Next Door

It's a strange restaurant with an even weirder menu. You can get sushi, "fresh" guac or any number of italian dishes. The eclectic menu is an instant red flag for good reason. It's too bad they don't just focus on one great dish instead of middling it at on many. The decor is upscale classy but it doesn't really fell like it when you sit down for a meal. The bar is a good place to grab a drink and watch a game. There are better places to have a nice dinner with a more focused menu.

My wife and I are busy professionals who have lived in the neighborhood from long before this location was a restaurant. As "empty nesters," we constantly eat out. I forget how much I hate this place, until after months we stop in looking for a break from the other nearby eateries. The very good food is consistently overshadowed by poor bumbling service and a boisterous atmosphere. With Jimmy Hendrix blasting through the speakers, my wife and I have to yell at each other in order to carry on our conversation. Our yelling competes with the yelling of other diners also trying to converse, and the place becomes a real appetite suppressant. On one visit, I decided to eat at the bar because I was alone. I ended up canceling my order, as the bar tender's loud and continual bantering with the drunken neighborhood fool was not at all as entertaining to those of us held captive waiting for our orders as apparently it is to "back door's" management that tolerates such juvenile nonesence. This place needs to move to the Lower East Side where its "animal house" like atmosphere would be more appreciated, as would the "stick up your butt" demeanor of the failed theater people working in the place. There are much better options in the neighborhood, and our neighbors agree.