Employees Only
“YUMMO (plus always nice to see generosity with the protein)
3) Did they put cocaine in that utterly delicious bone marrow popper?!”
“Décor and setting are old school, 1920's-30's speakeasy with a huge bar back covered in array of top shelf liquors.”
“Amelia: Aylesbury Duck vodka & St. Germain shaken with pureed blackberries and lemon juice.”
Employees Only
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Coat Check: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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I love this place! It's going to be small and crowded, be aware. But the drinks are so good that I don't really care how loud it can be at the bar area. In the back are a couple tables- make sure you call ahead to book one.
Usually I just get drinks here and on the wkds it can have an half hour line, but to celebrate graduation I came for food. I had the fish and my friend had the sausage pasta– we both enjoyed it! Service is timely and good but it's busy so it gets hectic.
Wow, this speakeasy is truly spectacular.
Our waitress looked like she was pulled out of a 1920s magazine: bob-length haircut, long pearl necklace. I absolutely loved it! All the bartenders looked so professional yet suave and made possibly the best cocktails I've ever had.
Starting with the Billionaire cocktail ($16), AMAZING. That drink is so strong yet you won't even know it. Having not eaten earlier, I had already started buzzing from half the drink! But it is delicious and so well made I wouldn't complain to drinking that all night.
I got the Ginger Smash ($16) next. Also, delicious. Not the biggest fan of ginger, but it was still really good! And like I keep saying this, very well made. There are many little ginger pieces in the drink.
The steak tartare was amazing. A handsome waiter came by and mixed it up for us, adding in several ingredients into the tartare (unfortunately, I don't remember them all 🙁 ). There was an egg yolk on top, onto which he added shallots, and 3 other spices I guess you could call it? You pair that off with these very crispy thin toasted (maybe sourdough?) bread slices and wow, the combination just takes you away. There are so many flavors incorporated into this. They also provide a side greens salad as well. They also brought dark brown bread and the soft butter that came with it was SO GOOD. I think there was lemon in it? I can't quite remember, but it's definitely not just butter.
This speakeasy has every alcohol you can name. The bar is the more commonly used area, can probably fit around 15-20 people? There are two tables/booths on the opposite side of the bar where my friend and I sat. Each could probably fit about 4 people? There is also seating outside of the bar, where there is brighter lighting. I didn't get to take a look at it when we went.
They offer cocktails that are separated into 3 categories, an EO cocktail, and 2 others. They also offer beer and I think wine as well?
You can make reservations for the booths, which I would recommend because I have heard it gets extremely packed on the weekends. We went on a Thursday and it got pretty packed at around 8/9 PM.
Went here for a friend's 30 birthday. The place is a pretty big for a speakeasy, but we were a party of 16, so we still took up about half the back room. NOTE: there's only one bathroom for the place – but there are 'rumors' that if you ask the staff, when faced with a long line, they may let you use a staff bathroom.
First – the table bread is served with a cream spread that's friggin delicious.
As we were a big party, we had a prix fix menu. For appetizers, we had the charcuterie, the arugula and asparagus salad, and the ricotta gnocchi – served family style.
The charcuterie had smoked/cured Italian-style meats, chicken liver pate, and homemade focaccia. The chicken liver was incredible, and the spicy cured sausage went quickly – though we could reorder as needed.
The ricotta gnocchi had a pea pesto/lemon and pistachio garnish. Toasted and delicious.
The arugula/asparagus salad was nice, light palette cleanser when not gorging on the other apps.
For my main, I ordered the roasted chicken, which was fine, and the skin was seasoned nicely, but I wish it was a bit crisper. Still fine though, light and flavorful. I tried someone's cavatelli with house sausage, which was really good and the porn chops looked pretty impressive.
For desserts, again served family style, we had the dark chocolate pot de creme, the butterscotch mascarpone cheesecake, and assorted sorbet. The pot de creme packed some really intense chocolate flavor, and was creamy and delectable. The star, however, was the cheesecake. Light, but still a decently firm texture…just fantastic. Didn't try the sorbets…too busy with the pot de creme and cheesecake haha.
