BXL East

Brunch is hard for us vegans. From eggs, to buttermilk pancakes, it’s hard to partake in such an NYC staple activity. Cue BXL east. A friend and I crashed at another friend’s hotel after a night of debauchery and the next morning we were ravenous. We decided to take a walk around the block and stumbled upon BXL East. The enticing sign outside, promising unlimited mimosas and bloody marys sparked our hopes. We sat down. My friends picked what they wanted to order and I sat crestfallen at the lack of food available for me to eat. The waiter arrived and I told her that I wanted the unlimited mimosa deal but the only vegan dish (the pasta) was not an entrée (only entrees get the unlimited mimosa/​bloody mary deal). She chatted with the manager and came back to tell me they’d do the deal for me with the pasta dish. Such great customer service and just for that I will definitely return. All of our food was delicious and our server was super attentive and continuously filled up our water glasses (we were parched). The only downside to our meal was that the chef had a stick up his hoo-​ha and refused to make the most simple changes (instead of eggs over easy, sunny side up) in a pretty much totally empty restaurant. Highly recommend this eatery!

Dark ambiance. Loud hip beats. Don’t come here for a quiet tête-​à-​tête. The French onion soup is one of the best I’ve ever had. I would have expected baguette for bread. I’ve had better mussels. Fries come with mayo, as they should. But they will offer ketchup. Order in French with pretty much anyone on the staff. Service isn’t fast so be patient and nice.

The pretzel bun with the burger was really good. Their fries were amazing and I didn’t have onion rings but someone I know had them and I heard those were really good as well. Would definitely recommend!

Beer and mussels! Mussels come in a variety of styles (i.e. sauces). I’ve had the classic (white wine based) style at their Flatiron location so tried the Thai style here and it was good albeit heavier (coconut milk based). Great fries. Big after work crowd. Pretty cramped quarters. Attentive service, not to rushed.

Food is good. Crowd is good. Drink list is good (lindemans framboise!) but I would never go there again.
Here’s why:
Thursday night I took a work break to meet up with my girlfriends for dinner. Precious time, as I proceeded to work well into the early morning after that. I ordered one of the mussels — menu said «olives, cilantro, and tomato». Sounded good, fresh, perfect for a mussel broth. The food came out and it was a dark spice filled gravy — very different from what was described.
Asked the waitress to change it out and she said I still have to charge you for both. So I said that’s okay just take it. She took it, didn’t offer to bring me out anything else, and I paid $ 25 for literally nothing. Sat there for the rest of the meal with nothing in front of me while my friends ate.
Never seen anything like it. They must be going through some rough times, to not even be able to cook a re-​do. Still shocked as I sit here writing this.

Really like this BXL, much more than the one on W 43^rd. The guy who I think is the manager here is really nice and has great beer suggestions. The atmosphere is open and welcoming. I have yet to order food here, but I usually go with a beer flight. I hold BXL responsible for introducing me to Ommegang a few years ago and am still thankful for that.

If you are in the area this little bar/​restaurant is a really good choice for a drink and some unique eats.
I don’t mean unique bad I mean unique good.
Sort of a Dutch Swedish menu with really good meatballs (3 to an order) with French fries and meat tips… all good stuff!
Atmosphere is noisy and fun. Waitresses are really good at their jobs so overall well worth trying!

Mussels. Mussels the size of my palms. I’m in love with this place. It’s … so french. so German. It’s Belgian! And it’s perfect. Quality food in gigantic portions.
My boyfriend and I ordered a cheese plate to start with and expected something small and light. We got a board with 4 big hunks of yummy cheeses with all the accompaniments you could ask for. I was full at this point. But it was too late. The damage had been done. We already ordered their steak frites and a pot of mussels. Both delicious and we nearly finished it all. Tag team and washed it down with Rochefort number 8 (lives up to the hype, by the way). Great night. Great crowd. Perfect service. No complaints. Highly recommended if you happen to be in the area.

