Flex Mussels

I love this place! Mussels are great and every mussels dish I’ve ordered here has been fantastic. I like creamier broths so I always lean towards those styles of mussels. I’ve had the parm, thai and the san danielle and all of it was great. Save the bread they give you in the beginning to dip in the sauce!
For dessert, I had the donuts and they’re phenomenal. They come in 4 or 6 and you get to pick the filling you want. Every one I had was delicious.

Good muscles, I’d go back, maybe … I only say maybe because there are so many great seafood spots in the City and I don’t get out much these days.
I do highly recommend the happy hour specials, that I would definitely go back for!

Came here with 3 friends for brunch one morning.
To start, we ordered a few drinks, which come included with the brunch entrees. A few friends ordered the flavored mimosas and I had a peach tea instead, which was delicious.
We started off with the everything donut sampler. Although they were really quite salty, they were delicious! Obviously we polished off the plate quickly. I liked the jalapeño cheddar and chive ones the best.
As for entrees, I ordered the jalapeño cheddar waffle which was pretty good. Two girls ordered the breakfast sandwiches and the other ordered the smoked salmon platter. None of us left anything on our plates!
I love mussels, so I’ll have to come back for dinner or lunch sometime to try them.

This place was awesome. Came here with co-​workers for a holiday dinner and had oysters, mussels, and their famous doughnuts.
I’m typically not one for mussels but I had the San Daniele style and the plate was delicious. No skimping on the clams or bacon :) I’d also recommend the PB&J doughnut, was soo good!

Man oh Man oh Man…
I don’t think I’ve EVER been to a place that makes mussels in more than 20 different ways. I like mussels to an extent, you know… like I can eat them but maybe 10 maximum at a time. However, when you mix them in a pot with some amazing flavored broth and add a basket of bread to dip it in I may experience a mussel overload. These mussels were delicious and I didn’t even order them, I picked at my other friends’ orders. I wanted to be healthy and preserve my calorie intake for later when I battle the dessert. Again, don’t judge me! I had the spicy green salad which was so CRISP and so FRESH I wasn’t sure if I was cheating my diet or being loyal to it. As an appetizer, my friends and I shared the burnt fingers which was good. I also had a glass of Albarino which I had to jot down in my notepad cause I swear I need this exact bottle in my wine collection at home.
Now to the sinful part of the meal… DESSERT! I initially agreed to come here with my friends so that I can try the «Original Deep Fried Whoopee Pie «. PLEASE NOTE THAT THEY NO LONGER HAVE THIS ON THEIR MENU. I REPEAT, THEY NO LONGER HAVE THIS ON THEIR MENU! That pissed me the FU%K off. I already had that dish all laid out in my head daydreaming as if I was going to win lotto. I was disappointed. So my friends decided to get 6 donuts. I hate donuts but these were amazing. My favorite was the salted caramel.
I’d definitely come back here. I have to work my magic and convince the kitchen manager or someone to bring back that whoopee pie because it’s just not fair that I couldn’t get any parts of that.

I definitely enjoy seafood. They have happy hour deals, but I don’t think we made it in time for happy hour. Our waiter explained that the mussels are meant for sharing. Perfect, I like sharing everything even if it is an individual plate. The waiter also explained that Flex is very innovative and comes up with many different combinations of mussels, and encouraged us to try something creative beyond the classic bowl of mussels in white wine broth. To be honest, I was planning to go with the classic, but after hearing a couple of his recommendations, I changed my mind. I guess the whole point of Flex is to try one of their mixtures.
We ordered:
Crab Meat Guacamole with house made chips ($ 12):
Not bad, not great. It is quite a simple dish with shredded crab meat and guacamole. The amount of crab meat was sparing. There was not enough boiled crab or enough guac for all the chips included in the bowl.
Mediterranean Mussels — shrimp, fennel, lemon, anise, oregano ($ 27):
Considering I like shrimp & mussels, I thought this would be a good choice. I had a hard time choosing between all the mussels options, but I did enjoy this bucket of mussels. The broth had good flavor. I dipped all my extra bread into the broth too.
Thai Mussels — curry coconut broth, lemongrass, kaffir lime, coriander, lime, ginger, garlic ($ 27):
The waiter recommended this. The broth does taste like a bowl of curry noodle soup, minus the noodles. Easily enjoyable as well. In fact, I enjoyed this one even more.
By the time we finished the mussels, I was full. But being the the doughnut lover that Mr. Joy is, we got the …
Flex Donuts (4 for $ 10) —
We chose the Raspberry, PBJ, Salted Caramel, Meyer Lemon, with Strawberry Vanilla Bean Dipping Sauce:
I thought the doughnuts were okay. I wasn’t particularly fond of them, since I don’t like things covered in sugar. The doughnut fillings were pretty good.
Good meal. I would like to come back for happy hour or just to try a different style of mussels.

