The Park
“There are different rooms with unique vibes that allow you to chill by a fireplace or dance upstairs.”
“And considering you're not paying any cover like you would at every other similarly-designed place downtown, it's a fair trade.”
“But you come here for the lounge, not the food, so quit your complaining.”
The Park
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I come here for the nightlife only so that's what I am commenting on. Firstly, you have to be dressed appropriately to be able to get in. This means you have to be in a button down, no shorts, and no running shoes.
Once you get inside there are several different rooms and bars throughout the place. There's two dance floors: one in the backroom and one upstairs. If you don't want to scream over one another, then there's a really nice room you can hangout where there's a lit up tree in the middle.
Drinks are the typical NYC price. Service is standard. Definitely one of the spots I keep in my mind when going out in the area.
I came here to celebrate a family member's graduation. The atmosphere is really nice, and our server was very friendly. It's nice that they have a lot of vegetarian options on their menu, but I really wish they had vegan options labeled as well since just about all of the vegetarian options had some form of dairy in them.
My fiance and I each ordered one of their vegan pies without cheese (we also asked to swap the cheese with mushrooms and they accommodated). When our orders came out they didn't have ricotta, but did have mozzarella on them. The manager came out and apologized for it when they brought out our correct orders. It seems the kitchen messed up because our server said they wrote "no dairy" on the order. I thought the pizza I got was pretty good, it was a lot better when I took the half I didn't finish home and reheated it in my oven with miyoko's vegan mozzarella. Everyone else we were with seemed to be happy with what they ordered, and all of the staff were very friendly, polite and attentive.
Would I come back here? Only if I was with a group of omnivores that really wanted to go here, but I wouldn't suggest it. I'd love to come back on my own but I wouldn't unless they add better vegan options to the menu. I was also disappointed the bread and oil they brought out for the table wasn't even vegan (the bread had egg). But they definitely have the potential to modify a few of their menu items and make a couple of really great vegan dishes, they could even just stock some vegan cheese for pizzas. I'd really love to see that happen.
This was my second time having brunch at The Park. The first time I went, the meal was less than memorable but I was willing to give The Park another shot after the folks at the front desk at Equinox gushed about it.
After our Equinox session, my friend and I were pretty excited to negate the workout we just did with brunch cocktails and breakfast carbs. My friend had been anxious to check out The Park since she's walked by it a few times and saw how picturesque it looks inside. It is a very pretty restaurant, broken up into a bar area, a dining area and the covered garden/green house with ample seating as well. The garden alone can attract a large, curious brunch crowd with its Secret Garden like décor, covered in greenery, trees, and hanging plants. As pretty as the restaurant is, the disappointing food outshines all that's positive.
To start, the bloody mary was watered down and the complimentary banana bread was dry and not enjoyable. To make up for that, we started with the warm donuts and those were actually decent. There were 6 small donuts total and all were fluffy and warm so no complaints there. Our brunch just fell flat completely when the meals came out. I had the pulled pork and eggs and I spent the majority of the time picking off large fatty pieces. Normally I wouldn't care, I understand that it's pork and it's naturally fatty but there was so much of it. Also, I had a hard time believing that the pork was slow braised at all; it did not fall apart at all. The toast served on top made this dish tolerable as it offered a depth of texture on this rather one note dish. My friend decided on the always crowd pleasing eggs benedict only not to be pleased at all. Her canadian bacon was a thinly sliced piece of ham and the sorry excuse of a potato hash brown was more suitable as a hockey puck.
Overall, The Park offers up a disappointing brunch in a garden like oasis. I felt betrayed by Sunday brunch here. Sunday Brunch is one thing that makes Sunday more of a funday and less of a pre-Monday kind of day, ya know?
Oh and if you do decide to brunch here, watch out for those hanging plants, they tend to drip out runoff water onto the table.
Only commenting on the nightlife.
Approximately one year ago, I went with my best friend and the guy I liked to The Park. We were meeting up with the guy's friends. A friend of friend there was the most outrageous person I have ever met, and in a bad way. He wouldn't understand why I kept turning down his cocaine, and constantly tried putting it on my lips. I do not blame The Park for that. He ended up facebook friend requesting me and he constantly has super amusing drama on facebook, so in the end I am very glad to have met him. I love other people's facebook drama.
Also that night, one year ago, the guy I liked walked me out of the bar and explained that he was not ready to date me. I was drunk, confused, and upset. That would prove to be the first of many late night half-rejection, half-one-day-we-will-date talks. Needless to say, we never dated, and I feel anger building up in me when I think about standing outside of The Park.
