Simone Martini Bar Cafe

Great eggs Benedict! But service needs work, I had to get up and refill my own coffee. In all for the red asian rustic venue, price and food. It’s worth a visit, I’m a fan

Looking through reviews, many people have called out the (assumed) owner as being a rude, horrible person.
On my last stop in, the bouncer and woman who claimed to be the owner are total jerks — threatening jerks.
I’ll preface this by saying I had been here many times for food at normal meal hours and never had problems… So the jerks might just come after midnight during bar time.
Here it goes:
I came to scout the cocktail menu as our next bar stop, asked some questions (to a rather nice waiter about the drinks — ok there was a nice staff member actually) and used the bathroom.
Upon leaving to get my girlfriend the bouncer blocked the door, and a woman claiming to be the owner started yelling at me saying «Who the EXPLITIVE do you think you are? This isn’t a public bathroom. You better order a drink. ETC, etc» They had blocked off the exit and I didn’t feel safe.
Needless to say I’m never setting foot in here again, and would advise the same to everyone in New York.

Went here for the first time last Saturday night. We were walking by and I noticed the chandeliers. Anyone who knows me knows that I pretty much love any place that looks like a bordello and this fit the bill.
We were hungry so we ordered the beet dip, bruschetta with Serrano ham, the mozzarella and prosciutto, and the chorizo. For drinks we had a french martini and a lychee martini. All the food was good except for the bruschetta which was really good. The drinks were excellent and strong.
Our waiter had given us a lovely table and even bought us a round of drinks before we left. We will definitely go back soon!

That was the worst experience I’ve ever had.
The server was a moron. Brought app’s after 20 minutes and brought two out of four entrees and no side plates… Me and my boyfriend waited another 20 minutes for our food… The food was horrible and our hamburgers were both well done instead of medium… It goes on and on. I would NEVER go here again. Sucks because I have passed by wanting to come in for a long time…

Super laid back, awesome music! Not a dive but not fancy, it’s really chill, right in between. Great way to relax, doesn’t get super loud so you don’t have to shout to hear each other. Thumbs up!

I went here on a Tuesday night because it looks like a cute, quiet place from the outside. It turned out to be extremely loud to the point where you couldn’t have a conversation. The crowd was very, well, «ghetto.» I am almost positive there was a drug dealer sitting at the table next to us and he was open for business. The waitress was so inattentive to the point where she didn’t even give us forks, napkins or waters. We had to ask several times so we could begin eating. Some of the food we ordered was finger food, so we kept asking for more napkins since she was constantly bringing us one at a time. The ONLY positive thing about this bar is the food. Hopefully it’s just Tuesdays?

The keylime martini is pretty delicious but doesn’t make up for the manager’s annoyance with our presence…
I mean, it was as though he was doing us a favor by grabbing us a table and answering one quick question.
Meh.

One of my favorite places in the village. Very friendly staff and casual vibe. Their happy hour includes 4 and 5 dollar cocktails. Drinks are never watered down or not strong enough. During the day terrace-​like door opens up which let’s the air and sun in (perfect for brunch). Can’t go wrong with Simone’s.

Met some friends who were watching a game here. Definitely not a place one would choose to watch a sporting event but it had a TV, a little one. The cocktail menu was nice. I liked the selection. The drinks were decent. Did not try the food. The place is cozy but perfect location to people watch.

Simone is a place that you hate to love. Forget all the haters. The music isn’t so loud that you can’t talk. The drinks are delish and the service is fantastic. You can go wait in line and be ignored somewhere else or settle in here. Oh and a shout out to our bartender Jamie. She was amazing!

Simone is definitely a hipster trendy place to grab a late-​night drink down in the LES. My girlfriend and I stopped in here for a drink after dinner, and it was great. The bar is very dark with red-​lighting. The chairs are animal fuzzy print, which is kind of fun. The place is loud, but not too loud that you can’t hear each other. The drinks are pretty standard Manhattan drinks — all are $ 9 – 15, but they have an excellent selection of martinis (hence the name).

