The Malt House FiDi

When in the FiDi, this is my place. Okay, one of my places. Great beer list, excellent vegetarian options on the menu, and attentive servers. Definitely not one of those Manhattan tourist traps or fake, soulless places where all they want is your money, and try to deliver only the minimum in exchange, because they don’t rely on return customers. They know you’ll never be back. No, Malt House has managed to keep something very genuine about the experience. I’ll definitely be back. My only complaint is about the fact that it’s popular enough — no surprise there — that it can be crowded and very loud at times.

This is one of my favorite places for lunch/​dinner in the FiDi area. The service is always welcoming and friendly. It can get pretty crowded around happy hour but happy hour ends at 6:00PM and it usually clears out a bit a little after that. During happy hour they offer select drafts for $ 5.00 and liquor & certain wine for $ 6.00. They also have a few apps they offer for $ 5.00 during HH as well. Of these apps, my friends & I usually share the buttermilk chicken bites & cheese curds which are really good. For lunch/​dinner, my favorites are the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich and malt house burger.

3 – 3.5 stars. Came here for lunch with some colleagues from work. I ordered the market fish tacos, which turned out to be mahi mahi with beans and corn. There were 3 mini tacos, so the portions were definitely generous. I found the tacos to be wholesome tasting but extremely forgettable. The fish wasn’t flavored in any special way. The only thing that stood out was the green peppers in there were actually very spicy, but not sure if I liked this in the end or not. I also tried their regular fries, which were very average. Imagine typical bar food fries that are seasoned solely with salt and are a little bit crunchy. The truffle fries are massively not worth it: they are basically just giant pieces of potatoes with a sprinkling of truffle oil.
Service was average. Overall I would say this place is an okay place to visit for lunch but definitely not remarkable by any means. Prices are reasonable though, especially for FiDi!

A solid sit-​down option for lunch in FiDi. I had the salmon poboy. The salmon was cooked in a nice cajun sauce and was complemented with a very generous portion of avocado, some onions, siracha aioli, all wrapped between two pieces of buttered buns. Everything tasted fine but not super memorable. I thought that the best part of the sandwich was the bun itself. You can also choose between a side of fries or mixed greens. For an extra $ 1, you can opt for truffle fries, but BEWARE these truffle fries are NOT good. I wouldn’t even call them fries, they’re more just huge cuts of potato sprinkled with a bit of truffle oil on top. Get the regular fries instead, they’re so normal that you can’t go wrong with them.
I came in a group of 9, and we were kindly seated in a long bench near the front of the restaurant. It was a bit cramped, despite the fact that the restaurant is quite spacious, so needless to say, not the most comfortable. For a large group, the service was good enough. The food all came out at the same time and at a relatively good pace so no complaints on the service front.
For $ 20, it’s not bad for a sit-​down meal, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here.

Had a great experience here while in town for a long holiday weekend. They feature an impressive craft beer list and our bartender, Ronan, was one of the best we’ve ever experienced.
The food is best described as high end gastropub fare — creative, decadent, well conceived, well executed, and plated nicely. We started with the chunky truffle fries (presented like a delicious Jenga game) and they were excellent. From there we proceeded to the Malt House Burger and the Seasonal Fish Tacos (with Mahi Mahi on our visit) based on the bartender’s recommendation and both were among the best we’ve had anywhere. The MH branding iron on the burger bun is a great touch.
It’s a fairly new establishment (opened in early 2015) and is beautifully constructed with exposed Carnegie steel beams. There are a couple of TVs if you want to keep up on the score of a game, but they are not the star of the show in any way. (In fact, the reviewer that had a bad experience with TVs must have been sitting at the one table in the entire place where the TV is right overhead.) It is apparent that much care went into designing both the space and the menu. Had we been in town for longer we would have stopped in again — and will definitely do so next time we are in town.

We needed a pit stop and happened across the Malt House. It did the job.
Tasty guacamole, OK sandwich and fries and decent ale. A mixed clientele with tourists and suited workers mixing happily.
Somewhere to remember.

Finally a great dining option in FiDi! Malt House has a super fun atmosphere with an equally delicious menu. Their burger is amazing, but the must-​order on their menu are the fried cheese curds that come with a chipotle mayo that is to die for. I probably could have just eaten those as my meal.
Where they lose 2 stars is service. I was here with a group of 6 for a late lunch (meaning it was empty!) and the service was awful. We first ordered a bottle of the Malbec for the table, and our waitress brought out an already-​opened bottle, poured it for us, and left without asking for an opinion. I know this isn’t a wine bar but that’s pretty common practice to uncork the bottle table side and make sure it’s to everyones liking. It would have done her well because after she left we realized she had brought a merlot by accident. Once that situation cleared up we had about 4 different waitresses throughout the meal, but when it came time to get the check there was not a waitress in sight. We waited a good hour between finishing our food and receiving the check.

