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A bachelorette party is one of the most exciting events leading up to a wedding. It’s just you, a bunch of friends, and a day (or weekend) that is built entirely around having a good time. If there’s any place that can deliver on that, it’s New York City. The foodies, the dancers, and the conversationalists can all get something out of the same weekend, and usually within a few blocks of each other.
Most bachelorette weekends in the city revolve around a few bigger plans, like a fancy dinner, a Broadway show, or a bottle-service night. The challenge is that if the whole weekend is made up of those plans, the itinerary can start to feel a little overwhelming. You’re always trying to enjoy the place you’re at, while making sure you don’t miss reservations or the start time for the next activity.
That’s why it helps to build in at least one casual activity where people can come and go, talk, play something, and regroup without everyone having to participate in the same way. It gives the group a real chance to catch up, which is what the weekend is actually about.
Add Something Low-Key With No Reservations or Start Time
Once the anchors are set, the best thing you can add is an activity that doesn’t have a start time at all. Here are a few options that work well in NYC.
Ace Bar
Ace Bar in the East Village is a good example of something your group can do without having to plan too far in advance. There’s pool, skee-ball, darts, pinball, and arcade games like Big Buck Hunter, plus board games if the group wants something slower. The pool tables are cheap to play, the drinks are reasonably priced, and there are over a dozen beers on tap.
One of the things that makes Ace Bar memorable is its decor. The walls are lined with hundreds of vintage metal lunchboxes spanning from Scooby-Doo to Charlie’s Angels, and every cartoon in between.
It’s a dive bar, so nobody needs to dress up, and that makes it easy to slot into the weekend wherever it fits, whether that’s an early stop before dinner, a landing spot after brunch, or the main plan for a night when the group wants something relaxed. It’s also a nice change of pace from the more produced parts of the weekend, since it feels like a neighborhood bar rather than a venue.
The one thing to know is that it fills up on weekend nights, so if you want space for a large group, go earlier in the evening or make it part of your Sunday plan.
Barcade
Barcade is the originator of the arcade bar concept, and it’s full of classic arcade games. The cabinets are the kind most of the group will recognize on sight, like Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Street Fighter, and rows of others, plus a whole host of different pinball machines.
The games are priced like an actual arcade, so a handful of tokens (25 cents each) goes a long way. The lineup of games also rotates over time, so if you’ve already been there, you could still end up playing some new games that you haven’t seen.
The bar side is taken just as seriously as the games. The draft lines are centered on American craft beer and the selection changes regularly. They also offer variations on classic pub food and craft cocktails.
There are a few locations around the city, including the original in Williamsburg, one on St. Marks Place in the East Village, one in Chelsea on West 24th Street, and the newest in the Financial District on Cortlandt Street. That means wherever the rest of your weekend is based, there’s probably a Barcade within a reasonable distance, so you can fit it around your other plans rather than building the night around it. Weekend nights get busy, so going on the earlier side gets you more open machines.
The Gutter
The Gutter is a bar in Williamsburg with eight restored vintage bowling lanes in the back, and the whole place runs on a walk-in basis. You show up, put your name in if there’s a wait, and hang out at the bar until it’s your turn. That setup is exactly what makes it work for this part of the night.
You don’t have to bowl if you don’t want to; you can just hang out if the wait ends up being too long. The bar itself is the kind of place you can happily spend a few hours in even without the lanes. It has a worn-in, retro feel, cheap drinks, a solid draft list, pinball machines, and a pool table.
If you do plan on bowling, keep in mind that you might have to wait an hour or more before a lane opens, especially on weekends. That’s fine if you treat the wait as part of the night and settle in with drinks, but frustrating if the group shows up expecting to bowl immediately. Going on a weeknight or earlier in the day on a weekend is your best option to avoid a long wait.
There’s also a second location on the Lower East Side on Essex Street if you want to stay in Manhattan.
Cellar Dog (Formerly Known as Fat Cat)
Cellar Dog is a big basement space on Christopher Street in the West Village, and it’s a great option to add to your weekend. There’s a small cover at the door, and once you’re in, the space is filled with pool tables, ping-pong, shuffleboard, foosball, chess, Scrabble, and board games, with live jazz playing at night.
Drinks are inexpensive for the neighborhood, and the whole place has a relaxed, unpolished feel, full of couches, mismatched furniture, and people doing their own thing.
