[belzjm]

anyone been? looked like it was pretty packed when i walked by yesterday....

there's this on OTBKB:



New Tapas on Seventh Avenue and Carroll

A quick review from Verse Responder Leon Freilich who tried the new tapas place on Seventh Avenue and Carroll. It's called 161 (located 161 Seventh Avenue)!

A bite into a tortilla espanola, followed by sushi and
a sip of Pinot Noir. Then, sitting at a high table,
a taste of chorizo and sashimi moistened by
a fine merlot.

You're in 161, the new tapas
wine bar that replaced the Japanese restaurant
on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Carroll
Street.

The dual-national establishment, which opened
this weekend, is an instant hit. The back wall of
this sprawling treatery, seen through the many
streetfront windows, is the first attraction--
brightly lit red & yellow & blue halos of what
appear to be wine bottle bottoms.

From there the delicate wines & tidbits take over.
Sunday night, they seemed to be doing their job.
More patrons were on hand than in a month of
either of the previous two Japanese incarnations.

Smart decor plus Euro flashfare can do that.

[new2hood]

here are my initial thoughts. Haven't been there yet, but the menu is full of typos and I think having tapas and sushi is weird. Wine list is not great by a long shot. I love me a good wine bar, but from what I can see, there's no reason not to keep moving until you hit brookvin.

[Danny Hellman]

[Old Time Brooklyn]

This place is gonna suck. The wine list is pedestrian and the food is all over the place. The former owners are just trying to cash in on what they think people in the Slope want.

[Carmen]

I'm a huge fan of gimmicks (sorry, its the truth) and the menu at this place looked shit-tay. The wine list is on the pricey side for a place thats just opening with such a weak menu (I believe most glasses were $9+ versus Brookvin which opened with a handful of $7 glasses and worked its way up)
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[belzjm]

that would have been the perfect spot for a really nice, good quality steak house. i've seen and heard SO many people around here say that they want one, and that spot is nice and big with a lot of 7th avenue prime frontage. had they done the decor properly and the food was high quality, they could have made a really stellar addition to the neighborhood.

great, traditional tapas would been good too, but this isn't sounding super promising.

[ZeeBee]

[prezst]

went last night. very nice. extensive wine selection, and as for the beer, the only thing that disappointed me was that they didn't have stella. the food selection seemed deliberately chosen to appeal to all sorts of tastes. and the staff was very friendly. i'll be back.

[Stella]

I went there last week. It was alright. The decor was nice and comfy. (It kind of feels like Ikea in there, but I thought it was cute.) I'm not a fan of bacon, but my friends seemed to have enjoyed the food. Everyone seems confused as to why they have sushi, but it just looks like the sushi bar that was leftover from the location's previous incarnation. It's like they thought, "Well, it's already here, why bother removing it? People love sushi. It stays!" I don't see why anyone is really all that bothered by it, thought. Isn't it better to have more options than just the tapas?

[xlizellx]

[Burns]

i never understood this - is it weird they sell sushi - sure
but so what?

it has a great ambiance, always has a pretty good size crowd, serve huge gallses of wine and is a comfortable place to get a drink in the north slope on 7th ave - i cant think of a single other place to go
they also have 4 good beers on tap and serve them in large glasses
i like this place and hope it does well

[Carmen]

broke person here- does anyone know if they have any sort of happyhour? I know this is a very non-winebar like thing but I noticed that brookvin now offers a happyhour of sorts...
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[Flexichick]

[Carmen]

I actually haven't been, I just saw the board out in front from across the street. It said "happy hour" and I saw the number 5 but I wasn't close enough to see the details...
I also love brookvin but I def cannot afford $8+ glasses of wine at the moment.
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[petitchou]

They have a good selection of red wines, but rather than serving it in a glass, they give it to you in a mini-carafe along with an empty glass. Then rather than leaving you alone and letting you fill your own glass, the servers come by and pour for you. I guess that's so you'll drink more quickly. And they keep asking if you want more. Other than that annoyance I like the place. Haven't tried the food.

[Stella]

Brookvin's happy hour is something like $5 tartines with each purchase of a drink. I think they're regularly around $8 or so.