Last week, we took the opportunity to enjoy An Evening at the Rusty Knot, the high end nautical dive bar that Ken Friedman and Taavo Somer quietly opened for business in the old West Space. Walking in, you can't help but feel you've stumbled into the local bar in some rural town in Maine. Busch Beer on tap, box wine on the shelf, Tiki glasses, Spider Bowls, a killer juke box, pool table and furniture crafted from what seems like the remnants of the Love Boat set only enhance the mood. The space is tight, but capacity is only 75 or so, which should render any problems moot. Unless you are stuck outside that is. We stepped in and ordered a Rusty Knot, the refreshing house cocktail made from Rum, house sour mix, and mint, that went down smooth as sugar. A few stools opened up and our party settled down.
The Knot isn't only a place to drink and stare at Jersey City. They also got some kick ass bar food. Oysters, peel and eat shrimp, classic shepard's pie, razor clams, giant pigs in a blanket. Bar food to the extreme. The best we had? How about a Chicken Liver, Bacon and Avocado sandwich that scream luxury even as you are sucking down a smooth drinking tap Busch. Aww yeah.
The best news is that this can all be yours until 4 AM, 7 days a week. Look out Corner Bistro. Expect desire to experience this to be at a full burn as of tonight, so if you want to go, best get their early. Because once you get a seat, chances are you will be hanging at the Knot all night. Aye Aye.
Monday, March 17, 2008
An Evening At: The Rusty Knot
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13 comments:
sounds fun. definitely want to try this place out.
do they take reservations?
it's a fucking bar..........
When I first heard about the Rusty Knot I thought it would be something a little more quiet and low key considering its far west side location. This is not the case. Maybe things will die down soon?
Tried this out a week after it opened! Its super fun, super cheesy... love the drinks and the bartenders are great!
We all went there tonite after work, it was odd, there was a line outside but once we got inside it was sorta comfortable.
The door guy was super friendly as was the mohawk bartender, drinks were very good, well priced.
would go again
The place itself is cool, but the clientele there last night were trying too hard .. will hopefully mellow out after a few months .. what is with the East London wide boy on the door ?? He's a relic, not sure what the idea there is - love the decor & good value feel of the place.
oooh relic is harsh, I guess you guys didnt get in...;-)
We all love it, love it love it
My girlfriends and I had a lovely evening there last Wednesday.
Place was full but not over crowded
We ate the shrimp, pretzel dogs and soup
Good value.
We actually loved the staff, ESPECIALLY the door guy, obviously the comment about relic was just pure jealousy, or as someone else said ...did you even get in ???
Ive never seen anyone try too hard on a Sat night.
Anyway...go see for yourselves, approx $30 p head
So ...we get to the "Knot" this past Saturday, its around 10.30pm on arrival we are greeted by a thick set doorguy who tells us its busy and that the host will be out to explain.
5 minutes later a very charming English guy appears to tell us that it is "busy at the moment and that we can either call back in 30 minutes or so. or he will call us on our cell phone " WOW...
Is this too good to be true for a "dive" bar ???
NO..
My boyfriend gets a call from the host on his cell we are invited to the bar as "we have room now "
So..
We go in...It is busy but not crazy saturday night busy...we wait for a waitress, and wait, and wait ???
So we go to the bar..
Drinks are very good, apparently we are too late for food (its now 12 something )
The service inside was generally poor, I overheard a girl delighting in the fact that she was the "manager"...well in that case then take our god damn drink order !!!..
Summing up....Great host service , good drinks, nice atmosphere, juke box has ecletic mix, old and new stuff, and its FREE...oh and theres a pool table...which our boyfriends made good use of as we girls talked handbags
Give it a try, hope u get served better
Four weeks ago on a Thursday night we,my 2 girlfriends and my boyfriend trundled down to try the Rusty Knot.
We are in the "food" industry so we had heard the hype and wanted to see for ourselves.
First impressions were not good, we couldnt get in, as there was a line.
But then we were greeted by a stylish Englishman who we now know as Gary, he told us that the wait wouldnt be long, and if it was, to go for a drink elsewhere and he would call us on our cell when he could accomodate us.
Amazing, so simple yet, Id never had such service.
When we did get in (the wait was like 15 mins) it was a mixed bag of suits and art people, good music, and we sampled the food ,but again only because Gary had managed to find us a table.
We ate pretzel dogs, oysters and clams, all very well done, and neatly priced.
Now ever since that first time each Thursday we have gone back, as we did last night.
BUT....Gary is no longer there.
We were told by the doorman that.."he wasnt working tonite" we were told by a bartender "he doesnt work here anymore" we overheard from another conversation that he had been fired ???
I have yet to find out where he was, but what I will say is, the service was terrible, we couldnt get a table, and we left after 40 or so minutes.
So, if you go to the Rusty Knot make sure Gary is working, he will make your night a lot more pleasurable than if he is not.
Like ChefWife, I too thought the Rusty Knot would be mellow/low key given the location. I live on this street, and there's been a lot more traffic & noise since the Rusty knot opened...I hope all this will mellow out soon...
The place now seems very disorganized and out of control to me.
My girlfriends and I had been there a few times after it opened, and we found it to be a lot of fun, because the British guy at the entrance knew what he was doing. Pleasant, polite, efficient, and always knew how to make the crowd waiting outside to feel ok. Once we were inside, he made sure we were being well taken care of. He checked on pretty much everybody and with a smile and a witty comment.
We went back there a week ago, and it just didn't feel the same. There was nobody to greet us.Just your usual bouncer! What's up with that? Having an efficient host is key. The service inside was awful. We called one of the managers to ask about the British guy and complain that nobody had taken our order, and she said that she was sorry but they were overwhelmed at the moment with too many guests. She seemed very annoyed that we suggested that they needed good people working there. And got furious at us when the suggestion went back to the Englishman who no longer was there to manage the flow in a smooth way. She replied: "Why does everybody keep asking about him?" And left us waiting. AGAIN!
Not worth it!
Too bad. Why change something that was working so well?
We won't bother going there anymore. The feeling and atmosphere completely changed!Really not worth the wait outside.
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