Essex

I had brunch here with my girlfriends. Even though we had a reservation, we couldn’t be seated until everyone in our party was here and with the F trains down, unfortunately we were waiting on one person for about 15 – 20 minutes. So that was disappointing. However, they have a great brunch special with their food and 3 cocktail special for a decent price. The food itself was good and the bread at the beginning was appreciated by everyone! We all got mimosas and even though they tasted a little watered down, no one complained. Overall, a good brunch spot with a very cool vibe!

My reservation was at 3:45pm. When we arrived to celebrate my cousin’s bachelorette celebration, I told the hostess my name at exactly 3:45pm even though it was packed. She said to wait a while so my party and I stood to the side and waited. At this time, it was already 4pm and I reminded her if my table was ready and she said it was getting bussed. Ok, cool. We waited again. Then 4:30pm I asked her again and she apologized and gave us free drink tickets. We waited again and saw her go into the bathroom for a while. The crowd was gone and It was almost 5pm, I asked another hostess calmly about our table and she said they were cleaning it. As we were waiting next to the booths, the busser was cleaning the table with windex. He was holding the setting napkins in his hand and placed them on the table. One of them literally fell on the floor and he picked it up and continued to set the table. That was disgusting! I told him to change the napkin and he played it off like he had no idea what he was talking about. The floor was not clean btw. Imagine the amount of people sitting at that table that day.
The server was great. She explained the menu and served us the drinks quickly. She checked up on us time to time. The food took forever though. It was like another hour wait for the food. It was ridiculous. We didn’t even want to drink our drinks at this point. It was like they were expecting us to get drunk so we won’t think the food took long to make. The food finally came. It was OK. Wasn’t the greatest food in the world. It was warm not even hot to eat. I had the chicken and biscuit and eggs platter.
The music was good since it was a brunch party. Overall, I would never come back again. I feel like I failed at choosing the right place for a bachelorette party. I was just completely turned off by this restaurant. I think the only time to come here is if you want to get drunk. That’s mostly it.

Came here for oysters during their happy hour (5pm) on a Sunday. The first time, they said they cannot serve us oysters til 6pm. Okay fine we’ll wait, so we got a couple of drinks.
For starters, my French 75 was not chilled. Who wants room temperature champagne? Ew!
Secondly, we ordered oysters at 6:10pm, but it was going to be «another 20 minutes.» Okay, fine (because we obviously want these oysters) so we ordered a shrimp avocado salad while we waited and more drinks.
Half an hour later, no salad (he forgot) and still no oysters!!! Our waiter was not apologetic at all. He said «I’m sorry» and just walked off. Umm? Asked to speak to a manager and the manager gave us some BS excuse for their kitchen but no sincereness or an apology! You guys just suck. I’m better going back to Texas and eating gulf oysters anyway.
Overall, horrible experience. We spent money on horrible drinks just to be given excuses after excuses just to be brushed off not only by staff but also by the manager!

My friends and I came here for a Sunday brunch. It was pretty crowded; however we made reservations and were seated in a timely fashion.
We were seated upstairs and extremely cramped. The waitress was very nice and kept apologizing for the way we were seated. (But hey I guess they have to make their money, lol)
There was a party that must’ve had an Unexpected amount of people present. We were then asked to move to the corner of where we were seating. Although, I preferred the corner, it was a bit annoying having to move. So we did and the waitress accommodated our troubles by giving us bottomless deal for the same price that we originally came for. That was very nice and accommodating of the restaurant.
My food came out cold and I asked if they can please reheat it and it was amazing. I got the eggs Benedict. It was great. My friend got the Mac and cheese which was AMAZING and my other friend got the eggs and country fried steak which to wasn’t bad. All in all. I would definitely recommend this establishment and I will be returning.

My biggest complaint with this place is that they are total sticklers on time, which is very annoying. Your party will not be able sit down until every person has arrived and they will start a timer on you. Also if you do not have a reservation, be ready to wait for a while. Essex is very packed, busy, and loud– not the place for a low key brunch.
Aside from that, I was surprised by the food. The Mexican Matzo Brei and the Southern were delicious. Our waiter Derek was attentive and friendly, which made up for our terrible experience at the front door. Ultimately, I would definitely recommend this place if you are looking for a more lively brunch without compensating for food.

