beauty and essex Review

Nice ambiance and music. Food is also decent with family style eating

Came to NYC
Stayed at Baccarat
Eat at Daniels / Gotham's
Saw Handel's Messiah by NYC Philharmonic
This place for champagne brunch though was the highlight
One of the best experiences of my life

Great ambiance and expensive! I took millions of pictures and I am also vegetarian although they didn't have anything specifically catered to my diet, they were very accommodating.

Outstanding! Lamb lollipops were the best I've ever had. Great energy, the staff engaged well and remained attentive. Drinks top notch. My friends and I visited 2/24/17. I wouldn't hesitate going back.

Great atmosphere ! Salmon was good, especially the Lobster mac n cheese ! Drinks are good as well. Music is very good especially after 11/12am hip hop is played along with a large variety of other genres. Dress code isn t heavily enforced I think because it was the day after a bad snow storm. But overall, clean pants/jeans no rips, heels and casual sneakers are allowed, no hoodies or sweatpants.

Outside is a pawn shop! You walk through and theres a hidden door that opens up to a spiffy resteraunt and bar. There's 3 floors. (Lower level is the bathroom). The main and upper floor is separated my a winding spiral staircase. What a beautiful hidden gem!! Everything was amazing from the ambiennce, staff, drinks and all around vibe. We just got drinks and hung out on the lounge chairs. I will definitely be back for dinner

The whole hype around this place is the front looks like a pawn shop and once you go through the doors it's a 3 story restaurant. It's a cool concept, but way overpriced for the food and drinks. Definitely a place where people want to show they're there, but I recommend getting maybe like 2 cocktails and eating somewhere else (specifically the Woodsman and Earl The Pearl). We ordered the grilled cheese potatoes dumplings with tomatoe soup (the spoon bites), the ceasar salad bites, pastrami carpaccio, bone marrow, beef wellington, lamb chops, and scallops. The best dishes were the bone marrow which is pretty hard to get wrong and the wellington which I will say was very good. But for the price of all this (arounf $550) for 5 people, we could have gotten some better food. This place is very popular though and you'll probably see a few b list celebrities pop through like Lupe Fiasco.

TLDR: Place at best is worth a few drinks, but go somewhere else for food.

Make dinner reservations and stay for the after party. The line can get long so it is always best to go the dinner then stay for the party route.

The decor from bottom to top is wonderful. Check out the walls! The oysters were also good and our bartender was very nice. We went the night before Thanksgiving and the music was great. Everyone was friendly. The place is a bit expensive but the experience and ambiance is part of the price I'm sure. Check it out!

This place is absolutely scrumptious and the atmosphere is great. The wait staff is awesome and very attentive, loved my experience here!

Horrible experience. Overpriced stale food. Poor lighting..slow service. Men room crowded with drug trafficing..best part of experience was leaving the establishment.

Usually pretty busy, I highly recommend a reservation. A swanky speak easy style restaurant with incredible craft cocktails and really delicious food. Romantic dinners are great here, as well as a nice evening out with friends or impressing someone from out of town. Come hungry and order courses because it's all so good. Be prepared to spend some money, it's worth it but really isn't too expensive. Probably end up spending $100-$150 per person if you're doing drinks, apps, entrees and dessert.

Speakeasy nothing short of beautiful, elegant and refined. The entrance looks like a small and normal pawnshop, but when the door opens to enter this secret place it feels like living in the time of the Great Gatsby. The atmosphere that reigns is enhanced by the warm and soft lights and furnishings. I would say absolutely recommended.

Really good tapas. Lobster mac & cheese needed more lobster. I will come back again

Amazing food in the tapas style. Very small, incredibly flavorful servings meant for the whole table to share.

Feels formal, but it s actually quite casual. Cool spot - hidden behind a Pawn Shop storefront. Swanky once you re inside. Love this place. A must visit.

Holy smoke! Came here with my best friend. We loved everything! Roasted bone marrow, delish! Tomato tartar, an explosion of flavors, kale and apple salad, perfect. The salmon ceviche was amazing! Grilled cheese smoked bacon and tomato soup More

one of the fanciest and most mouth watering food i tasted worth every penny.

