We had a great evening at the Blue Note listening to some world class Jazz musicians. We arrived about an hour before showtime, but still had to wait 10 minutes to be seated despite having tickets. The seating has great views of the stage, but is overly cramped. We had to physically move our table to allow people next to us in and out, and we could see that other tables were extremely tight which couldn't have been enjoyable. The $20 minimum per head isn't a big deal as some other reviews are making it out to be; you easily hit this after a few drinks or some food, which is all priced reasonably by NYC standards. The staff were helpful but did struggle at times, most of what we wanted to drink was unavailable which was unfortunate. Be prepared to be asked to take your coat off of your chair and pay $3 to use the cloakroom, and face a long wait when you leave. I appreciate there isn't room for big coats on chairs due to the number of tables squeezed into the venue, but to make patrons pay for the cloakroom is unfair. The atmosphere is great, most people are there to listen to the musicians but be prepared for other tables that talk throughout, this is no fault of the venue though. The staff are particularly cognisant of the music and endeavour to keep their voices down and crouch out of the way of people's views of the stage. The gift shop is well stocked but the pricing is strange - I paid $30 for a t-shirt which is reasonable, but found that tote bags are also $30, which is awful. There are no prices listed so I found this out after I had paid. The Blue Note is a legendary music venue and a must visit when in NYC. I'll be visiting again, but will have different expectations to my first visit.
The most famous NY Jazz Club. If you like Jazz, you must come here at least once.
Hit & miss for performers. Food ranges from completely average to subpar, same with service. I hate to say it about an iconic name, but Blue Note is disappointing.
Great music. VERY fair process for full bottler of wine
Pros: amazing music Cons: - staff were extremely rude to us from the first moment we entered. - Don’t make the mistake of getting bar area tickets because you won’t be able to sit down at all, and won’t see the stage either. - Completely ruining the atmosphere and showing how commercial it is, they put a TV screen for the bar area so you can see the band. - We asked to upgrade to table seats only to be told to wait until after people who walked in off the street were all seated. - We were then seated at a table with complete strangers. This wouldn’t be a problem except there was no room to even breathe because they squeeze as many tables as possible into a tiny bar. The music was spectacular, but the rude treatment and minimum spend of $80 dollars total was definitely not worth it.