Comments on: Lillie’s Victorian Bar & Restaurant Comes to 49th St

By: Who AmiNewYork

Who AmiNewYork — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 00:50:02 +0000

If negative stars were available I would give Lillie’s negative 10 stars. The service was horrible and despicable. As other reviewers posted, Lillies is especially incompetent when it comes to specialized menus such as brunch menus. But even aside from that it’s just common sense to take the customers’ orders 5-10 minutes after they sat down. We were a group of 40 with reserved seats on October 28, 2012 Sunday and arrived at 12:30pm. Only after repeated prodding of the 2 waitresses and the hostess, did they finally take our brunch orders. It took Lillies 1.5 hours to bring out our food while we All commiserated and derisively concurred that we would NEVER return again!

You only get one chance at a first impression. Lillies screwed up in an astronomical and irreparable way and multiplicatively by 40 to the infinite power since We will All tell our friends, relatives and co-workers NEVER to go to Lillies (both locations-in Times Square and Lower Manhattan).

And the person who was paying the entire bill got her food absolutely Last! The waitresses, waiters, cooks and hostesses seemed inexperienced and oblivious to what their jobs entail. You don’t wait 30-45 minutes to take people’s orders! It didn’t matter that the restaurant gave us complimentary wine and mimosas to toast the special event which was the reason why we reserved 40 seats.

To add insult to injury, the patrons who arrived long after us got their orders first while We All sat there for One Hour to One Hour and 30 minutes Starving to death! The restaurant wasn’t crowded at all, but the waitresses, hostesses, waiters and cooks were Totally Incompetent! They could have brought out 100 bottles of Free Liquor but the Damage Was Done in a Major Way! All 40 of us Agreed multiplied by the Trillions of Other People we’ll Forewarn that We will NEVER go Back to Lillie’s Restaurant again!!!

By: 12116th

12116th — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:52:15 +0000

Went here for an “expensed” lunch last week. I had a grilled chicken sandwich with fries. The food was nothing to write home about and the fries were actually pretty bad. I definitely wouldn’t recommend using your own money to buy lunch here, but if it’s on your company, it’s a pretty cool looking place. Would definitely consider going back for happy hour since it really is so nicely decorated.

By: subcow

subcow — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:34:26 +0000

I used to go to the Union Square location after they first opened. Pretty bad food, but good beer, and the look of the place was excellent.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:39:08 +0000

Go figure, a reasonably-priced new bar. Definitely will wander over after work soon.

By: hightemp

hightemp — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:42:00 +0000

Draft beers $6-$9…using pretty large glasses for standard beers and the “brand approved” glasses for the fancy ones. i.e. 250ml glasses for the belgians.

Bottle beers $6-$12 (but the only one at $12 was the lambic I think).

Martini glasses….humorously large in a good way.. I think they charged $14 for a Sapphire Martini.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:22:06 +0000

Alcohol prices? Are they also pushing the $7-$8 pint, without using Imperial pint glasses?

By: hightemp

hightemp — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:02:23 +0000

I went for a drink last week and brunch over the weekend.

The space is stunningly gorgeous but the place itself is insufferably incongruous. Unlike Steve’s assumption, the place is 100% a sports bar/pub. at least 3 large TVs playing sports nonstop. Bad/loud 80s/90s rock music. Nothing about the menu matches with the aesthetic. The food is average pub food (including lackluster fries). That said, their Irish Breakfast was quite good though (came with a draft beer for $17 total at brunch). They have a huge selection of beers on tap and in bottles – including a number of good/tasty belgians. Supposedly no cocktail menu “because we are new,” yet on the website there is a list of them (albeit a generally uninspired list).

I wish they had Downton Abbey on a loop…or at least tried to fit the vibe of the decor in some way. Having a paragraph about Lillie Langtry doesnt really cut it. But…for a pub…its not bad…and the space (and the bar itself) is huge and gorgeous…so maybe move this one to the happy hour column.

By: CheeeeEEEEse

CheeeeEEEEse — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:00:22 +0000

I’ll be riding my penny-farthing down to Lillie’s just as soon as I finish my work at the mill.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:20:07 +0000

so really not a ML lunch when you factor in tax and tip?

They probably have episodes of Downton Abbey playing on a loop in there, PASS.