Back Forty West

Great happy hour. Excellent location. Manages to not get too crowded despite being in the middle of Soho, keeps the vibe intimate, casual and comfortable.

We should have heeded the fact that there was a lack of patrons for an early sunday afternoon.
I had good experiences previously at the East Village location that is now closed, and had no problems there. However, we visited the Back 40 West location, and had some pretty unprofessional and unfriendly service the moment we were seated. The maitre d gave us a hard time with a seating arrangement around a large table. This would be understandable if the place were crowded, but it was not. We were positioned a bit oddly for no real reason since we were the only ones at the large table at the time and throughout our meal. When we tried to explain how we wanted to be seated so our party could face each other for the meal, she became impatient and snippy. I noticed she went directly to the wait staff and told them something and a waitress lifted her head to glare over at us. This set the scenario for some unfriendly, flippant, and down right negligent service.
They did not respond well to a request for the poached egg to be cooked medium well. They were callous and dismissive about the request… I should not have to say this, Back 40 West, but runny eggs are a health consideration for many patrons that are either pregnant or have immuno-​deficiencies. More importantly, after carefully explaining that my wife had a salt-​restrictive renal diet (failing kidneys and transplant ready), and then discussing specific made-​to-​order recommendations with the wait staff, and specifically requesting no added salt to her entrée… Her entrée came out salted! And had the nerve to tell her when they served her there was no salt added. My wife immediately noticed salt. When the wait staff checked with the chef, salt was indeed added! The wait staff returned with a salt-​free entrée; they were unapologetic and did not say a word. Our guests, whom we suggested Back 40 West, were deeply offended by the poor service, and I regretted the suggestion immediately. We will not be dining here again.
Back 40 West, please train your staff to handle dietary requests and restrictions seriously and with respect. To endanger thoughtful, communicative patrons that place themselves in your care as a restaurant establishment is a complete shame.

Absolutely awful food. As bland as you could possibly imagine. Surly host/​manager who was complaining incessantly to her waitstaff about patrons within earshot. Avoid.

My first ever Unilocal review. I can’t help myself because, wow, has this place taken a nosedive. I ordered a kale caesar salad, which is pretty hard to screw up. It was worse than bland. It had a really unappealing texture and no flavor. I didn’t eat it, sent it back and ordered a couple other things. The trout toast was just fine, but a bbq fish ribs were waaaay too salty. Some cauliflower was passable, but nobody in that kitchen had really thought about how to present or season it.
The service was dreadful. When a customer doesn’t eat something, and asks for something else, it is incumbent on the waiter to just check in. My guy never did. He was just indifferent. Bizarre. I ended spending $ 52 for what was easily the most unsatisfying meal I’ve eaten in a lot of years.
I should have known better. Joint was empty on a Friday night at about 7 pm, when other restaurants in the area were jammed. Thus, the NYC paradox. If you can’t eat there, you should. If you can eat there, don’t.

This is a place that crafts their flavors, that attends to the detail of their food and service and atmosphere. The food is a lot like the place: earthy, quirky, hip. The walls mixed texture and so did the food, roasted beet and pistachio crostini with the perfect balance of blue cheese crumble and honey drizzle. There was fresh herbs that were a lot like the small, but perfect accessory plate collection on the walls. The daily soup was a celery root broth with beet and cauliflower, served with a seasoned yogurt and perfectly toasted and baked olive oil toast. It was impeccable. The textures and flavors came together in an unexpected harmony. The cappuccino was perfect: the roast, the finish, the froth. Wonderful, fresh, exciting and different– worth it!

I’ve eaten here a few times. I always have a burger, and they are great. The chef tends to cook them a little rare so if you like medium, order medium well.

This place is really bad and horribly over priced. We ordered pretzels and cheese. It’s literally a shitty Snyders pretzel and some cheese spread. The cherry scone wasn’t fresh. And they brought us two scones instead of the muffin we ordered. Told them about the muffin and then they brought the wrong one. Three glasses of wine… they were fine. Didn’t have the beer I wanted that’s on the menu. Bad experience.