I’d like to preface this review by saying this was my first time eating mussels. So read the rest of this with knowing I may well be ignorant of the excellence of the mussels at Flex Mussels. However that doesn’t change the fact that I was underwhelmed by my meal here.
First of all, the atmosphere is somewhat lacking, as the place doesn’t stand out in a significant way. It’s got wooden tables and coastal scenes on the walls. It is very clean and neat. The service was excellent during my visit; the employees were very attentive and polite.
As a table, we split the fried oysters appetizer. The spicy aioli was the star of the dish and I want more of it. I ordered the classic mussels for myself. They had a hint of butter and garlic but were fairly bland overall. And for $ 25, it wasn’t a very filling meal for the price. It’s certainly possible I’m just not a fan of mussels but this is my review so my opinion is just an opinion. Use it as you will (:

Omg was this place amazing!!! I flexed my muscles and was ready to eat. Ha
I made an rsvp for New Years for my friend’s birthday since his birthday is on the 1^st. It was for 7pm. It was our first time there. And we were in awe on how beautiful the décor and restaurant is. So clean and modern and the lampshades were made out of steel pails. So innovative. The hostess was super friendly and as soon as we arrived she checked us in and we were seated immediately. The front room near the entrance had expansive seating at the bar and the back wall. We were seated in the back dining smack dab center. The pictures upon the wall of Prince Edwards Island where the mussels came from were beautiful. It makes you feel like you are there and you are close to the source.
As soon as we were seated, they brought us bread and butter. Very good bread I might add. Our waiter came and was friendly. He took our drink order. My friend ordered the Bluepoint and I the Weistephaner. Very good lagers and I felt would be a great pairing with the mussels. We took a gander at the menu and I immediately found crab on the app menu. We ordered the crab guacamole. Omg was it so delicious. Crab meat all on top of the guacamole. The guacamole was very well made and had a kick to it. Spicy but in the best possible way. We finished it all and even used some of the bread to eat with the guacamole. We decided to share a mussels pot. We ended up choosing the Florencio, which is shrimp, pesto, parmesan, cherry tomatoes, cream and basil. Omg was it the most flavorful and delicious mussels pot I have ever had. Oh so amazing. We definitely took the bread and soaked the sauce up. We also ordered the flex hand cut fries. They were great. When we ordered just the one pot, the waiter kind of gave us the puzzled look, like do you think that will be enough. But we do have a tendency to order more than we should so we stayed with the one order for now. The waiter was nice and said if you want something later let me know. So yes after we finished our lagers and the mussels pots, we were wanting more. We were debating but ultimately ordered another mussels pot. We wanted to try something different and we chose the Thai mussels. The Thai mussels pot consists of the curry coconut broth, lemongrass, kaffir lime, coriander, lime, ginger and garlic. This pot was just as flavorful and delish. Towards the end of the pot we were getting full and slowed down. Ha. Rightfully so. .. at about 20 plus mussels each. Oh gosh. Full. On the rsvp comments I had mentioned that it was my friend’s birthday. So when I spoke to the waiter to remind him, he already knew and asked if I wanted to pick the dessert or he would pick a dessert. So I said I am fine with you picking the best one. Moments later, the waiter came with the tray of freshly baked mini donuts with a birthday candle. My friend was happy and others from other tables were wishing him a happy birthday. It was very nice. The donuts were sweet pockets of goodness. The tray brought 4 donuts; a peanut butter and marshmellow, strawberry, chocolate, and salted caramel with a dipping sauce. Omg they were the icing on the cake and made the night complete.
It was such a memorable evening and I’d like to thank Flex Mussels for that. Flex Mussels is an amazing restaurant. I am definitely coming back.

