Sidecar

How is it this place has so few reviews? I mean the door is kinda hidden, you do need a reservation and it is on the second floor, but still…
This is like a classier version of P.J. Clarke’s downstairs. I hadn’t known about it but a gf I was with did and wanted to come here instead. We lucked out in that two gentleman who were waiting for a table at the bar decided not to move to a table so we got their table. The timing could not have been better. The food seems better than P.J. Clarke’s though this may be my imagination. I had the salad with crab cakes and my friend had the lobster salad. Everything was very good.
I do like the P.J. Clarke’s downtown with the water view and beach town feel, but Sidecar is a great lunch spot during work (cause why else would you be in this area otherwise?). The clientele is older, better dressed and there was nary a kid in sight which was a welcome relief.

I would give this place 7 stars if possible. So, if you don’t know, Sidecar is now a private dining club. The purpose of this review is to discuss my rehearsal dinner that I had there late September of 2013. First, I had great difficulty finding a place in New York City for a rehearsal dinner that could accommodate at least 75 people within a respectable price range and that would be closed to the public. After much searching, I booked Sidecar.
The space: I had a total of 71 people at my dinner and we could have easily fit another 40+. The room was perfectly lit and was configured to allow separate sections for the cocktail hour and dinner. The room has a beautiful dark wooden bar and exposed brick walls which gave it a classic New Orleans vibe (for the record, I grew up around New Orleans). The tables for dinner could be arranged to fit anywhere from 6 to 14 guest.
Cocktail hour drinks. The attentive staff met every guest at the door with a glass of champagne. This was a very nice touch. Every single guest I spoke to on Saturday said that their wine glass never fell below the half way point before a server appeared to top it off. Amazing! In addition to wine, the bartenders were extremely knowledgeable and could make any drink you threw at them. I even saw some guest drinking grasshoppers. I spoke to one bartender at length and he gave me the impression that he truly loved his job. Specifically, he gave me a great education on gin and even gave me an impromptu tasting of his favorites.
Cocktail hour food. Seriously, how big is the kitchen? The food for the cocktail hour never stopped. We selected six pass arounds and had a raw bar with oysters and the largest shrimp I have ever seen. The shrimp were the length of my hand. The canapes were all divine, but the lamb chops stole the show. We also had the tuna tartare, cheeseburger sliders and other items that I can’t remember. One guest doesn’t eat cheese so the server with the sliders ran into the kitchen and immediately came out with a new set without cheese.
Dinner. Dinner in itself was amazing. We gave people the option of a salad or clam chowder. Both were fantastic. Entries included a choice the skirt steak (didn’t want filet since we were serving it at the reception), pan roasted salmon, and chicken. All were cooked perfectly. The sides were family style and we choose the asparagus and mashed potatoes. Dessert was a choice between the apple crumb and the New York cheese cake.
Again, during dinner, the wine glasses never made it below half way. The server at our table was asking my now wife to give him something difficult to do. This statement in itself is a testament to how well prepared Sidecar was for the rehearsal dinner. They were so prepared that nothing was difficult.
Finally, the service. Lindsay, Brittney and the entire staff did a remarkable job in managing the rehearsal dinner. My wife and I were so busy planning that we gave Lindsay and Brittney free reign to handle the decorating and coordinating of the event and they did not disappoint. They also printed the escort cards and table numbers for us and even made some last minute seating arrangements one hour before the event to accommodate some last minute changes to the guest list.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions about this review or are considering Sidecar for your event. I will try to post photos as soon as I receive them.

My boyfriend and I had our first date at PJ Clarkes downstairs so we figured for our 1 year anniversary we would go to the supposedly fancier Sidecar, and boy were we wrong. The only good thing about this place was that we didn’t have to wait for our table. I enjoy oysters but don’t know a lot about ordering them, so I asked our waitress and she was ZERO help, and I ended up not ordering them. Their loss I suppose. There were 10 minute stretches of time in which there was no water, or ordered beverages filled on our table which was beyond frustrating. It was our anniversary and we had nothing to toast each other with. I ordered the petite filet mignon, and boy was it petite. It was also rare when I ordered it medium. I also asked for fries on the side and at $ 28 for the entrée I didn’t expect 2 bites of bloody steak dumped on top of about 20 thin matchstick fries, and all on an extra large plate. That was it for presentation. The sad thing was their was a guy who’s job was dedicated to making sure the food is plated well. Someone fire him. Especially because when I told our waitress I was unhappy with my measly meal she failed to see our empty glasses for the 3^rd time and went and told the manager I was unhappy. I watched the «plating/​presentation guy» take his ungloved hand and stick them into someone’s freshly ready fries and place a pile of fries on a saucer dish for the manager to serve me. What a crock this place is. It should just be an upstairs to PJ Clarkes and not try so hard to be fancy. Don’t go to this overpriced sham.