Best Dining Bars in Chelsea

The food was great, but we were even more appreciative of the service. We have a friend who has a very serious food allergy and the waiter went above and beyond checking and double checking with the kitchen about all the food at the table (not just hers) and making sure she was safe and comfortable. They also helped us secure a table down at noir so that we could move downstairs when we were done with dinner.

Bar Mezzana is a classy establishment. We found the service second to none! It’s difficult to find restaurants these days with the level of service we received here. The gnocchi with octopus was our absolute favorite dish, along with the focaccia and brussels sprouts salad (both so good) and the mussels. I do not recommend the crab pasta … very strange. Watery with actual pickles in it, which made the overall dish very vinegary. They actually took it off our bill when we shared that we did not enjoy the dish. Dessert was fine - nothing to write home about (fig and honey crostata and tiramisù). We used the inKind app and received a $50 credit on this meal. Wonderful experience!

The service was thoughtful and attentive without being intrusive, and the wine recommendation was spot on. We ordered oysters—I like them briny and bare—but the cucumber foam on these sweet things was revelatory, very good. We shared the tart, which was fine, but the layers could have been more distinct or more flavorful or something. Squid was great with the two textures. And we shared the fish head, which was fun and delicious. Great sauce with it.

This was our first visit to La Brasa. Wish we had tried it sooner. We started with the oysters, which were excellent, followed by the duck empanadas and potato w/mushroom starters, which were also great. For our mains, we had the pork shoulder and a steak dish, both of which were cooked perfectly and delicious. We wrapped up with the chocolate mousse and flan desserts, which were a great ending to a wonderful evening. The bar drinks were creative and tasty. Our server (Ryan) was terrific, and the overall staff was attentive throughout the evening. We'll definitely be going back.

Clam chowder and salad was great. Mussels were bland and dessert of chocolate tart so-so (not delicious) Service was skimpy and parsed bw about 4 or 5 different people. I’d give it an overall 3 out of 5.