The Dakota Bar

Generally come here with a girlfriend Friday nights after our manicure. Love our waitress Stephanie, who remembers us and our order. Great selection of wines and delicious apps– especially the pigs in a blanket. Pizza is great as are the sliders and the cheese plate. A great spot for a date or a casual, though pricey night out

Seriously overpriced. Everything about the place is fine, staff is great, food is fine, drinks are standard, atmosphere is comfortable. Prices are insane.

I’ve tried Dakota Bar a few times over the past few years, but sadly the experience has stayed the same since it opened. Good food (but pricey) and a great interior, but very poor service at the bar. Every time I’ve sat at the bar it’s taken at least 5 – 7 minutes to be waited on, and I’ve never been offered a second drink.
Maybe Dakota Bar can continue to exist with the high volume of tourists in the area, but I think a change in attitude could go a long way with the locals (especially with the fantastic bartenders at The Ribbon on the same block!)

The service, the penne, and the drinks. Wait, let’s not forget the ambiance. Don’t intend to party, but to actually relax, talk, and enjoy your company’s presence. Thank you Ricky and team! Will visit again.

I like this bar. My friend and I enjoyed a few vodka martinis with hand-​stuffed blue cheese olives here one Friday night. They were well-​made and right on! We eventually ordered some calamari that was delicious, especially that marinara sauce!
The crowd here was eh, just okay. The prices were steep, but we knew what we were getting into and enjoyed ourselves. For a few rounds and one food item, we paid fifty-​something each.
I imagine this is a good date spot, or a place to enjoy a cocktail before going some place else. I would come back, but I wouldn’t come out of my way to do so because of the prices.

After glasses of wine and appetizers nearby, a friend and I came to The Dakota Bar for a round of drinks. Grabbing two seats at the end of the bar, we both ordered an Old Fashioned. Mixed in front of us and garnished with brandy-​soaked cherries, they hit the spot!

Visited the Bar along with girlfriend who lives in the LES for a bottle of wine and appetizers. As we discovered the «very limited» wine list, we skipped the appetizers. Sommeliar non-​existent. Wait staff clearly clueless. Ambiance — strange odor + LOUD, LOUD, LOUD crowd noise level. Typical Bar décor. Seating — Crowded — uncomfortable chair/​table — particularly along the window area. Wait Staff — inattentive — slow — rude
Don’t waste your time visiting this Bar!

As far as bars on the Upper West Side go, Dakota Bar is certainly one of the few standout spots. That said, you shouldn’t go out of your way for it. It’s not a fratty/​student-​packed (sometimes those are one and the same) nightmare, but its fairly underwhelming — especially for the price.
Came here on a Saturday night around 10/10:30. Though the place was pretty packed, we managed to find a tiny table near the the window. The ambiance here is very chic — classy/​trendy and slightly sexy. As is the case with most cocktail bars, you’ve got your dim lighting and plenty of candles. Could easily serve as a good date spot if you’re looking to avoid going downtown. There are very few bars on the UWS that I’d consider intimate enough for a date, so there’s definitely a need for a place like Dakota in the neighborhood. That said, the place is actually quite spacious. You’ve got bar seating, booths and small tables by the window. If you’re coming here with friends I’d recommend getting a booth, but sit at one of the smaller tables if you’re on a date. Otherwise you might be listening to another party’s conversation for the night (in other words, it’s tight — I mean that in the most literal sense).
Important note: Great. Music. So much Michael Jackson and Whitney. So much Thriller dancing. Sorry to my fellow patrons. Sometimes it just needs to happen. Wasn’t even drunk. If you don’t like it, just Beat It.
The cocktails here are nothing special. Like I said, nothing to go out of your way for. I ordered the Maple Old Fashioned, which looked promising. It honestly just tasted like straight whiskey to me. 14 bucks for a mediocre cocktail pretty much sums up why I’m giving Dakota Bar three stars as opposed to four. The rest of the cocktails looked interesting, but still not worth that much money. If you go to Manhattan Cricket Club up the street, you’re going to get a much better product for basically the same price.
Lastly, our server could not have been less pleasant. We were perfectly nice to her and she couldn’t even crack a smile. She wasn’t overtly mean to us, but there was nothing in her behavior that would imply she wanted to be hospitable in the slightest. Just made the whole thing pretty uncomfortable. I would’ve given Dakota Bar 3.5 if not for this, but it’s unsettling to be served by someone who’s so impolite. My only hypothesis would’ve been that she was annoyed because we weren’t ordering food, but there were plenty of folks around us who were sticking with drinks as well. Even if that was a case, still not an excuse. Who knows.

Fancy bar with a squared u-​shape bar in center. Nice marble bar top and bar face. Wide bottom chair with extra padded seat and back support. Wood floors. Great lighting, interesting musical instrument chandelier and Edison bulbs on south side. South side has couple high top tables and north side has additional high top ba leaders with booth style seating along wall. Windows open on sw corner to Columbus and 72^nd. Bar «back» contains columned bottle shelves. Great service and strong pours. At least one tv but not a place to watch sports. Well to do clientele.

Was really looking forward to trying this place, but when my friends and I went last night, we arrived to two people waiting inside the doorway to be seated (mind you, it was right after work so it was still empty). The two bartenders looked at now all five of us standing in the doorway and looked away – no acknowledgement or request to wait a few minutes… just a blank stare in our direction. If you are going to neglect your potential customers, at least don’t look at them so we can have the luxury of thinking maybe you didn’t see us. Another gentleman walked in behind us a few minutes later and promptly turned around and left.
Eventually the couple ahead of us asked if they could sit at one of the many empty tables and one of the bartenders said «Okay.» My friends and I left after waiting another couple of minutes (since all of the tables on the side where there were a few people were only for two) and luckily ended up at Ella a block away and had amazing happy hour drinks and tapas and even more amazing service. There are too many great places around the area for The Dakota Bar to conduct their business in this manner, but their loss was our gain as we had a wonderful night a block away!

After coming here twice and having the same exact experience both times, here is a run down:
–Nice, classy ambiance.
–The place screams pretension. No thanks.
–Slow, cold staff. Why do they seem so miserable? Oh, that’s right. A lot of the patrons think they’re special.
–Pricey.

This was definitely an interesting place for people watching to say the very least. Lots of internet first dates going on at the bar, so if you enjoy watching people interacting awkwardly on their first date then you should definitely come here after 7pm on a week night! We sat at the bar and watched it all unfold — between the couple fighting next to us about one of them lying on Facebook to the online date gone wrong with the guy asking for a Bud Light and thus turning off his date (she was seriously putting back the glasses of vino and they were discussing matzoball soup. riveting). My friend and I enjoyed this because we have nothing better to do than mock others, clearly. Just wanted to set the scene a bit — but in all seriousness, it is a nice bar; very sultry and so I could see why it would be a strong choice for first date cocktails!
My bestest pal ordered a sausage pizza with jalapenos and he claimed it was the best pizza he has had in a while and would come back for that alone. I had the cobb salad because I am currently watching my whalish figure. This salad was massive and loaded with entirely too much bacon, cheese and avacado for my liking. I wouldn’t order it again and would probably order one of their lighter salads and add a protein option. Their beverage list was very substantial, between the wines by the glass and bottle + all of the bourbons, etc. I had a prosecco and then a Malbec (or two!). The pours were very generous, the bartenders were friendly but not invasive. I would come back for sure!