Essex — Restaurant in New York

This place is maybe the biggest scam in the city. From botted reviews and social media followings, to short staffing packed sections, this place is clearly cheap, deceptive, and so much worse than any other restaurant I've tried in the LES.

My wife and I went here for the Christmas Eve prix-fixe dinner. We had reservations, but came early to have a drink at the bar. After ten minutes the bartender never once asked us what we wanted to drink- a server had to come and ask. The bartender brought the drinks without looking at us nor saying a word.

The drinks were terrible, by the way. There's a bird-themed drink that comes with sake, gin, and campari- sounds delicious, right? But it also comes with a sickly amount of vanilla syrup and is served in a tacky bird glass that requires you to drink out of the bird's ass. The Moscow mule is too sweet, the old fashioned is too sweet- all the drinks taste like they were designed for a college dive bar.

We got seated at our reserved standard dining table as opposed to the other two options- hightops, and staying at the bar. Hightops are uncomfortable, and the bar even more so, so we stayed with the "standard" option. For some reason, this means we get sent to the second floor, cramped into a unsightly section on a tiny table. The first floor is beautiful but only has hightops, the second floor is ugly and sparse but comes with normal seating. Who designed this? Its completely backwards.

We quickly order the prix fixe, expecting things to move fast since... It's a prix fixe. Would you believe that we'd be waiting twenty minutes for the first course, thirty for the second, and twenty for the third? And we werent alone- every table around us was filled with people looking around for the lone poor server assigned to the entire second floor. Not his fault, but these ticket times, especially for a prix fixe, were embarrassing.

The food was middling at best. Everything needed more flavor, from the under seasoned duck rilette appetizer to the incomprehensible watery mille feuille dessert. Even the espressos we ordered with desert tasted like shots of Maxwell House.

Just cheap from top to bottom. Cheap drinks, small portions, understaffing. The nearly 8,000 reviews you see here, giving this place a laughable 4.8 stars, can be comfortably disregarded. This restaurant is a scam. Don't waste your...

NYC Restaurant Week (Jan. 22, 2025) The evening’s scene stealer was The Old Fashioned cocktail. The applewood smoke gave it a unique touch of mystery and an extra taste dimension. Don’t miss it. I had two. What a way to kick off the evening.

It surprised the three of us how well executed the non-meat starters were. The comforting White Bean soup and the flavor-rich Artisanal Burrata impressed us the most. Should we have selected the Baby Beets or Kale Caesar salad over the St. Louis style pork ribs? Perhaps because the latter, while not bad, veered towards the ordinary.

For us, the mains at Essex were not its strongest suit. While the Tagliatelle pasta with duck & mushroom ragù served with fresh parmesan was deelish, it was dry and arrived on the lukewarm side. Skip the Grilled Angus NY strip steak….the quality was not up to par.

Given how well they did with the vegetarian starters, it might have been wiser to go with their vegetarian main of Leeks confit with Cauliflower Tabbouleh, rather than the steak.

The flourless chocolate cake and coconut custard pastel were fine endings to our 3-course dinner.

Wines by the glass offerings didn’t disappoint: the Chardonnay & Cab Sauvignon, both from Napa Valley and the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo were more than satisfactory.

The dim lighting & quiet setting (there was only one large group of diners in the room that Wednesday) made for a relaxed ambience.

Service was friendly and adequately attentive though the server could have been more...

(Last visited September 4, 2023.) Hanging out in New York City for Labor Day weekend and it's time to brunch! So today we're on the lower east side and checking out Essex! Here's how it went...

Atmosphere/Appearance: This place is pretty big for a New York restaurant! It's elongated like most of them but it also has an upstairs! It's very elegant, chic and felt like, historic... maybe? Like, set back in the day a little bit. It was on the quieter side, but still felt energetic as we sat right at the bar near the door since it was so busy.

Service: We sat at the bar and we were well taken care of. I can't remember who took care of us, but they had our mimosas FULL-FULL. Like, with a meniscus on top. Lol. Serious stuff.

Food: I went with the Angus strip and salad which was decent. It could've used some more seasoning or salt, but the steak was cooked well and the salad felt healthy. It was filling, but didn't make me regret eating it. Lol. Most importantly, the mimosas just flowed and flowed. Bottomless was done to perfection here, that's why it's important to sit right at the bar! At the source! Lol.

Value: It's New York City and it's a nice restaurant. It's not going to be cheap. I think my wife and I spent just over $100.00 with tax and tip for each of us to have bottomless mimosas then our entrees. Totally worth it.

In conclusion, I liked it here and would totally come back! Check this place out if you're...