Mr. Jones

Mr. Jones is closed. :(

Requiem in booze.
Mr. Jones is no more. They have shut their doors and will reopen as a Latin restaurant in the coming months…

Beautiful décor, food was good, music not, pricepoint for what was actually consumed was a total rip off.
Spoke to an associate who was in town from LA. Experience and thoughts were the same.
Nice concept but falls short.
What is happening with Permanent Brunch? I am waiting.

My friend and i came in on a thursday evening and it was very quiet. This did not, however hold back the delightful food and drinks. had two different cocktails — the old school french 77 and a sake cocktail whose name eludes me. the cocktail menu in general was impressive and mixologyish though i only had two so cant speak for others. my friend had the moscow mule and said it was fab. we did the set price and really liked the yellowtail sashimi and kobe beef skewers. neat pickled cumumber salad made more original with garlic, and very tasty pork belly wasabi skewer as well. overall great. the waitstaff was the only off note — they were really friendly (and the kitchen was FAST) — in fact my friend had one of those class kebab/​skewer embarassing moments — shooting a bite of pork across the room! they brought us another, which was more than we were expecting. whats the downside? once we were done and had decided to decline the dessert options relayed to us… no one came back to take our dessert order or offer more drinks… or anything. nothing. we waited — trying to flag the ladies down for seriously 30 minutes. not a huge deal but had to note some kind of reason for not giving the fourth star!

My roommate and I headed over here after a long day of walking around. We waltzed right in without a reservation. The front part of the restaurant has a bar area and a few mini booths. Even though the back part was fairly empty they still sat us at the bar.
The menu is pretty varied, with many different options available including sushi, yakitori, and other entrees. The dishes are all served tapas style, and boy did they take a long time to bring out our food! You would think that it would be faster to make small food, but apparently not.
We split the spicy tuna roll to start out. The tuna was super fresh, and really tasty. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. We also ordered:
1. Kobe Meatballs with the foie gras center
2. Karai Honey chicken with seven spiced honey
3. Ume Shiso chicken with shiso and sour plum
The kobe meatballs are a must have. They were incredibly juicy and flavorful. The different textures went together perfectly and the presentation was very nice. The karai honey chicken was also very nice, sweet and savory at the same time, a great combination. The ume shiso chicken however, was my favorite of the two– the sauces were delicious.
If I had been in the mood for drinking I am sure I would have loved their beverages. They had many different types of mixed drinks with infused vodka. They also served sake and wine. This place would be absolutely perfect for a date– nice atmosphere, but not too stuffy. Just be patient with the service as it is not 100% just yet. I had to take away a few stars for that reason, but otherwise it would have been a five star experience. The food was just perfect.

My roommate and I finally made it here after months of failed attempts. When we first entered the nearly empty restaurant, we were asked if we had reservations. After our «No» response we were asked to wait a short while then seated in the bar area. This was actually really good for people watching — the place became full of interesting characters to observe as the evening went on. Also, the back room was really date-​ish so I kind of liked being in the lounge with my roommate-​date.
The food was amazing! The sushi was very fresh and the nori was so good. he prices for the sashimi/​sushi/​maki was fairly NYC reasonable. I also tried the Ume Shiso Chicken Yaktiori which was so tasty. The 7 spice honey one was also really interesting and yummy. I like how it was sweet but still savory. Lastly i tried the Kalbi — which was good but one of my least favorites.
The only complaint i really have was that the service was sooooo slow. The staff was nice but we waited forever! i mean we ordered only 5 things and it took an hour!
Overall it was a good experience and if you like yakitori (even that really only means chicken but here i guess it means meat on a stick) I would definitely go. It would be really nice for a date too.

I’ve been on this block a hundred times and never noticed the unassuming, discreetly labeled brown door that leads into this clean, mod, space-​agey and somehow nautical-​looking bar. No crowds on a Wednesday night, and plenty of romantic dimly lit tables in the back room (wasn’t really working for the one couple in there on their awkward first date, but that wasn’t due to the environment). Surprising, respectably inventive cocktail menu — I had the Jones Sour, which incorporated Calpico, of all things. Terrific service. As long as this place remains as chill as it was that night, I’ll stay a fan.

