Hank C.'s Profile

Not a bad bar, big screen in the back with a presentation, and plenty of TVs (even mini LCD ones in the booths!) all around for the various sports events.

Had a big group here for trivia which is normally every Tuesday but they held it on a Monday for us, too.  The room was big enough to handle most groups up to about 30~40 people. Food here is okay... fried food works well like fries and onion rings, but nachos aren't exciting, a bit too soggy.

Beware of playing against the barflies. They'll get you every time in trivia.

They also serve lobster here.  Not sure if it is any good, though...

Ah, yes... Red Sox bar. Careful if you sport a Yankee's shirt or cap.. could be heckled all night long here.

I'm actually impressed with the customer service here.

Most places could learn from this place. I expected a big box kind of store that had minimal coverage of staff and plenty of tourists.... okay, well, there were the tourists.  The staff here was professional, courteous, and more than well-staffed at every point -- they were fairly knowledgeable, even about sections they weren't necessarily staffed in. We were sitting down, and they gave us little catalogs, too, with pricing inside (which was nice, many places don't quote prices so standardly).

Main entry level has several sets of displays and seats here and there for discussions of purchases, a bank of elevators to the back, or if you wanted to go straight for floors 2-3, you can hit the small service elevators up front off the 5th Av exit.

Displays here are beautiful, of course, and a lot of different designers highlighted in the various cases as you walk around. First floor is the main display for new items and high-demand; you'll have a tall ceiling and various pieces in cases all around you. Nine flights of stairs up (or two elevator flights) you reach the second floor where they have a lot of the gemstone jewelry, third floor for sterling silver collections (Return to Tiffany collection and more trinket, charms, necklace and earring selections),  fourth floor for china and silverware, fifth floor is a locked and sealed conference center (diamond auctions and more, my guess?), and sixth floor is customer service (jewelry repair, cleaning, etc.), with a staff member up-front to help you sign in (and bathrooms).  Stairs take you to most levels, but the ceiling heights make it around 4 short flights a level, roughly.

Wait can be long for customer service on the weekends, when  everyone's there.  Plenty of couples in here, and tourists.

The blue boxes are everywhere. Colors on the walls and more. Not sure how I feel about it, but there were some absolutely gorgeous pieces... and some vary garish pieces. Guess taste really does run in all directions.

While the jewelry selection is a bit on the expensive side (paying for the store, image, and staff, I'm sure), at least generally they seem very reputable for making people receiving such gifts very happy. For those of us paying for it, probably a little more painful on our wallets.

This was compared to Marakesh Restaurant down in Philadelphia.

We popped in early at about 8p on a Saturday night, seated immediately by the door in front of the coat rack... it's a chilly spot, so be reseated if you're not willing to handle the cold air. I suggest the bar if you're waiting, otherwise you're just on the stairs.

The space is dark. Probably didn't want to know why my table was sticky, I guess.

Starter of the mixed plate with tabouli (onions, tomatoes, cucumber in a vinegar-y sauce), babaganoush (mushed eggplant w garlic), hummus, and a salad (watercress?). A tasty start, though only three pieces of fat pita for the table to split to clean up the plate.  They then cleared off the old plates and we waited for a bit for our main courses...

The chicken in phyllo dough - much better in Philly. Chicken here wasn't moist, and though hot, was more about the flaky and not enough savory. Not great for $15.

The couscous was a mix of lamb (on the bone) and merguez (spicy handmade sausage). The lamb delicious, the merguez spicier than I thought it would be, but overall not a bad dish.

The lamb tangine with apricot and prune sauce was the best. Same lamb from the couscous, on the bone, but almost falling off and definitely savory, just enough sauce to satisfy, with a salad and rice to the side.  Tasty, sweet and savory simultaneously. Best dish of the night.

Free side of steamed vegetables to go with the meal.

Overall, not bad. But not spectacular, either. Service was spotty, and the waitstaff was not helpful - every time we asked what was good, they simply said "everything".

Stairs down into the restaurant, so if you're in a wheelchair, you may be out of luck. Overall, experience was okay, and probably better than driving all the way to Philadelphia, but this is not a replacement for Marakesh.

This was for a brunch on Saturday.

Crazy.  The line was out the door, despite having a waiting area up front. No reservations accepted. The hostess was polite and busy... they wouldn't seat us (a group of three) unless we were all there. A little annoying, but not bad. Bigger space than you think, although only one small unisex bathroom in the back... a sealed garden area for light for the above apartments, too.  

Outside seating can be spotty in the rain, even with a covering.

That being said, once being seated, there's the brunch menu and the drinks that people order... all kinds of juice colors with alcohol, basically, although they do still serve tea and coffee.

The crowd here is slightly up-scale, midtown kind of folk. You won't find the lower crust of Manhattan here... prices are too high for a simple brunch for that.   That being said, for anyone who can afford living in Manhattan's midtown, this isn't an expensive brunch (around $25-30 a person after drinks).

Food here is good, though.

The Popeyes is a wonderful ham, egg, and cheese sandwich, and the Salmon Benedict is a tasty mix of greens & artery-clogging buttery Hollandaise sauce over eggs on English muffin. The french toast also looked delicious, but didn't get a chance to try that, or the other information.

Service was spottier than normal... probably due to the busy morning? They tried to clear my plate three times before I finished my eggs.

