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Essex
Categories: Restaurants Breakfast & Brunch Nightlife Bars Restaurants American (New) Breakfast & Brunch, Bars, American (New) [Edit]
120 Essex St(between Rivington St & Delancey St)
New York, NY 10002
Neighborhood: Lower East Side
(212) 533-9616
- Nearest Transit:
-
Delancey St (F)
Essex St (J, M, Z)
2 Av (F)
- Hours:
Mon-Tue 5 pm - 12 am
Wed 5 pm - 12:30 am
Thu 5 pm - 1 am
Fri 5 pm - 3 am
Sat 11 am - 3 am
Sun 11 am - 12 am
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Brunch
- Music:
- Background
- Best Nights:
- Thu, Sun, Sat
- Happy Hour:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- No
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Loud
- Good For Dancing:
- No
- Ambience:
- Trendy, Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
801 reviews for Essex
Review Highlights
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"Try the potato pancakes -- they rock." In 68 reviews -
"They have specials and happy hour daily and." In 69 reviews -
"...pancakes with sautéed apples & honey cream sauce: delicious." In 9 reviews
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801 reviews in English
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Review from Vishal M.
Manhattan, NY
5/24/2012
Awesome happy hour.
We were seated before our reservation and our waitress was polite and helpful. $5 drinks until 8pm. Mango mojito was the undisputed favorite drink at our table. We ordered a couple of rounds of the East Coast Oysters, which are great for a buck a piece.
The highlight is the Wednesday Night Lobster Special, $18 for a sweet 1.25oz lobster with butter, potatoes, and corn on the cob. Simply amazing. -
Review from Allison S.
ASTORIA, NY
I've been here for Brunch, Happy Hour and Wednesday night for their Lobster Special, I love this place. Happiness explodes from this place that I want to cry tears of confitti!
Brunch: It is always crowded, so make a reservation and make sure you whole party is there on time or you will have to wait. So tell your "fashionable late friends" to come 30 minutes earlier ;) They really don't count how many drinks you had, they just keep on refilling and refilling, very dangerous! By the time you leave the place you have a great buzz or for us light weights, you're done for the day. Great selection of meals, I mean they have chicken fried chicken and biscuits and gravy!!
Happy Hour: This place gets a lot of hype for it's brunch but definitely try it for Happy Hour. It's half off speciality drinks, which are pretty good and $1 oysters, depending if you like oysters or not, but I love them. I will say they trick you a bit, $1 oysters are East Coast oysters and the West Coast oysters are $2. The west coast oyster have a stronger taste so if you're not into the fishy stuff just stick to the East Coast ones, plus they are bigger!
Wednesday Night Lobster Special: I mean, where do you find $18 lobster, which are around 1.25 lbs, potatoes and corn on the cob in the city?!! I really can't say anything bad about the deal, the lobster or anything, it just plain as day a good deal!
Service was attentive without being all over your table. I like that the servers have handheld devices to put in orders. I saw that one of the servers accidently spilled a little of my champagne and automatically come back and refilled my glass with more.
Essex is a must for the Lower East Side and a great place to take out of towners for a fun boozy brunch! -
Review from Jason G.
5/21/2012
This is probably my favorite brunch spot in all of New York. NYC has millions of great breakfast options, but Essex encompass everything you'd want and more. The food is pretty pretty pretty good. The service is outstanding. They say brunch (around $23) comes with just 3 mimosas but I'm pretty sure they continue to pour until you tap out. They're extremely easy going with rule. The vibe is totally LES (Lower East Side). You know hipster heaven with a touch of ?uestlove? The Mexican omelet is the way to go here.
I've yet to have a bad experience at this place and even when they want to boot you from your table after a few hours, they usually kill you with kindness by offering you free drinks at the bar. The place is always packed for brunch and you literally have to push through people just to get out and more than likely you're waiting an awfully long time just to get in, but when it's all said and done it'll be worth it.Listed in: Wake & Bake
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Review from John K.
5/20/2012
I've only come for the bar.
Their lounge is nice. It has a good ambiance. They have happy hour specials, even on a Friday night! :) I think they start after midnight.