For drinks, I had the Manhattan, Common Sense, and Yankee Notion. The Manhattan was a little sweet for my liking, but was still very tasty. For my, the common sense was the winner, as it was a bit drier than the Manhattan. Great stuff. The Yankee Notion was also a fine drink, but again…for me, it was about the Common Sense.
The service in the place was prompt and polite. No complains whatsoever. Great food; great drinks…wish there was a bit more thought put into the whole bar that has one bathroom situation, but otherwise, great place. Will definitely be back.
Let's face it–this place has been on your to-do list for a while. It's considered one of the best bars in the world and you don't need me to convince you to go. So let me make this easier for you and get right down to it.
Drinks
Mata Hari — This is the award-winning one. Once you taste it, you'll know why. Not too sweet and you can taste the alcohol, but there's no burning or unpleasantness, its sheer enjoyment.
Manhattan – EO is known to pride itself on its unique Manhattan recipe. It's different but it's well done. However, this isn't for the faint hearted, aka me. I'd probably die if I drank a whole one of these.
Billionaire Cocktail- this is a good medium, it's not too girly and not too manly. This is what I'd imagine a billion bucks to taste like.
Ginger Mash – if you typically like ginger-based drinks, you'll like this. If you typically hate ginger-based drinks, you'll hate it.
Appetizers
Bone Marrow Poppers — liked the bite size take on bone marrow. It's a must for bone marrow lovers–but not anything too wow.
Steak Tartare – YES you can't go wrong. It's made at the table, and there's some aspect of customization in terms of flavor (spicy? Salty? More worchestshire?)
Ricotta Gnocchi — did you even doubt this? It's soft, pillowy, and deceptively simple with a hint of lemon. Not only did I want more, but I wanted to take some home to use it as a pillow it was so soft.
Octopus – My favorite appetizer. I can't even remember the flavors because it was so distracted by how tender it was. That's a good sign.
Oysters — fresh, but I found mine were little sandy. Plus they didn't serve cocktail sauce–what the what?
Entrees
Rib Eye — it's true what they say. It's awesome and it's a must. Dash it with some sea salt, and skip the lemon wedge. Plus, the potato gratin?? Let's just say we ordered an extra one, it was so good.
Monkfish – this is on the smaller side, but for a tiny fish, it's pack full of flavor. If you're a fish lover, you'll enjoy this one.
Orecchiette with Spicy Pork Sausage, Tomato, & Arugula — I really enjoyed this one, even though it was so simple, it was the execution. Perfect al dente, light sauce, and chunks of sausage.
Arugula – tasty salad, I barely got a bite of this because the other half of my party destroyed it. But I take that as a good sign.
Sides
Potato gratin — screw your no-carb diet, this is so good I think they baked crack into it.
Kale -I'm not a kale lover, but I dig this side! It was soft, flavorful, and light.
Black eyed peas – against kale and potato gratin, it may have been an unfair comparison, but this side did not stand out to me in the least.
Dessert
Cheesecake — This is one of the best cheesecakes I've ever had, and I'm confident you'll think so too. It holds the consistency of Panna cotta, but drizzled with a toasty butterscotch, this will elevate your cheesecake standards. This dish is such a MUST, we ordered two. One right after the finished the first one. Who even does that?
Brownie – it resembles chocolate mousse in its shapelessness, but a brownie in heaviness. Good for chocolate lovers, but I would pass on this again.
Apple yogurt — a good balance, not too sweet and not overly indulgent like the others.
Sorbet – lemon basil and prickly pear sorbets were great but I highly recommend the prickly pear. It was refreshing and full of flavor!
Overrated. Guy at the entrance is kind of portentous, felt like I was going into Marquee or Lavo or some nightclub. It's a restaurant, let me inside to have a drink and check in to my reservation without an inquisition. Bar is tiny, crowded, and I literally felt like I was standing in everyones way the entire time we were having a drink before being seated. Finally found a spot to stand and sip our cocktails, but it was near the bathroom, and everyone constantly asked us if we were on line for the bathroom. Annoying. Drinks were awesome, if you like whiskey/bourbon, recommend the yankee notions and billionaire's cocktail. Menu is extremely limited, unless you want to drop $62 on a rib eye there are really not many good meat options. Can't have your three meat options be elk, $62 rib eye, and chicken. Apps were better than entrees, as entrees were tiny portions. Bacon wrapped lamb was pretty good. Wish we would've known the portions were so small, I would've ordered the rib eye or another entree. Had the tagliatelle bolognese special, was good tasting, but small and not tagliatelle (some other shape of pasta I couldn't identify). Bill was not expensive, but one member of the party didn't drink and barely ordered so that definitely kept the tab down. Tiny little place, hot as hell on 50 degree April night, must be a sweatshop in the summer. I understand it's all about the drinks here, but there is not sufficient room to enjoy your drink. Waitress was blah, pushed us to order a few times, obviously trying to turn our table over. Also, crowd is extremely mixed, and place is LOUD. On to the next.
