A popular New York City bar is stepping up its food offerings with the start of a new supper club for all to enjoy.
Since opening in Downtown Social, the bar has aimed to be the go-to spot for New Yorkers, whether it’s for a quick hang, a birthday party or to party all night long.
“Downtown Social is the bar that Manhattan needed. You see a lot of places that identify as a sports bar or a music venue or a place to just host a party,” said Chris Kinsel, Operating Partner at Downtown Social. “I have yet to see a place that achieves all of that and can do that all within 12 hours, and Downtown Social is that space.”
Downtown Social is open from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. during the week, extending those hours to 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and offer brunch hours on weekends. Though the space offers a variety of food options for patrons to enjoy, the bar teamed up with the PR firm Bread & Butter to help shake up their offerings this summer.
On select nights throughout the summer, Downtown Social will host its new Social Supper Series from 5 to 9 p.m. During these nights, customers can come by and enjoy food from popular restaurants throughout the city while enjoying Downtown Social’s regular offerings.
“We were all chatting just about some new programming. Obviously, Bread & Butter has been huge for our operations here in New York, and we felt like there wasn’t a huge communal aspect anymore in the city and there’s a ton of stand-alone spots that are great on their own,” said Kinsel. “We saw a really big opportunity to kind of tie them into what we’re doing here and get some cross-exposure among our clientele.”
The Social Supper Series will officially launch on June 20 with Pecking House taking over the kitchen that night and June 21. The rest of the restaurant lineup includes Emmett’s on June 27-28, Hill Country BBQ on July 11-12, Johnny’s Pork Roll on July 18-19, and Sticky’s on July 25-26.
Downtown Social will also be partnering with Evil Twin Brewing NYC, allowing patrons to have craft beer options in addition to the bar’s usual drink lineup. The bar will be rotating beers each week so return patrons can try something new each time they visit.
“If you ask 100 New Yorkers what describes New York, you would get 100 different answers. We really saw this as a cool avenue to bring in a bunch of different types of food and a bunch of different demographics and people to showcase that New York is a melting pot,” said Kinsel. “We want to acknowledge that and pay tribute to that if we can do that within our building, we think we are the perfect venue to do so.”
“I’ve made it my life’s work to introduce New Yorkers and anyone else to the joys of Chicago-style pizza. To partner with Downtown Social in a series like this is a great opportunity for us to expand our reach and capture a new audience,” said Emmett Burke, owner of Emmett’s.
“Once upon a time, we delivered to nearly all of New York City and it was heartwarming to get excited feedback from every neighborhood. We miss Manhattan and we are thrilled to be coming back for a couple nights. Given how deep our cuisine runs in Southern, country cooking, we can’t think of a better partner to collaborate with than Downtown Social,” said Eric Huang, chef & owner of Pecking House
As always, guests are welcome to just come as they are to Downtown Social on the Supper Series nights, no reservation required.
“I think this can be the start to potentially more partnerships in the future that not only aid in more exposure and business for these restaurants, but it’s kind of eye-opening for New York City as a whole,” said Kinsel. “We are one, and although we operate behind different doors, we can figure out ways to be one and the same and show people that we can do this together again, whether that’s food, music, or arts and crafts. This is just the start to show people that this way of operating these pop-ups is a real thing and it’s doable.”
Downtown Social is located at 149 2nd Ave. For more information about Downtown Social, visit downtownsocialnyc.com.