Would probably come here more, but there's a lot of other good places in LES too. -
Review from K G.
Washington, DC
5/19/2012
Surprising! Ate here for a big birthday party. Everything we had was fantastic! I ate the sea bass, which was cooked and seasoned perfectly. Someone else got the macaroni and cheese, which was possibly the very best restaurant Mac and cheese that I've ever had (and I LOVE Mac and cheese and get it often). The scallops appetizer was great, as was the roast chicken.
I highly, highly recommend this place. The only downside? The service was a bit slow, which I am perfectly happy to chalk up to the size of our party.
Weird location, but definitely worth the trip from midtown! -
Review from Joanna T.
Redondo Beach, CA
5/18/2012
Easter brunch - this place was packed, and they wouldn't seat us until everybody arrived. The food was ok...I guess everything in New York is kind of expensive, but I expected the food to be a lot better. The three drinks was nice - their orange juice is really good, but everything else was meh. I got the potato pancakes with smoked salmon - on paper it looks great, but when it arrived I was not as ecstatic.
Our waitress was great though! She was super nice and helpful :) -
Review from Gamal H.
5/11/2012
The pitchers of cocktails and good service are more memorable than the food.
We had dinner here a while back. There was no host right at the door and that normally makes me question the service. The experience tends to suffer if people have to wander around the bar before they reach the dinner host. When I did reach the host station, everything was very smooth. We ate fairly early (9ish), we had a reservation and the place wasn't crowded on a Thursday night but I've seen more than a few places take that same scenario and make a mess of it, so I was pleased.
The warehouse height of the ceilings and the comfortable seating make you feel like you could be somewhere in Brooklyn, minus the hipsters.
A portion of their drink menu comes by the pitcher and I recommend taking advantage of that (since you were going to do that anyway).
The salmon was decent and I enjoyed the fries (but this isn't really news. I almost always enjoy fries).
The service is prompt but not instrusive and the background music isn't going to annoy you.
Essex is definitely a place to go back to, even if you don't want to destroy a pitcher of liquor.
Have fun.
G -
Review from Chantelle E.
Tacoma, WA
4/24/2012
We came in for brunch on Saturday and had a ball!! We did a mexican style omelet and the crab cake eggs benedict (WHICH WAS TO DIE FOR). The food was great and the 3 mimosas's included in the $22 just kept flowing! I am sure by the time we were done we had more like 5 mimosa's but hey, who's counting anyways.
Toward the end of the meal, beings it was so busy, the waitress politely asked us to wrap things up so she could seat another group, and in so gave us more drink tickets for the bar! I'll take it! =-)
Even cash pay at the bar, the drinks are about $4 during brunch time.
Overall, great place, good food, good service, nice decor, and good music.
Now, how to get my hometown Seattle to catch on to this whole "brunch" experience! -
Review from Eric M.
Chinatown, Manhattan, NY
5/9/2012
Food - 4.5/5
Value - 4/5
Service - 4/5
Atmosphere - 4/5
Came here for brunch around 2PM. Don't be fooled by reservation times, they in most likelihood will not be kept. There are tons of people, usually mid-late 20's, here who linger or take their time eating because of the de-facto unlimited drinks. The bar being situated in between the entrance/exit and the tables is kind of a turnoff during day service when its packed with people. That having been said, the waitress that served us was very nice and kept the drinks coming. I had the potato pancakes with apple and honey sauce served with spinach-shitake bean hash. They were slamming. I was awfully irritated from the wait and the huge crowd (also hadn't eaten the whole day), and my mood changed immediately. One of my friends had their corned beef hash, also amazing. I tried a little bit of some other dishes and felt the same. The only thing keeping me from coming back is the crowd. -
Review from Zach S.
4/23/2012
I have only been here for brunch.
That being said the food at brunch is average to above average depending on what you get. I raised it another star because you get three drinks with your food and then after that mimosas (and maybe bloody mary's?) are just $3.
The few times I have been here Essex has helped turn a quiet Sunday into a Sunday Funday...more often than not friends and myself will have one too many here then hit up the liquor store down the street for another bottle of champagne to continue the celebration elsewhere. Stay thirsty. -
Review from Viv O.
