Good bar food is not such an easy find in Manhattan. Generally speaking, the wings in NYC are a joke and usually wind up costing way more than they should. Not at Reservoir. Looking for a good place to post up for a night of grubbing, game watching, and beer drinking? This is your spot. On a good day, Reservoir boasts some of the city’s best Buffalo wings (sometimes the wings can be too small) plus I have serious love for their perfectly done waffle fry. Yes, the crowd is very NYU bro-dawg heavy but it’s a great sleeper spot to kick it with your friends and not break the bank (burger + fries $8.50, 20 wings $8.50). Oh, and two tips. If you’re getting a burger make sure you order a ‘Buffalo burger’ – it’s better than their normal burger and not on the menu. Also, Sunday night is wing night, thirty cents apiece.
The owners of Penelope must have good connections at City Hall. That or they found a loophole the zoning code requiring all Murray Hill restaurants to have at least six flat screen televisions on each wall. They have also somehow figured out how to run a successful establishment in the neighborhood that doesn’t primarily serve Tasty D-Lite.
Penelope is a comfortable little establishment on a quiet stretch of Lexington Ave, devoid of LCD TVs and sporting a comfortable country house feel to it. They do simple food like a killer mac and cheese, a chicken meatball sandwich, and a decent burger – along with several other gems. Brunch is excellent, but can be a bit crazy. Dinner is a little more reserved and is a great option if you feel like some decent eats and a reasonably priced bottle of wine without a scene. If you live in the ‘hood, the sandwiches deliver well, and it’s usually quick. Also, don’t sleep on the home made baked goods.
Aside from having a bocce court in the dining room, Il Vagabondo isn’t much different than any other old school, NYC Italian restaurant. We have so many places like this in town that it’s hardly worth writing them up … “the home made pasta is great, best meatballs ever, their red sauce is to die for” … whatever. What makes Il Vagabondo special, and worth some real estate on this site is that it’s a true neighborhood restaurant. Regulars have been coming here for forty years, not four. Friendly faces and consistent food keep people coming back. It’s a relaxed atmosphere – the antithesis to Il Mulino, and not somewhere you are going to bring your friends on a weekend night to blow their mind. This is a place to chill out and get down on some pasta on a winter Tuesday. The front bar and dining room have been renovated sometime within the last ten years, but we recommend eating in the “vintage” dining room with the bocce court. If you’ve got any self-respect, you’ll slam a bottle of wine and challenge some old dudes to a game.
When we heard about The Mermaid Inn opening an “Oyster Bar” in the Village, we were fired up like burnouts scrambling for tickets to the Phish shows at MSG. We’ve been frequenting the East Village location for years now, and the uptown outpost is just as good. They both serve up great fish and a nice lobster roll, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a safer bet for an “Early In the Game Date.” I also just recently had an incredible meal at Neptune Oyster in Boston and it’s been on the brain ever since. So naturally, we went in to the new Mermaid optimistic and ready to throw down some bivalves. Now, the place has all of the same appealing qualities as it’s predecessors and the food is good, but an oyster bar? I guess fifteen or so varieties qualify you, but we were hoping for a deeper raw bar and a little more excitement. Where’s the oyster inspiration? How about an oyster stew, maybe a po’ boy? The menu is standard Mermaid Inn fare, which is fine, but we had hopes for something a little more inventive. What it comes down to is that the Oyster Bar is perfect for mid-day beers and a dozen on ice, but it’s really just another Mermaid Inn. Hit up Flex Mussels if you’re looking for some inspired variations on a theme.
Wilfie & Nell is a cozy little bar situated right on the edge of that part of the West Village that you might also know as “the vortex”. We’ve lived in New York City for almost eight years and even with Google Maps, Hopstop and a few orienteering courses, we still get turned around down here. Luckily, there are plenty of good reasons to find yourself lost in the neighborhood, and this place is one of them.
Seeing as how we’re writing about it on this site, you would be right to assume that Wilfie & Nell is a restaurant – they serve not only dinner but now brunch, and the menu was originally curated by Momofuku alumni and Brooklyn Star owner Joaquin Baca. But it is first and foremost a place you come to drink, rather than a place you come to eat. Consider it an added bonus that the bar food you’ll likely be eating while standing near a tiny ledge is pretty good. Tables fill up quickly, as do the bar seats, and thirty people can make the place feel crowded thanks to low cielings and strange layout. Nonetheless, it’s a vibey bar that will get you cool points on a date, or maybe even land you one for later in the week. Just try not to spill mustard on your pants while you eat in the corner.
Feature: Infatuation TV: P.O.S.
