The Woods

been coming here for years and love the expansion in the backyard area. The food is great. Service is awesome and cocktails are quite strong.

I hate to have to leave a review like this for one of the only lesbian-catered nightlife spaces in NYC, but the treatment that my friends and I received last night at the Woods by the bouncers was so upsetting and violent that I have no choice but to do so.

The bouncers refused to take one member of our party’s New York City ID, claiming that she needed to have a New York State ID. Our friend is not a US citizen and had the only ID she typically needs to get into bars and clubs, as her passport is not in English and wouldn’t have been able to verify her date of birth. The two male bouncers said our friend’s ID was rejected and that she wouldn’t be able to get in with the rest of us, which is a completely unsafe practice—splitting up a group of visibly queer people on a night out when alcohol is being consumed is never, never ok.

As different members of our group began to ask the bouncers to either talk the issue out or to give us a moment to make a game plan after we waited nearly an hour to get into the bar in the first place and didn’t want our group to get split up, the bouncers began raising their voices at us, telling us to get out of line and escalating the situation. They then accused me of calling them names and began insulting and humiliating our group. The bouncers completely denied us entry based on these claims of name calling and started letting people behind us into the bar, barely checking IDs and accepting photographs of people’s IDs on their phone because they were too busy yelling at and being belligerent with my group, who refused to leave the line due to the unfair treatment we had received from the moment they decided to deny our non-American friend. Even after apologizing to these men, they continued to berate us and deny us entry.

All in all, this was a completely upsetting and humiliating experience to say the least. Organizers at The Woods: I am BEGGING you to hire queer bouncers for Woods Wednesdays, ESPECIALLY during pride month, because the bouncers that were working last night were violently misogynistic. The whole experience felt like dealing two men who were on a power trip and got their feelings hurt when they received pushback on their unacceptable behavior, which I’m sure many non-cis men have been on the receiving end of before.

This entire insulting experience should NOT have happened, and I am honestly not itching to go back to The Woods anytime soon until there are queer bouncers hired for Wednesday nights.

Wednesday night in Brooklyn and my wife and I found this gem. Beautiful bar, great bartenders, good drinks and prices. DJ was playing everything to get people dancing. LGBT friendly and bouncers were good. Safe place for a fun night out in New York. Highly recommended.

Big dance space during special events, a large bar in the front and a smaller bar in the back. Friendly staff and security team. Will come back again. Cocktail prices and good beer options.

I LOVE that the woods has food and u can sit down and eat it and in the other room dance and in the outdoor area smoke and socialize. Love that you guys have queer nights. Would love to see more vegan + local + sustainability sources options on the menu! :)) ❤️

This place is a gem. Drink prices are really affordable.The vibe was such an experience. A place to dance and a place to chill in their outdoor section and eat. Fantastic place to go with friends or dates! It actually has to be one of the best bars I’ve been too. LBGT friendly and security was good.

Met some friends here. Had a great time. It's very far from me, but if I'm in the area again, I'll make it a point to stop by.....

Oh, and the fish tacos were amazing!

I had one of the best, most random nights ever in this bar! Was in town last week, was out walking through Brooklyn, and randomly popped into this little spot. Completely dead except for one person at the bar... because it was about 530pm on a Thursday. Fine by me! I'm well past the party age at this point. (To be clear, this place is normally hopping. I just happened to be there at the perfect time for me haha). Bartender Ferg was awesome...once he saw me. (Haha Ferg, I kid! I kid! You were truly great!) Ferg was great to talk to, provided great service, and really made me feel welcome. Honestly, I had the best time ever here. Met some great local guys and had great drinks and conversations. These guys happened to be local liquor and beer reps who were there hanging out and bought me a couple of drinks! Like Ferg told me, I really was there at the right time that night. I love this place. Fantastic vibes and hope to visit again. I'm probably older than the normal crowd, but I had one of the most memorable, random nights of my life here, and I had to give a shout out for a great NYC memory. 👍