Atmosphere review insights for New York, United States

- A drip coffee set us back $9 - We paid $15 dollars for a side of roasted potatoes, despite the menu saying $10… we received less than one whole potato cut up into 3 pieces - An automatic 20% service was added despite the team being unorganised and rude. (Policy states automatic gratuity is only added for parties of 5+, we were a booking of 2) - For the Christmas Pre-fixe menu and one hot drink each, we paid $200+ each. - Absolutely no Christmas decorations which was poor considering all of the other diners were there for the (Christmas) Pre-fixe Perhaps this restaurant was just out of my financial league, so this review is for the average New Yorkers and tourists: save yourself the cheque, it won’t be hard to find somewhere just as good for 1/3 of the price.

10 people at the bar at 8pm on a Saturday night and the bartender was “slammed”. Waited to order drinks for 15 minutes and when she finally came over she refused to make some shots for our group so we asked for something much easier, a lemon drop, and she said “wow, you’re really set on that aren’t you?”. WTH? Yeah, drinks are almost 20 bucks in this town and you weren’t even that slammed in a half-empty bar.

2 stars are solely for the food and atmosphere. The place looks beautiful and the food is great for what you pay for. The male cashier that was taking my order was incredibly rude. It was my first time here as I just stopped inside to grab an iced drink. I asked the cashier if they had regular iced coffee, he looked at me and said only cold brew. That's fine. I instead asked to get an iced sweet tea. He gave me a dirty look and said the sugar is over there (in a small vestibule right by the doorway.) As I was taking out my card to pay he sighed, tapped on the card reader, and walked off. I chose not to tip due to his behavior, he muttered "great..." while rolling his eyes. While it's a nice place indoors, wouldn't be back for the service alone.

A bunch of friends and I went out to Winfield's as it was the venue at which Buffalo-based band "BlueShift" would be playing their next show as a part of St. Patrick's Day weekend. With two members of the band in tow, we grabbed a large table and ordered our drinks. The beer selection was ample, and being an Irish bar, the majority of their offered brews, fittingly, were of Irish creation. Be ready to spend if you are going to be selective about your beers, but for those that are less picky about taste and more about price, they have great specials on domestics on the daily. Either way, you will not be disappointed. However, the show-stealer was most certainly the food. Aiming for the healthier side, I ordered the warm mushroom salad, and I can say with honesty that this was simply the freshest salad I've ever had the pleasure to taste. The earthiness of the mushrooms blended perfectly with the bitterness of the field greens. Topped with a homemade vinaigrette dressing, capers, and even more fresh veggies, it is perfect for a light meal jam-packed with an assortment of flavors that will leave you raving. Of course, we did share with each other at the table, and I was able to sample their beef burger (with homemade tomato relish that is just delectably tangy). Also, I did try a bite of the lamb burger, as well - I was just taken aback at the blend of flavors. Either choice would be a winner, in my book. The atmosphere was laid back, and the wait staff and bartenders come and grab a seat with you to shoot the breeze, and they are happy to let you know that the recipes in use, at times, stretch back generations! They are all about customer feedback and the quality of the food that they serve. Winfield's aims to please. I hope to see this pub on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" in the near future, as they have the gourmet comfort food schtick totally down, and I do mean that in the best way possible! It is not very often that I go to a restaurant where I feel this strongly about the food I've been served - you can bet, Winfield's Pub is an establishment worthy of your dollar... and most especially, your appetite!

A family group of nine of us arrived at McPartlan's Corner on a weekday evening without a reservation. Didn't matter--they don't take reservations. A plaque on the wall says, "If you have a reservation, your [sic] in the wrong place." The wait staff had a table set up and ready for us in thirty seconds. I wouldn't try our trick on a Friday night when the line for seats invariably stretches out the door. McPartlan's is a family Irish tavern that's been around since 1955. There's none of that faux-Irish stuff that marks the Irish pubs that have sprung up almost everywhere. A framed map of Ireland and a framed poster of Irish castles are enough to hint at the Irish tradition. The dining room features plain wood tables and booths, with paper placemats advertising local businesses. A mirror along one wall makes it feel a little bigger. Another dining room to the back handles the overflow or special occasions. Off to one side is a well-frequented bar in knotty pine. A few generic landscape paintings adorn the wall. A nice selection of American, Canadian, and Irish beer is on tap at very low prices. The fish platter is what has made McPartlan's famous, a huge piece of lightly battered haddock, served with a choice of potato and a huge mound of slaw. They bring unending baskets of bread and crackers to the table to fill out the meal. McPartlan's has a quirk of serving their fish with the skin on. Most patrons appear to eat the whole fish, skin and all. I'm picky and eat around the skin. The fish is superb. Seafood lovers also can choose from shrimp, scallops, and oysters. Another tradition is the sandwiches. Several in my family are partial to something called beef on weck, thinly sliced roast beef piled high on a salty Kimmelweck roll, also served with a choice of side dish. My wife likes the fried bologna sandwich with sautéed onions. The menu also includes steak, pork chops, liver and onions, and lots more. The Tuesday specials included corned beef and cabbage, and bean soup made with corned beef. Our server Sue was friendly and conversational, taking special note of the accents of some from our family who were visiting from Oklahoma. Drink refills and extra bread came quickly. On this visit I saved room for dessert, one of the nicest banana cream pies I have ever had. The coffee was rich and robust. As Sue refilled my cup without asking, she said, "I just made a fresh pot so you have to have a refill." In an era of cookie-cutter restaurants, McPartlan's Corner is a one-of-a-kind restaurant not to be missed. It belongs on your bucket list.

