Gator — Restaurant in New York

I wanted to love it but there are a lot of kinks to work out.

Service: Or lack thereof. Two waiters working front of house, no host to check patrons in. People stuck waiting by the door, unacknowledged. Want to order a drink? Who knows when someone will come by. Want your plates cleared? Get in line. The wait staff was so completely overwhelmed and ill-equipped that I felt palpable anxiety looking at all the other patrons in the room also looking around trying to figure out how to get served.

The waiters were trying their best, absolutely. But they did not know the menu - it was only after ordering and later finding out that the kitchen had run out of a dish we had ordered (more on this later) did we find out from the other more informed waiter that there were actual specials available to order.

Trying to get recommendations from the menu - "Uhhh. everything is good. It has a sauce. I'm not sure what the sauce is. I'm not sure what we still have." Earnest but completely unprepared. We ordered wine, and then 20 minutes later had to prompt the more senior waiter to actually bring it.

Food: Previous reviewers spoke highly of the cheeseburger, the mac 'n cheese, the clam toast, and the hake. Unfortunately did not get to sample these as all were sold out by 8pm on a Friday night. That's 4 items from a menu of 14 items that were unavailable. We ordered the:

Foccacia: It's 2 pieces of bread. The compote was very sweet. This was $10. Shaved Brussels: Another reviewer commented on the gloopy sauce. It was quite gloopy. The fried quinoa gave a nice texture. This was $16. Crispy Chicken Paillard: It's a deep fried chicken cutlet. The breading was crispy. The meat inside was tough and without much flavor. The aioli was necessary. This was $28. Sticky Short Ribs: There was about 4oz of meat here, surrounded by their coconut grits. The ribs were quite flavorful and had a fall-off-bone consistency. The grits tasted like sweet coconut and may be nice if you like this kind of thing. This was $38. Duck Breast: Two pieces of extremely tough duck breast with a puree of something around it. It was quite difficult to cut with my dull dinner knife. I looked like a lumberjack trying to saw through this thing. I think this was $50. Flourless chocolate cake: Tasty chocolate cake.

Atmosphere: The room is nice.

Some serious deficiencies that need to be addressed. $270 for food/wine for 3...

TLDR: A nice little neighborhood spot over in Greenpoint. New American-ish fare. If coming for brunch - definitely get that egg sandwich! Solid burger as well.

Gator was on our list for awhile and we happened to be in the area and came for brunch. It's a small spot but very nice and cozy. Very retro/vintage decor.

We got the spiced potatoes, the burger, the egg sandwich and the mushroom toast.

Spiced potatoes were nice and starchy, a good amount of seasoning and because I hate ketchup - they were nice enough to give me some yuzu aioli on the side.

Mushroom toast was served on focaccia. The mushroom had a lot of nice flavor but for me soaked into the bread a bit more than I'd like. Personal preference! If you like mopping up sauces though, this is great. The egg on top was good too although this yolk wa not too runny.

Egg sandwich. Love love love this. The pillowy brioche was great and it's a nice soft steamed egg with CRISPY mortadella. The swiss cheese was a nice touch but with the buttery bun a bit rich - however, pickled shallots made it just right. Will return for this dish solely.

Burger was tasty, a tempura mushroom on top, yuzu aioli, nice and juicy. It is stacked quite high but good to try.

I think we may come back one...

This place is interesting, maybe worth the try if you live in the area. 2.5 is probs more fair We got spiced potatoes, brussels sprouts, and the crispy chicken. Spiced potatoes - came in a bowl with the sauce at the bottom. It got really warm and watery, but the potatoes were still flavored nicely Brussel sprouts - genuinely the first time I’ve ever felt confused about a dish. The parsnip purée looked like glue at the bottom and made the entire dish kinda…gloopy? like glue? The quinoa lacked…flavor? it just tastes like fry oil and aleppo pepper. The way the entire dish tastes just feels…not cohesive in any way. The crispy chicken - was literally just fine. Came with some sort of sauce/mayo but seems like no flavor or spices.

For a place that seems like it’s trying to be elevated, it’s not there yet. For a place with a small menu, there’s not really room for dishes...