Mr Jones made me want to give back to the Unilocal community and set the record straight on this excellent lounge and restaurant…
Some notes:
1) Take a date here, don’t come with a group
2) If you’re price sensitive, vegetable tempura is your friend
3) I can’t stack Mr Jones up against other yakitori, as I’ve never had any other
Sitting by the door in our booth-​for-​two (most of the seating is like this), I enjoyed the ambiance. The service was outstanding. A hot towel got things off on the right foot, and our waitress didn’t bother us every 5 minutes just to ‘check in.’ I had a couple beers with my 3 skewers, all of which were tasty. They were out of Wagyu beef, which limited the menu options quite a bit, but the spicy chicken was a homerun in my book.
Some notes for the nay-​sayers:
1) «dimly lit» = intimate lighting… get a date!
2) «loud music» = pleasant jazz-​fusion backdrop, at least when I was there. Not overpowering in my experience.
3) Was not crowded on a week-​night at 8:00
4) Dinner for 2 was about $ 85-​$ 100 with a couple drinks. That’s about what I expected for a 3-​dollar-​sign rating in Manhattan.
I’ll definitely be back.
Cheers,
Jordan

Like Craig P I am really surprised by the other reviews and I am a tough customer too. Mr. Jones is just different… the design is cool and relaxing and it is a great place for a date (first or otherwise) with lots of intimate, close seating places. The Yakitori plates are delicious and the drinks are really interesting. My favorites were the Kobe Meatballs with Foie Gras, the Harami Garlic and the Daikon salad. I highly recommend the wasabi infused saki /​vodka martini (I forget the name of it). We didn’t make any bad choices! We head amazingly fresh sliced Asian pears of desert and macaroons that were surprisingly delicious. My only complaint: no coffee :-(Looking forward to my next visit (hopefully on a date).
PS There were good looking women EVERYWHERE. Maybe they import them… but every girl was beautiful and dressed to the nines (except that one in the Cubs t-​shirt).

Went there for the first time on Saturday and was very disappointed. It was insanely crowded, and crowded with people who are a bit older (late 30s, early 40s) and just not my type (blonde & lots of plastic surgery, even for the men). Almost had some words with a woman who had a wee bit to drink (as they all did) and didn’t realize that people were standing around her, but that’s besides the point.
The cocktail I had — A Moment’s Notice — was too sweet. So I switched to wine. Maybe the other cocktails were good, but they only sounded ok.
The music was too loud for a venue that’s more a lounge/​restaurant than a club. My friend and I were shouting so that we could have a conversation.
As we observed everyone around us, we noticed a woman grab the bottle of Skyy Vodka off of the bar, take the spout off, put her entire mouth over the top, and then take a big swig. The bartender stood there staring at her and finally got the bottle back. I watched him put the bottle behind the bar and purposely kept my eyes on him to see if he’d still use that bottle to make drinks. To my dismay, he did. I admit that I’m a bit of a germ freak, but I’m pretty sure that if most people saw that, they’d be grossed out. If I were basing my review up until this point, I would’ve given this place zero stars, if I could.
But they get two stars because of the cool owners. They were extremely aware of what was going on in terms of slow service. They saw that my friend and I were waiting for something (they didn’t know if it was for a drink or a check) and told the barback to take care of us. Then, as we were leaving the bar, one owner took our coat check ticket to get our coats since he didn’t want us waiting for the actual coat check woman, and the other owner apologized for us having to wait at the bar before. I give them props for that.
Unfortunately I still can’t say that I’ll ever be back again.

