Charlie Bird — Restaurant in New York

I think this restaurant should take a serious look at their menu and perhaps try the food before they serve. The atmosphere was great and the staff was also great but the food and drinks were subpar to say the least.

Oysters - came out warm, on ice. Absolutely no cocktail sauce or other garnishes (?¿) not sure why you would be charging so much for the bare minimum, I might as well have gone to Whole Foods. Point being - the oysters also tasted off.

Bone marrow - served with citrus??Never heard of such a thing. Bone marrow is tough to mess up, so I was very surprised a restaurant would do it. Whole dish tasted off. Over salted with absolutely zero flavoring so it tasted like…. Well straight bone marrow, which by the way is universally known to taste bad if it’s not SEASONED. Bread was too big. Please refer to any other bone marrow recipe to make better. Limes and bone marrow is a nasty combo.

Pasta - gnocchi for me Not sure what I got but it sure was not gnocchi. Sauce was fine. The size of the dish however would only be suitable for a 10 year old. If you’re going to compete and market yourself as a pasta place within the west village…. Know who your competition is. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Drinks - 1. Margarita with casamigos it’s important as a bartender to taste test the drink before you serve it. Not hard to do a good Margarita. But again was a miss. Wine was fine but for $25 I expected a REAL pour. You’re charging wine bar prices for again subpar service, I’ve actually never seen a glass of what for that much (in hindsight should have skipped. Why was this glass of wine as much as my entire pasta dish? Bizzare.)

Dessert - lava cake and olive oil. We thought this was going to be the sweet ending for an overall mid level dinner. Sadly no. Cake was minuscule. Olive oil ice cream is not suppose to taste like straight up olive oil. It’s suppose to compliment the ice cream. (re: Panna). I’m not actually sure you’re suppose to MIX IN olive oil. But that happened. Huge miss.

Atmosphere Good indoor atmosphere aside from the on and off changing of lighting (just pick a setting and stay with it)

Server Good server, I hope he can help with this menu and quality control. I kind of doubt the staff has tried all of the dishes, I don’t believe they would the and sell them if so.

Bathroom The bathroom was great. Was honestly my favorite part of the experience 10/10 super clean and great luxury towels, i think this is where my $$$ is going to use.

Overall: huge miss. It’s just truly not at the level as restaurants in the WV serving extremely similar menus. Lacking flavor and direction. The menu looks like it’s for a Mexican restaurant, the food would disappoint most people looking for a solid contemporary American / Italian? Meal. Portions were laughable, maybe they ran out of...

We were a bit disappointed at Charlie Bird last night. We ordered the Hamachi, Heirloom Melons, Burrata, Bone Marrow, Agnolotti, Gnocchi Rosa, and Romanesco Cauliflower. While the food was not bad, it was not of the quality we've come to expect from the West Village.

The portions were a cause for concern. While the small plates were small as promised, the pastas were smaller yet, even when compared against other high-end restaurants. The three of us left hungry despite sharing all the dishes.

The flavor combinations of a number of dishes left much to be desired. The hamachi was drenched in oil and covered in far too many capers, obscuring the subtle delicious flavor I anticipate when ordering yellowtail. The heirloom melons were swimming in a chili oil that failed to complement the sweetness of cantaloupe. The gnocchi was fine, but tasted like pasta and red sauce I would make at home in 15 minutes. The difference being, if I made this dish, I would've been able to eat more than a handful of noodles. The same flaw is true of the cauliflower. Good, yes, but no better than the cauliflower I throw in the oven at home after tossing with some spices and oil.

It was not all bad, though. The 212 cocktail was nice. They had a quality playlist of 90-00s hip-hop, which was enjoyable once they lowered the volume. Food-wise the burrata and agnolotti were standouts. However the agnolotti suffered the same portioning issue as the gnocchi. In total we received maybe twelve small pieces of agnolotti.

I rate the service lower because of the bone marrow. We never received our bone marrow. Small plates came and went, no bone marrow. We assumed they were planning to serve it with the pasta, as it is a bit heavier. Didn't come with the pasta. Only after we asked our waiter did he tell us they had run out of bone marrow and neglected to inform us. At this point, it was too late to order a replacement dish.

Also, they offer $4 oysters. What a joke!

In sum, I would not recommend you visit this restaurant. In this part of NYC you can find much better places...

Initially, I was torn. On one hand, Charlie Bird offers decent food, but sadly, the management, particularly Patrick, is abysmal. My family and I were seated promptly and enjoyed banter with a friendly waiter who took our orders without issue. However, despite 45 minutes passing and multiple requests, our drinks never arrived. It wasn't until my boyfriend's mom inquired about the delay that we were met with hostility from Patrick. He insinuated we were over-served elsewhere and questioned serving us. Keep in mind; my boyfriends parents had just endured an exhausting 8-hour flight and were simply looking forward to a pleasant meal. When I approached Patrick, he reiterated his stance, showing a lack of empathy or professionalism. Patrick's handling of the situation is solely responsible for why I will never come back and will warn others to avoid the establishment altogether. Unprofessional, egotistical, ignorant, and condescending—his behavior left us deeply disappointed and disturbed. We even had another patron in our outdoor enclosure comment on the disrespect we were enduring and even went as far to offer us there wine bc they felt so bad about our experience. We hadn't even had a chance to drink and were tired after traveling, simply looking forward to some pasta and a beer. While it's within a restaurant's rights to refuse service (we acknowledged and respected that) the lack of communication and Patrick's hostile demeanor left us deeply disappointed. We eventually paid and left, but it's disheartening that one individual's behavior can tarnish the reputation of an otherwise potentially enjoyable establishment...