Awful service. I waited for 10 minutes at the door to be seated being ignored by the staff. They appeared to be too busy making coffees and cocktails in counter while talking with the regular customers seating at the counter. So I had no choice but walking in and taking a table to myself to get some attention. Another 10 minutes or so I had to wait. Finally one of the staff came asking me if I wanted a menu…
If it hadn’t been a cold snowy day, I’d have gone.
I somehow managed to order chicken liver mousse and a glass of white wine. They came fairly quickly, compared to how long I had had to wait to get to this point. The taste was mediocre, not worth the time waiting.

Ended up at this place randomly walking in the area trying to find a place to have brunch of Sunday (a bad idea, most places are filled) we were planning on going to egg shop, but didn’t want to wait so we came here instead.
There was no wait, definitely a plus. And we were seated upstairs in a very cozy room with a fireplace and only one other couple. Which was great because we came the day after the blizzard.
We both ordered the egg breakfast sandwich, I got mine without bacon. They come with a side of potatoes which were crispy and had good flavor to them, but the best part was the sauce it comes with on the side. The sandwich was super filling and I liked how toasted the bread was. The eggs were cooked nicely. The only thing was that I wished there was a little more cheese and that the hot sauce was actually hot.
The staff was very friendly, and the food came quickly. I would come back here to try some more of their juices and other items on the menu!

Had a good time with my family there tonight. I went with my husband and son and we got the cute table that has the window viewing into the kitchen. It’s nice to see how our food is being prepared and the cleanliness of the kitchen. Since i myself am in the restaurant business i really like to look at that stuff.
The service was good. Attentive. I’m not sure if it was because it wasn’t so busy at the time we got there.
The food was somewhat delicious. There were some items that were better then others. The wings were not good. The spice rub wasnt on the wings at all which made the wings tasteless. The grilled calamari and chicken liver mousse were good. We also enjoyed the grilled flatbread platter. As for the entrees i wasnt impressed. The burger was okay and the steak had too much fat on it. And i love fat so for me to say that is not good. The mushrooms that came with the steak was delish. And who would have thought mustard with Brussels sprouts would be so good.
Overall i would go back if i were in the neighborhood not sure if i would travel for it.
Oh I forgot to mention the drinks were amazing

This place was quite good, I’m surprised it didn’t get a higher rating.
We were originally supposed to go to Balthazar, but it seems like that’s impossible. We passed this place along the way and I’m very glad we did. We were seated within 5 – 10 min even though they looked pretty busy. I only noticed one waitress, so it took some time before our order was taken. We had a biscuit, grits, the cheddar herb omelette and my boyfriend had the pork hash dish. The biscuit was crisp on the outside, soft in the middle and delightfully flakey. The grits were delicious with this unique sauce they used for flavoring. My omelette came with potatoes and a salad, both of which stood out from the typical side salad and potatoes. The omelette itself was fantastic and hit the spot. My boyfriend couldn’t stop saying how prefect the pork was and he was very satisfied.
The atmosphere is nice and everything looked clean. I thought the place was very small but there’s a mysterious upstairs portion. I’m not really sure if it was part of the restaurant but I’d like to find out. I guess the only negatives were that the food was more expensive than what I’m used to for ny brunch and it took a long time for someone to notice us and take our order.
Overall, we had a very good experience and would recommend it to anyone.

Located near soho it’s a quaint restaurant with limited seating. Typical brunch prices for NYC ~$ 15. We stopped in here for a break from shopping.
I got the oysters ($ 3 each) — SO SALTY– not sure what kind they were but they were served over a bed of salt. My friend got the yogurt– looks fancy but I don’t think it was worth $ 10 bucks. My other friend got the seasonal soup ($ 10) — toasted butter bread was good but the soup had way too many chickpeas in it. The presentation of the food is excellent but the overall taste/​quality is only ok.
Service is really friendly but it’s def overpriced. This review is for brunch.