Portions are a decent size, though.  It's cozy... small space, and forget about it if you're in a wheel chair. Go to another one of their locations with more space.

-sigh- What can I say.  Korean bar, midtown, dancing, and more. I'm not sure what it is, but you tend to pay a premium while here.

We scheduled a large event here (did not make it exclusively our event, unfortunately) to start with an open bar for the first hour after 10:30p.

We arrive, set up, and a line forms... and a line stays. There were three bouncers, who kept order in the line fairly well, but somehow, the owner managed to only have one person working the coat check - which they required everyone to go through.  

Here's a puzzle.  One person coat checking for $4.  Line with about 200 people.  How long does it take to clear the line? More than an hour for some, I'll tell you that. And guess how long was happy hour? One hour.  Some were decrying conspiracy. I wouldn't blame them.

People were unhappy and leaving the line at various points. At least half-way through they separated the line into girls and everyone else and let the frozen ladies in first. I blame the groups for not warning the manager of the volume and the manager for not staffing an extra person on coat check (or skipping it).

Once inside, a large dance floor, with the ice/snow/fog machine, loud top-40/dance/house/hip-hop music, and two bars on either side. A separate space upstairs for people to stand, and a slightly separated table area. DJ booth on a stage and above on third floor in the very top are, far back, security & DJ possible, too, I think. Bathrooms have attendants, and men's and women's are on separate sides around the back of the stage area.

DJs that night... okay. They played mostly popular or well-known music, but they had a habit of pausing the song now and again at strange times to interrupt the flow? I'm not sure why, but it was annoying.

Bars. Two on the main floor, one either side, both really long, and both, again, staffed with just one person each.  That meant a _very_ long wait for getting any kind of drink whatsoever. At least the mixed drinks were strong, if expensive. For 8 bottled domestic beers, I shelled out $64, plus tip.

Which leads me to the prices... I guess ex-pat Koreans and Koreans alike here have more money or just don't care they spend more, because you pay a serious premium for getting in (cover from $10-20 just to get in, more if you're a guy), $4 for coat check, $8 for a beer, and $12-15 for a cocktail. Plus various tips and gratuities added to your bill automatically if you have a tab.

Scene is.... well, a bunch of Asian people, heavy on the girls inside if there's a line and they discriminate. Mostly Koreans. So it's fun if you can mix with that crowd, but less so if you're inclined to go find something more of a balance.

Almost all the staff I talked with, from bouncers to bartenders, were apologetic and friendly. Manager there that night... not so much. I suppose he can afford to be whatever he wants, though, so kudos to him for stripping people of all the consumer surplus they have with minimal complaint.

One of those places in NYC that you should visit, look around, take your photos, and move on from... preferably into Central Park in the summer, to the cafe in Time Warner Center in the winter.

A traffic circle that has a  few monuments, Trump Tower, Museum of Arts & Design, Time Warner Center, and the SW corner of Central Park, over-glamorized for what it really is - a transportation circle, a subway stop, and an entry point to Upper West Side for traffic, and Central Park for pedestrians.  The horse carriages pass through here, and traffic can be dangerous around the circle. Construction on various parts of the circle can be a mess (they're still working on the subway entries the last time I checked).

I'd rather sit in the Park and people watch than here... too noisy, with all the traffic's pollutive smell, it's all either tourists, people headed to Whole Foods, or people from Yelp, apparently, that like to sit out and watch people like YOU pass by.  Plus little in the way of benches and places to sit and watch from... you're basically leaning against the dusty building, sitting on steps by the towers, or on pidgeon-dropping covered monument steps.

A two-level college-style bar located right beside the comedy cellar, this place is filled with young people. No one carding at the door when a group of 10 of us arrived, so we headed straight upstairs to a separate bar up there, two beer pong tables set up, and a few TVs.  

It's sometimes hard to attract the bartender's eye if you're not a woman on some nights, but hey, that's probably true of most places.

Cheap pitchers and beers various nights. Not a place for people who aren't a fan of college bar atmospheres. No sound from TVs, though, which was odd.

Known as an NYU Stern bar.  Plenty of small tables and a tiny bar space... not really meant to handle a large group (10+) of people coming in for a post-class drink.

The staff wasn't particularly helpful with seating or accommodating our large group, so we ended up moving over to another place later in the evening.

If you have a smaller group, though, you can grab a seat on the dark wooden tables and a beer. There are quite a few different kinds of bottled and tap beers here, but charging $3.50 for a tiny can of PBR and calling that your "special" is a joke.  At least the regular beer selection was decent.

Cheap, tiny place open late, to satisfy those who are drunk, crazy, or just plain hungry that late at night.

Falafel here is decent, the chickpeas in slightly crunchy shell, or a cheap hummus with pita bread.  Not too big, not too expensive, a great option for something fast.

A few small hard wooden benches to sit, so this isn't quite a place to take the parents, but certainly good for a late-night snack.  Very small place, though, forget about it if you're a big group -- just send a rep in to pick up a platter or something similar-sized.

Ah, if there were only an express subway line from the city to Flushing... wait, that's the much cleaner, much faster (12 minutes!) ride on the LIRR. Ah, well.

This is probably one of  the few lines that cuts across the city but it is a very long line.. if you intend to travel to either end, expect it to take some time.  Still waiting on newer trains, though. Once that happens, this will get upgraded to a 3-star, I suspect.