Gotham Citi Cafe

from out if town… Probably the worst club/​bar I’ve ever walked into in my life. Very terrible music. Only cater’s to one scene of people. Very hard to dance to rap music. Felt very uncomfortable. It’s Labeled as a gay bar but it’s 95% straight people. Do ***NOT*** recommend.

I was visiting from out of town with some friends. We were there for New Haven’s Pride block party. The pride wasn’t very big so we decided to get a drink at the bar. I ordered 2 vodka martini’s, one with Grey Goose, the other with Belvedere and dirty, and 2 rum and cokes. The bartender clearly didn’t know what he was doing. He poured it into the shaker and then didn’t even shake it. He poured it back and forth between the shaker and a plastic cup. (They were serving in the cups because you could have the drinks in the street.) We got our drinks and the martini’s were sweet. They tasted like he had used sweet vermouth in them and the olives had pits in them. I couldn’t even taste the brine in the dirty martini. The rum and cokes were not good either. I don’t know what he did wrong with those but they were just ok. Not worth the $ 36 that I paid for all 4 drinks. It really is a shame, they have a great space. The bar itself is clean, the bathrooms were clean, they have a nice patio area and a large dance floor.

This place is the worst. Don’t waste your time or money there.
I went to the «new» Gotham (located at the old Center st. bar) on Saturday night at around 12am with a group of 10 friends (guys and girls). We were about to pay the ridiculous $ 8 cover fee to get in until my friend whispers to me that there were only 3 people inside… The door guy (who I later find out is one of the owners) overheard and was so offended that he told us to find somewhere else to go. He looked and acted like he was coming down from a cocaine binge and would have beaten us up if we had said anything else. A few words for you, sir — poor, sad business ethics. Bad salesman. Get it together.

Ok, well Went on a Thursday, all ages. It was me and my husband’s tenth anniversary. We had an awesome time. We have been going here sense before we got married and it was Gotham City, now it is Empire. It used to be a line down the block and packed inside, now there is no line and it is not so packed

The layout seemed cool at first but quickly got old. I was there one thursday with my girl friends and it was so hot in there we needed air after like 5 minutes. Theres no air conditioning or fans or anything so its just a room of packed hot people covered in sweat, not very fun. The people at the door could not have been ruder either we asked for a stamp so we could leave and come back and they said no. wth??? we had to pay 15 $ to get into that oven we werent just gonna bail. Then they closed early. Place was a complete waste i will not be going back there ever

I went here with some gay friends on gay night. I thought it was fun until some creepy dude was hitting on me. Nevertheless, I liked the choice of music. You could smoke right inside in a back room, which was very tight and closed in, but convenient since it was winter time. I’m not sure if they still do that, since I went on another night and they only allowed you to smoke outside. The cover price was a bit high compared to other clubs in the area, however no one else to my knowledge offers «after hours», a somewhat sketchy way that the club stays open after last call. There is a level lower than the club that gets all smokey and sketchy, but I guess it’s cool they stay open later than all the other clubs in the area. We didn’t stick around.
SKIP LATIN NIGHT ON FRIDAYS! I’m not sure if they changed the policies for every night, or if security is just tighter on latin night. That was the lamest night ever. They patted me down, took my lighter and my little swiss army knife. Seriously?! Like I’m trying to cut someone with my little pink swiss army knife. I got everything back afterwards, but I was so peeved. They had this little fence outside that created a «smoking area», and there was an employee standing outside lighting cigarettes because they took everyone’s lighters on the way in. LAME!

Had a blast the first night. Was there for the saturday gay night. Music wasnt too bad. I meet some really cute/​hot guys, and danced with them. Started dying down by 2.
The second night was bad though. Same music, same theatrics, less people, uglier crowd. No hotties that night. So not sure what to think.
I guess theres a need for timing.

Should’ve been called Twink Citi.
Gotham, as the locals call it for short, started catering to the 18+ gay crowd in 2002 or 2003, and at first it was a great mix of twinky college students, young adults, and a good number of «oldies but goodies.»
It was a great place to party on Saturday. Actually, let me rephrase that… it was the ONLY place to party on Saturday for the gays. The music was great! The vibe was slutty, sort of underground, and «hip» (in CT standards). It was definitely a great place to dance your ass off!
Since CT does not allow the sale of alcohol past 2am, the party transitioned to Gotham’s basement, where the circuit/​rave party would begin. Gotham was known to have a «Dark Room» where guys would hook up and do drugs with each other.
The place started to get old and boring after a couple of years, due in part to its outdated DJ. The music selection is definitely questionable and not worth paying a cover charge of $ 7 to listen to his shitty choice of music.
The place has only improved aesthetically, which keeps the place looking young and fresh, but the music is awful! The DJ has got to go asap… for good-​times-​sake!
The crowd has diminished completely, and it is now nothing but a room full of twinks. eeeek!
Not worth going on gay night (Saturday). However, the straight party on Friday nights is much better!

gym bunnies, drag queens, college students, banjee boys, and – owing to the club’s 18+ door policy – a large twink cohort travel long distances to get down at gotham citi. the multi-​level space is regional in scale and encompasses a large, house-​oriented dance floor (upstairs), a live performance area (ground floor), numerous bars, and assorted nooks and crannies in which to go about your sketchy business. note particularly «oz,» the on-​premises afterhours club, located in the basement, where, after 2, the music and crowd are at their most interesting. saturday is the big gay night here; check the calendar for other events.