Craftbar Restaurant Review

Craftbar
900 Broadway
212 461 4300
Grade: B

The arm candy and I had ourselves a little date night last Saturday. After cheap drinks and college football we decided to class it up a little more and dine our asses off at Craftbar.

The attractive and affable hostess seated us at boot/table before a creepy bearded server greeted us with menus. Brown paper on the tables reminded me of the UPS package I was supposed to get but my mildly sweet and strong but-not-too-strong Old Fashioned perked me back up. The rosemary grissini breadsticks that came out disappeared in five minutes and I kept munching on them throughout the meal.

The menu is expansive and it took a a while to decide what to eat even though I'd been looking at it for a few days online. I started with a Pig's Head Terrine. Cold and smoky, the freshness of the mostarda brightened it quite nicely. The lady had Polenta Fritters with jalapeno that were nowhere near crispy or spicy enough.

Braised Short Ribs over Anson Mills Grits with a deep fried egg greeted me for main course. The ribs were rich, tender and extremely beefy though the grits were a little under seasoned. The Fried egg on top was a nice touch and is a cool trick. Deep frying gets the white crispy quickly while the yolk remains ooey-gooey. When the sauce from the ribs mixed with the egg yolk and the grits, it formed a creamy culinary mush I wanted to be served in a Big Gulp cup with a bubble tea straw so I could take it anywhere.

My date had a lackluster celery root ravioli with a sauce that was, well, weak-sauce. The Thomasville, GA cheese I had was creamy but I could have taken it all in one bite. I much preferred the silky butterscotch pots de creme my date ordered. It was the most perfect part of the entire meal.

Our servers were attentive and helpful with menu questions but one was creepy and unshaven and the other one was fat and sweaty. I know it sounds shallow but, come on. Don't send two dudes that look like serial rapists to give me food.