That mix works especially well for a bachelorette group that wants something social but not overly loud or clubby. Some people can focus on the games, others can grab a couch near the music, and the whole place has a relaxed, slightly offbeat West Village vibe.
It also works at almost any point in the evening. It’s a fine early stop, but because the music goes late, it also works as the last stop of the night. The space has closed and reopened over the years, so it’s worth a quick look at their current hours and cover charge before you build it into the plan.
The Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club
The Royal Palms is a huge, Florida-themed shuffleboard club in a converted warehouse in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and it’s one of the best group hangs in the city. There are ten full-size shuffleboard courts, a stack of free board games, tropical-leaning cocktails, and a different food truck parked inside each night.
Most nights there’s a DJ, and the whole place has a fun, slightly ridiculous vacation feel that suits a bachelorette weekend without anyone having to try very hard.
Courts are first-come, first-served. You walk in, put your name in for a court, and play board games and drink until you’re up. Shuffleboard happens to be a perfect group game; it takes about two minutes to learn, nobody is good at it, and it’s just as fun to watch with a drink in hand as it is to play.
A couple of practical notes: it’s in Gowanus, so it works best on a day the group is already in Brooklyn, or as its own destination rather than a quick stop. Weekend nights draw a crowd, which can mean a wait for a court, though this is fine if the group is hanging out and drinking and is in no rush to play. Court time is paid by the hour and split across the group, so it stays reasonably priced. Check their site for current hours and pricing before you go.
A Sample NYC Bachelorette Weekend Itinerary
Here’s how a weekend might come together using the approach above – a few booked anchors, one casual stop, and room to breathe in between. You can adjust the stops to fit your group; this is just an idea of what you could do.
Friday
- 5-8 PM: Casual meetup at a bar with games near where you’re staying (Ace Bar downtown, or whichever Barcade is closest); people join as they arrive
- 8:30 PM: Late dinner reservation, or keep the night going where you are
Saturday
- 11 AM: Late brunch
- Afternoon: Open time: spa appointments, shopping, a walk, or Royal Palms if you’re up for Brooklyn
- 7:30 PM: A nice dinner
- 10 PM: Another main event: rooftop, karaoke room, or dancing
Sunday
- 11:00 AM: Final brunch
- 1:00 PM onward: Keep things flexible for departures: shopping, a walk, or one last casual stop like Cellar Dog or The Gutter
Planning for a Bigger Group
Once the group gets past eight or so people, a few things change. Restaurants get harder to choose; many spots in the city won’t seat large parties without a prix fixe or a deposit, so book the Saturday dinner further ahead than you think you need to, and confirm the headcount with the restaurant a few days before. Moving around gets slower too. A ten-person group doesn’t fit in one cab, and nobody walks at the same pace, so keep stops close together and share addresses in the group chat ahead of time.
The casual stop actually matters more with a big group, not less. The bigger the group, the harder it is to find an activity everyone genuinely wants to do, and a bar with games is one of the few plans where nobody has to do the same thing at the same time.
Handling the Budget
Costs add up fast in NYC, and not everyone in the group is working with the same budget. The kindest thing a planner can do is be upfront early. Share rough per-person estimates for the big-ticket items before anything is booked, and make the expensive stops optional where you can. The casual bar stop helps here too; a night at a dive bar with skee-ball costs a fraction of a club or a prix fixe dinner, and it’s usually just as fun.
What to Sort Out Before the Weekend
Here’s a short list of things worth settling in advance so nobody’s deciding them on the sidewalk:
- Where everyone is staying, and whether the plans are near it
- Who’s booking what, and who’s getting paid back for it
- The Saturday dinner reservation, as early as possible
- Dietary restrictions before any menus are chosen
- A group chat with addresses for every stop
- A rough dress code for each night, so nobody’s over- or underdressed
The goal of all this prep isn’t to control every aspect or moment of the weekend; it’s just to make sure logistics don’t have to be figured out while you’re trying to enjoy your trip.
The Best Bachelorette Weekends Leave Room to Breathe
A great bachelorette weekend in NYC doesn’t need every hour planned. Book the anchors that matter to your group, and make sure you have at least one stretch of time where you can add one of the options above, or something else your group will enjoy doing. No matter what, you’re spending a weekend with your closest friends, so leave enough room to actually enjoy being together instead of rushing from one reservation to the next.