Concourse, Bronx, NY
5/9/2012
Great place to have brunch with friends.. HOWEVER, the wait is crazy long and when we finally got seated, we had to wait for about 15 to at least get a class of water.. Our waitress gave us dirty champagne flutes .. when we informed her of this she immediately changed our glasses and gave us an additional refill :)
The meals are all fresh and hot as they arrive!! Would return again in the future.. -
Review from Charles V.
Glen Head, NY
5/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Went here for brunch on a beautiful sunday. The place was packed and the food was good, not terrific but good. The drinks were endless, bloody marys were more bloody than mary but all was pretty good.
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Review from Bethany P.
New York, NY
4/11/2012
Wow did we have an interesting experience at Essex.
First of all, I gave it three stars b/c the food was good (not amazing) and those three drinks with brunch for around $23 are phenomenal.
Now to the nitty gritty. My group of seven arrived around 10:45 on Easter Sunday. We had an 11AM reservation. When we arrived the staff was still setting up and not really seating anyone. While we were waiting I observed a woman who I took to be the manager yelling at a few frightened-looking waitresses and running around with a sour look on her face.
We were seated and our waitress informed us that she could not serve us alcohol until noon since it was Sunday - an old NYC law apparently. Ok, no big deal. We'll take our time we said, the restaurant is empty anyway. Our waitress just smiled and said ok but if it got busy she'd just give us drink tickets for the bar. Fair enough.
I'm not going to lie, we stalled a little but it did take some legit time for our group of seven to settle on orders. While we chose our food we ordered coffees. While we were reading the menu the angry woman I saw when I first arrived came over to our table and proceeded to half-lecture, half-yell at us saying that we needed to order and that the customers would soon be busting the doors down to get in so our table would be needed. We took a look around the 2/3 empty restaurant and sat stunned. I felt like a school kid being yelled at by a teacher, not a 20-something patron trying to enjoy her brunch.
Needless to say when she finally walked away we were pissed. Our waitress seemed apologetic but what could she say with her boss lurking nearby. RIght when we were about to place our order the waitress had to run and get something. In that 2 minute gap the angry manager came back and started in again. She said over and over how many people were going to be coming in and that we had to order NOW (note the restaurant is still mostly empty). One of the guys in my party finally had enough and told the woman firmly that we were just about to order and that our waitress had walked away. She said something snide and walked away.
The rest of the meal was pleasant. The angry woman tried to curry our favor with speedy refills and a couple smiles. We were not amused. I have only been treated that poorly at a restaurant once before, nearly 2 years ago and I haven't been back since.
It's such a let down when you have a good meal and great company and the customer service is just awful. -
Review from Lu H.
Great boozy brunch!
People definitely come here to see and be seen. So yes, it's sceney. There was a hostess here who looked a lot like Natalie Portman, with a half shaven head.
Fortunately, this is a sceney place where the food is worth coming for. At $23 for an entree and 3 drinks, it's not a steal but the entrees are more unique an a typical brunch spot.
Last time I got the Mexican Matzo Brei - an egg scramble with a generous helping of black beans. With this dish you must get the chorizo. It's not up for discussion, and you will not regret it.
It's safe to say that with their expansive menu, you can go with what you typically like -- their pancake, waffle, and french toast dishes are good. I love the Mexican Matzo Brei and the Aristocrat -- both a twist on the usual brunch fare. The Aristocrat is great if you like smoked salmon, and the roe adds an extra kick of flavor.
If you don't want to go boozy, they will let you substitute orange or grapefruit juice for mimosas.Listed in: Brunch it up
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Review from Judy C.
Financial District, NY
4/22/2012
OooOOo yeah Brunch! Must be my favorite meal of the day. I could egg in every meal.
The wait is usually a little crazed and standing with the 50 people waiting near the bar warrants a few of their mango mojitos made with mango puree! Lovely~
Once we get seated the service is pretty quick... I usually order:
The Deep South - chicken fried steak with biscuits, eggs & sausage gravy
~O M G
challah french toast withbananas foster sauce & fresh fruit
~ I don't usually order the sweet stuff for brunch since I'm so tempted by the salty goodness. But this is ooey gooey good! Worth every calorie. Just say to yourself that the fruit balances the butter in the foster.
manchego macaroni & cheese with chicken apple sausage
~ A really really surprisingly good mac n' cheese!
