e's BAR — Restaurant in New York

A very sad birthday experience :(

A warning to those who make birthday plans here-- I am very disappointed by my experience, which is so sad to say because I don't usually judge harshly in my reviews. But being that this was my birthday, and was lied at to my face, it was kind of a bummer.

So...What Happened? I chose the upper west side to have my party so my friends wouldn't have to be hit with congestion pricing. E's made it easy online to book a space in their bar, so I reserved for 20 people. I guess that was too easy.

When I got there, we were seated at a table in the front of the bar with only 10 seats. When I went up to the person that sat us down, I asked where our other table was because we had a reservation for 20. The response was, "oh people usually just stand around the table if it's more than 10 people". Bro...what?? No where online did it say that. It was my birthday, and I was embarrassed and disappointed. Eventually the folks sitting behind my table moved and my group took over that space but that wasn't until 45 minutes later.

We then had a server for my table who promised us a round of shots for the group. I asked 30 minutes later about the shots and he told me no. So not only did we get screwed over by the seating, but the empty promises made it worse.

So..Anything Good to Say? The aesthetic is cool. I liked the jukebox they had in the front half. Food was decent too, I have to give it that. If I was introduced to this place with a small group, I would've had a fantastic time. But with a group bigger than 10, and shoving us all in the walkway comes off as stingy business practice.

Overall My friends made my birthday special, but I had a hard time fully enjoying myself feeling so embarrassed by inviting all these people and them having to be crowded on standing while they eat. I feel betrayed by this place low key. I don't cause scenes and didn't the other day but the empty promises, and me having to face my friends like this was an awful feeling for me. I’m not trying to be a jerk about it, nor fussy. I love to celebrate businesses and that shows in my many other reviews. I’m way bummed by...

So I had this whole review typed out but Google Character limited me. Let me try and shrink it down. Here is my bulleted review our first time at E's Bar.

Vibe - was promising but went downhill once we sat down.

Service - our server was very distracted. Our server seemed very rushed and distracted. She also asked us to move from a four-person table to a two-person table even though the front of the house sat us down. After we accepted to move she explained that well if four people came in or if someone had a reservation we would have asked you to move anyways. She was slow in taking our order and always seemed in a rush not giving full attention. When bringing our drink order she spilled some of the Bloody Mary on my slacks and then was like oh look you got some on you. Instead of offering to help.

Quality of Drinks - We both ordered the Candy Cane martini. Both the mixing and presentation of the martini were poor at best. You could not taste any chocolate and peppermint and it mostly just tasted of vodka. I got a Bloody Mary as well to take advantage of happy hour. It again was mixed poorly, so I didn't miss the little bit that was dropped on my leg. It tasted mostly of vodka and the mix seemed like tomato sauce from a Chef Boyardee can.

Quality of Food - The burgers were okay, nothing to write home about but tasted fine. The French fries were solid, except for my order of Spicy fries. Service initially brought out the wrong fries with my order. I let them know and they took them back to fix. It seems like they were just thrown back in a bowl and had spicy dumped on them real quick and then a few slices of jalapenos dumped on them. They were not spicy at all.

All in all. It was a mediocre visit to E's Bar. It is still the holidays so I left a tip but this is one of the first times in a while I considered not.

I saw all the good reviews and was excited to visit. Unfortunately, due to the vibe, issues with service, and quality of drinks, my friend and I will not be visiting in the...

The best board games bar in the city! We have tried quite a few of them all over Manhattan and Brooklyn, and E's has remained our absolute favorite. The vibe is always casual, friendly, and fun, and ramps up a bit on Friday and Saturday nights. They have a fantastic selection of games, enough that there is always a new one to try even though we have easily been there 20+ times over the last few years. The servers are always laid-back, there are different seating areas depending on the vibe you're looking for, and the burgers are AMAZING. The happy hour deals are also amazing, and incredible that it's most of the day! We have easily spent 5+ hours here on multiple occasions because you just don't want to leave.

We also recently hosted an event here, and it was such an easy and positive experience. Erin was so friendly and incredibly helpful with our options for how to book it, and really took the stress out of any part of the planning process. The day itself was perfectly smooth, and our guests really loved the relaxed and fun vibe of the bar - exactly what we hoped for. Hopefully we'll have a reason to book an event with E's again, but we will for sure be there regularly in...