Van Diemens - NYC Watch
- Thread starter UofCT
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Tavern on third across the street seems to function as a spill over bar
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Too packed? I fit in for the 2014 Title game. Had to be at least 300 people inside there. One hell of a night.
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I have some issues with Van Diemens after yesterday.
1) Why would you take reservations for tables (ALL THE TABLES) on a day when you know the place is going to be packed? I schlepped in from CT, got there super early, got a table, got comfortable for an afternoon of drinking and eating just to be told that my table is reserved along with every other table at the bar from 6:30pm on and that I would have to battle it out with the 75 people standing behind the bar for a seat. No thanks.
2) I get it's a Rangers bar too but during the IU/Kentucky game they had 15 out of the 20 TVs locked in with the NY Rangers. I saw like 3 Rangers fans there, everyone else was UConn fans who wanted to watch the tournament.
3) One of the employees who was working upstairs, came down around 4:30pm and made a ridiculous scene yelling at the manager. He was clearly upset about the amount of people who went upstairs. It was one of the most unprofessional things I have seen at a bar.
4) Wings were fantastic.
1) Why would you take reservations for tables (ALL THE TABLES) on a day when you know the place is going to be packed? I schlepped in from CT, got there super early, got a table, got comfortable for an afternoon of drinking and eating just to be told that my table is reserved along with every other table at the bar from 6:30pm on and that I would have to battle it out with the 75 people standing behind the bar for a seat. No thanks.
2) I get it's a Rangers bar too but during the IU/Kentucky game they had 15 out of the 20 TVs locked in with the NY Rangers. I saw like 3 Rangers fans there, everyone else was UConn fans who wanted to watch the tournament.
3) One of the employees who was working upstairs, came down around 4:30pm and made a ridiculous scene yelling at the manager. He was clearly upset about the amount of people who went upstairs. It was one of the most unprofessional things I have seen at a bar.
4) Wings were fantastic.
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Agree that there are a lot of better options for sports bars in NYC, though I heard once that the person who owns Van Diemens is a UConn alumni or something. I only go there for official UConn events as the people, not the bar, make the atmosphere. Personally, I wish the 'official' UConn bar would be in Midtown somewhere in the triangle between Port Authority, Penn, and Grand Central with Times Square in the middle. Makes it a lot easier to get to, especially for the bum like me who commute to the suburbs.
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that area generally sucks for everyone that lives in the city, why anyone would want to cross through time square is beyond me
ConnHuskBask
Shut Em Down!
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I pretty much said Van Diemans sucks in another thread and I was going to give it a shot for the game, but an hour before tip there was a line out the door and couldn't move at all once inside. Said F it and went to Tavern on 3rd across the street which pretty much sucks too.
Oh well. I hate watching games at bars anyways so this just further cemented that fact.
Oh well. I hate watching games at bars anyways so this just further cemented that fact.
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No argument there. The only plus about finding a bar in the Penn Station to Port Authority to Grand Central area for those who live in the city is that nearly every subway lines travels through Times Square, Herald Square of Grand Central. Just need to stay away from the heavy tourist traffic and tourist prices.
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Van Diemans with its warts and all will still have a warm place in my heart simply due to one night back in 2014...
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that's true but u end up paying prices geared toward tourists. I've been to Van Diemens a handful of times, the food was good, the crowd got pretty brotastic toward the end of the night. Haven't been in a while so not sure if stuff has changed.
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Ok sorry if it's your girl but you know what she looks like (on the bar) she just got through finishing right?
Love her
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I'm pretty involved in the NYC Alumni Chapter and I completely agree with the issues you brought up with Van D's. Honestly, the fact that we have no idea how many people will show up for a given game presents a whole bunch of issues.
Personally, I was very upset with Van D's on Saturday, mostly with the heavy catering to the Rangers' game (and their 12 fans). We have a very good working relationship with the new management (they've been in it for about a year or so) but it's just too small of a bar for a Saturday night NCAA tournament game. I usually go to Van D's 12-15 times a year, so I am pretty much a regular and Saturday before tip was the most upset I've been with the bar.
The problem with finding a new bar is 1) everyone knows Van D's is THE UConn Bar and 2) can't really sell a new bar on UConn when you get a dozen people every football game/non-marquee regular season basketball game, yet a guaranteed full house maybe 3-5 times a year. With that said, for the most part Van D's has been pretty good to us. The table situation there is horrible (the size does suck like I said) but I am definitely open to considering a new bar for next year if we can get the same type of love. The problem is though, why would a bar guarantee multiple TVs + game sound for a Tuesday night game vs UCF when you have a decent shot at getting that at Van D's (if the Rangers aren't playing *rolls eyes*).
A lot of the issues from Saturday (minus the Rangers debacle) were kind of unavoidable. Of course they're going to take reservations, you can't really blame them for that. It does suck you got kicked out of your table, but I can't really blame an establishment for accepting reservations. I did speak to one of my co-organizers Friday night about setting up an official overflow bar and I regret not following through with that idea.
Anyways, it's a little over 5 months until the 1st football game, so we definitely have some time to explore a possible new bar. If we stay with Van D's, I definitely think some changes will need to be made especially for big games, but at the end of the day we need to prove we can handle a larger bar and the consistency hasn't been there yet. If anyone wants to help with a new bar search, I'm all open to talking about it--shoot me a PM. (Also I had the wings last Sunday and they are fantastic).
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