The food here is way too heavy. I’ve come here for brunch twice and left kind of uncomfortable. But maybe it’s my own fault for eating too much food? Came here with a group of 4 and a group of 10, and had no problem getting seated quickly either times.
The brunch menu consists of Belgium beers, salads, sandwiches/​French dishes, spaghetti and mussels. I’ve tried the Croque Madame ($ 12), Eggs Benedict ($ 12), French Toast ($ 9), and mussels ($ 12 for 1lb). The eggs and sandwiches come with fries and a salad. The eggs benedict were good and perfectly runny! However, I thought the croquet madame was way too oily — every bite I felt I was biting into grease. It is basically a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top. I was also disappointed by the mussels — I thought the broth was tasteless.
The ambiance is of a Belgium Pub — TV screen across the walls, wooden tables, and the smell of beer. There is plenty of seating, especially for brunch so it is good for large groups. I’ve never seen the restaurant completely packed so finding a table is not a problem.

If you truly love mussels then you can carry on with that love affair with them here at BXL East! And may I recommend you make that appointment for a Sunday or Monday when they offer their All You Can Eat Mussels deal. Yes, All You Can Eat mussels!
I arrived here on a Monday evening after work at 6pm and the restaurant was about a ¼ filled only. When we sat down we had our pick of where we wanted to sit and were immediately greeted by a waitress, who was very attentive all night, at our table. The service was excellent throughout the night as the waitress was very patient with us as we ordered, ordered and ordered more mussels.
So let me get straight to the point, we were here for one thing and one thing only on this Monday, ALL YOU CAN EAT MUSSELS! For $ 25 you can eat as much mussels as you can stuff your face with and you also get 1 side order of fries and a free Stella beer! Seriously, this is as good of a deal in NYC as you will find! In addition, for the mussels selection, we were able to select from any of the mussels available on their menu, which was comprised of 7 different flavors!
So how were the mussels? Very good! The 1^st serving of mussels weighed 2lbs, then every pot after that was 1lb each. Our group ordered every flavor available and, quite honestly, they all started looking and tasting the same … and that wasn’t a bad thing considering how good they were! The only flavor that looked different was the Provençale because of the tomato sauce on top.
By the time we were done eating at 8pm, the restaurant was crowded to the point where there was 1 open table remaining. However, many of the patrons were there to just drink and mingle. BXL East made for a great hangout spot and after experiencing the All You Can Eat deal, I don’t think there is any other day I can come here except Sunday or Monday!

This place does a good job with moules and frites, which are part of an $ 18 lunch that includes a beer, appetizer and the plump moules. The frites portion was generous as well. The pâté I started with is pretty basic, but comes with good olives, cornichons and a basket containing whole wheat and white peasant bread.
The omelets are pretty decent as well. The strong coffee is surprisingly good.
The atmosphere is also interesting, it’s a long time since I was in Belgium, but I would say that the feel is European, and it’s a nicer vibe than you feel at the generic Irish-​American places in the area.

We came here on a Sunday for the ‘all you can eat’ mussels, and we were not disappointed. There were at least 5 choices, 8 if memory serves, and we tried them all. At first, you get 2 pounds of mussels, and then 1 pound increments. Each round can be any flavor and we took full advantage of that.
The frites were nice like shoestring fries which were nice to soak up the juice. The waiter was quite friendly, but I hope I didn’t gross him out too much by eating 5 pounds of mussels all by my lonesome self. :D

They speak French here! It’s amazing and a delight to know they are authentic. The service is friendly but a little slow and we were not offered refills on water, only on beverages we paid for.
I had the mussels and fries. The mussels were fresh and delicious, but the fries were seriously lacking. My colleagues had the French onion soup which they said was delicious. And the ham and cheese sandwich w fried egg. Which was also amazing. The fried calamari also fell flat. Great place to come for drinks as they have over 50 varieties of beer on the menu.

This is a really cool Belgian pub with delicious food. Particularly, as a huge mussel fan, I am very impressed by their large selection of Moules Frites! They have all you can eat deals on Sundays and Mondays for very fair prices, during which you can taste all the delectable flavors of mussels you can fit in you. So far, I’ve only been able to finish one, as these pots are GIANT. The Thaillandaise is my favorite, with coconut milk and curry. They also have a great selection of beers and are always playing whatever dumb sports game (sorry guys) is on, which keeps my boyfriend happy! BXL East is a great little gem in the neighborhood.

