Brendan’s Bar & Grill

Not good. The salads are «fine,» the pizzas are «mediocre,» and the service is arguably the worst I’ve experienced in New York. There is nothing at all remarkable here and it was really a mistake to end up here.

Decent food. Good drinks and comfortable atmosphere.

My boyfriend and I were exploring midtown (as we’re brand new new yorkers), and decided to grab a drink. We stumbled upon Brendan’s around 4pm on a Saturday. I ordered a dirty gin martini which was decent, but the bartender was the opposite of charming and basically made us feel like we had caused him a huge inconvenience by coming into the bar that day. Considering that the bar was very slow that day, the bartender could have easily made our experience so much better if he had only been more welcoming. With so many bars in NYC to choose from, I would definitely not encourage anyone to go to Brendan’s.

Awesome staff, friendly service. I recommend the ribs, and the pickle back shots of Jameson. All reasonably priced. Bartenders are super friendly also. If I lived here, this would be my local spot!

Absolutely beautiful décor. Super classy. Food is nothing to rant and rave about. Service is a little iffy, but for the most part it was a good time.

Try the Cobb salad it’s delicious. The shrimps are amazing. I had a glass of pinot noir as well it was very tasty.
Isabella our waitress was very nice and she constantly made sure we were ok. If you are in the city check this place out the décor inside is beautiful.

Stumbled across Brendan’s and was really impressed.
Service was great, trout was delicious, and the beer selection was perfect.
Would recommend!

The atmosphere and décor are tasteful, but then they are showing a female boxing match on TV – doesn’t jive. Also the food is tasteless; the service was slow even though the restaurant was mostly empty; and no one offered me a glass of water the entire time I was there. Stingy portions don’t help. $ 6 potato leek soup had only about 5 spoonfuls in the bowl.

I had a Pasta, it was really great for the NY standard. Waitress was really nice. Service very good. The bread was amazing. The best one that I never had here in NYC.

We landed here around 9:30pm Friday night for a late/​last minute dinner after our flight was delayed. The hostess led us past the typical bar area with the baseball game blaring to a beautiful candlelit space in the back. It was lovely! I had an excellent crab cake salad and my husband had the shepherd’s pie. Both were excellent. Service was average — not friendly, but helpful enough. We would go back.

brendan’s is a really nice place, but it lacks a vibrant bar atmosphere. the high ceilings, fancy décor, & huge size make it difficult. food is average and the service is good. if looking for a dinner spot with 2 – 6 people, it’s perfect atmosphere, but not really for a single person.
didn’t make a full trip through the bar, just sat at the bar on the east wall that pretty close to the entrance. tiled floor and great, but darker lighting. black marble bar top with large black rail. large comfortable chairs with padded seat & back. bar back is gorgeous, large arches with mirrors, bottle shelves, and HDTVs.
nothing wrong with brendan’s just a different atmosphere.

Came here for lunch the other day. It wasn’t that busy. We were seated right away. Our server was very attentive. I went with the pesto chicken panini (with tomato, mozzerella, lettuce and fries) and my friend went with the crab cakes which came with salad. We split our food. Everything was good. Basic, but no complaints. We were in and out with no problems. I would go back again if I were in the area and wanted a quick bite to eat or maybe to grab a drink or 2.

My boyfriend surprised me with a weekend in New York for my birthday. We went here for dinner after a long day of sight seeing. I was amazed. Just like France L. said in her review, it is like sitting in the dining room an old grand hotel with the high ceilings and stained glass walls.
I had the Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Penne dish. This was incredible. On the menu, it does say spicy so I simply asked them for it to not be spicy. Easy fix. My boyfriend ordered a burger and he said it was so good but it was under-​cooked. In the restaurant’s defense, if it’s not a hockey puck, my boyfriend isn’t happy.
I did ask for a glass of wine which took forever to come but when it did, I was happy. It was great.
The only reason this little romantic dining experience didn’t get 5 stars is because of how hot it was in there. I didn’t understand that. The waitress was a bit spacey and everything but i could look past that. I could not look past that heat though.

This is such a beautiful place, and just around the corner from Macy’s.
You really feel like you’re sitting in the dining room of a grand old hotel, with high ceilings, a huge, ancient mirror, stained glass walls and stately ceiling lamps.
I went there with a colleague after work, and we had great service.
The food was tasty, but the atmosphere made it even better!