*3.5 stars to be exact*
I came here to celebrate a friend’s birthday + double date. We made reservations for a party of 4 on a Friday night and got seated right away. The restaurant décor was quite simple, but in my opinion a little too dark inside.
The staff is quite friendly and explained to us the specials of the night. There was also complimentary bread + butter. We ordered the following:
Crab Meat Guacamole — This sounded really amazing, so I ordered it to share with my boyfriend and friends. The crab meat guacamole also came with house made chips which were really tasty. The crab meat guacamole was on point, rich and creamy from the guacamole!
San Daniele (prosciutto, caramelized onions, white wine, garlic) — I ordered this since it sounded really good! The prosciutto was delicious! The broth was okay, but nothing too impressive. The mussels were cooked just right!
Thai (curry coconut broth, lemongrass, kaffir lime, coriander, lime, ginger, garlic) — My boyfriend ordered this and honestly I wasn’t a huge fan of it. The taste of the curry wasn’t strong enough and I felt that it was very bland.
There was another set of mussels we ordered, but don’t remember it at the moment. It was a special item of the night and all I remember was that it was spicy (I’m really sorry).
Overall, the mussels were decent at Flex Mussels, but I don’t think it was up to my standards. The broth/​sauce from the mussels felt very bland. I would come back to Flex Mussels again for at least one or two more chances just to try their other menu items though.

The two pretty white girls at my recently attended multi-​party deposition (1^st year associate and the court reporter) bonded over two things: 1) Their self awareness over how good looking and successful they were; and 2) Their mutual admiration for this joint, hailing it as their «fave» spot in the city. Their interaction with each other brought about many thoughts/​imaginations/​et cetera in the brain pan of this particular writer… but more importantly, it had me pluck this place from the dusty (figurative) shelves of the triple digits in my Unilocal «bookmarks.» I had intended to pay a visit to this place for some time, so thanks to the two ladies for the reminder.
I had secured a reservation at this place for two at 7:00 on a Tuesday. While it was well attended, there were still some tables in the house available. However, I wouldn’t tempt fate/​press your luck and go ressie-​free, soon after our arrival the place quickly filled to the gills.
The venue is (deceptively) spacious, but ultimately cozy; this is made possible probably due to the the two sections (bar and dining area) being separated by way of a narrow corridor. We were seated in the middle of the dining room, treated to dim lighting and the echoes of conversation from the other dinner parties.
Our server, Chelsea, did a superb job. Although she struggled a bit with a very-​hard-​to-​pronounce name of an obscure cheese («tastes like Parmesan» according to her), she sold our table with the description of the special of the night: a heap of mussels swimming in a tomato base with Italian sausage, infused with basil, olive oil, garlic, and topped off with a crispy piece of Italian garlic bread. We also got a half dozen west coast oysters (Kumamotos for the win) and some shoe string fries.
The mussels weren’t nearly as succulent/​juicy as I typically prefer (almost dried out a bit), and the broth was a bit salty (initally). However, I found that eating the broth and the mussels with some of the very spongy pieces of complimentary bread made the whole process infinitely more delightful. The oysters were a hit, although at $ 3.75 apiece (we did go after happy hour after all), I must say that we did pay dearly for these tasty bivalves. And the fries were fries; crispy, right amount of salty, and very long… I wish that the dish of ketchup they provided was a bit deeper so that a more appropriate amount of ketchup could be applied, but other than that, good stuff.
By night’s end, I could see why the two young ladies at this past deposition call this place their «fave.» Tasty bites, a chic and modern spacial setup, and some semi-​romantic (or an alternatively charming/​no-​pressure) ambiance is certainly desirable these days when youngsters look for dinner spots when playing particular things close to one’s chest. And if you don’t feel like you get to eat like a king here, you certainly can feel like you’re spending like one upon getting the bill; those drinks (that I didn’t mention earlier in this review) do add up, so «drink responsibly!»

It’s hard to resist a pot of mussels but flex mussel’s brunch menu made it a lot easier.
My friend and I had a delicious Bloody Mary topped with bacon, pickle, celery, and an olive.
We shared the savory donut sampler which offered 4 everything donuts stuffed with cream cheese, salmon, Parmesan cheese, and maple bacon.
I had the baked eggs which were simple but SO flavorful. The textures were perfect. The pesto was a nice touch. Just wish it was served with more bread.
My friend got the jalapeño cheddar waffles which was a nice twist on an otherwise basic breakfast dish. It was good too.

