Chuck’s 4-star review:
Murray Hill...really?
Yep, for reals. This place is really on point*, in both terms of decor, and more importantly food. Walking in, the first thing that I noticed (besides that it was much larger inside that I'd expected) was that there were two bars. This usually means that one is in a "turtle bay" hell bar. The crowd around me, initially scared me into thinking this was indeed the case (what with their shitty conversations, baseball hat and suit combos, and indoor use of sunglasses), but lo and behold, the staff was super on point. And what's that, the menu has more than just wings fries and nachos? Color me intrigued. Sitting at the bar (because, of course we sit at the bar, what are we amateurs), we made small talk with the extremely cool folks behind the bar, and ordered a few beers and some food. My girlfriend got the shepards pie and I got a burger with fried pickles on it. Both were solid choices, though for me the burger was the winner. As the sun continued to go down, the crowd got more and more douchey, we decided to get out of dodge, vowing we would return for weekend brunch, when presumably, the finance kids would be back at their parents houses on Long Island.
Enter boozy brunch last weekend. Again, the staff was super chill, but this time, so was the class of people hanging out. Were there "Murray Hillites", well yes, of course there were, but they were not the predominant class of bruncher. The brunch menu was loaded with choice, but I again went for a burger (bacon, cheddar, and onion rings) which was even better than the fried pickle burger. Sitting at the bar is, of course the way to go. We were friendly with the bartenders, and in return we were rewarded with glasses that were never empty, and a timer that never ended. My favorite thing to say at brunch is "I'll take the check now", and a bartender saying, OK one or two more before you go. This is NOT because I have a drinking problem (cough), but because I love a place that does brunch because they like doing it, not just because its NYC and they have to serve shitty eggs with champagne.
I can truly say that this place is a solid call for brunch or dinner -but for me brunch is the clear winner (and I will, without a doubt be back here to do it again soon).
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* With the obvious caveat being that its located in Murray Hill; the local fauna composed of he-bros, she-bros, dude-bros, and finance-bros are very much the worst.