Beauty & Essex

So I went to Beauty and Essex for Restaurant Week on a Wednesday night for a 7pm reservation. If super trendy and very impersonal is your thing, this is your place.
I really liked the speakeasy concept of the pawn store with the gorgeous lounge/​restaurant in the back. There are some really great pieces in the pawn store for purchase but the lighting isn’t the best.
Coming for 7pm reservation and meeting a group of five was really difficult because there were droves of people just being hoarded in to be seated and hanging out at the bar area that is really too small for the volume.
Although, seating was pretty prompt once our party arrived, I took issue with the lighting. It was really difficult to navigate to the table and read the menu. The ambiance with the music was great but we were sitting at the back tables. There was a lot of space and pretty quiet but it was cold at times.
Our waiter was nice but a little flustered and needed a lot of guidance. I was really turned off when we were still eating dessert and he just placed the bill on the table.
The menu had cute choices — we decided to try the famous Lobster Mac and Cheese, which was okay. My entrée of salmon was overcooked even though I was asked and stated medium well, but I really enjoyed the empanadas. The desert of petite cupcakes was less than satisfying. So I took issue that the The Bajan cocktail wasn’t made with Mount Gay rum, but it is minor. I didn’t come away with a good idea on what I could except if I came outside of Restaurant Week.
I actually gave them an extra star because in the beginning hustle and bustle of getting the table, I lost my tag for my coat and the ladies in coat check were really accommodating and found my coat in less than 10 minutes even with the high volume of ppl that they were dealing with.

We went here on a date night for dinner. We were really excited to check it out and enjoyed ourselves. They had a great Michael Jackson playlist going and there were lots of group dinners happening around us given the restaurant itself is very large. It’s a little bit of a cluster at the front and bar, but at least they have free champagne in the girls bathroom.
The service was pretty poor as our waitress seemed extremely overwhelmed and not very attentive.
Overall I think the food was decent, but you can tell there is a lot of seasoning and salt on the food. We ordered the grilled cheese soup dumplings (would say these are on the heavier side), Brussels sprout and pancetta tartine, crispy eggplant pizzetta, the crab rangoon toast, steak tartare on toast, and tuna poké tacos. Was enough for two people and out of all f that my favorite was the tartine. We also ordered the Elvis Presley sundae for dessert. It was good but wished we ordered the box of doughnuts once we saw the table next to us order them.
Will try going back for brunch for a different experience.

If you own a little black dress, look best in dark lighting, enjoy bottles of champagne on Tuesdays, and like to surround yourself with beautiful people, then Beauty & Essex is definitely the scene for you. For the rest of us peasants, it’s a bewildering, magical playground that proves that some people in New York really do have the fabulous lives of the ladies in Sex and the City.
As per the above, the ambiance here is trendy and over the top. Dress to impress (I missed that memo, whoops) and be prepared for some serious people watching. You should also come hungry; although Beauty & Essex has a lot of tapas-​sized plates for sharing, the portions are pretty big. Also: the food is really, really good.
The dranks: I had the «Beauty Elixir» cocktail, a very refreshing mixture of gin, strawberry, and cucumber. This is one of those drinks that I could drink 5 of without even noticing, and then fall on my face immediately after.
The appetizers: crispy eggplant pizzetta (huge portion. The whipped ricotta was amazing), tuna poke tacos (spicy!), and grilled cheese and bacon tomato soup dumplings. Let me repeat myself. GRILLED CHEESE DUMPLINGS IN TOMATO SOUP. Served in individual soup spoons, these were seriously addictive and absolutely incredible.
The entrees: I had the paprika spiced salmon, which was my least favorite part of the meal. It was cooked well, but didn’t have a lot of flavor. It also came with a side of roasted cauliflower and kale that was basically doused in sriracha (definitely not a fan). In comparison, the burger looked awesome, and the accompanying BBQ fries were amazing.
The desserts: panna cotta (can’t go wrong here) and the chocolate semifreddo; the latter was essentially mini chocolate mousse bon bons with pop rocks (?!) and sea salt. Every bite surprised me with a different texture, and a perfect size for ending the meal.
Now that I’m adequately prepared for what to expect at Beauty & Essex, I’d definitely return. But next time, I’m wearing heels and checking out the women’s bathroom first thing (what? I hear there’s champagne there).

