Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction

Wow. This place kinda makes an airplane bathroom seem roomy.
I got to sit about 4 feet away from the performers, which was neat, but being packed in like sardines wasn’t. And i don’t really see the benefit of doing a thorough review, as this venue is closing Oct 20.

This place is alright. Kinda divey. Saw some show called the «Beatdown» which is essentially the movie 8 Mile on crack. Freestyle rapping courtesy of audience volunteers. It was pretty funny.
Went back another time to see some live music but I’m not so sure the group performing was actually alive. I think the girl playing the cello fell asleep.
As far as the bar goes, stick with beer and simple mixed drinks. I ordered a martini once and they had to go look for a martini glass.

Let’s see… where do I begin? The week that I was there visiting a friend, Desmond Dekker passed away. The boy tending bar was broadcasting ska on the sound system. Which I will say, how rare? I brought up his passing, then we commiserated about Mr. Dekker. This place has fabulous mashed potatoes, human beings, and my perennial fave: Chicks and giggles. An all women comedy show? Unbelievable hilarity will in sue! It was the best comedy night I have ever been to. Seriously! Mo’s has the recipe for fantasticness. I recommend you run, not walk.

I love Mo Pitkin’s for overall cool Q, a «fuck you status quo» idea of fun and a liberal hand with the vodka bottle.
First time there was on New Year’s Eve for a show featuring some major figures in the Burlesque realm and hosted by the dapper, dashing Mr. Murray Hill. Murray seems to be in permanent residence there, hosting everything from Bingo nights to Oscar parties (our second trip there, the Oscars in Feb.). Upstairs where both events were is Sadie’s Lounge (love it!), a chic little lounge with a bartender whose job seems to be to get people as drunk as possible as fast and efficiently as possible. Mission accomplished, in my case. Going the bathroom after the New Year’s eve show, while waiting in the LONG line, I provided my own post-​performance one-​woman show while waiting to pee out the seven vodka cocktails I had consumed in about twenty minutes. Hilarity ensued. I had been featured in one of the big segments using the audience during the show (see embarrassing photo) and had my own fan base to support me. And thanks again, kids, for all you’ve done for me.
Menu is strictly eh, with the walls of reviews stretching upstairs referring to things fairly old school no longer offered. The kitsch factor is in full swing at Mo’s, but it seems the menu has gone the way of the TGI Friday’s. Food is pedestrian (lame Cuban Reuben sandwich, mediocre wings, ditto fish and chips, adequate crab and artichoke dip) with a few highlights mentioned in other reviews (Fried mac and Cheese). For a Jewish-​style place, the portions are pretty skimpy. That’s why I just came back and took a star away. With all the great places in the East Village, it’s a sin that the food here is so mediocre.
Many events throughout the week, most of them free to attend. Buying one cocktail can provide a cheap night out to celebrate the legacy of Miles Davis, play Bingo with a drag king (Mondays), see music, see vaudeville, etc. Main attraction here is the fun atmosphere and general «anything goes as long as nobody dies» vibe that pervades the place. Managers are nice and friendly, waitstaff tends to be overtaxed but always friendly, and my pick for a fun alternative night out any day of the week.
UPDATE: Something has happened here, and I don’t like it. We went on ⁸⁄₂₄ to hear the Main Squeeze Orchestra. They have a regular gig upstairs. The menu is drastically abbreviated, and while I don’t think the food here is much good, at least there were choices. Last night, the menu had 7 items on it. The fries that came with Peter’s decent burger were ice cold, and there were only about 20 people in the room. The waitress stated right up front that she could not be running up and down stairs all night for us, and maybe if we were good, she could bring us something from downstairs. When asked to bring me an egg cream, after learning that the Woodchuck cider was still out, she brought me some noxious spiked concoction that was horrible. I sent it back, and her response was, oh, we serve a spiked egg cream… they must have changed the menu. Yeah, uh, funny how they do that sometimes. At the end of the night, the spiked egg cream was still on the bill… her response was, oh, wow, I guess I have to look at the computer. Also, the AC wasn’t on most of the time.
I keep saying this but they don’t seem to care. What is going on with the food? It is now basically any bar menu. Yuck.
FURTHER UPDATE: 9/​8/​07 – From Murray Hill’s mouth himself, the place is INDEED closing, so no wonder they don’t give a shit about the food. BUMMER. I loved it here.

if you see a sign for margarita madness, STOP ON IN! they are AMAZING — and i think only $ 2 while margarita madness is going on.

