Will Femia, 9/17/08
Five Leaves, the Greenpoint/Williamsburg bar and restaurant backed by the estate of Heath Ledger, opened just two weeks ago at 18 Bedford Ave. While we're hardly ever surprised by how fast user reviewers write up a place, there is a surprising amount of early feedback, mostly in our comment section. And given the multiple reports of the place running out of food, we can only imagine they were slammed since day one. Not all of the reviews are great of course, and it sounds like there have been some serious service issues. However, not all of it is bad either. We'll start with the good news.
1) The Good News: An Eater commenter realizes there are some bumps but is an early fan: "i went last night and they were slammed. the staff was really lovely...which is a nice change. i had the five leaves burger which was really awesome. it is a small place with a more laid back vibe and once they iron out the opening problems i think this place will be a sure fire winner. they only opened a few days ago and have been super slammed from the start (i live up the street) which is not the case for a lot of new places so taking this into consideration i was very impressed! i will be a regular." [Eater Comments]
2) The Decent News: The Yelpers are giving the place a mixed bag in general. One representative review: "Great atmosphere, bizarrely tacky tables, but that's no big deal. Definitely going the distressed wood/edison bulb look which everyone seems to love these days. Food took an insanely long time, but waitress was very very friendly. Nice spot I'd say to get some oysters and a glass of Rose. The food was decent, nothing notable or special. I wish people were a bit more adventurous with menus these days, they all seem to look the same lately." [Yelp]
3) The Okay News: Another commenter loves the food but points out some major service issues: "...There really isn't anything to bitch about, the peeps are cool, the food fuckn rocks, shrimp app rocks, the chickn and steak. big martinis. be prepared to have your chair repeatedly knocked...you may have to remind your waitress you ordered an hour ago and are still waiting for your appetiser (seriously) but we're in no rush, then be promised to have it comp'ed, only to see it re-appear on the check..." [Eater Comments]
4) The Bad News: And of course, we have a <a href="http://eater.com/archives/2008/09/eater_inside_five_leaves.php?o=1#comment-191601
">commenter ready to drop the hammer: "I am sorry to say that it is only another expensive, overrated, over-hyped, crappy restaurant in the greenpoint/williamsburg area. The food was ACTUALLY really bad! This is coming from someone that will pretty much eat anything. It came out looking really bad and despite this I wanted to give it the benefit of a doubt, so I tried it and to my dismay, I was not only disappointed, but disgusted. To top off this bad taste in my mouth the server gave us attitude in defense. The space is really beautiful though and thats what seems to count the most to the people behind this project..." [Eater Comments]For more stories from Eater, go to eater.com.
