Little Branch — Restaurant in New York

I’ve been to Little Branch several times. Even introduced some friends to it. But this time it was bad… like really bad.

Went there on Monday 10/28 around 11pm ish

First, we walked in, I asked server if we can sit where band usually play. He said yes. As soon as we tried to sit there, some people from a band showed up and yelled at us. We didn’t just walked in there on our own. We asked permission. I told it to a waiter, he looked at me and walked away …

Anyhow, sat at a table. My Aperol was extremely sweet. Never had sweet aperol spritz in my life. Asked if I could get a splash of soda as it’s way too sweet. Instead of changing my drink and make it right, or at least fixing a current one, he brought me a full glass of club soda with ice. Then tried to pour from to my cocktail. Spilled club soda on the table. And said “oh well I tried”

Then I asked if they have any red wine. He said yes but we only Pinot Nour. I asked if I can taste first, he said yes. Disappeared for 10 min even though the place was almost empty. Gave me a taste. I said okay. After he poured he said “oh it’s actually Chanti”. Mind you, in my check it’ll be “pinot noir” and I don’t know if there is a price difference.

When we paid, server showed up without presenting an itemized receipt and just announced total. I was already so fed up, I just paid. Got a notification with a receipt on my phone. What do you think? He charged me for a club soda! I didn’t need your club soda! I need my drink to be made right!

I work in the industry… so please believe me when I say, that is disgraceful and disgusting attitude will get you nowhere

Let me tell you this, if you consider yourself a dive bar, then lower your prices. If you are a speakeasy, then elevate...

From Swingers: For some reason the cool bars in Hollywood have to be hard to find and have no sign. It's kind of like a speakeasy kind of thing. It's kinda cool. It's like you're in on some kind of secret, you know? You tell a chick you been someplace, it's like braggin' that you know how to find it.

This may not be Hollywood, but the quote still applies.

From the outside, it looks like a run down building. If you walked by it, you probably would not even know it was a bar. But you step inside and go down the stairs and its like you stepped into a 1920's prohibition era speakeasy. There is great jazzy music playing (sometimes live), no current pop music junk. You order real cocktails made by real mixologists. These are real drinks. No vodka cranberries here. You can get a Dark and Stormy with real homemade ginger beer. There is a menu of drinks, but the real treat is to have the bartenders choice. He just tell the bartender or the waiter some things that you like and they will make you a drink. There are many secret drinks as well. Ask for a Torchlight (its not on the menu and its fantastic).

Plus, the ice cubes are big blocks. No chipped ice here. Huge cubes that fit the size of the glass your...

Four stars for amazing drinks but poor customer service. Went with my wife on a Friday night at about 10 p.m. Since it was fairly early in the night, we only had to wait about 10 minutes to get inside. Once we did get inside, the bouncer took us downstairs but didn’t explain that it was essentially open seating. (I was expecting a host to seat us, as is the case at most speakeasies). The room was was very crowded, especially around the bar. After we seated ourselves away from the bar, I was expecting to be served, but I was again mistaken. When I finally went up to one of the two bartenders to order my drink, he directed me to the other bartender and told me the area where I was standing needed to be kept clear. I waited a few minutes behind other patrons before finally ordering our drinks. I only provided our preferred base liquor and flavor (rye whiskey/green chartreuse and tequila/savory) for the drinks and let the bartender go to town. The drinks he made were some of the best I’ve had in NYC. Had it not been for the poor customer service when we arrived, I would’ve definitely given this...