Flex Mussels is a gem that lets you enjoy a delicious pot of mussels, fries and beer (or swap for a glass of wine for an additional $ 2). Happy hour deals are only available for patrons sitting at the bar or counter and reservation for happy hour is not needed. My friends and I visited on a Friday evening and there was no wait to sit at the counter.
«Flex fries» are similar to pomme frites; they are skinny and crispy fries come with ketchup for dipping. If feeling fancy, go for their heavenly truffle tries.
The Fra Diavolo mussels had a spicy kick, cooked with tomatoes, olive oil, fresh basil, red pepper, and garlic. Their oysters were fresh — not exactly cheap but reasonably-​priced. Happy hour oyster was the Blue Point Oysters.
I agree with another Unilocaler here that it felt like the staff rushed us by trying to take away our bread basket, fries, and mussels (which I stopped) when we were clearly not finished with our plates. I couldn’t understand why rush us when happy hour had already passed and the restaurant wasn’t packed.
I’d be interested in trying their non-​happy hour mussels. They offer over 20 different recipes for mussels at $ 24, $ 25, $ 27, and $ 28. The portions are big enough to share so you can order other items on the menu i.e. fish and chips, fish tacos, scallops. Seafood lovers, here is a treat for ya’ll.

Flex mussels is seriously one of my favorite restaurants in the city. They bring out huge pots of mussels with the most incredible sauce. My favorite is the San Daniel — it is a creamy, garlicky light sauce with sautéed onion and is so amazing. I end up drinking it out of the pot it is that good. I’ve also tried a handful of other mussels their including the parma, thai, lobster and others. You can never go wrong with what you choose!
You must also try the donuts for dessert! They are and incredible way to end the meal! The smores and peanut butter are my favorite but literally they will all melt in your mouth in amazingness. They are filled with a delicious sauce that just drips out and is seriously good.
Must try this restaurant!

Wow 20+ different types of mussels? Probably the biggest selection I’ve seen ever !
The restaurant is small, so be sure to make a reservation. When you walk in, you first enter the bar area, where there are daily happy hour specials.
The back room is the main dining room – a bit of a tight squeeze, but not bad.
Their main attraction is the mussels.obvi. but they also have a list of appetizers if you’re with a friend who isn’t a fan of this beautiful bivalve mollusc (aka crazy). JK Jen K if you’re reading this: p
Each pot is about 1lb of mussels, good for one person they suggest. We had 3 people, so we ordered 2 pots and an appetizer of fried seafood.
–Burnt Fingers: appetizer comes with fried calamari, oysters, and shrimp with spicy aioli. Not bad! I enjoyed this, and the seafood is very meaty. No skimping
–Parma mussels: great suggestion by our server. Prepared with a parmesan cream sauce, lemon, scallions, and garlic. Classic and very flavorful
–Fra Diavolo mussels: Comes with tomatoes, olive oil, and a nice spicy kick! If you like spicy tomato pastas, this is your pick.
There were so many on the list that I wanted to try, so I guess I’ll just have to come back another time.
ALSO, we got the infamous donuts, aka stuffft fried balls of goodness. Every single flavor we got was bombbb, but I was a huge fan of the lemon (very tart). But also the smores (mm chocolate). and then there was the fluffernutter (peanut butter say whaaat???) OK OK ALL OF THEM!
Save room for these babies at the end! I thought I was too full from dinner, but thank goodness I have a second stomach for dessert.

Came here on a wonderful, fall night with a girlfriend of mine. Neither of us had been here and we both were keen to try it. We sat outside at a cute little table by the window. It felt very snug, yet comfortable. We decided to share an order of mussels (the San Daniele), a salad and some truffle fries. We also ordered cocktails. I went with a spicy margarita type drink, it was very tasty.
The mussels were delicious! Actually, all the food was stellar.
My only problem was with the portion size of the mussels. I have ordered mussels many times at restaurants that don’t particularly specialize in mussels and it’s always a nice size serving of mussels and usually for a pretty fair price. At Flex Mussels, they definitely make the portion of the mussels suitable for only one person. And you will find quite a few empty shells with no meat to be found. I think my friend and I found at least 4 out of the 16 – 20 shells in our bowl. That is always a huge disappointment when eating mussels.
As for the other food, the salad and fries were both very tasty and adequately proportioned.
Now I know that the next time I go here, I have to order my own bowl of mussels.
Food — 5 stars
Ambiance — 4 stars
Service — 4 stars
Portions — 4 stars

I wish I could live here and eat mussels all day long. Their selection is endless although you definitely shouldn’t skip the Parma or the Thai mussels. They are the standouts from the crowd but nothing is bad here. I also enjoy their truffle fries and their oysters are always so fresh. Please make sure to save room for their homemade donuts!
Happy hour takes place from 5−7pm in the bar area. You can get a bucket of mussels, fries and a beer for $ 21.