Everything is good here. Service, drinks, food and people watching. I'm just a Midwestern boy but I can tell you there are some fancy people moving through here. And as always when I'm in NYC, cool wall paper in the bathroom.

Amazing NYC spot! Pawn shop in the front, 5 star restaurant in the back!!

Food is great Nice ambiance. No problems first two times dining, however tried to make reservations for myself and friends. they wanted a credit card to hold a table No No No

Three of us stopped in for cocktails at noon on Saturday. It was busy but soon enough we got seats in the lounge area. The drinks were good (I had a perfect Manhattan) though it didn't live up to the hype. If in the neighborhood again I'll probably come back and try the food but I won't make the walk again just for cocktails.

Great place. They took good care of us for Thanksgiving

Super trendy kitsch vibe. Wait staff describe menu as tapas but ordering several small plates ended up being too much food. Delicious and unique plates, amazing sear on the scallops, but my fave is the creative sweet and savory drinks menu.

The place is like a hidden gem... however, you gotta be aware that the prices for drinks here are really expensive. It's a nice place for celebrations and gatherings! you can all chip in for the drinking expenses :)

It was great, good food good music, I will definitely go there again

This place gets 5 stars for service & atmosphere. The food though..... I was just disappointed. Most of it was cold. Like it had been sitting there. We ordered the pancakes, biscuits w/ cream cheese & bacon, dumplings, chorizo & lobster hash, fried chicken biscuits, & bbq fries. The dumplings are amazing, everything else was meh. The fried chicken biscuit was under seasoned, while the hash was over seasoned. Over seasoned to the point where basically 1/2 a teaspoon of dry seasoning fell off one the potatoes. This place is good for a cocktail and an appetizer, if dumplings... that's about it. Which is a shame because the venue and staff are amazing.

Beautiful ambiance, food was amazing drinks where not watered down. Great time

Beautifully decorated, good drinks, interesting music mixes and entrance.

Great time. Dinner was amazing. Really packed so it was the place to be at. Really popular.

Love this place. I just went there and it was beautiful.

Finley the South African bartender is the man. Opulent chandeliers and a discreet furniture store front make this place pretty special. Nice touches with candles and such in the restrooms. Terrific drinks.

Good feel, good service, food was good and special feel

Beauty and Essex is a wonderful place to take a date of you definitely want to impress them. The food was delicious and the decor was sexy. The only thing was where we were sitting the floor was uneven so our table was tilted a lil. But that was the only reason for the 4 stars with the exception of the lack of special attention men get in the restroom. You'll understand what I mean when a women comes out of the restroom.

If you are the kind of person that likes trendy hip places with more flash than substance then you are going to love this place. It is pretty cool that the entrance is through a pawn shop giving it a speakeasy flair. Aside from that the food and drinks are decent but not worth the price in my opinion. Certainly depends on the person, I like more low key places but this is a good place to at least experience once

The food was delicious as I remembered 7 years ago I brought my aunt to give her the experience last time I was there when the ladies go to the bathroom there is a girl to give ya wine or like champagne to make you feel welcome but this time her head was in a magazine didn't take notice of customers or said hello very rude getting paid money for nothing

One of my favorite places to go for brunch! The food is amazing! I ve been back many times!

Good service, good food, and great atmosphere. I've been to this restaurant a few times and love the scene.
Try the tomato soup mac and cheese as well as the tacos. Delish!!

Browse the curios at the pawn shop before heading on in to what seems like the lobby of some swanky 5th avenue apartment. Above is a rounding staircase that leads to tables and a portion of the restaurant. Before you is a lounge with a bar and more tables in the back. There's a chandelier, little lamps decorating the wall, and overall has a beautiful polished vibe. Try the early grey cocktail, it wasn't too sweet but not too bitter. $16/cocktails, $14/wine

Best meal I ve ever had anywhere. Worth every penny. If you get Ben as a server you ll be lucky!

The atmosphere is great, the food is even better. Let the staff take care of you just let them know what you don't eat, because the menu is full of impossible choices. You cannot go wrong. My most tasteful memories are the tuna tacos, the soup & cheese and the steak. But everything was very memorable. Their deserts are large servings so save some space if you are a desert person.

