La Noxe — Restaurant in New York

A charming (and quite literally) little cocktail bar located within Chelsea, and just on the outskirts of the madness of the area (especially on a Friday night).

First things first, if you found this place because of an influencer, let me correct the biggest flaw with the video you watched; the entrance is not in the subway station. The exit is, and to me that is even cooler, to go from the vibrant and NWR-inspired lighting to the harsh subway station lighting is surreal and very dreamlike. (Doing your own research and discovery is rewarding).

The atmosphere: Low key, very intimate and cozy. Red and sunkissed orange lighting flood the 30 occupancy room and give it a vibe. Minimalistic sofas and tables. A simple bar with metal stools (not uncomfortable at all, but compared to the table seating, this is something that could be upgraded). This place has a vibe in mind, and is not trying to be anything other than what it is. The tables are best for parties of 4 or more (double dates, friend groups). If you're a party of 2, it is a crapshot to see if you are given the standard table, or the smaller ones which looked to be more cramped. The bar is where I would recommend a party of two make their reservation, as you have to get lucky with the time slots otherwise.

The offerings: in a word; splendid. The bourbon based beverage I ordered was a delicious choice that gave me "smoked cherry leather" hints and that is high praise. My friend, she has a tendency to be picky with her cocktails and is more of a white rum fan, but opted for a tequila based beverage,and she loved it. For food we ordered and shared the shrimp cocktail and the bruschetta. The shrimp cocktail was to die for as it came with 4 jumbo shrimp, and a very horseradish forward cocktail sauce which will please any seafood fan. The bruschetta was out of this world. An amazing spread of three healthy pieces if combination of francese bread covered with tomatoes, garlic, basil and a delightful ricotta cheese.

Highly recommend this place as compared to other locations, the reservations are without hassle, service is intimate, and while it may not have the name prestige as other cocktail bars, this one has no pretenses to what it is and allows the quality to speak more...

Update: As promised, am amending my review as was contacted by management. An itemized was provided of my check, and unfortunately am told there may have been a miscommunication with what martini I ordered. An understatement for sure. On their website the menu shows specialty cocktails as $19 (which is also what I remember seeing in person). Apparently the menu in person has a $47 martini, so if you order “a martini” and are offered the majestic or glance at a majestic martini and assume it’s around $19 like the rest - be sure to clarify that you would (or would not) like the $47 martini.

Can’t find any current non-blurry menu photo to even confirm what was in this cocktail to justify the $53 after tip (left $10 on the total tab for 2 drinks). But I can assure you, there are better experiences in the city for a cocktail at that price point.

——— I was expecting the “exclusive” cocktails price point, but $70 for a martini off the menu and a well whiskey+coke?? (bartender even kind of jokingly confirmed that I “didn’t want top shelf right?”, I said no thank you obviously and laughed)

There was no itemized at signing, didn’t remember what price the menu cocktails were and I had to rush to catch my train to the airport so didn’t have time to dispute in person. After looking up the menu online the next day I’m certain I was overcharged.

Have tried contacting them via both emails and phone numbers listed. No response.

It’s a shame bc otherwise we would have had a fun experience. Door was opened and let in swiftly, no issues with our attire, the bartender was friendly. Probably not someplace I’d stay for a long time on a night out, but I dug the vibe.

If management can rectify my billing issue, will happily...

Would not recommend this place for cocktail connoisseurs.

I've been to plenty of the high-end bars: Dante NYC, Apotheke, Patent Pending, Attaboy, Death & Co, Nomad Bar, Employees Only, Dead Rabbit, etc, etc...

This was one of my worst bar experiences due to the customer service, I'm pretty surprised they have a 4.8 rating. I've never felt so unwelcome.

Please don't say it opens at 6pm, when in fact it opens at 6:15. The asian lady at the door was scowling right off the bat and it felt like us being there was an inconvenience

We were let in and told that we would only have 30 mins at the bar (pretty unheard of) although the whole place was empty except for 3 patrons.

Bartender - most places they greet you with a simple hello. I've never had the experience where I had to be the one who had to start off with "Hey - how are you doing?". The dude was absolutely silent. Even after making the drink, he just placed it down and walked away. No follow up of even mentioning the name of the drink, or asking if we liked it at all.

Decor - I don't get why people say there's something special about this place. Its not - its just a room with red light, and some blinds covering the stuff behind it.

Drink selection was pretty limited - also flavour was pretty average

I had to go to Patent Pending down the street to wash away the bad experience here. I hope management can see this and do something about the service, its bad when other bars know how subpar a place is when...