Since taking my husband to Yakitori Totto a few months back, he’s turned into a yakitori-​seeking freak show. He pretty much had been stalking Mr. Jones since we saw them opening behind wooden clapboards on 14^th Street.
This is yakitori taken to the next level — it’s not just skewered meat on a stick. We tried quite a few of the chicken yakitoris (can’t remember which ones), but I remember enjoying them all. I thought the chef selections were great — the sakura smoked duck and kobe meatballs were two of my favorite items. The only flub for me really were the rice balls — eh. But is there ever any reason to get overly excited about sticky rice? In regards to the drinks, I wasn’t really boozing it up — but I can vouch for the El Diablo.
Yes, this is pricier than your average yakitori place –but cut these guys a break. A big one. You’re not sitting at a sticky lacquered bar with grill smoke blowing in your face. It’s nice here dudes. Get a little dressed, and grab your friends. Probably a great date place if you don’t find gnawing on a lamb chop more than you can handle in front of a new paramour. In which case… you should probably get rid of him or her anyway.

Im really surprised at the other reviews… Im a tough customer, and we had a great experience here. Terrific atmosphere, fun vibe. Food decent, drinks fine. Good addition to this part of town.

I felt like I was in a club blasting cheesy music as opposed to going out for a nice dinner.
Luckily, our waitress was an absolute peach — an aspiring architect who had miraculously never waited tables; she was certainly a pro.
And while the food was pretty good, there were several misses that made the blasting music, dim lighting, and somewhat annoying managerial behavior not worth it.
The chicken lollipops were crispy and flavorful, but I didn’t warm up as much to the pickled garlic cloves or the kimchi soup. It was dumb of us to go for the chicken liver yakitori as well; I have to remind myself that I really dislike the stuff, and their rendition didn’t help much either.
The fish, whose name escapes me, was very good and plentiful, plated with a delightful sauce.
For dessert, only fresh but tasteless persimmons were on the menu… not good.
Drinks were ok but the cocktail list was infinitely short, which surprised me for such a club-​like setting.
I wouldn’t recommend the place, though follow the waitress wherever she goes — there are few like her.

I’m giving this place 3 stars because:
— the service was good
— the ambiance and locale are cool
— the food is good
I’m not giving it 4 stars because the pacing of the food was all wrong. We ordered edamame, the kobe beef meatballs, two salads and four skewers. The meatballs came first w/​the salads, and then the edamame. It was just awkward, and we were at a small table and the plates are so huge that there was no room and we felt kind of rushed to eat to make room for the huge plates coming at us. Also, we were told this would be enough food, which it was, kinda, but it was very little given how much everything costs. I joked about going to a diner afterwards, and while my bridal diet is happy that I didn’t, I’m starving right now.
Anyway, give Mr. Jones a chance if you want more of a Place with snacks than a Food Experience.

Mr. Jones is a rip. I would not go back here. As others have said, the food is not the problem at this place, the price point is. For skewers and a small amount of food, you end up paying around $ 100 for two people with a couple drinks. The escolar and chicken skewers are decent deals. The meat skewers (other than the short ribs) are recommended, but it’s $ 7 for one small skewer of beef. STAY AWAY FROM THE KOBE MEATBALLS. Not very good and definitely not worth $ 16. The design at first might freak you out as being someone’s rendition of the Jetsons’ living room updated to this decade but the atmosphere grows on you as you continue to dine.

I made a reservation here before the official open and the restaurant was completely not ready. The plywood was still up but you just had to knock on it and someone would let you in. The restaurant menu was not complete and the waitress got my drink order wrong with only 3 tables in the whole restaurant. The food was overpriced and not that good. Skewers ranged from $ 5-​$ 7 each. Luckily we had a discount due to the fact that it was during their soft open, but still, between two people– 11 skewers, edamame, rice and 2 drinks, our meal was just over $ 100 ($ 70 after the discount). If you want yakitori, spare yourself here and go to Hagi or Oh Taisho.
At least the ambiance was nice.

Wow, did this place get a TON of hype – Daily Candy, TONY, you name it – and I schlepped across town last night only to find it boarded up. Mind you, I called ahead to make sure that they were opened – and the voicemail claimed to take reservations and to be open. Pathetic, overhyped BS in my book; if you’re not open yet or (according to Eater) «doing small servings in the basement» (for your hipster friends who are too cool to be seen eating with the rest of us) then please just do the world a favor and be honest about it or just close altogether.