I can’t say everything I’ve eaten here is the best ever, but I can say that fried macaroni and cheese is amazing. Better than amazine, it’s life altering.
Share it with someone and order a beer, and you’ll be enjoying Mo Pitkin’s at its best.

2 dollar margarita happy hour? Don’t mind if I do.

This is my favorite east side bar.
Have you ever heard of a STUMP SHOOTER?
So, I was living on 3^rd, and it took me like, 2 months to finallly stop and and check it out. It was late, and not too busy.
Ordered bourbon.
Next thing I know, Larry is blowing a 4 foot fireball out of his mouth! No shit!
Well after that display, it only made sense to order a round for the bar, and more bourbon and Bklyn Lager.
Never imagining that Larry’s act could be bested, there goes patrick first removing his prosthetic leg and putting it up on the bar. Crazy, but wait. There’s more.
He proceeds to mix a proprietary blend of liquor, pours it into the leg, shakes it, and ditributes to waiting shot glasses.
I admit that I wasn’t terribly drunk, and hesitated before imbibing, but eventually shot it. It wasn’t bad. Gross you might think, but Patrick is very clean and there is generally so much alcohol in the prosthesis, that it’s quite sanitary.
Anyway, this isn’t an everyday occurance. Only those priviledged few who stay after hours are blessed enough.
The menu has changed. Gone is the brisket and mo burger — no more schmaltz :(
But the service is fantastic. It’s a real NY bar. Great acts up and downstairs. Great décor, perfect location.
Home sweet home.

This place is always fun.
Food… no idea.
Drinks… Outstanding
Hangovers… Hardly
Clientele … Eclectic
Staff… Fun and Funny
The reason I love this place are the shows they book, along with the pride and respect the artist seems to have for the place and vise versa
When you go there make sure you meet Larry the Manager, cool dude from the Big Easy area. And for a server, ask for the hottie, sexy waitress aptly named Sassy. True story. I even checked her id.

Saw a shortened Witches in Bikinis show here, its a cute cabaret stage upstairs with a small bar in the next room. I just couldn’t stop drinking that Stella, probably because the glasses were the smaller version (if you’ll notice from bar to bar, there are three sizes of Stella glasses).
The downstairs bar is totally normal, bar on the right, high tables on the left, normal people in the middle, with the local crowd coming in for the special drinks as well as just a few beers.
me rikey.

I didn’t actually eat at this place, so I can’t judge the food but I went a CD release party last night and really wasn’t feeling it. They were way understaffed and despite the fact that they were running a free Brooklyn lager promotion — and understandably people weren’t spending a lot of money — it took forever to get drinks and then the keg got kicked after I had one beer.
Plus, the people who worked there were kind of rude (the busboy was constantly pushing people out of his way) and they wouldn’t let anyone into the back even though it seemed to be far from capacity. Anyway, this mac and cheese everyone is talking about must be AMAZING for me to take a trip back to this place. Who thought it’d be possible to hate on an open bar?