I had been to Simone once before for cocktails and when wandering around the village for a late night dinner we decided to stop in here for a meal and a few drinks. Experience was as follows:
— Ordered a Malbec which tasted like it had been open for two weeks waiter replaced it with a different wine but never followed up to see if he new wine was okay
— Ordered 3 different bruschetta and a chicken brie sandwich all came out fairly quickly but only the ham one was tasty the chicken sandwich tasted boiled and dry and the pâté bruschetta and chicken artichoke were dry and tasteless.
— Halfway through my boyfriends sandwich and my ham bruschetta a COACROACH crawled out from under the pâté.
Needless to say we lost our appetite and quickly got out of there. The entire mediocre drinks/​disgusting food experience cost $ 60. With all the awesome spots in the east village skip Simone and try something down the block.

Decent drinks, agreeable ambiance, less-​than-​desirable service.

This was our backup plan since there was a long wait at PDT.
We came pretty late at night so there was a happy hour going on. Great prices and the drinks on the list were pretty decent. Our server was really nice and quick.
We only stopped in for one drink. I liked the décor. zebra chairs and leopard print sofa chairs.

Nope.
I was NOT a fan of this place. The waitress seemed completely uninterested in helping us, and gave my friend a snarky look when she asked for a variation on her meal. Additionally, the first chair I sat down on (a piano bench) sunk me halfway to the floor, and I had to grab a different one in order to reach my food.
Within my food I found:
— A fruit fly
— A piece of curly hair
(I understand that things happen. but hair AND a bug??)
**I will note that the barista was super friendly and helpful about describing the menu and serving and refreshing our coffee. He was also very willing to let us move from the bar to a table when one opened up.

Horrible!
I only went because they advertised screening The Golden Globes. They had one small screen, weak sound, and we couldn’t see the show from where we were sitting.
When I called to confirm this event was on, they said yes, and assured me there was no need for reservations. When we got there, they wouldn’t seat our party where we wanted, saying another party had reservations.
This place is WEAK!

Armed with a fellow Unilocaler, Dave H. and his hoard of friends to near the end of a Sunday afternoon I desired liquid revelry in good company.
The company was good as well as the drinks, but the noise volume resonates is monster truck deafening loud where I departed early with a raging headache. Patrons will holler «what??» followed by «huh??!» later with «I can’t hear you!» to lean forward. Yes the background music is that deafening loud. One TV emits the biggest European sporting event – Euro 2012 which houses nearly twenty loud and rowdy patrons. All the while even after the game, the music continue to drown our party of five’s merriment and conversation. Red modern Neo Asian theme adorn the atmospheric conditions. Red relief ceiling and bronze rose welded onto the wall complete with small chandeliers (at least two inoperable) and mirrors. The only thing missing is a red carpet with butlers dressed in suits and white gloves!
My Cabernet Sauvignon Amplio, California by the glass was okay, nothing to wow over. Their cocktail drink menu is somewhat extensive which also includes Sangria either by the glass or by the pitcher. Drinks are somewhat pricey even by the glass for wine at $ 8.00, yet thankfully Happy Hour is readily available.
Facilities are clean but extremely dark and dingy in minimal red lighting to continue the Red modern Neo Asian theme throughout entirely. A Chinese painting of a village resonate a calming setting to expels one’s business matter. Match books are available with Simone Bar’s contact details along with a business card to be added to my collection. Ya! All in all, Simone Martini Bar is a good «time killer» the-​in-​between spot for social gathering hangouts before meeting with friends at another venue or before a full dinner or «the night is young» and you don’t want to go home.

I liked the mini martinis, they were super cute! Although they were pricey, at least you could try a variety at once. Go for the key lime or lychee!
Also shoot for happy hour times.

3.0−3.5 stars
Decent drinks at decent prices, interesting crowd (to say the least), friendly staff, and cool/​random ambiance & décor

From outside, Simone looks Asian but then it says Martini Bar. I have been confused by the sign and décor for over 5 years! I finally walked in last Saturday and it was a pretty fun lounge to my surprise.
The décor is an awkward Victorian and Chinese atmosphere. The wall and ceiling is painted red and there are lanterns inside and out. There are old English books and statues around windows and cabinets.
The menu is heavily centered on their martinis and special cocktails. Martini here runs from $ 8 to $ 10 and they offer all sorts of specials and Happy Hours. I got their Key Lime Martini and it is creamy and lemony, just the way Key Lime Pie is!
I would definitely return for some delish cocktails!