I wish I could get all three, so it's best to bring your friends and try them all. I think I'll just go back next weekend..... -
Review from Sandy S.
Manhattan, NY
4/13/2012 1 Check-in Here
Date: 04/12/2012
"$1 Oysters Sunday-Friday Happy Hour All Night Long"
After two dozen oysters at the bar, I still think Clyde's (http://www.clydes.com) has better HH oysters.
All the reviews mention brunch... Perhaps I should come back for a weekend meal. -
Review from Joyce H.
Let's start with the good: really nice space, lots of natural light through the windows, loft-like feel. Really friendly waitresses. We had a reservation so we didn't wait long at all. That's the reason why it's 2 stars and not 1.
That being said, the brunch food was not good at all :( I tried the potato pancakes as well as the lobster eggs benedict with potatoes and both were very disappointing. My poached egg on my benedict was entirely cooked, and the lobster was barely covering the english muffin. The potatoes were hard and overcooked. The potato pancake was decent but is something I can make (hash browns) at home. Because it was easter brunch the bill was $27 for an entree and a drink, and with tax/tip it came out to around $35 a person.
I like the idea of boozy brunch here - I think it would be fun but until they redo their food, I don't think I'll be wanting to come back here. -
Review from Gillad M.
Manhattan, NY
4/2/2012 1 Check-in Here
In one word: Awesome! Young crowd, fun vibe, and incredible food.
Essex is a pretty large place with two upstairs areas overlooking the bar (people were constantly taking pictures of the place). Admittedly, the young and rowdy crowd makes it pretty loud for weekend brunch.
We were a party of eight and everybody agreed that the food was delectable. I had The Aristocrat (potato pancake topped with house-cured salmon gravlax, salmon caviar, poached eggs, and a side of what I think was sour cream). The potato pancake was crispy and hot and reminded me so much of a perfectly made Hanukkah latkes. Every bite I took included all of the many items on my plate and the combined taste was impressive. Brunch also came with three mimosas / screwdrivers / bloody marys, but nobody was counting how many mimosas I had.
Sadly, I must state that we waited about an hour and a half for a table for eight. They don't take reservations and it took a while for them to clear a table for us (point is, if you have a large party, go at 11:00 a.m. when it's a little less busy). Also, they placed us at the table RIGHT in front of the bar so there was constantly a crowd of people surrounding our table.
On a better note, the service was excellent and the waitress was looking out for us (though I still wonder how the staff maneuvers through the crowd of people at the bar).
Overall, despite the fact that I have an ever growing list of brunch places I want to experience, I would DEFINITELY come here again. Enjoy. -
Review from Steph C.
5/3/2012
Everyone talks about their main courses but try the appetizers. I love their cerviche with tilapia.
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Review from Lindsay P.
Manhattan, NY
4/29/2012
Went here for dinner last night and had a decent experience. We were seated right away, at a high table in the bar area which did not seem an issue at first until a large party came in and drowned out any hope of hearing conversation. It is a nice atmosphere with a good going-out vibe. Service was good and quick, so a plus for that. We ordered two of the specialty cocktails, which were tasty but were overpriced for what they were. The food was decently good but nothing I would come back for. We got the short rib slider appetizer, which you would think might come with more than just 2 sliders. Thankfully I looked inside mine before I bit into it because it was the fattiest piece of meat I have ever been served, more fat than meat to it. Almost inedible but I tried to salvage a bit so I could eat it. The calamari was quite good with the best part being the dipping sauce. We got the mussels with the tomato chorizo sauce, which were the highlight of the meal. Very tasty. They no longer serve sweet potato fries, so we added the regular fries which were very oily and not impressive. Lastly, we split the napolean cake entree with spinach, asparagus, truffle oil. This was a tasty dish and the vegetables were very nice, but the potato cakes were quite oily.
