Going Alone the First Time, and Why It Is the Easiest Version of the Night
Most people ask whether it is weird to go alone. What they actually want to know is whether the room will notice, and then keep noticing all night. It won't.
Going by yourself to Starlets in Woodside, Queens is an ordinary way to spend a night here. The club is open daily 11 PM to 4 AM. That is a five-hour window you get to use exactly how you like, because nobody else is voting.
Solo is a normal way to be in this room
Nightlife markets itself on groups. The crew, the table, the whole party arriving at once. Plenty of people show up on their own instead, have a drink, watch the room and leave when they are finished, and none of that registers as unusual to anyone working the floor.
Nobody at the bar is working out what your deal is. You came in on your own, which happens every night this place is open.
The bar is your anchor
Sit at the bar. It is the one seat in any club built for a person arriving alone, and it settles the two things that make a solo visit feel awkward: where to be, and what to do with your hands.
From a bar seat you can face the room, order without flagging anyone down across a floor, and look up or not look up as you please. The bartenders here are Startenders, which carries a specific meaning at Starlets — Startender Sundays explains that one properly.
You set the pace, because nobody else is voting
You arrive when you want. You have one drink or three. You stay past the point where a group would have started arguing about a second place, or you call it a night at one and nobody sulks about it.
Groups spend real time negotiating all of that. You spend none.
The first stretch, briefly
Choose where you are heading before you are through the door, walk straight to it, and order something once you get there. Standing in the entrance deciding is the only genuinely awkward move available to you, and avoiding it takes about ten seconds. If you have not settled whether you are coming alone at all, solo or group on a first visit is the decision that comes before this one.
After that, do nothing for a while. Watching a room is a legitimate way to spend twenty minutes.
Talking, and not talking
You do not owe anyone conversation, staff included. A nod and a drink order is a complete interaction, start to finish.
If you do want to talk, keep it short and ordinary. "First time here" is a fine opening line and it has the advantage of being true. Ask a question about the room if you have one, because people who work nights field questions all night and it costs them nothing to answer.
What does not work is treating a bartender's attention as something owed to you for the length of their shift. Order, tip, let them work. Tipping across a long night handles the money side of that.
If somebody asks why you are on your own
Almost nobody will. If it does come up, "just came out for a drink" is a complete answer and it has the benefit of being true. You do not owe a stranger a backstory at one in the morning.
Do you need a table by yourself?
Usually not. A reservation is reserved seating with table service arranged in advance, and it suits a date night or a small group more than one person at the bar.
There are still reasons to want one. You want a fixed spot to come back to, you are meeting someone later in the night, or you would rather have the whole thing handled before you arrive. If that is you, the service list shows what can be set up and the VIP booking page starts it.
The door does not treat you differently
One person and eight people present the same thing at the door: a valid government-issued photo ID, every time, 21 and up. Arriving on your own changes none of that, and walking up to a door alone covers what that particular moment feels like.
Bring the ID. It is the only part of tonight that is not up to you.
When going alone is the wrong call
If the whole point is somebody's birthday, going alone defeats the point. Same if the plan was always a group thing and you are only doing it solo because herding five people on a weeknight felt like work.
Otherwise, go. A first solo visit is the lowest-stakes way to find out whether you like a place, because you can be out the door in twenty minutes and owe nobody an explanation for it.
Before you go
Starlets is at 49-09 25th Ave, Woodside, NY 11377, open daily 11 PM to 4 AM. If there is something you want to know before you leave the house, call (646) 301-6606 and ask.