!! And then he said it was fake and said he would call the cops and get me in jail!! I have never been insulted like this before we tried talking to the manager and he said the manager doesn't come in till 8! Horrible impolite staff! read more

Location and lighting, and the # of guys here give it a 3 star rating but the euro-poppy-top 20 dance music here makes me feel like I'm back in Texas and that's not a good thing. What's w/NYC I moved here 3 months ago and I have yet to hear GOOD MUSIC, who wants to hear Britney, or Madonna all the time I mean use some of that money to buy, or download new tunes that get you dancing not planted at the bar ordering more drinks because your bored of the music. This is the kind of bar where the latino's are loving the music, and the white guys who love them are there looking to hook-up w/1 of them. In Chicago there are spots like this think Circuit or Rosco's in Boystown but I didn't care much for those spots either so this music snob that I am will have to only stop by here when trying to impress his euro-pop-meets latin music techno because I won't be bringing my music snob friends here will just be bored of the music. Again top 20 dance music that has become the mainstream of todays' gay crowd makes me want to go back into time when being gay was taboo not trendy and tacky like it's becoming now. read more

We tried to have a good time here but the restrooms were literally flooded and there was literally piss water gathering on the common room floor. We tried to close out our tab at the bar but it took 15 minutes while all the bartenders were standing around talking. My friends both told them that their floors were FLOODED and all the bartenders did was insult my friends, they were completely racist, and I will never be back. The bartenders treated my friends like absolute outcasts when all they tried to tell them was that their own floors are flooded with piss and shit. The staff would rather blame their guests than fix the problem at hand. How is this place open. The bartender literally told my black friend to put argan oil in her hair. Coming from an old white man with gray hair I dont think he should be giving anyone advice on hair treatment. His comments were extremely racist and discriminatory. Literally the worst staff ever. This place needs to be closed down. read more

I used to love this place but then my wallet was stolen! After speaking with the crew there and the police I found out that 5 other people had their wallet's stolen and 7 Iphones.Never going again, don't go here! I hear it happens all the time!!!!! read more

This place has turned very ghetto and is gone seriously downhill in the last couple of years. Try industry or therapy nearby. There also a couple of other new bars like Bartini and a few others that are with much better crowd and also look much better in inside. Drinks are not bad, so I'm giving it 2 stars. read more

"Puttin' on the Ritz" The Ritz is a real mixed bag. Between the clientele, the music, the decor, the layout...you really don't know what you might get. The main floor hosts a wide bar and dance floor which to get to requires you to maneuver through a space more crowded than a Justin Bieber sighting. There is however a real treat should you succeed in your venture, and that is an awesome, bi-level, outdoor patio area. This I must admit is clutch on a sunny day during happy hour. (half-priced drinks boyz) The patio unfortunately closes at dusk for what I imagine is due to noise ordinances. Shame because dancing outside would be a true anchor for this joint. Dancing on the weekends can be a sweaty fun mess, especially if you're after a riser to stand on and show off your moves. Trust me on this, you really don't need to see this back space in the daylight as per Sam P.'s review. The bathroom is a bit annoying/confusing/complicated. After a renovation you would think the bathrooms would be bigger, not the case. They are definitely prettier, but now there is one private room and the other is a long hallway leading to a trough on the wall. It's so cramped you might as well just pee in the street because there is no way to not have your junk on display. The second floor gives off a real 'Pier 1 Showroom' vibe. Understandably the overall vibe is supposed to be nautical. Wouldn't mind some actual sailors. This floor is also used for private events which are usually sporting a bouncer at the entrance. It is rumoured there is a third floor...what the whaaaat? I've yet to see it so let's put that one to rest. Overall music is pretty great and the staff is good and usually attitude free (sometimes shirt free to boot.. ) The wait for a drink can be lengthy at times on the weekends. During peak times the sidewalk is littered with smokers and an occasional line to get in. read more

Agree that the space could be better laid out, but I like that this bar actually gives me the chance to languorously drape myself over a divan and sit and talk with my friends without closing off the possibility of meeting new people (Therapy's seating is fine to talk to my friends, but doesn't offer this option). Maybe I'm getting old and just like a slightly more grown-up version of going out, but when I was there it was comfortable, there were cute boys, and so on. It didn't have the hubbub of Vlada on a crowded night, but I also didn't catch any stray elbows or spilled drinks on my way through the bar. I'll be back. read more

Stuff weren't friendly last time I went. One of them told me to leave the table as he needed to move it elsewhere, and he took my drink away when he said that with an attitude. read more

this place is a hit or miss..thursdays in particular. i pretty much always have fun here on saturday night..especially upstairs. the music has been really good up there lately. it is definitely always on the list of possible places to go to when i'm out in hell's kitchen read more