My boyfriend and I live in the neighborhood and this is our go-​to spot. They serve the best burgers ever & their rosemary fries are amazing! They have a well-​rounded menu filled with a variety of options for everyone & believe me, everything is well-​prepared, plated beautifully & carefully seasoned. Fabulous ambiance and great service!
We have ever left disappointed. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Small intimate little restaurant. Breakfast is really good, good lattes as well!
Friendly staff and cute décor. Prices are ok.

Decent medium rare burger with neither cheese nor bacon plus Complimentary signature «Red and Black» cocktail (Citi-​Table Extra Perk), but wouldn’t return even armed with another BBEats deal.

Great ambience! Homey mason jar lemonade vibe. The menu was simple yet different. Hard time choosing because everything sounds very appetizing. Rosemary fries are a must. The drink selection is impressive. Décor is a little Brooklyn circa 2009 but it felt like a nice place to just hang out. Pricing is great as is location.
Only complaint was the biscuits were lacking and my date’s latte was not up to scratch for her refined palette (I however like it).

I really like their new location, though I’m sad the one in the East Village closed down. Its very intimate and rustic looking on the inside. A twist to New American if you will.
that being said, every Tuesday during the summer you can get tickets for all you can eat crabs upstairs for about $ 70 which includes cornbread, corn, potatoes and this delicious jam spread dessert. Having something like this in the city makes this Maryland boy really happy.
soo…I accidentally got a ticket for the following Tuesday but Back Forty West was very accommodating by letting me use my ticket for that day.
Be warned! for the cluster-​phobics, it is communal seating for the crab feast.
I also came here for brunch when it first opened and was really impressed by the food and service.
This is definitely going on my summer-​in-​New York-​things-​to-​do every year.

We found Back Forty West when shopping in Soho and looking for somewhere to eat. We were pleasantly surprised, it is a really nice café inside with bare brick walls and unique décor pieces.
My party and I tried the omelette, pork hash and eggs with grits. All dishes were a hit and the portion sizes were a good size. They only have a small menu to choose from, but I think they may change it every week.
The only negative was the bathroom. There is only one unisex bathroom and it was VERY dirty, it was disgusting. I expect it is not checked and cleaned throughout the day. Disappointingly I visited the bathroom before eating, which kind of diminished my appetite a little.

Haven’t tried their drinks, but I came here around 4pm by myself and say at the bar.
Staff was really friendly and recommended me two delicious plate!
Smoked sea trout on toast is three small salmon smoked trouts on top of thin toast with some delicious flavors on top.
I also had beet & ricotta crostini. Also a small plate but very delicious.
Both are not extremely strong in flavors, but have enough flavors to make you super happy.
Restaurant is open door so don’t expect to be fly free and it can get a little humid and warm. But great place to come with friends or even by yourself!
I would come here again and try their drink section next time :)

I had the chance to enjoy a roast suckling pig feast for a private dinner at Back Forty. We were served salad first, which consisted of pork, beans, crispy skin and/​or bacon and a sauce that I couldn’t quite figure out. It was delicious– Very flavorful and I enjoyed the crunchy saltiness of the salad.
Next we had goat soup, which tasted like it had a tomato base with various vegetables. It was just okay. Then there was corn bread which came in a super cute iron skillet, with herb infused butter. The corn bread was wonderful– Warm, moist, with a crumbly consistency and slightly sweet. And the butter brought out the flavors more fully.
After that the waiters came in to show us the whole suckling pig on a platter, which was a bit disconcerting actually– It kind of ruined my appetite to some degree. The suckling pig was served Porchetta style — Boned out, stuffed, and roasted with slaw on top. It was incredibly tender, succulent, flavorful and the skin was crisp and salty. The slaw was a nice accompaniment and slightly spicy.
There was also crunchy thick country style bread with spinach, which was delicious and didn’t even need butter!
And then there was dessert. It was what looked like chocolate cake with whipped cream and poached pear. Upon tasting the concoction, we realized it was ginger cake and that the whipped cream was bourbon infused. The cake had a nice zesty flavor and the bourbon whipped cream, along with the maple-​soaked pear added to the deliciousness.