A few months ago, in Barcelona, everybody started talking about a local bakery that sells the new trending pastry in NYC: a round croissant filled with pistachio. I have never had the opportunity to try it out and, to be honest, that does not sound too appealing to me: in my opinion, a croissant must be shaped like a 🌙 and, most of all, it must be plain! (or it’s a cornetto…) But again, when we arrived in NYC, we didn't know anything about the city anymore, so we checked on the Internet. I looked for salty food and my wife looked for sweets (well, I did look for ice creams and doughnuts myself, to be fair) and she found Lafayette, the original “inventor” of this round pastry (they call it Suprême, btw, but it’s… a croissant). First, we had to queue (under the rain!) for about 20 minutes to get inside just to order to go... While we were queuing, we could see through the Windows all the "content creators" inside showing a camera how much they were enjoying their Suprême: sad. Once inside, I was amazed by... the darkness of the venue. I couldn't even see what I was ordering. Honestly, I knew what I was coming for, otherwise, I couldn't have known what to order... they don't want us to see what we eat? That's a shame because, when I got used to the darkness, I could guess that the venue actually looked very nice. I sincerely don't know why they don't turn the light on. So the clerk at the counter told us about the 4 flavors available that day and we picked pistachio and the seasonal: Suprême de Noël. I must say that the pistachio Suprême was very good, at least the half where there was cream. The other half was just like a regular croissant, a good one but nothing from another world either. The Suprême de Noël was not that good, the cream was too thick, I guess to make it seem like an actual "bûche" but that didn't fit the Suprême so much. Don't get me wrong, it was not bad, but for $10 a piece and a 20-minute rainy line, I expected way more. I would trade this for a good croissant or a pistachio cornetto anytime. Quality & taste: 7/10 Quantities: 9/10 Atmosphere: 5/10 Originality: 7/10 Ratio price / quality: 2/10 Service: 1/10 How I felt afterwards: 3/10

Nice vibes to sit inside but my matcha was literally terrible it was thick and still had chunks of matcha powder in it. Looks like a smoothie

Review rating: 2.0

We’ve been coming Tao twice a year when we visit NY for work, this will be last. This place no longer caters to good quality food, waited 45 mins for ‘duck’ rice, basically had no duck in it, tiny little cubes and some shrimp. One glass of wine and 2 cocktails later we knew it was time to go - $205. Its a bit of a joke. Service horrible, food horrible, generally a downbeat vibe and Tao is definitely getting worse. Far better places in NY to spend your money

Review rating: 1.0

- A drip coffee set us back $9 - We paid $15 dollars for a side of roasted potatoes, despite the menu saying $10… we received less than one whole potato cut up into 3 pieces - An automatic 20% service was added despite the team being unorganised and rude. (Policy states automatic gratuity is only added for parties of 5+, we were a booking of 2) - For the Christmas Pre-fixe menu and one hot drink each, we paid $200+ each. - Absolutely no Christmas decorations which was poor considering all of the other diners were there for the (Christmas) Pre-fixe Perhaps this restaurant was just out of my financial league, so this review is for the average New Yorkers and tourists: save yourself the cheque, it won’t be hard to find somewhere just as good for 1/3 of the price.

Signal: 0.0%

10 people at the bar at 8pm on a Saturday night and the bartender was “slammed”. Waited to order drinks for 15 minutes and when she finally came over she refused to make some shots for our group so we asked for something much easier, a lemon drop, and she said “wow, you’re really set on that aren’t you?”. WTH? Yeah, drinks are almost 20 bucks in this town and you weren’t even that slammed in a half-empty bar.

Signal: 0.0%

2 stars are solely for the food and atmosphere. The place looks beautiful and the food is great for what you pay for. The male cashier that was taking my order was incredibly rude. It was my first time here as I just stopped inside to grab an iced drink. I asked the cashier if they had regular iced coffee, he looked at me and said only cold brew. That's fine. I instead asked to get an iced sweet tea. He gave me a dirty look and said the sugar is over there (in a small vestibule right by the doorway.) As I was taking out my card to pay he sighed, tapped on the card reader, and walked off. I chose not to tip due to his behavior, he muttered "great..." while rolling his eyes. While it's a nice place indoors, wouldn't be back for the service alone.

Signal: 0.0%