S C.
Yelp
Went to 35 Beach for the first time on Sunday around 2 pm. The interior is very nicely renovated, bright, airy, and somewhat upscale. The place was empty except for one person sitting at the bar. We were a bit surprised it was empty since it was a lovely afternoon in Manchester.
We decided to try one of the signature cocktails for $16; the Singing Beach Sling I think it was called. Mine was gone in 3 sips of the straw, it was very sweet, and produced zero "buzz". I think when paying NYC prices for a cocktail you should feel like you consumed some alcohol.
We ordered the fried smelts as an appetizer, which were excellent, as well as the Haddock sandwich snd the burger. Both were decent, the burger is like an upscale Big Mac as far as flavor. The fries were good, but undercooked and needed more seasoning.
The thing I didn't understand about the place was the ambiance? It's more refined than Calas yet they were playing 90s grunge music fairly loud. This didn't quite fit with the decor and overall look of the place. The bartender also talked to his one patron almost non-stop and quite loudly, which was distracting. The music said "dive bar", the bartender said "sports bar", but the room was saying "upscale ladies lunch"?
Our server, Jacob (?) was excellent, attentive, and professional. I'd like to experience the place for dinner when its full of patrons. I think there's a lot of potential here, but they need to better define their "vibe" and exactly what they are trying to present to the customers.