I came here for brunch 2 or 3 years ago and really enjoyed it, but now I understand why they are known for their brunch and not dinner. Overall, a decent meal but with so many other places to try in NYC, nothing made me want to return which is why I cannot give more than 3 stars. Go here for brunch or drinks with a good bar scene, skip the dinner. -
Review from Kirsten F.
New York, NY
5/19/2012 Seated via OpenTable
BRUNCH I will ALWAYS love you XO
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Review from David L.
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, NY
4/10/2012 Seated via OpenTable
This place was great, food was good, the ambiance was good...the wait staff was friendly and funny. They were very accommodating and they held the place down since it was packed for Easter Sunday brunch.
Although I had resies set for 12 30 and did not get seated until 1 15, they gave us complimentary drink tickets to take over to the bar when we finished our meal.
My friends and I all enjoyed the over flowing amount of booze that came to use each time we were running low. We did not have to ask for more, they noticed that our glasses were a bit shy and they brought over another one.
On to the food...no complaints, just praises. If there were any folks in here looking to go on an easter egg hunt after, it wasnt happening because the food was plentiful and it would have put them all in a food coma as it sure did it to us. -
Review from Amanda O.
New York, NY
5/18/2012
Came here for a graduation dinner with a sizable group. To start, we all shared 3 different potato pancakes: one topped with goat cheese, another with salmon and caviar and the last I think with applesauce and caramelized onions--the goat cheese one was my favorite (they may have been on the specials list, since I don't see them listed on the regular dinner menu). My favorite drink (ordered on a whim) was hands down the Mango Lava Lamp. The table's list of entrees is as follows: the grilled free-range half chicken with porcini mashed potatoes, the manchego mac n' cheese (one with lobster, one without), the cajun spiced catfish over shrimp, potato and scallion hash and the wasabi-crusted atlantic salmon over sauteed veggies and himalayan red rice. I myself ordered angus "baseball" steak with lobster mashed potatoes, asparagus and mushroom-peppercorn sauce--it was pretty satisfying and tasty. Aside from my own dish (since I pretty much sampled everyone else's too), my favorites were the porcini mashed potatoes (which came with the free-range chicken) and the manchego mac n' cheese with lobster. We saved room for dessert and decided on the bananas foster and the molten chocolate cake to share. They were ok, but nothing I was overly impressed with. I wasn't much of a fan of the odd interior design/layout of the restaurant (it's bi-level, with lots of seating on the ground floor and it looked like maybe a few tables on the upper levels on either side; at the time we went, one group took over one side and was having what looked like a birthday dinner; maybe I wouldn't have minded the layout that much if we had sat upstairs), but otherwise I had a decent time at Essex. Our waitress (whose name unfortunately I never got, maybe because of how loud it was in there with the DJ and all) was super nice and attentive.
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Review from Jennifer S.
New York, NY
3/18/2012
My girlfriends and I knew we'd be starving after the NYC Half-Marathon so we made brunch reservations for 8 at Essex. First, I loved the atmosphere - lots of natural light and exposed brick (and baseballs glued to the wall - you just have to see it). Although half of our party (oddly, the half that did NOT run the 13.1 miles that morning) was late, they held our table for a full thirty minutes despite it being very busy. Overall, I was very happy with the service being friendly and, once we were sat, attentive without rushing us!
Essex is know for the "boozy brunch" - which includes 3 brunch cocktails and an entree for $22 - not a bad deal. I stuck with iced coffee - but the rest of the table seemed to thoroughly enjoy their mimosas and bloody Mary's. I ordered the chicken-fried steak with gravy, biscuits, and poached eggs - totally not my typical entree of choice - but I needed some serious calories after the race so it was perfecto.
A few tips: Come with cash and come early or with reservations! -
Review from B P.
Brooklyn, NY
5/6/2012
Even though we were sat 40 minutes after our reservation time, we had an amazing time at Essex. The waitress topped off our drinks every 10 mins, our food was delivered quickly, and everything tasted phenomenal. Quick tip: Order the Aristocrat.
Definitely an awesome place to have Sunday brunch and kick off the week. I loved all of the open lighting and the general style of Essex. -
Review from Lauren M.