Isa made our birthday brunch out in nyc the best experience! She was attentive and made sure to give great recommendations (make sure to order the eggs Benedict or the souther)
The bottomless drinks were flowing the entire time and she always made sure everyone was taken care of!
At the end of our brunch she brought out a special dessert for the birthday girl! She really made this trip special!!!

My roommate & I wanted to celebrate our birthdays together, so we found a pretty awesome brunch deal: $ 25.95 for one entrée + three drinks (mimosa, bloody mary, or screwdrivers). So, we made reservations for 6.
I’m going to get the negatives out of the way… I totally get it. If you agree to have a certain amount of people show up at a certain time, then yeah, it’s kind of crappy when not everyone is there on time. But, 2 of our people were delayed due to trains being rerouted & clusterf*cky as MTA tends to do on weekends. The restaurant’s policy, though, is to not seat the table unless everyone is there. So, the 4 of 6 of us stood hovering in the doorway before the restaurant manager came over with the most passive-​aggressive and downright snotty attitude, saying that we have to be seated because there was a table reservation after ours & we were screwing the schedule up.
Um. The restaurant was mostly empty, & our party was mostly here. And, even after we had been there for 2 hours, there were plenty of open tables around us to accommodate all reservations… luckily our server was amazing, because I was really rubbed the wrong way by that interaction.
Also a heads up: even though they advertise brunch starts at 11, you’re not going to get served alcohol until noon because of some state restriction. Uhh. What about all of the other restaurants around NYC where I can get a pitcher at 10 AM? Anyway…
Our server was amazing. Amanda S was the coolest & incredibly helpful, down-​to-​Earth, & really just wanted us to enjoy our birthday brunch. We decided to order & start with our food in the meantime & enjoy alcohol for dessert.
They brought out a side of garlic rolls and GOSH YUM I LOVE GARLIC CARBS. I ordered the Mexican Mazo Brei as my entrée, and it was super filling & delicious. I’m not a fan of eating black beans separately, so I wish they would’ve been mixed into the rest of the omelette, but whatever. All of my friends enjoyed their miscellaneous entrees as well. And finally, time for drinks: according to my roomie, the bloody mary is pretty bad. I stuck to screwdrivers & enjoyed myself!
So, yes Unilocalers. I’d say the brunch deal is fantastic & worth checking out, but learn from this experience.
1– Go after 12pm; get a reservation.
2– To avoid the ‘tude of the manager, make sure your party all shows up on time. (which I know is like sheparding cats sometimes)
3– Ask for Amanda S.

I was super excited to try out Essex for restaurant week. The menu for Essex really stood out to me and my friend, who I actually took for her birthday dinner. I arrived 10 minutes early for my 7pm reservation on Sunday and Essex was packed. I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be this packed/​loud on a Sunday night. I did later find out that they have happy hour on Sunday’s until 8pm. When I first walked in I didn’t know where I was going. I couldn’t find a hostess or a waiter/​waitress to even ask. I went up to a bartender and they instructed me to go to the center of the restaurant to the hostess stand where they had a computer to check in. I found my way through the crowd of people in the bar area and there was so many people waiting for the hostess who seemed to be missing. I finally found her and let her know I was there for my 7pm reservation. Long story short my friend and I waited 25 minutes to be seated.
After we were seated it took about 10 minutes for someone to come over to ask if we’d like to order a drink. We ordered the mango lava lamp drink and it was excellent! From the time we received our drinks until someone came by to take our order it was about 20 minutes. When our waitress came by to take our order she did apologize that they were understaffed. It was very clear that our waitress was taking on a lot more than she could handle, but she seemed very nice and apologetic. Our appetizer came in good time after we ordered. I started out with the goat cheese potato pancakes and my friend had the burrata salad. We both really enjoyed the appetizers. After we finished it took quite awhile longer to get our entrees. I decided to go with the steak after waitress recommendation and my friend had the scallops over risotto. I ordered my steak medium rare and it came out over cooked. I didn’t bother saying anything because I knew it would take a long time to get a new one brought out. The meal was just OK. I had a taste of the scallops and they were very delicious, but the risotto didn’t really have a taste at all. It was actually quite bland. Our waitress was so kind and offered to get us another round of drinks on the house because she knew how long we had been waiting for everything. We really just wanted to get out of there at this point so we kindly declined. For dessert I ordered the chocolate mousse cake and my friend had the sorbet. They both weren’t anything special at all.
Really disappointed by the experience I had at Essex. Everywhere I’ve gone for restaurant week has actually surpassed my expectations and this is the first time I’ve really had a not so great experience. I’ve heard the brunch at Essex is excellent, but I’m not sure that I would even go back again. Overall our food/​experience wasn’t worth the money and I’m bummed I didn’t bring my friend somewhere else for her birthday dinner.

