Any great fisherman will tell you that patience is the key to getting that one big catch. With Live Bait, that virtue is also needed if you want to eat, but this seafood, barbecue, Southern and soul-food bar and restaurant might be worth the wait.
Sitting on E. 23rd Street between Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue in New York City, Live Bait seems like a pearl among oysters. If you do stumble upon this little bar and restaurant, you are immediately invited by the lively scenery and warm atmosphere of large, colorful plastic fish hanging on the walls of an old-school bar found in the bayous. Also, with a little-city sports-bar flare and little TVs playing different games at every angle, Live Bait makes for a good-looking bar and restaurant to hang out at.
The menu has a wide variety of choices from fish, crab cakes and a raw bar to meatloaf, fried chicken and chicken-fried steak, with even a plethora of barbecue sandwiches, burgers and salads, with all the “fixins.†With this variety and its reasonable prices, Live Bait’s menu does not disappoint. But expect to wait 30-50 minutes for your food on busy nights.
After you order your drinks, you start out with a basket of corn muffins that are soft and have a rich taste. The Hush Puppies appetizer is a bit plain, especially after having a couple of corn muffins — they taste like dry bread balls with a hint of jalapeño. The hot wings appetizer is a good size for a group of three to five, and are very tenderly drenched in hot sauce. Simple entrees like the classic fish and chips are prepared nicely — the fish is fresh and flakey, and also split into a dozen well-battered bite-size chunks.
On a busy Friday night, the wait to get in is not bad at all. If there are tables for your party, you will get a seat right away. However, the service from the wait staff was very disappointing, starting from botching drink and food orders between people in a party of seven multiple times, to waiting over 20 minutes for your waitress to come around to your table for drink refills (another five minutes for them to bring your refill after you ask) and to clear your plates. One waitress in particular was caught chatting with another waitress for several minutes near the beer tap at the bar before paying any attention to one of their tables.
In spite of this, Live Bait is a great restaurant to hang out in and enjoy some great food and a few drinks among friends. With food well worth the prices and a lively atmosphere that will keep one entertained and comfortable, it almost drowns out the fact that the waitress forgets where she is at times and leaves you close to begging for some service. But if you find yourself on E. 23rd Street in Manhattan and you see Live Bait not too busy, then stopping by for some food will be well worth your wait.
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