Lynbrook, NY
5/5/2012 Seated via OpenTable
Came here for Brunch on Saturday. The place was pretty packed but we got seated quickly.
They say its 3 mimosas but we ended up having about 6 by the time we left and to get us up from the table our waitress gave us another drink ticket. Can't complain about that.
Food was good, I had the Aristocrat... delicious.
It was the perfect place for a Boozy Brunch with some girlfriends. -
Review from eddie c.
FOREST HILLS, NY
2/9/2012 1 Check-in Here
Roaming the LES and got a rumbly in your tumbly? BAM - $1 oysters happy hour at Essex! What!? You been spending so much money on booze from the bar and don't think you can afford $1 oysters? BOOM! - http://www.restaurant.... There's a http://restaurant.com for all you sissy-cats that drink but can't get yo drink on. Now that you're a playa with this deal, do yourself a favor and get a sh** -load of oysters and make sure you a get extra of that purple junk SAW-CE to down these savory delights.
Oh and if you want to know how these f'in things taste, I don't like oysters. I just thought I'd share. -
Review from Steffanie C.
New York, NY
3/7/2012 1 Check-in Here
Went here for Brunch with the girls and had an amazing time. They say 3 drinks, but I hat at least 5 mimosa's. Since we had 8 people we made reservations for 1:15pm, they won't seat you unless everyone is there. It was really crowded by 2pm.
I had the potato cakes with the apples in honey sauce (AMAZING I wish I got a bowl of this) the black beans with mushrooms and spinach just didn't make since with the whole plate, they should really reconsider adding something else. Everyone else loved their food. Our waitress was amazing, didn't rush us or anything! We loved her.
I will come back!!! -
Review from Erum R.
2/23/2012
I liked this place a lot for brunch. Didn't find it overpriced and really liked that we could make a reservation. It has that industrial look and gets really busy but it isn't a headache since there are so many different seating sections.
The food was good and drinks were plentiful and we didn't pay an arm and a leg like we usually do during weekend brunch.
I'd recommend this place for a big group, as long as you make the reservation early enough, for brunch any weekend! -
Review from Jade W.
Manhattan, NY
4/5/2012 Seated via OpenTable
I went for the oyster happy hour. The oysters themselves weren't very fresh and rather rubbery. The blood orange margarita was to die for! Everything else seemed rather mediocre on the menu. Probably would go back but not very often.
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Review from Laura C.
TRINITY, NY
2/25/2012
came here couple times with my friends on weekend nights, overall very pleasing and comfortable environment. We were mainly there for the $1 oyster that they offered, the oysters come very quickly, however, I think they weren't as good as some other places that I have tried.
One thing I really have to say is I love their drink special. One of my favorite is the mango lava. IT taste really good, I am not very into mix drinks, but this one is very good, -
Review from Will V.
Lawrence Township, NJ
3/18/2012
Fun drunk brunch as the waiters rarely seem to keep to the three drink max. Food is decent too, but a bit loud for a table for two. Much better for big loud groups where you don't want to be shushed by the next table. Overall fun, loud and decent food.
Kind of annoying when they push you out of your seat, I understand having to turn the tables and they do give you a ticket for a drink at the bar so they play it right, just a sucky part of having a popular place. -
Review from Brittanie M.
Manhattan, NY
2/4/2012 Seated via OpenTable
Essex is the perfect spot for lovers of boozy brunch. The food isn't much to jump up and down about, but its decent. I went with a group of friends and we had a blast.
The hostess stand is in the most awkward place, the middle of the restaurant past the bar. We only had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated for our 3:30 pm reservation and were taken to a table in the downstairs area. Yes, this place is loud but that's to be expected with boozy brunch.
The food was decent and our server pretty good. Even though you're suppose to only have three drinks, she didn't even keep count. I had 5 or 6 mimosas and could have easily had more. So be nice and your server probably won't keep count.Listed in: Brunch Spots
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Review from Sylvia W.
New York, NY
4/27/2012
Went for dinner twice and both times it wasn't worth it.
Decor +1
Good Drinks +1
Good Service +1
The food is just okay. When I went, I was really disappointed with the oysters. -
Review from Lili K.
