by James H. on A couple of weekends ago, Ecco held the first of a regular event called Sunday School. The bartender held court over all the thirsty patrons in the bar area, detailing histories and profiles of the quintessential American whiskey, Bourbon. Everyone at the bar had the opportunity to sample a Mint Julep and a Manhattan, gratis. Couple this with celebrated goat cheese balls and a plate of various meats and cheeses, and I can think of few better ways to spend an evening winding down the weekend.
by L'Imperatrice E. on First time visiting Buddha Bar and enjoyed mostly the ambiance and the diverse crowd. Cool and very contempo to invite friends for some drinks or perhaps dining, the staffs are friendly, and the music is great. The decor is absolutely beautiful and clean looking. I won't advise anyone to walk in there with Sneakers or sloppy...you just would feel out of place. Buddha Bar located at the chic Meat Packing District, very pricey to at least afford a sign outside the entrance for someone who never been there before. The only con about this place would be two things: pricey drinks and food (overly pricey) to burn a hole in your wallet.
by Jake Deroin on I had been to the Rasselas a few times back when it was on California street and I remember having a fun time kicking back, listening to live music, and eating some pretty good ethiopian food. So when I had a couple of friends visiting from Chicago last month with requests for a good ethiopian restaurant, I thought of Rasselas... I hadn't been since it moved to its new location so I was curious to see if it had changed much. It's a Wednesday night around 7:30-8pm and I figure it wouldn't be too hard getting a table. We walk in and the place is pretty full, there's maybe 2 empty tables and the music is in full swing. It was actually so loud that we had to scream at each other to make ourselves heard. Which is unfortunate because we were ignored for the first five minutes of standing in the doorway awkwardly looking around for some kind of host person or wait staff. I think we all got mildly sore throats yelling back and forth wondering if we should seat ourselves or find somebody. We spot one waiter and he's moving frantically around the dining room, serving food, bringing drinks, etc. We take pity on him and decide instead to ask the bartender about getting a table. My friend ventures off to talk to her and she comes back with a confused look on her face. She explains that she asked the bartender if we were supposed to seat ourselves and if the back room was open for dinner in case the two empty tables were reserved. The bartender had given her a very curt "No." as an answer and then ignored her. By the time my friend had relayed this to us, the bartender had come out from behind the bar and motioned us to follow her outside where she promptly told us that if we wanted to get a table with a more chill atmosphere then we should go down to Sheba's which had similar food and was halfway down the block and on the opposite side of the street. We all stood there for a few seconds looking at each other and at this point, I started feeling like a jackass because here I am with out-of-town guests and we had actually been asked to dine somewhere else. The bartender remained standing in the alcove and kind of shooed us along with another repeat of where Sheba's was, this time with some finger pointing in the direction of the restaurant. It was pretty clear we weren't wanted and I wasn't sure if I should laugh or be pissed off so I went for the laughing route and we walked down to Sheba's for food. Maybe the bartender was having a bad day? Maybe she misunderstood my friend because of the loud music? Who knows. The environment seemed nice, but loud. And the waiter seemed like he was working hard. But the food? the drinks? I have no idea.
