The Bar Downstairs

We were in the city and were looking for a lounge/​speakeasy type of spot. We found this by accident.
Its kind of hard to find bc its inside a hotel.
It is a really nice open kitchen style décor, their drinks are fresh and really good. One of the best cocktails ive had.

My boyfriend is like a young spring chicken. He knows all the good places. One would think is is 43 instead of 44, he’s just that hip. He’s got that zeal
for finding great women AND restaurants online.
Anyway, we were staying in midtown, so we came here. This place was like a Subaru trailblazing through a New England snowstorm: excellent and reliable. It was a cool underground spot (literally). Kind of hard to find at first, but we love us some buried treasure. With no Somali pirates in sight, how could we resist? The rain tried to stymie our efforts to find food and drink, but nothing could stop us from keeping the promises we made to our livers. They were expecting drinky poos, so we had to deliver. After all, our livers love what they do.
Our waitress, Diana, was a tough cookie, though. She didn’t really want us sitting in the corner seat, which she made pretty obvious. However, she ultimately allowed a table change… and the food, drink, and face mashing was on point. My boyfriend likes to taste food from both the plate and my mouth, so this was ideal for us.
There was ample tequila, so I can’t say much more. I was happy. My liver was happy. Diana was probably happy (when we left). My boyfriend was probably happy I could still walk. It was an all around win.

I would say that the food is good, but the drinks are just so so. It took two tastes before I tried a 3^rd red wine that I liked. The server was nice enough to let me taste until I found one I really liked then drank a few glasses. All of the appetizers we decent, although on the pricey side. If you check in on Unilocal you get a free order of the shishito peppers, which typically are ¹⁄₂₀ are spicy, our whole bowl seemed to be spicy… strange but maybe we had all of the ¹⁄₂₀ peppers that night — haha! It is really loud down there too and hard to have a conversation with the person next to you. I guess its the way the walls/​set up are that the sound just travels everywhere. I do really love the open kitchen atmosphere and the vibe. I would come here just for the scene and for a drink but not a good place to catch up with a friend or colleague.

I’ve had the pleasure of checking this place our about once or twice back when I used to work close to Bryant Park. Both times were paid for by the company I worked for which is always a pleasant occurrence :). The overall ambience here is classy AF and both their employees and the clientele here reflects that.
Drinks here are super pricey, but very much worth it. This is easily also one of the nicest hotel bars I’ve ever been to in the city. Less about smoke and mirrors and more about adults being adults and enjoying fancy adult things.
Lots of adulting here which is a welcome change from some hotel bars in Soho, Tribeca or Meatpacking where sometimes swanky hotel bars can be filled with scene people just trying to be seen.
That’s not the case here. The Bar Downstairs is just innately chic. If you’re looking for a nice bar to impress your lady, man, coworkers, clients or just want to enjoy yourself with mature grownups, this bar is a great start.

This place is a great spot for midtown. Love the vibe, surprisingly big. Great for an intimate date or friend hangout.
The drinks are delicious, but at $ 17-​$ 20 a pop for a smallish drink, it’s a little rough on the wallet. I’ve also received varied service here, sometimes great, other times pretentious and/​or non-​existent.

Cocktails were ON POINT. I had a delightful bourbon drink moderately spicy and perfectly balanced. We were in a rush to get to a show and had the empanadas with a chimichurri (needed a little basil) and the croquettes with a mustard based delicious sauce. So perfect. Can’t wait to go back.
Staying at this hotel so going back every night. Last night we went back and the guy («host») was pretty unhelpful and. About of an attitude cause we arrived at 1020p and they close at midnight. And h had a bad attitude when he told us they close at midnight and LAST CALL was at 1120pm (weird but true). We had an amazing waitress on the sofas who had served us the night before and she remembered us and our favorite drinks and she made it Soo worth it.