Came here for restaurant week and what a treat! The ambiance and loft atmosphere was so fun and cute. I started with the oysters as my first course, which were delicious. I really enjoyed their dipping sauces, one was cocktail sauce with horseradish and then the other was a vinaigrette. I also noticed signs that during regular hours, oysters are only $ 1 during happy hour — WHAT A DEAL! Then as my main course, I had the scallops over risotto which was delicious as well. But the best part of the experience was the dessert. I will come back here for their $ 1 oysters and peanut butter pie. It was amaze balls, a peanut butter mouse in a graham cracker shell. YUMM!!!
The only downfall of the night and reason for not giving 5-​stars was I had to wait for my friend for about 20 minutes. I sat at the bar to wait and thought I’d get a drink. Granted there was only one bartender (but it was not that busy), it took 10 minutes for me to get noticed, and then she was busy making tables drinks, other guests, etc. I never got my drink by the time my friend arrived, so I told her to just forget it. I wanted to leave because of this but I am so glad I stayed.

I came here on a Monday evening for a ‘Paint Nite’ event.
Although I did not try any of the food I did however try two of their flavored margaritas.
I ordered the strawberry and mango (on the rocks-​they didn’t offer frozen) both very good.
They also offered Happy Hour (½ price drinks)
I must say the place seemed very elegant.
It was dimly lit and had a loft like feel.
They have two Multi level ‘balcony’ sections which overlook the main floor and bar area.
I would definitely go back and try some of their food.

Best ladies night out to date at ESSEX! Went for 2016 Restaurant week, Do Not Miss This Opportunity to sample their fantastic menu! The potatoe pancakes with loxs and goat cheese; YUMMY! Sliders; DELICIOUS! Steak; MELT IN YOUR MOUTH GOOD (medium rare) The real star was the chocolate mousse cake with vanilla gelato; DECADENT! My only gripe was service, it was slowwww! BUT, waite staff were attentive and accomodating so we sat tight, sipped on some mango deliciosness, sang along to the great music and enjoyed the cool ambiance!

This is what happened when the boozy brunch competition got too fierce. The morning after New Year’s Eve and your tummy feelin funny and you can’t think straight and your original picks are all packed to the brim T. T
Well, to describe the experience it was mediocre to say the least. If i didn’t have 3 mimosas and if my stomach wasn’t eating itself, I would of left the food untouched. I ordered the biscuits and gravy and it was pretty gross. Honestly I could make it better at home. My friends ordered salads and French toast and again, none of them really touched their food either. Simple dishes, POOR execution.
Very minimal effort put into the taste and quality of the food. The bread that came out was straight out of a fridge and the butter was also frozen… The biscuit tasted straight out of a plastic bag and the gravy was poorly seasoned and the sausage chunks tasted like elementary school lunch.
Atmosphere is the only saving grace. Service was also bad. Awkward encounters and poor execution of serving and payment process. Save your bucks and if you’re in the same brunch rut, skip to the next space!!! Seriously.

