2nd Floor Bar & Essen — Local services in New York

Very dark. It's dark on the stairway up, and it's dark in the lounge itself. The darkness is a bit disorienting during the day, but the ambiance really works here. There's a bar, a seating area with a dozen small tables and what looks like a private room in the back. It was closed, so I don't know what it's like inside. Gotta upgrade to VIP, I guess. I got a Maya Made cocktail and it was very simply presented. The drink was very nice, though I'm not sure I would get it again. It probably doesn't need the cilantro for my tastes. The deviled eggs are some of the best I've had, and could eat several orders by myself. There's pastrami in there and it's perfect. The dry aged salami is also unreal. Quite possibly the best dish there, and one of my favorites ever. The flavors are all very complimentary, and the texture of the salami on the bread with the aioli is amazing. I want more. Every day. I was less impressed with the pickle trio. It was good, but standard and I may have been expecting another "wow" dish. We also received a complimentary Kugel dish that was nice. Different. I don't recall all the flavors, but I didn't leave any leftover. I'll be...

This bar has fantastic potential: better-than-average drinks, impressive snacks, and a knowledgeable and seemingly talented staff. That talent, however, was not enough to over overcome the significant manpower shortage. To have run the place properly the evening we visited, it would have taken double the number of staffmembers. Our server was covering over a dozen tables, and a single bartender was making drinks for the same zone. We averaged one drink an hour for three hours, and the staff was so apologetic they comp'd an entire round including food. One table next to us turned over twice because the guests seated there kept giving up without being served. The table on the other side of us had regulars who ordered a bottle of wine because they knew the service is regularly too...

I went here on a Saturday night and was greeted by a rude hostess. It was pretty empty for a Saturday night with at least 5 booths open and all barstools were empty. We were a party of two with plans to meet with one or two more friends so we asked for a booth to accommodate all of us. The host made a face and asked several times if someone else is coming because they had “so many reservations” so we offered to move to a two top if it got busy, which it never did. By the time we left there were still several booths open. The rest of the staff was polite. The atmosphere is cozy and dark. The music playing wasn’t too loud. The drinks were good but a little overpriced (about $21/cocktail) for the...