Church Bar
“For dessert, we shared the tres leches tiramisu cake, which was to die for!!”
“This is a hidden gem that the neighborhood
conceals only too well …”
“The owner, Irma, was attentive, nice, and very down to earth engaging in conversations about the food and the history of the opening of the restaurant.”
Church Bar
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
5 reviews
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Church Avenue wine bar needs to step up its game.
I really wanted to like this place, but it is yet another example of a local restaurant that chokes my desire to dine in the neighborhood.
Go for drinks and appetizers, but do yourself a favor and skip the entrées. They host a happy hour Monday through Friday from 4 to 7 and offer some interesting cocktails. Sadly, the entrées are a huge disappointment.
We walked in at 6:30 PM and it was empty, on a Saturday night, except for two customers at the bar. It was still empty when we left an hour later.
Note that the menu is very limited. If you are going to offer a limited menu, it is wise to do everything on the menu brilliantly. The bites that we sampled were ordinary.
We started with a trio of crostini that were served cold, and considering the ingredients, probably should have been grilled or at least warmed to bring out the flavors. This was not our worst bite of the evening.
We ordered steak skewers, that appeared to have been frozen, since you could not request them without mushroom. Telltale sign of a preprepared frozen item. The cut of meat was so tough that no amount of chewing dissolved it. Your meal should not make your jaw hurt. Ow.
While the sauce was flavorful, offering a side of mashed potatoes with a Spanish inspired meal is confusing, and a bad idea.
Mashed potatoes, to me, are a lazy offering in a restaurant. Why not offer grilled brussels sprouts, or mushroom caps, or plantain chips or Mexican corn?
My mistake was ordering paella in a restaurant that was not owned by Spaniards.
While it was served in a cast iron pan, it was obviously not prepared in that pan. No Soccarat. Part of the beauty of this rice dish is the charred, crispy rice skin that forms on the bottom of the pan. Seeing that this was missing made my heart sink. It appeared they used frozen vegetables, Krasdale peas and carrots perhaps? Way too much rubberband-like calamari, surrounding two flavorless shrimp, on a bed of bland rice that tasted of uncle Ben's. Throw a pat of butter in there! Flavor it with pork belly or bacon fat! If you are going to charge $22 for rice, it should have more flavor than the lemon that I squeezed on it.
If a couple walks in and orders an appetizer, cocktails, and two entrées… Expect an $80 bill… Yikes! For that price, you really want to love the food, and sadly… We did not.
The one thing I must say is that our server was remarkable. Friendly, informed, attentive, fast with taking our orders and bringing us our drinks and meals. She is the reason why this restaurant earned it stars.
The food was meh, dipped in meh, covered in meh sauce.
This bar is located in The Roxy hotel where we enjoy staying when visiting NYC. The bar has a very cool vibe and definitely seems to be a local hangout on the weekends. Friday and Saturday nights are standing room only in the bar area and very hard to find a seat in the lounge outside of the bar. They usually have a live band in the lounge until late night when the DJ sets up in the bar area.
During the week, it's a little more low key and much easier to find a quiet spot for a couple of drinks. Plan on paying about $16 per drink for specialty cocktails and about $7 for beer which is pretty standard for this neighborhood.
+++
– 5 stars for what its worth. Initially, it seems unassuming and generic, until you get walloped by the food and the service…great date spot
– Of the flavored sangrias, we both thought raspberry was the best
– Shrimp ceviche was all star, they give you sooooo much (We even used the juice leftover to marinate some chicken which ended up being awesometude)
++
– Peach sangria tasted more alcoholic than the two other reds we had
– Ricotta crostini was my favorite
– Impossible dessert must be great, because they're always out
– Tres leches tiramisu was a star worthy performance
+
– Strawberry sangria was delightful, but tasted like juice, which can be good or bad depending who you ask
– Quesadillas were basic, but good. There was something spicy in there, that I couldn't exactly pinpoint
– Guacamole was good, but I don't remember it being a grand experience
– Mushroom crostini; alright
– Garganzola crostini; cool
–
I just moved to the neighborhood and I'm exploring what it has to offer. I must have walked past this place a couple of times before I even noticed it (which, I liked about it already).
Went in last night and had a few glasses of wine, beers and an Old Fashioned with a close friend of mine. The place was empty when we first got there, and slowly but surely it started to populate with locals. A friendly dad with his kids (it was early, like 6pm'ish) a woman reading a book by the car, a couple of on a date and a few other friendly, smiling faces.
The bartender was super nice and made a solid Old Fashioned for my friend. The ambiance, price point and general chilled-out vibe the place has are what really make it alluring. I'm glad this is just up the street and I will definitely be back.
An intimate, romantic place where food is prepared to order. It has a European vibe and the hospitality is top notch. I ordered the vegetable quiche without the onions and it was loaded with mushrooms and other fantastic veggies. Even on Saturday afternoon they have happy hour with delicious drinks and yummy wines. Their Italian red is high quality and at $4 at happy hour