But that is neither here nor there. This review is about the INSIDE of The Park. Which I just frequented this past weekend. What an awesome place! No cover that I know of. I was worried about getting in because I'm not a hott girl (aka I get rejected outside of The Park at 3am) and I am certainly too old and too smart to want to go out in heels. I believe a year ago I was wearing like a work dress (so no cleavage, appropriate length) and sandals and I got in problem. This past weekend I was wearing sandals and a black romper–again, no issues. Phew. The guys who were meeting us did get turned away though for being in sneakers.
Anyway, you walk in and this place is huge. There is the initial bar area, which is kind of swanky and nice and then a back bar, and a dance floor. Through there (or original bar area) is a huge outdoor patio with brick and trees and it is just gorgeous. There is also a little indoor seating area. None of these places that I have mentioned ever got too crowded. And I was there on a Saturday night from 12am-3am.
Then, upstairs. I am super shocked that no drunk person has fallen to their death off of the staircase, but I have to assume no one has? Upstairs is a bit more crowded but it was okay. A large bar area, a gorgeous patio/low level roof deck, and a dance floor.
The music was great. So great that I left my friends multiple times cause they were playing "my jam"
All in all–this past weekend was greater than a year ago. But The Park remained the same and pretty great!
I came here for a date on Sunday night and was immediately impressed by the interior. I had walked by this place multiple times and was drawn in by the beautiful courtyard. The restaurant is huge and has a ton of different spaces, so when we arrived for an early dinner (6 pm) we were given a choice of where we wanted to be. We chose to sit inside because it was really humid outside, but the atmosphere outside is definitely better.
Our waiter was super attentive and upbeat, and he refilled our tiny water glasses constantly. Having walked around a ton beforehand, this was much appreciated. We ordered the calamari to start and then the grilled hibiscus salmon that came with a snap pea, corn, and wheatberries accompaniment as well as the rigatoni with braised spare ribs. The food was all good but not outstanding.
For a nice restaurant, I was surprised by the state of their bathroom. Considering the restaurant was almost completely empty (ie they were not overwhelmed with patrons) and it was the start of their dinner service, I would think it would be a lot cleaner.
Tip: the rooftop is only open on Fridays and Saturdays!
The park is a great place that I usually go to for brunch when I am visiting New York. It is one of the rare good locations that isn't always packed in the area and it has a great sunroom. Although I think they dropped their quality of food over the years. I ordered the crispy avocado frisée salad with poached eggs; the avocados were great but the salad greens weren't fresh. I also didn't have any frisée but another type of cheaper curly lettuce. My husband ordered eggs Benedict and his potatoes were almost burned, while his eggs were nicely cooked. The breakfast pizza tasted good but it was a bit too oily to enjoy. The bloody marrys were simply excellent. Our service wasn't bad. The complimentary banana bread was delicious.
This place appears to be everything! It's a club, it's a bar, it's a lounge, and it's a restaurant too. I had a great time here!
I'm really digging the earthy decor and the levels of ratchetness I experienced. As well as, obscure music and basic hip hop here (anything that isn't hip hop is plain obscure to me). I saw people from many facets of life here (minus hobos).
I will say that the staff was really good at clearing up the drinks when they fell in the "club" portion of it. I enjoyed my drinks here but I cannot comment on price since I didn't pay for them (I'm sure they are pricey). And, it was only after I saw my cousin make out with three different girls in a span of ten minutes, that I realized maybe life ain't so bad at 2 am. Everyone's happy and snap chatting and dancing, and we think too much and should just live in the moment. It was my anti-zen Buddha awakening and it lasted maybe 25 min before my feet started to hurt and I wanted to go home.
I would definitely come back here!
Came in for dinner and drinks on a Saturday night. We did not have a reservation, but we were seated pretty fast! The restaurant has a pretty cool layout and atmosphere, but the seating in the enclosed outdoor section was not the best. It was humid and not well ventilated, but I guess that's what you get for not having a reservation and coming in on a rainy night. The food was decent. The calamari was amazing! Hot and crispy. For dinner we got one pizza to split between the two of us and it was more than enough. We got the Smoked Chicken with Asiago Cheese, Topped with a Cracked Egg Pizza because I can not turn down a good pizza with egg!
Drinks, drinks, drinks! The sangria was amazing and came in a v large glass. Like water glass status. No complaints there. I also tried the Hendricks Mash. It was good, but a bit sweet for my palate (not to say I did not have three more). After dinner we moved over to the bar section to continue the evening. It was a great scene! Not too crowded, but you still got the bar atmosphere. Drinks were reasonably priced for NYC, too. Definitely stop in if you're in the area.