I went there for happy hour with fellow yelper Arnab M, on an attempt to expand our horizons beyond Vlada and Therapy and find out what else is happening in HK for the boys. The happy hour deal is definitely pretty good ($4 well drinks... I wish I'd read Billy's review before going and I would have ordered top shelf), and the venue has potential: large lounge with couches (and beds!) in the back, and small outdoor patio area even further back, but I wasn't too impressed by either the crowd or the atmosphere. In fact, I felt slightly out of place when I walked in and realized everyone there was 40+ with graying hair (my Anderson Cooper loving partner in crime did not complain). Not terrible if you happen to be in the area and just want to get a cheap drink, but I would not go there for meeting people. read more

It's fine. The bar/space itself is really nice, with a bar-ish area in front, a lounge-ish area in back, and a sit-around-and-hang-out-ish area upstairs. The music, though, was poop. I mean, pop. And the crowd is... odd. My friend and I stopped in for a drink and a chat after a play reading, and we weren't there ten minutes when -- swear to god -- four people next to us started doing splits. Like one at a time, they would step out into a clear area, spread 'em wide as they hit the floor, and then snap back up all proud and peacock-like. Maybe they were bored chorus folk put out of work because of the stagehand strike. Those that weren't doing splits would stare at my friend and I like we were an oasis in the dessert. It's not that I am all that, or that they were not, but there was this weird vibe -- hungrier (though I wouldn't say desperate) than a lot of gay bars. Still, as someone who finds Vlada pretentious and Therapy annoying, it was not a bad place. I mean, wouldn't you rather just have someone stare than have someone glance and pretend they're not looking but oops they pretended too much and now you're not noticing them so they look at you really hard for like five seconds and you glance their way until they realize they've looked TOO long so then they pretend they never saw you at all but they did so they look again and they're so flustered that they don't know what to do next so they just pretend they're too good for you until they see you're talking to someone else -- and someone else is kind of cute maybe even cuter than they are -- at which point the only thing for them to do is to sit right next to you and smile and all you can think is if so-and-so had just done that in the first place you would have cared but now all the game-playing has made you crazy so you just want them to please go the hell away? So The Ritz wasn't a bad night out. Just... odd. read more

I didn't know that when I went with a straight guy to meet a gay friend after a night of drinking that THIS is where we were going. My straight friend was a little uncomfortable but he is laidback and just went with it. This place was filled with guys making out everywhere and quite a few drag queens. I didn't realize Hells Kitchen is such a gay area until this point. Wow. We didn't stay long, partially bc I felt bad for my friend and partially bc it was so hot and crowded. I can see why if you are looking for someone to take home at the end of the night this would be a fun bar. Otherwise it is missing the appeal. read more

Amazing. Just know what you're getting yourself into!! Saturday nights are SO hot & sweaty, I showered when I got home at 4 AM. Also would have enjoyed more bathrooms, more Gaga (even though the music upstairs was AMAZING!), and less beer spilled on me (though I must admit... given how sweaty it was, it felt awesome). The music was so incredible though... one awesome song after the next! read more

Great music, drinks, and bartenders. Always a fun time - the dance floor is the best! One of my favorite go to places.

The Ritz Bar. The cheapest place to get in. Like zero dollars. And if you are up for 20 year old hip hop and club music, this is your place to be. People will grind on you. Be warned. The service is ok. So is the space (for a midtown townhouse turned bar/club). It is just that the music sucks nowadays since its not the 2010s anymore. Unfortunately this place is incapable of attaching good DJ talent with today's music on their computers. Also, the Ritz must have never heard of Spotify or Apple Music. Too bad for such a central located public spot, that was pretty awesome 10 years ago. read more

Not bad! Been here with couple of friends! For a straight guy this was an new experience :) but it was not bad at all, drinks were good, had fun and had no complaints read more

Great place great music. But the Bartender Javier is quite rude. He ignored and wouldn't serve my friend last Monday because he must've confused her with another young lady that previously didn't tip. He spent half the night just talking to some dud. it was hard to get his attention. read more

8/24/17- SOO fun.... had such a great time! Drag queens were STUN. And music was pretty good. Space was clean and so nice to entertain/dance in. The ONLY reason five stars isn't given is because the bartender was super nice the whole night until he got a little rude/snippy when I wanted to close my tab at 2:30am??? #sorry read more

I like The Ritz for what it is. A place for gay men to get sweaty and grope each other in a tight space. Being a straight female, I enjoy this place about twice a year when I am drunk off my ass and just want to dance without having to worry about some pervert rubbing his dick on my back or grabbing my crotch. It's a good place to go and just let loose. However, there have been some weirdo guys that go in there to try and pick up chicks and claim they are gay. I don't quite understand it. read more