This place is a gem. From the lively atmosphere to the extensive list of cocktails, and the small plates menu. My only complaint is the price of the charcuterie and the cheeses. A selection of 3 of each will run you $ 50…

Honestly, I don’t understand the hype for this place. Yes, it looks really cool. It has a hidden entrance and it does have that speakeasy vibe. We had a reservation and from the looks of it it is a must. I’ve been told walking in is impossible and if you’re late to the reservation you’re probably not going to get sat. I was impressed at first. The open kitchen and massive bar was a masterpiece for mixologists. We were sat at one of many large «communal» tables as I call them. Their menu has many mixed drink options as well as a nice wine list and alcohol-​free concoctions. I actually decided to try an alcohol-​free option and I really enjoyed it. I had the «New Habits,» which was made with mostly ginger ale, pineapple, simple syrup and another ingredient I can’t remember at this moment. Truly delicious and just as classy as a regular drink for $ 10. The food menu is tapas style, so we tried many different things. This is where it went downhill for me. We ordered the ham croquettes, shishito peppers (check-​in offer), paella valenciana, and flank steak with chimichurri sauce. The ham croquettes were my favorite but sadly came in a portion of 4. Shishito peppers were good until I got the golden one and couldn’t stop coughing after I ate the spiciest one in the bowl. The flank steak was good but I felt like it was delivered cold to our table. Obviously it can’t be cooked too much but I just don’t like cold meat unless it ham. The paella was a disaster. The rice was not flavorful at all and the chicken was barely there. It was more seafood than anything. Fine, if you like seafood you’re good but I can’t seem to get over how bland the rice was. I ended up ordering the beef empanadas because I was still hungry (portions are small) and they were ok. Not the best I’ve had but at that point it was just to fill me up. Finally we closed up our meal with some churros, which also weren’t that great. The churro batter was very light. They practically melted in your mouth so fast you couldn’t really enjoy them. After my espresso I was ready to go. Service was good at first but at one point I think our server forgot about us. I recall this because she went missing right around the time I wanted to order the empanadas after not liking the paella. Maybe it was an off night for me, I’m not sure, but can’t say I would come back to this place. On to the next.

Great for drinks and tapas.
Reservations are a must. Usually crowded especially after work. Great atmosphere.

Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Bryant Park, this bar is great to duck out of the busy streets of the city and enjoy a drink.
The cocktails are the best in the city; mixed by talented and wonderful mixologists. Any drink made by Shane makes all other cocktails pale in comparison. Seasonal cocktails are always on point.
Amazingly attentive staff, friendly servers and fun people. This bar is not to be missed.

Love this place! Fantastic food, great service. Bread with every meal. There’s a casual coffee bar up front, and a restaurant and open kitchen with a bit more formal dining.

Such a great, hidden in plain sight gem. Great cocktails and delicious tapas menu. A little pricey but great ambiance.

Came here with my cousin. Got a couple rounds of drinks. Both of mine were overly sweet. We ordered paella, cheese, octopus, cauliflower and a few other dishes. I think the one thing I liked was the cauliflower that was somewhat memorable. The bar had a nice vibe it was packed on friday, loud but the bar itself is sort of tucked away and private.
Basically the food is not bad, but a bit expensive for quality of dishes. Its a nice place to go for a meal or whatever if you don’t particularly care what you want to eat and you just wanna hang out.

Just a bottle of good wind and some cheese/​cure meat plates — nothing more to recommend or to expect. This is a hidden «bar downstairs» in Andaz hotel. Nice interior with an open kitchen setting in front of the bar seating, communal tables, cozy couch area, etc. Also offers a good selection of wine at reasonable prices. Food options are not extensive and relatively pricey given quantity/​quality. To play safe, go with wine + cheese/​cured meats.
Came here in Friday evening, but surprisingly the place was not packed/​busy at all. Thursday evening seems to be usually busier.

What can I say? This place is my guilty pleasure when I come to New York. The quality of food and service is outstanding. My go to is the Pisco Sour. They do cocktails and they do them right. Stop in (if you can find it) and you won’t be disappointed. Only request. Don’t spread the word to folks you wouldn’t want in your bar downstairs. The vibe is awesome so let’s keep it that way! Cheers!

Love this bar, glad they finally reopened!
The hidden bar is located below the andaz hotel (hence the name), and is actually not that clearly marked. Once you go through the graffiti doors and head downstairs, make sure to make a u-​turn to get to the entrance of the bar.
Drinks are amazing here, but I’m taking a star off due to the price — They are $ 17 at the very least! I know this is kind of average price for NYC, but you can totally get completely custom cocktails at other speakeasy’s for a little less. Their food is just OK, we tried the croquettes and the paella on our last visit… so best to come here just for drinks and a light snack if you want.
Great date spot with dim lighting :)

