Bootsies — Restaurant in Manhattan

Cons: atmosphere Pros: Service

Let me start off by saying that I researched what the concept of this establishment was intended to be. Upon entering the I was created by music that drew me in. The music here is a mix of Hip Hop, Jazz Blues, Motown and Chess records. Me and my wife decided to meet here for lunch and sat at the bar. The bartender was nice and inviting and we really enjoyed the conversation as well as the attention. The food was what you would typically get from a restaurant located in a college town two blocks from campus. The prices were on par for the economy right now and that is understandable.

Okay so here comes the hard truth from someone who has spent weeks taking out emotions and rewriting my review to make sure I provide an objective review rather than an emotional one.

The description did not match the experience. One specific thing that overshadowed our experience was the experience of WHITE GAZE (some of you will know what this means without looking it up and this review if for you)

This establishment was playing cultured music, had cultured decor, and tried to make cultured food, but the patrons and the staff was not at all cultured and this matters right. It is hard to enjoy music, art, and food of your culture while also having to overcome and ignore passive aggressive looks from other white patrons.

Think about that for a minute.

I as a black man married to black woman I did not want come to a restaurant to experience our culture and then field a variety of passive aggressive looks from white patrons.

I honestly believe this restaurant and its concept is was thought out with good intentions but I am wondering now if it will ever be a place for people of color to fully feel comfortable and be themselves without unsolicited judgement.

This restaurant is trying to bring a cultural presence to an otherwise culturally dehydrated area and I just don't think it is there yet. The main reason my wife and I tried this place was due to its description of culturalism.

We did talk to a higher up and she let us know that there are people of color working there, they just were there at that time. I understand that this would change one aspect of our experience but cannot see how that will change the energy of the patrons and I think that is paramount. You can come enjoy our music, our art, our culture but not us. This is the ultimate feeling I am left with. The only reason I would go back is to do a live review and see if I feel...

I went to Bootsies with my family a few weeks ago for dinner. While I think it has a lot of potential, is pretty underwhelming in its current state. Among our party, the food had a mixed reception. Our fried burrata appetizer was very good. My roasted mushroom pizza was decent, but po'zos were underwhelming, with the prime rib po'zo in particular being very bland. I have a few points that I hope the owners/managers will consider:

1. The (for dinner at least) menu is very limited. A po'zo is basically pizza folded in half, sort of like calzone. So your options for dinner are basically pizza, pizza folded in half, or the one hamburger on the menu. We were told several times by staff that the restaurant is Mediterranean-inspired, but I found this to be very misleading as in reality this is a place for pizza and nothing else. I think Bootsies would be well-served to add an "entrees" section to the menu with a few additional options, such as a Mediterranean-inspired chicken dish, a gyro/shawarma, grilled fish, pasta, a lentil dish for vegetarians, etc.

2. When we asked, the staff explained to us that the beer and wine menu is deliberately small so that they can showcase their specialty cocktails. In my opinion there are two problems with this. First, as I said Bootsies is essentially a pizza place and it's located right next to campus in a college town. Of course a lot of their patrons are going to want beer! Second and more importantly, their cocktails are frankly not very good. In our party we tried four different cocktails and they were all extremely sweet. Even the member of our party who likes their drinks on the sweeter side agreed that there was just too much sugar. Among the drinks we tried, the Daiquirita and the Frozen G&T were just way too sweet to be enjoyable.

3. The atmosphere was fine but not great. They closed off the outdoor patio that used to be there when the location was Coco Bolo's, which really surprised me. I didn't mind the classic hip-hop/R&B, but the music was a little too loud, especially in the patio area that at the time was just...

TLDR: food poisoning

I ordered the Asparagus & Burrata salad. There was no asparagus whatsoever, just what seemed like spinach stems and herbs, a few tomatoes. I wish i had taken a picture. It was pretty pathetic. But i wasn’t that bothered at the time. The real reason I’m writing a review is that this place gave me food poisoning. I was up in the night vomiting. I don't know if it’s from their hygiene standards, or listeria from the burrata or what. But it was an extremely unpleasant experience.

Have to say I agree with others reviews of the drinks as well, they were too strong and too bitter. I got the banana bread old fashioned. My friend got the Daiquirita. It was bad, no matter how much we stirred.

The pizza bread tastes alright! If you go and just eat that you’ll probably be fine.

Sad that this is the place that replaced coco bolos. They never gave me...