I been wanting to try this place since a friend who loves food as much as I do recommended. Since it was my dinner companion birthday we decided to check this place out. I made reservations and I’m glad I did since this place had a nice crowd on a Wednesday night.
As soon as we sat they brought us some fresh bread with butter which was decent nothing to rave about.
We decided to start with fried oysters and kale salad. Both were delicious and I would had been happy just with there two items since they were a big portion and really tasty.
I went with the Florencio mussels for my entrée (mussels, shrimp, tomatoes in a parmesan pesto) and my got to taste the scallops that my dinner companion ordered which were good.
My dish was delicious and the pesto was superb. I do have to say they give you a lot and I only ate about half of mine since I was stuffed. Maybe I should have stopped soaking the bread into the pesto sauce but it was so good I couldn’t help myself.
I was full but I had to try the donuts. I got the salted caramel, lemon, blueberry and s’mores. They were all good except the lemon it was way too tart for me.
the minute you took a bite all of the goodness of the filling spilled out. Out of all four my favorite was the salted caramel I could had like 10 of those.

We came here for Happy Hour (5−7p) and felt that this was a great deal. In the end, we paid around $ 70 for a half dozen oysters, one serving of mussels, fries, clam strips, two wines, one beer, and one donut dessert.
Food: tasty!
–We had the island creek oysters, which were large/​plump and not too briny.
–The mussels special was $ 21 which came with your choice of fra diavolo, Dijon, or classic mussels, a beer, and fries. The fra diavolo mussels were fantastic! Not overcooked, medium size, and in a very good tomato-​y stew. Size-​wise, flex serves about 1.25 pounds per mussels entrée, which comes out to be about twenty mussels. You will be full, but not stuffed.
–Clams strips were just okay. Lots of breading and oil, very little clam. I would skip.
–donuts — WOW. Better than actual donut places. I would recommend the pbj, salted caramel, and s’mores. Warm, fluffy, chewy, not too sweet. The perfect donuts.
Service: pretty friendly, doesn’t stand out to me one way or the other.
Ambience: cool! It’s quite modern/​trendy. I feel like it’s a place that people go to be seen but act all nonchalant about it. west village, I get it.
Overall, I would definitely come again, especially considering the great happy hour deal!

Been here a few times, so I’m definitely a fan. That being said, a dinner here will set you back a pretty penny, especially for the amount of food you get.
It’s practically a requirement to order mussels, and they have a great selection of broths. From the classic (white wine, garlic) to international (Italian, Thai, Portugese) to just plain indulgent (double smoked bacon, lobster), there’s something for everyone’s taste.
The last time I was here, we ordered some oysters and a couple appetizers, crab guacamole and grilled octopus. I wasn’t too impressed by the guac, it was kind of basic and pricey for $ 16. The grilled octopus was a nice presentation and I liked the accompanying bean purée. We shared a pot of the bisque mussels (lobster, brandy, tomato, garlic, cream). It was so delicious, and super rich and filling. I do note that the portion sizes here are smaller than other places.
I have ordered the donuts for dessert each time I’ve come here. I love that you can choose from several different fillings. This time we did the s’mores, strawberry, salted caramel, and blueberry. Yummy, but very very sweet.

Everyone kept talking about how good Flex Mussels is, so I finally caved in and made my way over. I’m a big fan of mussels, mostly because they’re cheap and you can do all sorts of things with the broth. Well, at Flex Mussels, they definitely have the unique broths things down, but it ain’t cheap.
That said, the food is for the most part pretty good. Started out with the crab guacamole. Didn’t think crab lumps and avocado would go together so well, but they do. Not sure if it’s worth $ 16, but it’s worth trying if you’re in a group. The grilled octopus was great. The cannelini bean purée really added a nice texture and earthy taste. Portion size was a bit small, but it was still good.
For the main, we shared the lobster bisque mussels. At $ 28, probably the most expensive mussels I’ve ever had. But the broth was delicious (especially to soak up with some bread). The bowl is deceptively small though (only filled up about ²⁄₃ of the way), but I could see how it would fill you up if you had one by yourself. I wouldn’t recommend that though, as it’s super creamy and tastes all sorts of unhealthy. Delicious, but unhealthy.
And we couldn’t leave without trying the donuts. Note that they’re not small by any means. They’re somewhere between a golf ball and a tennis ball. Tried the smores, strawberry, blueberry and salted caramel. The salted caramel was actually way too salty. The smores and blueberry were my favorite. The strawberry was too sweet; not sure if they made their own jelly or not, but it bordered on Smuckers levels of sickening sweetness. But they were all worth trying.
The space looks small from the outside, but the place is long. We sat in the back room that had no windows (and no cell phone reception), with some lame pixelly illuminated photo on the wall. Not much for atmosphere.