Jermaine Faith G.

Review of Bell House Bar & Restaurant

Went here with a friend for the 13th Annual 50 Fir...

Went here with a friend for the 13th Annual 50 First Jokes NYC event. The venue is in a place where there s not much street light in the evening, so I would be uncomfortable navigating the area if I were by myself at night.

The venue itself is small. Doors opened an hour before the event actually started, and we arrived well before that time. Still, there was a pretty long line, and once we had our hands stamped and we entered the stage room, we found it already quite cramped. People had already taken all of the chairs in front of the stage, and the empty seating in the back was reserved for people who had paid for it in advance.

My friend and I leaned against the wall (bordering the paid seating area) because after waiting for the doors to open, and now waiting for the event to start, we were tired. There was so much room between us and where the line of chairs formed that I started wondering why they couldn t make better use of that space and add a few more rows of chairs.

By the time the event started, I was struggling to see over taller people who had squeezed in front of me. During the halftime break, our legs and back were hurting so much that we decided to call it a night and leave. Honestly, if we had seats, we would ve stayed. If I had a better view instead of the backs of people that squeezed in front of me, I would ve reconsidered.

The jokes themselves were hit or miss. But the venue itself was definitely a miss. I hope they reformat it better in the future.