Attaboy — Restaurant in New York

Ok, so my friend’s brother, who is way cooler than me, told me about Attaboy. This place is LOW KEY, hear?! If you’re not intentionally planning to come here for cocktails, then you will likely overlook it. It gives very much exclusive energy. Like, the cool people club. You truly have to know about it to find it. In fact, you can’t even just pull up and walk in. No ma’am. When you arrive, you have to knock on the door, ok? It’s giving, “Wizard of Oz”, when Dorothy and them pulled up to the Wizard’s spot. They had to knock, first! Like, you have to knock if you wanna come in. Don’t play with them lol. So, we sat outside because at the time, they were doing reservations only, and if you didn’t make one to sit inside, then you were gonna have a seat outside lol. It was totally fine though. They had a nice outdoor set up, which actually made it more noticeable that there’s a bar here. Without those tables, you’d have no idea. So, one of the most exciting parts took place after sitting down, ok? Listen. Our waiter comes out, greets us, and proceeds to ask us what we like. A menu? No. No menu. Let it go. He asked what kind of drinks I typically like, from sweet? to more dry? sophisticated? and so on. I usually go for a more dry, dark liquor cocktail, but knew I was getting 2 drinks, so decided to switch it up for my first drink. I told him I wanted something bright, with whiskey (my spirit of choice). He then asked more questions regarding what I like and don’t like, so that the bartender could pretty much tailor a drink to my liking. This was beyond impressive. This guy KNOWS his.....stuff! Ok? The memory, the attention to detail. He didn’t write anything down at all. It’s very impressive and I don’t think people realize just how much work this takes! These people are knowledgeable and deserve lots of credit. Ok so, he brought out my first drink and described it, beautifully! It was called a western sour. It was made with whiskey, sugar cane, freshly grated nutmeg, and lots of other delicious ingredients. It was a beautiful, mixologist cocktail, and tasted bright and smooth. It had a nice, large ice cube and a fancy straw. I mean, I truly was blown away. For the next drink, I told him I wanted to go in the dryer direction. I gave him more details as well, and he brought out an old fashioned. It was the best old fashioned I’ve ever tasted. Just so smooth and sophisticated. I was partially drunk by that point, so I forget the ingredients, but it was so well done.

These are the types of drinks that I don’t mind paying extra for. You’re also getting a wonderful experience for the price. It’s beyond impressive, and I plan to go again. Good, mixology-worthy drinks are not easy to come by, so I appreciate these gems!...

The long wait was expected; however, I don’t trust that the queue is maintained legitimately. We put our names down at 8 pm and were told that it could be a couple hours, but that we would receive a call when we could be seated. Fair enough, we went to get dinner and drinks elsewhere while we waited for the call. About 2 hours later (10 pm) we hadn’t received a call so we swung by to check back in. Again, there were people ahead of us and the hostess assured us that we would receive a call. We left again to get drinks and wait for the call. After another 3 hours, still no call. We swung by the bar again (at this point it was 1 am) and the hostess seemed visibly surprised to see us. She told us that she had room for two at the bar and she could seat us.

I don’t think we ever would have received a call nor ever been seated if we weren’t diligent about checking back in. I understand that there is high volume at this place, but you should be able to trust that a place will actually call you to seat you once they’re able. People will wait their entire Friday nights waiting for a seat at this bar, and those people should be able to trust that the bar will stick to their word and call when a seat is available. To do otherwise is unethical and bad form, regardless if it is intentional or not.

After reading other reviews here, it does sound like the seating process isn’t strictly first-come first serve. I think the hostess probably does her best, but ultimately the process fails some people. For a bar as popular as this one, there should be a better system in place to make sure that the process is straight-laced and run properly. It’s not fair to the people who will rely on the bar to be honest with them and end up waiting an entire night when the bar has forgotten about them.

Plus one star for the bartender who was a very nice guy and made the actual bar experience nice.

If you do find yourself waiting for hours for a seat here, please know there are other bars with the same vibe and better cocktails. We Got Company in Williamsburg has the exact same dark, candle-lit interior with rock music playing, and the drinks are better.

I doubt Attaboy will change their practices as their business is clearly doing fine, but if the owners are interested in being good people with a thoughtful approach and respect towards their customers, they would find a better way to keep track of the customers who want to...

Attaboy NYC. Chosen as our nightcap destination after a phenomenal meal at an NYC Cuban restaurant after seeing Idina Menzel in Redwood on Broadway. (Valentine's date night #2, kinda important to remake my statement to the hottest, silliest, smartest former NASA engineer wife an old Soldier can work hard to keep interested)

Same intangible experience as the one in Nashville. Hard to find venue more easily identified by looking for a small line of the faithful standing outside a nondescript door with a camera peering down from the top. This dimly lit small and narrow rectangular space feels like a submarine, a bunker and a diner all collided into what is the best, most intimate place to have a cocktail. No menus. If you're that one-trick pony who has a favorite obscure drink from Egypt before the time of the Pharoahs, they just might be able to make it. Seriously. They ain't playing. But if they didn't have the drink you want they definitely have something you'll drink. And you'll love it. Bee's Knees? Aviation from the time of Prohibition? Concoctions of Rye or Bourbon and things you would think break the laws of nature? This place has the long bar, diner stools and then a few tight booths that are reserved for at least 3 and ideally 4 people. They have no problem with people lining wall and it doesn't take a long look to accept that a Fire Marshall probably hasn't been there. Ever. Instead of a menu, the bartender just asks if you have a favorite and asks what ingredients you like. Sour? Complex? Don't ask for vodka. They don't do anything with vodka. I didn't ask. But, do they hate the Russians for giving us the only Russian thing on the planet worth loving about the Russians? No Vodka. Nyet. Anyway, we stood in line for about 30 minutes and enjoyed chatting with the couple behind us so much we conspired to level up and qualify for a booth. Great choice. In Nashville we did the stools and loved mixologists who sling drinks with more care and professionalism than Waffle House's best grill operator keeping the 3a.m. drunk crowd happy. Go. Expect to wait. At some point some guy who doesn't care what he wears to work will pop his out from that plain, wrecked ass door, and do a head count to clarify your position in the queue. It was raining and snow showed up to see how bad we wanted to wait. It...