J. S.
Yelp
As everyone says, this is a beautiful, classic restaurant and bar from the bygone era of Little Italy. Even though tourists love it, you will find a few of us low key locals hanging in the corner bar chair, or maybe laughing at a with other neighborhood people, as we wait our turn to sing a classic crooner tune, on those occasional special karaoke nights. Real and authentic history that we locals, and you tourists alike, are lucky to still be able to experience. The ambience is like no other, the food is tasty, the drinks are good, and all is affordable. And there is no other stand alone in bar in Little Italy, when you consider Little Italy as Mulberry St.! Also, the only Italian bar, locally-owned, and from the Old World era! There are classic oil paintings of the original owner, Tony, lining the bar. If you catch me here one night, I can tell you about the painter who made them, who used to live in a loft on Broome St., and also painted religious murals for Old St. Pat's & Most Precious Blood. And yes, both classic and modern movies and t.v. shows were inspired by their incredible visuals and filmed here!
That being said, I have some words for those who like to nit-pick and make people miserable courtesy of Yelp. If you are miserable in general, it's unfair to project that onto struggling small businesses. Especially as I write this during our NYC summer of limited pandemic dining. Businesses in my neighborhood of Chinatown and Little Italy are HURTING. Limited hours of operation, reduced table capacity, and reduced staff due to budget cuts after being closed for months. Servers and restaurants owners are running around twice as hard to serve you, basically busting their asses harder than before, for much less money. You really, really, truly do not have to focus an entire review on a "rickety table" or chair. I promise you! There is a review here about someone bringing a party of 7, with a least one child, where they complain about a rickety table after the staff accommodated them by pushing together two tables, while full to capacity. This is a bar. A bar that serves food. There are no stationary table or chairs. Nor are there booths. Tables are moved around. They are moved to accommodate larger parties, and to make room as places fill up. You barely even see the part of their review where they say the staff was sweet and accommodating them as best they could, and that the food was good! Instead, they harp on the fact that it was one server's first day, the damn rickety table, and that the two owners bickered briefly over an order of french fries. Please! Everyone has to start a new job somewhere, someday. Cut them some slack. The server still stayed sweet despite having your group as customers! And I am absolutely positive that this french fry incident (already sounds ridiculous) didn't last for more than a few minutes and would hardly disrupt the evening of the average diner! Bickering happens, places get busy, customers are demanding (Hint: this means YOU.)
As a regular and a local, I have never seen the staff nor owners behave unprofessionally. I know the owners personally, and one of them went to school with my mother and aunt in their childhood. They are gracious and accommodating to customers, as is all of their staff. And maybe it would help if you were Italian, and a restaurant owner to understand this family business dynamic, but regardless, you should really let some things go and cut people some slack. It's truly a healthier and happier way to live! Some would even see a small disagreement as another slice of authenticity, as a noteworthy touristic experience.
And something spilled on a child? Was the child sitting still in their chair, anticipating that a dish would soon be placed in their range of movement, directly in front of them? Hmmm. No, I wasn't there, but I certainly have enough experience observing children in adult spaces like bars. Even though Mulberry Bar serves food, again this is primarily a bar. A bar that serves food. I don't care what your reason is for bringing a child to a bar, but I promise you that the other bar patrons are always annoyed by your oh-so-precious child, rather than being amused by them, as you undoubtedly assume!
