Eel Bar
Basque restaurant · Lower East Side ·
Basque-inspired tapas, burgers & cocktails; lively, dim ambiance
Basque-inspired tapas, burgers & cocktails; lively, dim ambiance
"If you can’t get a table at Cervo’s, you could try for a bar seat at nearby Eel Bar. It’s from the same team, and its menu features similarly generous amounts of olive oil and aioli. But only using this Basque spot as a Cervo’s backup plan would be selling it short. Eel Bar is a great place to bring a group, order martinis, and then wine and then more wine, all while snacking for several hours. Crowd into a tavern-like wooden booth, and share fried mussels and rainbow trout pil pil the texture of velvet. Reservations are released two weeks in advance. Walk-ins are accepted in the dining room as well as at the 13-seat bar. When we arrived around 5pm on a Tuesday, we had no trouble getting a table, and there were a good number of seats that seemed to be open throughout the night." - bryan kim, neha talreja, will hartman, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick
"Do you like strong flavors? Eel Bar’s burger is probably the most intense, and for lovers of pungency that’s a good thing. A thick patty of grass-fed beef is topped with anchovies and Roquefort — making a union of sea and earth. Over at the team’s other restaurant Hart’s, the anchovy burger has long been the must-order and you can’t go wrong having it at either business. Did you know: The original burger the team is known for is at their original restaurant Hart’s, also with lamb patty and anchovies." - Robert Sietsema
"The city’s foremost vermouth advocate, creatively incorporating fortified wines into inventive preparados and an irresistibly wet martini that spotlights aromatized wines." - Caroline Hatchett
"From the team behind the Fly, Cervo’s, and Hart’s comes Eel Bar: While Cervo’s nods to Portugal, Eel Bar takes its cue from Basque influences, with boquerones and tinned fish from the group’s Minnow brand, along with dishes like meatballs with fries and rotating specials. The lighting here is perfectly sexy, making it work for either a group hangout or a date that doesn’t take itself too seriously." - Emma Orlow, Melissa McCart
"If you wish every box of chocolates were actually filled with seafood, spend February 14 at Eel Bar on the Lower East Side. This Basque spot in the Hart’s, The Fly, and Cervo’s family—and one of our Best New Restaurants of 2024— is celebrating its first Valentine’s Day with a $125 set menu (reservations here) that's heavy on pintxos like grilled heart skewers and fried leonora cheese with honey, plus either halibut escabeche or dry-aged steak for a main course. Reservations are released two weeks in advance. Walk-ins are accepted in the dining room as well as at the 13-seat bar. When we arrived around 5pm on a Tuesday, we had no trouble getting a table, and there were a good number of seats that seemed to be open throughout the night." - neha talreja, molly fitzpatrick