Stopped in here for drinks recently, since we love Belgian beers, and sometimes you just want good beer. On a Sunday afternoon it wasn’t too crowded and the seating at the bar was ample. The bar tender was very knowledgeable about Belgian beers, and seemed to actually be from Belgium. Additionally, the service was spot on, and continued that way throughout our four leisurely goes hanging out here.
Can’t wait to come back for soccer in the spring.
Didn’t eat anything but the mussels deal they have for sundays seemed popular!
Prices are reasonable, but really they blew me away with the great service.

Dropped in for lunch. It was pretty crowded but we snagged a table for 3 quickly. The hostess instantly gave me a bad vibe. She was cold, no smile, no greeting. Just sat us down and walked away. Then she ended up being our waitress, which was no better. She only came by to take our order, drop off the drinks, and drop off the check. The busboy who dropped off our food practically slammed our plates on the table.
I had the endive salad which was a big portion but it was covered in blue cheese dressing — which I don’t like. I didn’t ask beforehand (my fault) and didn’t bother changing it since I already had a bad vibe about the place.
The only good things I had here were the fries and a glass of Cabernet (actually comes with a tiny carafe which pours two glasses). Otherwise, pass on this place.

Came in Sunday evening for the all-​you-​can-​eat mussels special, and it was great! I am normally weary of AYCE deals, as it usually means poorer quality food, slow service, or some combination of the two. Not so at BXL East. The mussels were good quality and the flavors were delicious. You can even switch flavors between pots of mussels, so it was nice to try several. And the FRIES WERE AWESOME. Perfectly crisp, clearly fresh cut and not greasy at all, with a delicious garlic aioli to go with them.
Definitely will be back to explore the menu further and check out the extensive beer selection (AYCE deal unfortunately came with Stella).
One minor complaint is that it is not a great place to watch sports, as the TVs are a bit small and many tables have bad viewing angles. Only really an issue if you are hoping to catch a game (as I was) but worth knowing…

Found this place near my sister’s neighborhood while visiting. What a cute place! A lot of their beers are not actually Belgium beers, but Belgium style American beers. The food is decent and they have 3 beer and 5 beer flights. They also have $ 8 Lambic Framboise on draft… which is cheaper than any other place I’ve been to in Manhattan.
Good lunch price ($ 18) for appetizer, entrée, and a stella. Service is great and you can bring work in there to do. Outside seating available as well. My only issue are the flies. Man! There were a lot of them!

Come for the beer. Skip the food.
I would definitely recommend the beer flight. A flight of 3 is $ 10, and a flight of 5 is $ 15. You can choose from any of their draft beers. I don’t remember which ones I chose but I don’t remember having a bad one.
For food, I had the boulettes de viande sauce tomate (Belgian style meat balls w/​frites). I’m not sure what made it «Belgian», but with all the tomato sauce it was smothered in, it reminded me more of an Italian dish. Maybe it was the fries that was supposedly Belgian? I’m not too sure but all I tasted was the sauce.
I would only come back if I’m in the area, and it would only be for the beer.

Some pretty tasty mussels provençal served up with decent frites and Leffe Blonde to wash it down. Oh yeah!
Decent Belgian gastropub type spot located in Midtown that we found after having a few drinks at an Irish pub close by. We walked in after making reservations along the way and were seated at a large table in the back room dining area. Nice menu of food items and beer choices. Plenty of mussels options to choose from with different broths and seasonings.
Prices and service were good. One of my biggest pet peeves are businesses that refuse to crank up the AC when it gets warm outside. This place had me sweating within minutes and it was a good thing they did get it cooled up in here as I was devouring a hot steamy pot of mussels. I did enjoy the meal as the mussels were plentiful, and the pot had a mix of tomatoes, herbs and garlic broth with some veggies mixed in to scoop up at the end, along with a bunch of mussels that had dropped out of their shells.
Of course, I dipped in bread that was placed on the table. A lot of it. Damn bread is like crack to me. Might as well soak it all up! Yes, I’m a gluttonous mussel freak. Don’t judge me!
I do have to also give props to any bar that serves up its beers in the appropriate glasses. As this is a Belgian-​centric spot pouring a quality brew such as Chimay, Leffe, and Kwak deserves to be consumed in it’s correct goblet. It’s a much more classier way than pouring it into a generic plain pint glass.
I might have to try this place on a Monday night, as they do an AYCE (all you can eat) deal starting at 4pm — mussels w/​frites and one Stella brew for $ 24. What a deal! I’m bringing my bib next time!