The night that just kept getting better and better. Essex was not the first place we decided to meet after the event but it should have been. The plan was for a select few of us to venture over to a local bar lounge called Nitecap for a few drink to celebrate my friends new blog series called The Movement featuring D. Moore. I encourage anyone reading this to check it out.
Now onto the rest of the night. Needless to say, we never made it over to the Nitecap because the event ended early and we couldn’t change the reservation. I hadn’t actually eaten dinner and so I was secretly hoping the plan would be switch to dinner instead. Lucky for me, I got my wish.
A quick side note. Just about one month ago, I was standing in front of Essex waiting for my Über to arrive, I remember thinking to myself, wow I’ve never seen this place before but man would I like to eat here one day. Things like this seem to happen to me a lot. (Lol) Now, fast forward and here I was sitting upstairs enjoying an amazing «Nite-​cap» of drinks and an amazing plate of lobster man and cheese! My goodness that Lobster Mac&Cheese was to die for.
What I said in the very begging bears repeating. The night just kept getting better and better and I have the Essex and their staff to thank for that.

Came here for restaurant week with friends and was delightfully surprised by the quality of food. We ordered from the pre-​fixe menu and an additional 2 dozen oysters. The stuff from the pre-​fixe menu all tasted awesome as a group of 4 of us ordered different app/​entrees/​dessert to share. The oysters were overall very fresh with great choices of sauce to use on the side. Some of the oysters had residue sand in them but nothing that was problematic. I would most definately come again!

I can’t rave enough about this place. Okay– the 30 minute wait, even though we had a reservation, absolutely sucked. But the free drink our party of six had to make up for it was good business. When you walk in, it’s a large open space with a second level overlooking the first floor. Huge windows fill this brick building. Such great light and ambiance.
The music is loud, but not too much where you can’t talk. It’s definitely a party brunch, I was getting my chair dancin’ on, so if you’re looking for a quiet or intimate space then this is not for you.
Omg the food! I had a delish meal of steak & eggs and it far surpassed my expectations. The mimosas kept coming and food was so filling. I would come back without a doubt! We were booted off our table after an hour because we had all finished eating and were just enjoying drinks, but once again we got a free drink at the bar to make up for it, so not a problem for me.
Love, love it! Best place for a boozy brunch with friends.

$ 25.95 for one entrée + three drinks = fantastic deal for brunch. I came here with some friends on a Saturday and the place was packed, but luckily we had a reservation. I ordered the Aristocrat (potato pancakes, cured salmon, salmon roe, and poached eggs). I wish the dish came with more salmon and salmon roe, but overall I was very happy with my dish. The mimosas are filled to the brim and pretty strong, so there are no complaints there. I would come back for another tipsy brunch.

A fun but crowded spot for Sunday brunch on the Lower East Side. The food here is pretty good, perhaps amongst some of the best for breakfast in the area (see also Shopsin’s, Russ and Daughters, and Dudley’s). Their potato latke with smoked salmon, roe, and crème fraîche is representative of quintessential Lower East Side with a modern flare in it’s preparation. Your best bet to get in is to make a reservation a week or so in advance, which will also have you waiting up to 30 minutes upon arrival. Although the dining room was packed, the service was very attentive and sweet… this even considering that they asked us to wrap up as they were looking to seat another four-​piece. I usually find this rude but they softened the blow with a free drink card for use at any time. While I won’t be looking to return in a huge rush, it’s definitely one worth knocking off your to-​do list.

the waitress had mimosas ready for us right as we were sitting down, need I say more? The staff is very accommodating — I had to alter my reservation 3 times and each time they were more than happy to help (side note: there’s sometimes a wait to get through on the phone). They have a huge menu selection for brunch, I was honestly having a hard time deciding. I finally settled on the vegan Mexican Matzo Brei and it was pretty good as far as vegan dishes at a non-​vegan restaurant goes. The ambiance is really cool — the inside looks a little like an abandoned warehouse with huge windows and tones of natural light. Pro tip: make a reservation or get there before 11:30am because that’s when it really starts getting crowded.