****TIP: double check your tab. This place caters to drunk tourists. They will triple your bill and run your card before your approval.****

Incompetent managerial staff that stand speechless and tactless; lacking the most basic leadership abilities while leaving the staff flounder over an easy fix.

The drinks were 3 star upstairs.... service was 1.5 at best.

I hosted clients at Beauty & Essex - for a farewell and it was just out of this world. Not only was the food GREAT but the vibes were just out of this world - true New York experience! Highly recommended ;-)

Best and most consistent food and cocktails every time I go. My go to place to take someone I'm trying to impress.

not worth the trek to manhattan bridge. not much variety. service was decent. dishes tasted just ok. cheaper than stuff west of east broadway (ex., golden unicorn). no tourists here, all locals. still no good dim sum in Chinatown. gotta go to flushing....

Just like everybody else, I was excited to be walking through a pawn shop entrance / vestibule to get in the restaurant, but I loved the early century original architecture with added modern deco touches, and grandiose piece de resistance chandelier. We sat upstairs and felt the beats from the DJ as we were sharing appetizers and enjoying the vibe. Service was excellent, the shishito peppers were tasty, the grilled cheese and tomato soup dumplings were tasteful, while reminding me of my youth. Our server respected my strict instructions of bringing me a fresh drink every 7 minutes (it was Saturday night!). I had a great time.

Great drinks, unique ambiance and a pleasant staff that will serve up some great food and very easy to get into on any weekday or night! Good place for entertaining clients for a few drinks is upstairs where it's a bit more quiet.

Food portions were to small and expensive. And the music on the second floor was too loud.

Pricey but good to show out of town era. It's more of a gimmick and for ballets.

Had a birthday party there, we had 11 people in our party, so we had pre-fix menu, was a little worried there wont be enough food, but it was OK, just right. The food itself was excellent. Place itself has a nice decor, the drinks are good and strong at the same time, the staff was friendly we were seated on time, cant really say anything negative about the place, i think we were the only once dressed like 20's :)

Not worth the money. Drinks are mediocre. Food was not good at all. The BLT was dry and on what appeared to be a cheap hotdog bun. The bacon appetizer looked like they took the bacon out of a package and didn't separate it and threw it on the grill just like that, completely undercooked. The hash tasted like it was reheated from the week before. Many places better in the city.

My boyfriend and I thought this place was fantastic. Such a cool setup.
We had the following menu items:
-Tomato soup dumplings
-Caesar toast
-Mini burgers and fries
Everything was so tasty. It's all made to share, which is my favorite way to eat. Can't wait to come back!

You can make a reservation way in advance and still not have it when you show up. No chance of us finding something now on a Saturday night.

There goes a chance to experience a NYC restaurant before we end our trip here.

Booked a table for 20:30 with two friends for one of our birthdays. At 21:15 one of our party asked if the wait would be much longer and was arrogantly told that things are 'done differently in new york' (we were visiting from London) and that they'd had hundreds more reservations after we called (what's the point in making a reservation)? She said there were two tables ahead of us. A further fifteen minutes later, I went to speak to her with a different tactic and she admitted that there were still four tables in front of us, so she essentially admitted to lying to us. When I pulled her up on this she continued to stress that reservation systems in new York essentially don't count for anything (we didn't have this problem anywhere else we visited on our trip though, funnily enough). She ushered me away to get three free glasses of champagne, which we promptly drank and then left.

In a nutshell - style over substance on a grand scale. No care or customer service, no transparency, nothing good to say about it whatsoever.

The best dining experience. Though I had a lot of things from their menu , but i would definitely like to mention their lemon blackberry pancakes , which tastes so good.
These pancakes had an amazing taste and were so fluffy.
These were the best pancakes i ever had.
The place treats you so nicely that you would love to visit this place time and again.
I went here with my family and had an amazing experience. The evening turned out to be beautiful because of the delicious food as well as the amazing and generous treatment.
Thankyou Beauty & Essex.