2/22/2012 1 Check-in Here
Come for the late night happy hour...I believe it's around midnight for 1/2 off drinks. Other than that, it's just too pricey!
I had the burger which was ok...the workers weren't the friendliest, however. Just come here to preparty. At least it's spacious and not too packed for that! -
Review from Anastacia S.
New York, NY
1/19/2012 2 Check-ins Here
I am giving Essex 4 stars for their brunch - 2 hours of unlimited cocktails and good brunch food at a REALLY reasonable price - I'm definitely a fan!
Things to note:
- Make a reservation
- They will ask you to leave after 2 hours if they are busy, so don't be surprised when that happens, just move down to the bar to continue your day drinking and let other people have a turn
- They usually have their special weekend brunch on holiday Mondays, like MLK day
- Be nice to your server and she/he will treat you well (this means if it is not busy you may be able to keep your table - and your cocktails - past the 2 hour mark)
- The food is actually really good!
- It is VERY loud, like nightclub loud (which is what Essex is in the evenings) so it is hard to have a conversation and can actually be a little head pounding
- It kind of has that day after nightclub smell to it, which isn't very appetizing, but again, JUST KEEP DRINKING!! -
Review from Douglas K.
Briarwood, Queens, NY
3/9/2012
I came here on Wednesday with my girlfriend for a quick drink and and some finger foods. I've been here several times and I'm not disappointed. It wasn't too busy at 7:30pm and the decor is trendy and intimate but can get packed doing prime time.
We ordered a few beers, dozen oysters, sliders, and calamari. They have $1 oysters I think every day now and they were fresh and delicious. The sliders were okay, but the calamari was awesome. It was fresh, crispy, and it comes with an avocado dip instead of cocktail sauce. Drinks are also 1/2 during their happy hour special, so it was only $50 for the both of us.
I highly recommended coming here because they have a great happy hour and the food is delicious. It's great for a big party or for an intimate date.
A must try! -
Review from Iris C.
2/16/2012
Ohio girl alert!
One of my favorite things about NYC is the brunches. You seriously cannot get brunch with 3 bloody marys for $22 in Columbus. Won't happen.
My friends that brought me to Essex warned me that we could be in for a long wait, but we arrived around 12:30 on a Saturday and waited only about 15 minutes. (Now, I'm told this is the exception.)
Overall, the bloody mary's were just okay. So, if I were rating based only on those this would be a 3 star review. However, the food was fantastic and the service was prompt and very friendly.
It was packed beyond belief as we were leaving and that was probably around 2 or so.
OMG. Just remembered...one drawback was the teeny tiny bathroom. So, if you have a giant purse or a bulky coat you'd do well to leave it with a friend or something.Listed in: NYC
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Review from Victoria F.
New York, NY
Updated - 2/14/2012
Unfortunately, the prices went up to $22.95 and the service went down hill. We waited awhile to be seated and we had reservations! I was a little frustrated with the overly crowded atmosphere and the pushy service.
Our food came so quickly, that I felt we were rushed to finish our 3 included drinks.
I do give them props for their strong drinks, but I wish it wasn't so hot, noisy, and cramped in there. I've been there about 3-4 times in the past few years and think this most recent visit was the last.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/9/2010
I went here for the $18 brunch with some friends, which includes an entree and 3 cocktails. It's a… Read more »
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Review from Ashley L.
1/25/2012 1 Check-in Here
Good for brunch if you like unlimited drinks, mediocre food, and an upbeat environment.
- make a reservation or wait, quite busy during brunch
- young yuppie crowd for the most part
- pretty loud, crowded environment, seating/tables are close together to accommodate the high volume
- service is subpar...had to ask at least 4 times for utensils because the waitress kept forgetting, she also forgot to give us our change from our bill
- food is also subpar, average at most. My eggs benedict eggs were cooked all the way through, yolk solid as a rock...same with my friend's poached eggs, yolks solid as a rock...
They have many brunch options and the unlimited drinks is a great deal BUT I think there are other brunch spots in the area that offer similar deals with better quality food and service.Listed in: Brunch