So let’s talk about a comeback!
On ¹⁰⁄₁₀ I had a reservation for 2:30 for a surprise brunch and my group didn’t get seated until after 3:30. .Needless to say we were all anxious, and I the planner was on the upset side!
The entire wait I was thinking about how horrible it was to not be seated yet and my surprise wasn’t really a surprise anymore. But– my server definitely saved the day because she was more than amazing! She is honestly the only reason for such a positive review. We never saw the bottom of our glass once as she was really on top of filling up the glasses for our bottomless brunch and she also made sure that we left with the right impression. From the time we sat down everything was perfect including the food. Due to her great service, we will revisit and I will get her name again.

Than you to the wonderful staff at Essex who let my family and me in to have drinks at the bar 30 minutes before their scheduled opening time. This REALLY made me very happy and proud to say I have been to one of the trendiest places in all of NY. My fresh watermelon cocktail was simply amazing.
Brunch and the bottomless drink options are kind of what Essex is known for, but do not let the stereotype fool you. They are Brunch and SO MUCH MORE!
Bathrooms are tiny caves, but clean and very user friendly. Seating options are plentiful with a wide variety of options to suit your spatial needs and desires. Wait staff and hostesses are some of the best in the business. I have friends who frequent Essex and who have quite literally ordered everything on the menu without one single complaint. Having moved to the city only 3 months ago, and having tried a new restaurant almost every night, I am very pleased to call Essex one of my all-​time favorites.
I really recommend the seating up stairs for groups as it can get a bit noisy downstairs. If you would like to be served at the bar, there are plenty of people serving to keep your cup full of beverage and your plate full of food.
The Bloody Mary cocktails were my absolute favorite at the brunch I had at Essex. The cost is very reasonable, the menu options are plentiful and varied to meet even the pickiest of eater’s taste palate. Even composing this review has my mouth watering for another taste of their carefully crafted bloody mary coctail (although being a fan of green olives, I had to request them to accompany my bloody mary which greatly enhanced the experience for me).
Give it a try and I promise you will not be disappointed!!!

We came for drinks slightly before opening– not only were they nice enough to welcome us in, but they charged us half price for all cocktails (on a Tuesday night) and the drink menu had a great selection of cocktails including bellinis, martinis, and champagne by the glass.
Our party had the watermelon martini– strong and good; champagne– crisp and easy; and the honey pot– delicious, not too strong.
Highly recommended for brunch as well!

I was supposed to go to Hotel Chantel and finally i went to Essex
It s a very good typical brunch
Good to get a little bit tipsy :) However, it is a very loud place. and you have to yell to make a conversation. drink and food are good

Came here for brunch with a group of 10 yesterday and had a good experience. We made reservations and the staff was on point with handling everything. Even though our party was about 10 mins late they got us seated immediately and poured us mimosas IMMEDIATELY. Before we could think about what to order we had drinks in hand. This is how AYCD brunch is supposed to be!
The food: I ordered the «Deep South» which comes with chicken fried steak, eggs and a biscuit with sausage gravy. This meal was both enjoyable and filling. The chicken fried steak could have been seasoned a little better but I’m in NYC not New Orleans so it was good enough for NYC brunch standards. The biscuit was very good, nice and soft! And the sausage gravy was pretty good as well. The bottom line here is this meal was satisfying to my taste buds and my desire for a good value. I didn’t leave here feeling like I got ripped off like I did at *ahem* the last brunch spot I reviewed.
I’m giving Essex 4 stars for their brunch. Mainly because their staff did a very good job of getting my large party in, getting or food out and keeping our drinks full. Once again, I’m here for AYCD And if your keeping my drink full that’s half the battle. Our server was friendly and did a good job of making sure we had everything we needed in a timely fashion. I would defiantly come back here if I had a large party. Most places either can’t accommodate a party of 10+ or do a poor job at it.

Beaucoup d’attente ou alors venir à l’ouverture! Bonne adresse, mais les serveurs né sont pas très causants et on est un peu perdu…

Fui a una fiesta de Halloween. La fiesta y la gente muy chula. El sitio no tiene nada que lo haga especial