You think you got problems? Just wait until you get a UTI after a show there because one of their 2 bathrooms were functional and the line to the co-​ed functional one stretched up the stairs to the bar.
Now that was a big sentence so let me digest it with you. Firstly I saw a show at Mo’s called I Eat Pandas and that was great (5 stars) waited 20 minutes for the show without so much as an announcement of why and had trouble finding a seat for the show because I was on my own (–1 point). After the show I had to pee… went down to the only functional bathroom only to find a huge coed line. Coed lines suck for guys, because we pee and leave. Instead I waited 5 minutes and the line never moved. I decided to pee at the next place I was visiting. The end of this story cuts to a burning sensation the next day. YEAH! And I’m a boy! I’ve never gotten a UTI and now understand how much it sucks ladies. Cranberry juice anybody?
That takes off another point.
I would go back to Mo’s to eat or see another show, but I would probably bring a mason jar to pee in. I’m kidding… not really.
TIP: Mason Jar

There are some ideas that are so brilliant, you wonder why they have taken so long to come to fruition. Build you own Bloody Mary? It’s that idea. And Mo’s has it.
I have found there are two Bloody Mary camps. Likes and Don’t Likes. And for those in the Likes Camp… I’ve found most people have their own idea of the perfect Bloody Mary. More horseradish, less pepper sauce? Less horseradish, more Worcestershire? Clamato, V8, or tomato juice? For years, we have toiled at the mercy of the bartender… well no more. Pick a vodka and go to work. Three tomato juices, 10+ pepper sauces, Worcestershire, Liquid Smoke, Wasabi, Horseradish, pickles, white asparagus… I could go on… So while the food is fine in the comfort category… you can only blame yourself in the Bloody Mary category.

Strange… mixed feelings about this place… had a good time playing adult bingo hosted by Murray Hill and Dirty Martini, some funny drag queen and kings, but felt off put by the bartender who gave us a lecture on not eating a slice of pizza at his bar. Okay… other than that, a great edition to a strip that’s become increasingly blah, in terms of creative new venues. Will return for shows and comedy, and the food.

i LOVE this place. i only checked out a small portion of it but they had live music. and GOOD live music. they were playing some kind of blues that evening, and it completely intensified the atmosphere. it was quaint and homey. it was past kitchen hours but I did try their flourless chocolate cake and it was fantastic. rich and thick just how chocolate should taste.
from my understanding of the place they do more than just live music but have some stand up too (and I guess I am correct based on the other reviews)
the bartender (s) were extremely nice and made sure that YOU were getting everything you needed, intsead of having to wave the bartender down with a flourescent yellow flag saying «please help me». it was such a friendly atmosphere.
so cozy. makes me feel like hot fudge. mmmm.

Funky menu is offset but even funkier cocktail menu. The food is good, but the real draw would be the characters that dot the MoPitkins landscape. The most colorful ones: Monday Night Bingo Host Drag Giant Murray Hill and DJ Tiki Masala. If you go, try the Manechevitini. Sounds gross, but it is quite the drink.

I haven’t loved much here. However, it is worth returning in order to show-​off the fried macaroni and cheese and watch people’s faces fall off. It’s as good (or bad) as it sounds.

My friends and I often eat and hang in the East Village/​Lower East Side. We went to see a show last Friday at Mo Pitkins and thought we go early and try the food. The décor makes you feel like you have stepped back in time. Classy and warm. The «Mo’jito was perfectly made, not to sour with a touch of guava. And the Fried Mac and Cheese is literally worth dying for.

A few weeks before this restaurant opened up I was at a Cyclones game on Coney Island with someone who was going to be working as the chef here. He described the food as Jewish food with a Cuban flavor. I thought he was insane. He wasn’t. I recently went with a friend to Mo Pitkin’s, I ate the Brisket and she ate the Paella. We both loved our meals and vowed to be back again soon. Satisfaction guaranteed.

The new rival to Sidewalk Caf as the big all-​inclusive bar/​restaurant/​venue/​comedy lounge/​everything else you can think of, Mo Pitkin’s is divided into three levels and plays venue to basically anything. Maybe it’s the second floor view of Avenue A or the fancy bathrooms, but there’s something about this place that gives it a lot of character. Downsides include pricey drinks and no outdoor seating.