Ha's Snack Bar
Restaurant · Lower East Side
297 Broome St, New York, NY 10002
Highlights
French-Vietnamese fusion with creative snacks & natural wine
French-Vietnamese fusion with creative snacks & natural wine
"Anthony Ha and Sade Mae Burns built a following by running one of NYC’s most exciting pop-ups under the Ha’s Đặc Biệt name. Now, they’ve opened Ha’s Snack Bar, an offshoot and permanent headquarters for a rotating selection of Vietnamese-influenced snack items in a bistro atmosphere flowing with natural wine (it’s been hinted that a larger restaurant is on the way). This husband-wife team knows how to make a dining room feel warm, and the tight quarters work to their benefit — the kind of place that is filled with casual exuberance that feels like an extension of a dinner party they might host at home. The menu, written on a chalkboard, changes often. Reservations are hard to come by, but there is some room for walk-ins, so get there as soon as the doors open at 5:30 p.m." - Emma Orlow
"Verdict: Ha’s Snack Bar, from the team who ran eternally sold-out pop-up Ha’s Đặc Biệt, only has 24 seats. That’s the one reason why it’s hard to get in. The other is the food. This Vietnamese-inspired spot on the Lower East Side serves genre-bending, limited-edition dishes that are heavy on the fish sauce and bird’s eye chili. Past highlights have included sizzling snails in tamarind butter and a towering vol-au-vent overstuffed with clams. As far as we can tell, Ha's Snack Bar releases reservations about 20 days in advance. But those are extremely hard to come by. Your best shot is grabbing a walk-in seat. The place opens at 5:30pm, and if you get there by 4:45, you'll probably make the first seating at the bar. Arrive after 5pm, or with more than a couple of people, and you might have to wait a few hours." - bryan kim
"This Vietnamese-inspired spot from the team behind the pop-up Ha’s Đặc Biệt is one of our top 25 restaurants in the city. Ha's serves genre-bending, limited-edition dishes—like a black pudding tartlet, or sizzling snails in tamarind butter—that are heavy on fish sauce and bird’s eye chili. The number of diners crammed inside is a testament to the punchy flavors coming out of the tiny kitchen. As far as we can tell, Ha's Snack Bar releases reservations about 20 days in advance. But those are extremely hard to come by. Your best shot is grabbing a walk-in seat. The place opens at 5:30pm, and if you get there by 4:45, you'll probably make the first seating at the bar. Arrive after 5pm, or with more than a couple of people, and you might have to wait a few hours." - bryan kim, neha talreja, will hartman, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick
"Ha’s Snack Bar is so tiny that there’s no real way to stare at people without them staring right back. Nobody seems to care. At the hottest pop-up turned hottest restaurant, the people-watching starts in the line, where fish sauce-hopefuls with a loose definition of 9am-5pm show up early for a shot at a rather uncomfortable stool inside this Lower East Side spot. Inside, everybody’s clutching a tiny wine glass, which is poured by a server who, yes, was in that sitcom. As far as we can tell, Ha's Snack Bar releases reservations about 20 days in advance. But those are extremely hard to come by. Your best shot is grabbing a walk-in seat. The place opens at 5:30pm, and if you get there by 4:45, you'll probably make the first seating at the bar. Arrive after 5pm, or with more than a couple of people, and you might have to wait a few hours." - bryan kim, molly fitzpatrick, willa moore, will hartman
"A Vietnamese bistro mentioned as part of a recent wave of Asian American wine-bar and dining spots in Lower Manhattan." - Emma Orlow
