Frank Bruni smiles on Josh DeChellis at La Fonda del Sol: “Although the menu has weak spots, with a few too many dishes not from the heart but from a marketing plan, his cooking here feels less forced and more exuberant than it did at any of the other restaurants where I tried it.” [NYT]
Related: Inside La Fonda del Sol
Minetta Tavern’s menu consists of “the greasiest and most vegetable-free bistro standards it can find, repackaged as hip comfort food,” writes Robert Sietsema. [VV]
Related: What to Expect From Minetta Tavern
Steve Cuozzo admires the look and feel of Monkey Bar, but dismisses the food: “For a place supposedly trying to be more of a real restaurant than Waverly, the food shouldn’t be this lousy.” [NYP]
Related: Monkey Bar Menu, Revealed!
Ryan Sutton allays the fears of Shake Shack devotees: “But can big-name restaurateurs overseeing the concessions achieve Manhattan-worthy creations via the unionized Aramark staff? Based on two recent visits, yes.” [Bloomberg]
Related: What to Eat at Citi Field
Jay Cheshes considers Fatty Crab UWS “a test run for the concept’s Las Vegas debut.” But he does like the expanded menu: “The new dishes, it turns out, are just as inspiring as the old ones.” [TONY]
Related: What to Eat at Fatty Crab UWS
“There’s nothing civilized or subdued about dinner at Fatty Crab UWS, which is exactly what makes it so fun,” writes Danyelle Freeman, who suggests going only when Zak Pelaccio is in the kitchen. [NYDN]
Gael Greene cheers for the meal deal at Eighty One: “The menu is a roll call of what we like to eat.” [Insatiable Critic]
Schnipper’s Quality Kitchen feels to Mike Peed like a chain restaurant. But the pager you get when ordering is noteworthy: “Depending on your mood, it evokes either a Taser or a certain electrical device that nineteenth-century doctors used to alleviate female hysteria.” [NYer]