Cool spot in the West Village.
The lady and I were looking for a post-dinner cocktail one Saturday evening not too long ago. My friend mentioned Employees Only was worth checking out, and it turned out we were nearby. Seemed like the no-brainer option, and we ended up having a good experience.
This lounge has a speakeasy feel to it. The storefront has a fluorescent "psychic" sign in one of the windows and the establishment's symbol (looks like a sideways EO) on the awning. Walk inside, past the psychic (who's actually working), and through the covered entrance to find the bar. We showed up around 9:30/10:00, and there was a bouncer outside with a very short line. He was friendly, and we were let in within 5 minutes of showing up. Reservations can only be made if you're having dinner.
The space inside is nice. There's a bar and limited table seating in the front and a lounge with more table seating towards the back up a short flight of stairs. While there was no line outside, the place was packed. Standing space was tight so we stood by the fireplace for a bit until some seats at the bar became available. The crowd was lively, ranging from friends grabbing dinner to drunken first encounter make-out sessions. Needless to say, it made for some good people-watching.
The cocktails were solid. The servers carried themselves professionally, making an array of alcoholic concoctions for a large crowd with ease. I tried the Quiet Storm (bourbon based), while the lady tried the Provencal (gin based). Both drinks were refreshing and well crafted. There is also two food menus (dinner and late night), but we did not try anything since we were coming from dinner.
I would come back again to try their food or grab another drink. Check it out!
This is such a refreshing change from all the pretentious speakeasys out there! Definitely worth the hype and a must visit for anyone in New York.
We got a reservation for dinner here on a Friday night. The food, drinks, ambience and service were all excellent! The drinks are outstanding, there's a reason this is voted one of the best cocktail bars in the world. We got the mata hari, the billionaire cocktail and the Manhattan. All of them were delicious and strong, perfectly balanced and great to drink. For appetizers we got the ricotta gnocchi and the bone marrow poppers. The gnocchi were pillowy soft and tasty with a great basil sauce. Bone marrow poppers – you have to get these. Smoky sweet bone marrow on top of a flaky pastry base. No wonder they're a crowd favorite! For the main course we got the pork chop which was cooked to perfection, and the cavatelli with sausage, which was packed a punch and was full of flavor. For dessert we got the butterscotch cheesecake,which had a nice creamy texture but the sauce was a bit too sweet.
The service here was excellent, the maitre 'd was polite and nice and our server was helpful and attentive as well. No complaints at all about the staff here. Will definitely return for the cocktails and for the food.
Employees only is a speakeasy/restaurant located behind what appears to be a psychic reader. The menu is eclectic with dishes influenced by Mediterranean, Eastern European, and other cuisines. The staff is courtesy and attentive. Dining here is a superb experience.
We decided to have a tapas style dinner. I tried the roasted beet and carrot salad, the bacon wrapped lamb chops, and the Spanish grilled octopus. I'd recommend all three with my favorite being the octopus. The octopus came with a celery salad which had too much root and earthy flavor for my liking, but the octopus was well grilled; it was tender and juicy.
The lamb chops were slightly overcooked for my liking; they were served medium though I would have preferred medium-rare or rare. The lamb chops came with a fantastic chimichuri sauce. I would have eaten that sauce on almost anything. The bacon wrapped around the lamb added crispiness and even more savoriness.
The roasted beet salad included freshly roasted beets as opposed to pickled beets. It was a tasteful surprise to have fresh beets and carrots rather than the pickled ones I was expected. The dish had more umani and less bitterness than I expected. It was also served with a goat cheese cream which added richness and creaminess.