Came here for a quick drink before dinner. The drinks were good but the place was so hot and the bartender was not very personable. Not sure if I would ever come back.

I came in to Brendan’s to have a drink while waiting for a dinner reservation across the street. Big mistake. The place is too warm inside, with a slight odor. It reminds me of my old attic in summer.
I ordered a glass of pinot noir and my girlfriend ordered a pinot grigio. Another big mistake. We love wine, but we were both enormously dissatisfied. It was gross; not even passable. The music piping through the speakers was good, so there’s that.
Overall grade: D+.

i came here for lunch twice. The prices are very reasonable and the portions are large and well presented. I got the turkey avocado wrap and i was able to take one half home. I always order mashed potatoes instead of fries and they always make it look super fancy. My waitress was also very nice. I must admit that I do like to come here for the fancy interior. The wall and ceilings have a beautiful early 19^th century vibe and the wood detailing add a bold touch. They have a staircase and fireplace too that gives it an extra cozy vibe. I believe it was the home of a very wealthy NY businessman before it became a restaurant.

They have Guinness and Irish stew special, what’s not to like. Service at bar was good, great selection of drafts. Irish stew special was average. Convenient to my hotel, nothing special but I’d come back.

I came here for a couple drinks on a Saturday night with a co-​worker. When we arrived, we asked if we could sit at the tables as opposed to sitting at the bar since it was already preoccupied. The bartender immediately stated that the kitchen was already closed. It did not apply to us since we weren’t coming here for dinner. However, we were surprised that the kitchen was already closed for NYC on a Saturday at 10:00 PM.
The atmosphere was ok, but not enough seats at the bar. The service was terrible. We were waiting to close out of our tab and the only bartender on clock walked outside for a solid 15 – 20 minutes. Therefore, we could not close out until he returned. I ordered an apple martini and was one of the worst apple martinis I have ever had. It had a slight apple flavor, but did tasted more like a watered down cherry drink (hence the cherry that was included).
I wouldn’t recommend this place for drinks. Even though this review is only based on their cocktails, I was very unimpressed.

Beautiful place. I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned the high vaunted ceilings. Gorgeous. It was kind of empty for a Saturday lunch, which is a shame. The place is beautiful and the menu is scrumptious sounding. The art deco interior is just beautiful. There are a ton of Irish pubs /​Irish pub-​restaurants in the area. This might be the nicest looking of them all.
I kind of know what another reviewer meant by «tourist vibe because of the location» but I don’t quite agree with it. That’s just our rose colored lenses from being New Yorkers.
Our server was named Stephani (sic). She was competent and attentive but not overly friendly. Not really a personable waitress. Not that you *have* to be as waiter/​waitress, but it just makes the dining experience more pleasurable when your table is being served by friendly people who smile. Nevertheless she did well where it counted.
The ribs were definitely «wet ribs» although I wouldn’t characterize them as «smothered with BBQ sauce». Thankfully the BBQ sauce was not overly sweet. The cut of ribs themselves were meaty. Not much fat and they weren’t really marbled. Despite that, they still had good flavor.
The Prime Angus bacon cheese burger was very good. I like that it was on a kaiser roll, although it would’ve been better had it more cheese. The bacon was well done so if you don’t like your bacon crispy, tell the waitress! The meat was beefy and obviously high quality meat. A more char-​broiled flavor would’ve made this very good burger into a great burger.
Sadly, the french fries were awful. They were obviously frozen. They didn’t have freezer burn, but they were somewhat mealy. I wish we had gotten more ketchup.
Ordered a Lime Rickey and it was done very competently. Nice.
Overall experience:
Ambiance would definitely get ⁵⁄₅ stars. Nothing about this place completely wowed me. It was definitely very good… the food was good, the service was good, but nothing truly blew me away. Maybe we just ordered poorly, although a burger and ribs should’ve been safe. I noticed they had Chilean sea-​bass. Maybe I should’ve gotten that. Likewise, service was good and competent too. Just not personable.
The menu looked very good, but I don’t think there’s anything here that will draw us back specifically for this restaurant. Maybe if we’re in the neighborhood again we’ll drop by and see if we just ordered poorly or if this place truly is «A-​OK» instead of «Yay I’m a fan» worthy.