(between 1st Ave & Avenue A)
Manhattan, NY 10009
Neighborhoods: East Village, Alphabet City
(212) 358-7582
Atmosphere:
Living up to it's name, this place is indeead small. There are two tables pushed against a wall, about 5 seats at a tiny bar and then one long glass table with several seats on either side. If it wasn't for the open store front it would be a heck of a time trying to get to those seats. But just because it's small doesn't me that Mini Bar doesn't have something to offer.
The walls are done in what looks like a sanded down and polished reclaimed wood for about half of the place and the rest is in muted greys, blues and silver tiles. The bathroom is awesome and sports what I believe to be a tasteful and interesting nude picture of Madonna. Oh and speaking of, this place is all about Madonna. Most menu items on the menu were named after Madonna songs and other than the odd 80's new wave classic the music consisted of Madonna songs mainly from her earlier days. Sound like it's too much? Suprisingly it's not. The fact that the owner loved Madonna so much that they named half their menu after her songs is not thrown in your face. You will be in the resturaunt for a good 10 minutes without even noticing.
Service:
On a Sunday after noon there were only 2 people working. All of the table were full, but any more than 2 staff would have been too much. The people were friendly and fairly efficient. Smiles on their faces and open to a conversation. There seemed to be some regulars of the place already and I could see coming by for an afternoon slice of pie and enjoying the company. (free wi-fi encourages the laptop kids too).
Food:
I admit I was a little surprised by the menu. For a place that is known for it's pie, I found a rather limited selection of pies available to me. There were salads, sandwiches and breakfast served at any hour (always a plus for me). Average price for main menu items ranged between $7 and $12. Was it worth that much for a sandwich? I would have to say no. It's not that it was bad food, it just didn't have a wow factor. There was fresh mozzerella and basil on a lot of the sandwiches, a tastey vineagrette on the salads, but it wasn't anything different. I found my bread and my croissant to be a little stale (due to the open air style of the food storage/prep area) and I prefer my bread to be softer. If I were to offer one thing off of the menu it would have to be, surprise surprise, the sour cream apple pie a la mode. It has the homemade taste and it isn't loaded up with too sweet toppings.
Overall rating:4 out of 10
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