The Chester

This place is filthy and the Management is both non-​existent and obnoxious if you can finally interact with one. The food is horrible and over-​priced. They can’t even cook waffle fries right (barely fried and no seasoning). The desserts are way too sweet to the point of being inedible. The floors are covered in trash and spilled drinks from the night before. I cannot believe the Health Department hasn’t closed it down. Maybe I will file a report…

So I decided to give The Chester another chance, because after all, everyone deserves one, especially after the establishment’s Director of Hospitality reached out about my last visit. She assured me that my experience was the exception, and was anxious to confirm the details around my prior interaction to ensure it was not repeated.
I am happy to say mission accomplished. We were greeted warmly at the front, and seated in the half filled dining room early on a Friday night. The music was a bit loud, but this is the MP, and the scene was pro forma. Our server was incredibly sweet and attentive and brought our two glasses of wine to enjoy while we took a bit longer with the menu — a pinot grigio for me and a merlot for my hubby, both of which were good pours. We then shared the salmon tartare which had a healthy serving of avocado mixed in — yum. For mains, I opted for the pan seared market fish — branzino that day — with ratatouille, which was a wonderfully crispy filet with a less than inspired side of veg that lacked in the more robust flavors of the traditional French stew. My husband got the Atlantic Salmon which came with asparagus and a whole grain mustard vinaigrette — the fish was perfectly medium, but the mustard was a confusing accompaniment — as though it were serving as the grain on the plate, there was a copious amount propping up the protein.
In any case, the meal concluded with a fun and tasty homemade ice cream cookie combo — it hit the spot without feeling overly indulgent. I do get the sense that my previous stop in might have been on an off day, which is not an excuse, but as I looked around on this go-​around, the tables were full by the time we finished, and the bar outside was filled with ostensibly happy patrons. At minimum, I value their efforts to put a personal touch on those who come through The Chester.

I’m not sure what is worse the clientele or the management. Came for a birthday and hotel room guests smashed their bottles/​ice tray down thru the non closed awning of the Chester. When brought to managements attention he could not care less and his flippant attitude is the reason our entire party of 25 will never return. A girl of the party dove to the ground and rolled under the table because she believed it was gun shots and management wouldn’t even blink an eye. I am disgusted that people react to hospital-​table circumstances in such a carefree manner when terror is the upmost concern. I will never return here and do not have enough negativity to encourage others to do the same.

This place is only for drinks! Don’t order food there. We order fry chicken and fry pickles. Chicken was not cooked and we told that to waitress and she took our plate and after she brought plate with less chicken without fries. And I told again and in the 3 time it was ok but we wasn’t hungry anymore and we gave all things to homeless.

$ 5 for a large beer, comes in Hell: Lager, Pilsner, and Dark. Worth it to sit outside people watch and drink beers (during happy hour).

This is regard to the biergarten, but my friends and I love it all year round. It’s a great location and fun to sit outdoors in the summer or even in the colder months (under the heat warmers!). You can observe people walking along through meatpacking as you enjoy your drink and food. The beers are great, but the other cocktails can be a bit pricy (even more so than other bars in meatpacking).
Worth checking out for a fun place after work or on the weekend!

We were 7 people trying to find a place for brunch and every place we called or walked into either couldn’t sit more than 6 or had a 2 hour wait. We stumbled upon the cheater and they seated us right away! The outside patio had a great atmosphere and the food was delicious! The porkbelly burger was definitely a winner. Wasn’t really a fan of the Bloody Mary because it tastes more like cocktail sauce. Overall it was a good find!

It takes a lot for me to give something a one star review. But when you walk in somewhere that’s already empty but the hostess is irritated to have to interrupt her conversation, the bus staff are standing around on cell phones and then no server comes or even brings water for 15min… so you leave. That’s plenty to get one star from me.
Maybe Unilocal should allow zero stars.