Summary — The food is excellent here. Absolutely amazing. It’s on the pricey end though and the place gets PACKED. It’s really loud here, so don’t come here if you’re trying to have deep conversations.
Drinks — we just had beer, but the cocktails look really cool as well. We got the coner island mermaid pilsner and two roads worker’s comp saison. They’re both on the light side (which I prefer).
Foods —
1. Shishito peppers with crunchy sea salt — I got a little worried about eating just peppers, but because they’re cooked, they weren’t spicy at all. They’re absolutely delicious. This tapas works really well with pretty much any beer you get.
2. Octopus a la plancha — This was also tasty. Before trying it, I thought the octopus would just melt in my mouth. It didn’t have as much of a WOW factor as I thought it would, but it was still really good nonetheless. I also liked how the octopus legs had a bit of a crunch to it.
3. Smoked pork belly board — HOLY MOLY. You MUST get this. The pork belly is so juicy and crispy at the same time. Add this to a tomatillo (some sort of potato pancake) and BAM — magic. I wish the food portion was bigger because I was just sad to see it all end.
I really dig the interior. It’s cool because the restaurant seems like a hidden gem in the wall. You have to go in a hotel to find it. However, once you enter, it’s like a whole new world. It gets reallly packed here — Seeing how I came here on a Thursday night, I’d like to return on a less busy day.
I’m only taking a star away because it is so loud in here. It’s very difficult to hear what the other person has to say. I found myself screaming, «What??? What was that???» On the bright side, my company and I found more of a reason to focus on the food rather than trying to bring up side conversations.

Very cool spot — a bit of a hidden gem given its convoluted smoke and mirrors entrance but worth the adventure!
A new york rarity in that it is SPACIOUS and quiet (at least when I went at about 9 on a Friday). A great place for a post work catch up and conversation. Cocktails were delicious, and the one snack I ordered (some sort of shrimp in garlic sauce type deal) was great with actually not too stingy of a portion. The one negative is the prices — $ 16 /​$ 17 cocktails, even for New York is a bit laughable for a midtown joint. My advice — go here, but do it on someone else’s dime!

Hermoso y moderno bar ubicado justo enfrente a la Public Library de la 5ta Avenida. La entrada es por el costado de la cafetería, bajando las escaleras y doblando a la izquierda. Bello y ruidoso.

If you like value for your money, don’t even bother with this place. Better drinks can be found elsewhere for the same price and atmosphere, and the food portions here are LAUGHABLE and frankly not memorable at all (not sure what all the other reviews were saying).
Hard to find place. have to follow the signs. Once you’re inside, it’s very romantic/​dark/​intimate. That was the only plus about this place. However, you’re seated picnic table style next to other parties and it can potentially get pretty loud.
For drinks, we got the Fit for Battle, Pisco Sour (this tasted literally just like Fit for Battle…), and 2 whiskey drinks. They were all ok. Now for the food, we got croquetas de chorizo ($ 12) and paella valencia ($ 23). I wouldn’t even recommend to my worstest enemies to get the croquetas. For $ 12, you literally get 2 SMALL bites. it was good, sure. but each BITE was $ 12 and I do not have a large mouth. I don’t know how this place isn’t embarrassed by serving this. The paella was burnt on the bottom, and it’s barely enough food for 1 person’s dinner. and it’s at a pricey $ 23! I can get myself 2 10-​piece mcnuggets and 10 mcdoubles holy crap.
4 drinks and 2 food items for 2 people came out to ~$ 130 including tip. WHAT!!! GET ME SOME NICE STEAK INSTEAD.

My boyfriend and I dined at the Bar Downstairs at Andaz 5^th Avenue for dinner when we visited NYC a few weekends ago. There aren’t many good options in that part of town and we were hungry and wanted to escape the rain, so this seemed like a warm and inviting option. We were not disappointed! Outside of the slow service (it seemed like the waitress was over on the other side drinking with her friends), the experience was great. I loved the sleek, classy atmosphere and low-​lying couch-​like loungey seating.
We also loved the décor of the Andaz hotel — very warm and full of holiday spirit. Note that there is no bathroom in the restaurant and you have to go to the hotel lobby bathroom, located on a different floor. Finding the bathroom was an adventure in and of itself.
We ordered wine with our meal and it was perfect. For our appetizer we ordered the scallops and for our entrees we ordered steak and potatoes and another seafood dish. Very delicious overall!
I’d recommend this place to any hungry travelers in the area. It’s far superior to the touristy restaurant chains just a couple blocks away in Times Square.