Wow such a cool spot! So instead of entering into the restaurant directly, I got to enter a small cute display room first, where I saw all the bling-​bling and guitars hanging on the wall… made me want to try their food even more! Once inside, there’s a huge chandelier, marvelous!
Restaurant week menu essentially had everything I preferred, as tapas was just about sharing everything anyway. With tuna poke taco and eggplant pizzetta, my palate has been completely opened. Eggplant was so crispy and I could literally feel it popping up in my mouth! For main courses, we opted for the salmon and spiced chicken. Apparently they were less satisfactory. While the chicken was a bit dry and lack of flavor, our salmon was also overcooked — considering that we had asked for medium rare… dessert definitely added back a star, as both the petite cupcake and the vanilla panna cotta were hearty.
Would strongly recommend this place to whomever values ambience more than taste.

if you r ever in Manhattan, this is one of the restaurants u MUST to come visit at least once. Beauty & Essex is one of the coolest places for food I have ever stepped in. they also serve the most delicious n pretty tapas/​small plates I have ever eaten.
the exterior of the storefront is just a façade while the party is really happening on the inside. the design is like the growing trend of speakeasys. (it’s been trending in Asia for years.) when u walk into the store, u r actually standing in a pawn shop. to get into the restaurant, u have to walk through another door in the back where security stands guarding the entrance. it makes u feel like u just sneaked into a very exclusive club for only the super cool peeps.
they have a great selection of cocktails. all of which were very tasty n had a good amount of alcohol in them. I tasted my friend’s Woodsmen n it was super strong! also a cool hangout is the downstairs women’s restroom/​lounge. there’s a server standing there with glasses of free champagne for each lady. of course it isn’t Cristal, but free is still good!
Beauty & Essex is a very popular place for ppl to hang out at (especially for celebrating.) so make sure to get reservations in EARLY. our friends made reservations 2 weeks ahead.
I would say the food r all delicious. it’s tapas so u need order more for a large group. the best cocktail I had was the Beauty Elixir. (yes please!) we all really enjoyed the Tuna Poke Wonton Tacos, Tomato Soup Dumplings, Roasted Bone Marrow, n their Butterscotch Pot De Créme. so SO GOOD!

Beauty & Essex se presenta como una suerte de speakeasy: Una tienda de empeño al frente, como un local a la calle, en el fondo de la cual esperan un par de anchas puertas blancas que se abren para dar paso a la recepción del restaurant.
Entre la recepción y el área de restaurant propiamente dicho se encuentra la barra principal y un hall donde desemboca una escalera de mármol que lleva a la segunda planta.
El restaurant no está entre los más baratos (aunque comparativamente nada de cierto nivel es barato en New York), pero tampoco está sobrevaluado y la comida es muy buena. Recomiendo, como lo hice con el grupo que me acompañaba, probar varios de los platos pequeños (con un estilo tapas) para compartir, todos ellos fueron excelentes.
También hay que destacar las bebidas: Sin brillar en preparación ni presentación, los tragos estaban muy bien y el precio era el normal en cualquier bar de la zona. Me encantó en particular ‘The Woodsman’, un trago a base de bourbon y peras bastante especiado.
La segunda planta, más entrada la noche, se presenta sin mesas (pero con algunos asientos) como una mezcla de lounge y pista de baile, acompañada por su propia barra y delimitada por barandas que dan vista a la planta baja a través de la escalera. Ahí la música es más fuerte y la gente más con onda de fiesta (y ya con más alcohol encima).
En resumen, una gran opción para hacer una noche completa sin excesos, o para comenzar cenando y tomando algo antes de ir a un club o a otro bar.

Beauty & Essex est mon coup de coeur New Yorkais, c’est l’adresse que je recommande à tous mes amis souhaitant faire la fête en ayant l’impression de se retrouver en plein milieu du tournage de Gossip Girl.
Pour ceux qui né le savent pas à l’avance (attention spoiler), Beauty & Essex se cache derrière la porte du fond d’une boutique de prêteur sur gage. Rien que l’idée, je trouve ça absolument génial !!! (regardez les photos)
Lorsqu’on pénètre dans le restaurant, on est transporté dans un monde de glamour et de fête avec bar, musique, restaurant hyper à la mode. On est au coeur de la folie new yorkaise.
On passé commande, les plats défilent et né restent pas longtemps sur la table: les portions sont petites, plutôt chères mais vraiment trop bonne. Ce soir, on né calcule pas, on fait la fête au maximum!
Allez y, je vous promets une soirée que vous garderez en référence !

El lugar es increible y está absolutamente trendy. La decoración y la música es buenisima y todo el ambiente. La atención es de primera. Habia gente de toda edad desde 30 años hasta 70, pero la mayoría en 35 probablemente. La comida es deliciosa, eramos 4 y pedimos 7 platos diferente q compartimos desde tacos de langosta a bruselas agridulces. Lo mejor es reservar pues se llena y eso q fuimos un lunes. Hay estacionamiento al frente (pagado) o en la calle, o subway cerca tambien. Realmente cool!

Lugar especial. Gran ambiente y buena decoración.
Imprescindible hacer reserva, la comida es buena y el precio es acorde a la calidad. Consejo: evitar mochila y chanclas.

Leider schade das es nur zwei Sterne gibt denn die Location ist wirklich super und das Essen eigentlich auch ganz okay.
Was leider gar nicht geht ist der stressige Service der einem buchstäblich den halbvollen Teller vom Tisch reißt während man die vermeintlich letzte Gabel noch zwischen den Zähnen hat… Anscheinend stört das die Amerikaner nicht, mich schon.

A molestation of the LES, the speakeasy concept, and your wallet.