2.5 stars that could easily be improved to 5 stars.
The Malt House FiDi is an attractive bar with an excellent selection of beer and whiskey. I also enjoyed the food including fried cheese curds and the staff is friendly and attentive.
You can order a flight of American, Irish, or Scotch whiskey for $ 30, great!
The décor is also very nice with Edison squirrel cage style lightbulbs throughout. The only reason I give the bar less than 5 stars are the three incredibly large and incredibly bright televisions that made it feel like an ESPN Zone restaurant.
If you don’t mind having unmissable Bud Light ads broadcast to you while drinking your latest craft beer, or having bright blue lights interfering with your melatonin, the place is near perfect.

This place is near work so I’ve been able to meet up friends here a number of times. We also had a coworkers farewell here and the management is really friendly and accommodating.
The food is really good… their truffle fries… yuuuuuuummmzies! My favorite thing to eat here is their sliders… holy salivary glands… I could eat you every day if my waist line permitted. Sadly, I am the type who gains weight just by drinking water so I will have to wait for another special occasion to eat these delicious flavorful morsels.

This place has great atmosphere, offer really decent food and a good happy hour. My only real complaint was their service. If all the waitresses just manned their stations… everything would have been great! As the night went on it really got busy and the waitresses were all over the place trying to take care of everyone. They were having office holiday parties and where we sat we were smack dab in the middle of one parties. The waitress should have just mentioned to us that they were having a party in this area we would have just moved. This place got busy really fast.
There was some confusion, We had other waitress just come and look at our table and walk away until I stopped one of them to ask where our food was and we were ready for another drink. She told us that our original waitress went on her break. I was really annoyed but I did chuckle because it seemed so ridiculous. It took over 35 – 40 minutes to get our food but our waitress really apologized and told us that she screwed up and I really respected that she took responsibility. After that, we just had very sporadic service (practically none). The bar food was really delicious. I had their fried cheese curds (how could you not like that), buttermilk bites, truffle fries and onion rings.
Service was a problem because they were slammed but I really did like the food that I ordered. I would go there again but next time I am going to sit at the bar.

Came here on a Wednesday around 8:30pm for drinks with about 13 other people. The bar were pretty crowded, too crowded for us all to stand and chat. The waitress was nice enough to accommodate our group at a large picnic style table next to the window. The bar was pretty loud and dark, but the ambiance was nice. The bar was decorated with lights and there was also a Christmas tree, it was very festive for the holiday season. The draught beer selection was big, but in order to see it you had to get up and go look at the chalk board behind the bar. Pretty inconvenient when you’re sitting at a table far away from the bar with a large group. I guess this just means they change the taps and keep everything fresh since they don’t have a printed menu. I would definitely like to come back for happy hour to try it again.

Bar be poppin’ and the food be slammin’! Alright, let me stop and get down to the real deal. I did not try any of their drinks, not even tap, due to health constraints. However, I did inhale enough food to say, «Dayaaam, can I get some more?» Malt House burger was cooked to perfection, delivering quality in every bite. Bacon and beer onion rings promised the grease and the flavors. Truffle steak fries were yummy, but I barely tasted the truffle. Sorry, that was the only downside. Actually no, the noise level is also the downside but hey, that’s what you get for having dinner in a bar.

Three of us went for a quick late lunch during the week. The place was not too crowded and we were seated right away. The lighting was bright. The place is very open and airy. There were a few TVs at the bar area. I ordered the seasonal salad which had beets, baby kale, arugula, grape tomatoes, and carrots. The dressing was very light. Although a good portion, it was not filling. The two other people I was with got chicken on top of their salad. That would make it a hearty meal but I wasn’t very hungry. Overall a good place for a quick healthy lunch. If I lived or worked in the area, I would return and try the bar after work.

Convenient lunch spot with lovely décor and ambiance! I came here at 12:00 noon on a Tuesday and it was mostly empty. It’s quite spacious inside, so I could see this being a fun spot later for happy hour or hanging out with a large group of friends.
I had the blackened salmon po’boy sandwich. The fish was nicely cooked, and the overall flavors were great. The onions were too tough, though.
Service was fast and friendly. I will likely be back!