One of my favorite places to go to dinner and / or enjoy a good drink while in town. Maybe a bit expensive but worth knowing if not the best, if one of the best speakeasy in New York.
A very fancy place where you can live with the NYC creme. Do not dress very casual if you do not want to feel a little uncomfortable among people dressed very fashion

The pawn shop in front with the speakeasy set up is a wonderful idea. The decor is gorgeous! The waiters were attentive and did a great job. My complaints are that they incourage you to buy several plates to share because of the small portions which ends up making it pretty expensive for very little food which was mediocre in my opinion. Out of the 6 dishes we ordered I only liked 2. We got 2 rounds of shots..lemondrops but wrongly assumed it would be made with cheaper vodka since we didn't ask for top shelf.. they apparantly gave us Grey Goose which is extremely expensive and I'm not even sure was really Goose since it tasted watered down..but it was a good way for them to pad the bill which ended up being almost $100 more that we expected coming out to close to $300. I didn't get champagne in the bathroom as promised...Overall it was a good lesson for me ask I will in the future ask what liquor will be used. Needless to say I won't be going back there again.

7 of us went for my partner's birthday and it was great. The food is tapas style, so you get to eat a lot of what's on offer.

The food was great and 2 dishes per person was plenty. The wine was good and the overall meal was pretty good value.

Ladies - go to the toilets and get the champers! It's ace.

Homophobic assholes who support patrons who harass their gay customers. Disgusting.

Being that I'm sort of in the pawn business I was super intrigued by this concept that I left myself no option but to make a reservation and check this place out during a recent trip to New York. I loved that you entered through a very boutique style pawn shop which is very much like my own store. Then through a back door you enter into this insanely beautiful restaurant. The food was super trendy and freakin delicious to say the least. Headed to Vegas in a couple of weeks and will be sure to check that one out as well. Highly recommended!!!

Food was 5 stars. By the time we tried to go to the bathroom is was smelling gross. The restaurant was so cold that a couple people at her table was uncomfortable and my husband had pain in his knee by the time we left 2.5 hours later.

Great atmosphere, awesome all you can drink brunch (plus you get free drink cards after), very original menu choices. But, I had a birthday event there for about 15 people and we were essentially kicked/rushed out by the staff. Not only does it take a little while for fifteen people to finish their meals, but people like to schmooze at these types of things. Once the waiters saw we finished our food they pretty much tried to escort us out by signaling to us (and telling us) that we had to leave soon. I find this outrageous for the price you pay, and for the fact they knew a brunch for 15 people was occurring about an hour before their downtime in between meals. Would not have been hard for the staff to do EVERYTHING else they needed to do without having to rush out 15 of their customers. Very rude.

Great food, horrible service! Recommend going when it s not busy as it was a 45 min wait on a reservation and barely saw our waiter. Got the oysters, tomato and bacon dumplings and kale salad which was very tasty but all in all horrible customer service experience.

We went for brunch on February 15th. It smelled like vomit and B.O., no exaggeration. Bartender wouldn t serve us while waiting for our table that wasn t ready at our reservation time. The server was nice, but there was no coordination More

Pawn shop to a bar/restaurant. I came here for drinks on a Sunday evening and the DJ was on fire. Although there wasn't a lot of people, I can imagine this place would be awesome on a fri/sat night. Weekend brunch is also nice!

Delicious food, small plate style. Great for groups and the atmosphere is a perfect amount of chic. We/I will be back!

Pricey but good food and cocktails. Atmosphere and service are of high quality.

Nice idea a music store during the reclamation with behind a hidden bar and restaurant. If the kitchen was as fun as the concept it would have been a great night ....

$16 cocktails which are good but overpriced. TERRIBLE service at bar downstairs, i wanted to leave $0 tip for the horrible waitress but didnt in fear that my dinner would be compromised.

I did restaurant week. The Poke Tacos were my favorite appetizer, and the burger was also the best. I didnt like the cupcakes, I did like the vanilla tart the best.

Empanadas were good.

The chicken was terrible. never again.

All in all, a $130 dinner for 2 people, (with 2 drinks).

I would be back for novelty but not for just a regular night out. wonder what this would cost outside of restaurant week.

It is a fantastic restaurant with an amazing ambience. I really like the way you've got the pawnshop entrance and then they let you in to the restaurant a little bit like an old-fashioned speakeasy. It is fairly high-end so don't expect a cheap meal. But I think the experience and the service more than compensate

Food was amazing! But I am really disappointed for the long waiting, people got their Food before us and we ordered the same stuff before them, that really annoyed me to sit in a great restaurant but you wait so long for your damn food no goo...