Worth a visit. My experience was like stumbling upon a warm cottage while traveling through the woods. I don’t recall how or why but I had dinner there on a weeknight near midnight; everything else was closed.
Most of the restaurant was empty but the bar was filled with energetic folks who seemed to be having a little too much fun for a weeknight. I really enjoyed that kind of energy.
The food was amazing. The Malt House Burger was very satisfying. The Mac & Cheese looked and tasted great. Its seasoning made the dish very unique too.
The service was typical (for being served at the bar).
The interior was very interesting. It was dimly lit but I could tell a lot of effort went into it.

Good atmosphere. Good cider. Bad food.
I came in here on a Sunday with my friend to grab brunch. I live down the street and have been curious about the new restaurant, but was disappointed by my experience here. I got the eggs Benedict, my friend got truffle fries. When the food came out, she received regular fries with a side of mayo and my Benedict was COVERED in hollandaise sauce. After scraping 3 tablespoons to the side of my dish, I was excited to dig in. To my disappointment (again) the eggs were over cooked and we’re basically hard boiled eggs, not poached.
Probably won’t be back in here again. At least not for food.

I like the atmosphere here. I enjoyed the after work scene. Everyone was excited it was Friday. I didn’t see many people eating until later. The food looked really good when it was coming out on the platter. I had a in house recommendation (close to blue moon) topped off with orange juice. It was actually really tasty and I liked it a lot. Thanks for the suggestion.
My friend and I just were catching up, hanging out, and a family walked in and they sat down right next to us, order some food and realized. Therefore this is not ok for a family establishment too. Great location tight off maiden lane.

Stopped here for happy hour with a colleague with high expectations and an order of truffle fries in mind. Mediocre at best for food and venue.
Venue: (³⁄₅) it’s a casual bar for the after work crowd. The crowd is professionals of all ages. Nothing special to note but not a dive bar. Great for groups of friends, not dates.
Good (²⁄₅) — truffle fries were thick cut and still raw in the middle. Would not order again. M
With too many bars for the happy hour crowd, stone street is the better option.

Had a work lunch here. A nice, decorative and new restaurant. The place has great ambiance and high ceilings. I was seated on the second floor, overlooking the bar, like a balcony. Like any gastropub, their burgers are the staple dish. Their malt burger was big and juicy. It came with a side of fries, which didn’t disappoint.
Typically that would rate a good 4 star review but some things did catch my eye on this visit. They’re relatively knew and required a handy man to fix some issues with loose boards or something. As I was eating with my coworkers on the second floor, a guy with a power drill was drilling something nearby. Not exactly a turnoff for lunch but why did it have to be done while customers are eating? Maybe it was something serious and required immediate attention but it just felt like eating at a construction site.
This alone wouldn’t warrant a full star deduction. The other issues I had were with the second floor seating, which is narrow in certain areas which made walking difficult if someone was seated at certain tables. Finally, the service may good on the first floor, but it gets a bit quiet on the second floor. Not much attention was given to patrons up here since the servers were downstairs most of the time. Even getting the check took a bit of time to flag someone down on the floor below.
Overall, the place looks nice, it has a modern feel to a classic bar appeal, but the functionality of the layout is not conducive for attentive service. They’re probably great for happy hour, just don’t get stuck on the second floor unless you’re up there for the view.

Took my buddy here for some good old comfort food since it was newly opened in the neighborhood! The Malt House is definitely a nice addition to the neighborhood as the space is large and can seat many people while the atmosphere is fun and not too businessy. Our waitress was very attentive at first when we were ordering, but I think they must have picked up since it was hard later to get our check.
We had only two dishes since both of us were feeling the humidity and ate late lunches. We had the Mac and Cheese where we added lobster, and truffle fries. The truffle fries are gigantic in size… and although they don’t look like much since there is about eight of them, they are literally like eating a fourth of a potato each. I like the flavor of them, but I don’t think I loved how thick they were as the flavor kind of kind majorly diluted by the mass of potato in each bite. The house aioli was dope though!
The mac and cheese was legit. The plate was HUMONGOUS. I don’t know how it is listed as an appetizer, but there it was. The lobster we added, the portion was kind of small. The chunks were big but there weren’t many of them. I am always looking for ways to get that perfect bite of all the flavors in a dish. It would have been nice if they were smaller pieces but more of them. The taste was excellent though and I very much appreciated how creamy and cheesy the dish was.
I enjoyed the Malt House, and I’m sure it will change little by little as time goes on since it just opened. I look forward to trying it again sometime soon!