Took 20 minutes to get our drinks. Not good either. The only saving grace of this place is the hostess.
UPDATE: our server who appeared to be the only one in our entire section wins points too. When he recognized that I didn’t like my drink he made it a point to remove from the bill. I should have probably said something sooner so they could get me a better drink and then my experience might have been more enjoyable

I am so upset that I even have to write this review. First of all, I was so excited to go to this place because from the outside looked so fun. It was packed and the music was great. I came with 6 friends and we sat outside. When we first got there, we had a waitress and she was fabulous. The minute our drinks got low she was there to ask if we wanted another — very important while brunching. Then, we got a new waiter and this is where everything went wrong.
1. We waited (on average) 20 minutes to get our drinks after ordering
2. I got my food and there was the longest hair in it
3. I sent it back and it took another 30 — 40 minutes to get my new entrée
4. I asked for Jameson — out of it
5. I asked for Baileys — out of it
6. We got kicked out because a party was coming
7. Wouldn’t let us stand outside (where the party was NOT) because we didn’t have a table — but they just kicked us out of ours?
8. Our bill was $ 700 — expensive menu and drinks
9. Our waiter was a complete space cadet — had to be reminded for all drinks/​orders
10. It was freakin’ terrible.
So please save yourself the hassle and take your money elsewhere. What a waste of a good space and vibe.

Before I get too deep into this review, let me clarify my rating. If this review was just about our first waitress, it’d be four starts. If it was just about the drinks, two stars. If it was just about the food we ordered and consumed, one star. If it was just about the waitress who took over after our first one left, zero stars. (Ooh, foreshadowing…)
The only things on our minds when we walked past this place were, «Outdoor seating and booze». We weren’t hungry, we didn’t care about anything else beyond people watching on a patio and chatting over good drinks.
We got settled in at the outdoor bar seating and waited for our first waitress, Alicia, to stop by. She was sweet and friendly and recommended a few of the cocktails on the menu. We placed our orders (I got some kind of ginger concoction that was decent, but mostly ice) then kicked back to enjoy the company and the people watching.
Let me just say, the cocktail was not worth the price. Had I noticed the $ 18 price tag before ordering, it never would’ve happened. $ 18, man!
For the second round, I desperately wanted a beer, and mentally cheered when I saw they had Left Hand nitro in bottles. I ordered one, while one girl ordered a glass of red and the other decided to try a hefeweizen for the first time.
My Left Hand came out in the bottle, which she opened in front of me. I immediately asked for a glass (you can’t drink a nitro out of a bottle!), which she said she’d bring right out. The red was the tiniest pour I’d ever seen in my life.
But the thing that drew my eye was the «hefeweizen» that was put in front of my friend. As soon as it was set down, I said, «That’s the wrong beer. There’s no way that’s a hef!» This beer was pale, clear and fizzy. It was a pilsner. Being new to beer, she didn’t know, but she started to drink it, and realized she liked it. I really wanted to bring it to Alicia’s attention, but decided to fight my own battles, instead.
Approximately five minutes had passed since beer delivery, and I was still waiting on a glass for my nitro.
She eventually came back and realized that I was still waiting, but it was a few more minutes before I got the glass. Meanwhile, she must’ve heard us talking about the hef that wasn’t, because she came back out with the correct beer.
By that time I was ready for another nitro (I was on vacation, don’t judge me), so I ordered another. She came back out with a bottle of beer that wasn’t Left Hand and a new glass (heh).
Apparently, I’d ordered the last Left Hand they had, so she wanted to know if I would be interested in trying the German brown they had in bottles. She told me it’d be about the same. I highly doubted that, but told her I’d make her a deal. I knew that they had that brown on tap, so I said if I could get that beer on draft, I’d take it.
She came back with a freshly pulled Krombacher Dark, which she set in front of me. One sip and I knew I’d been had, but I wasn’t going to let it go to waste. It had to have been the most bland brown I’ve ever had. Very uninteresting and not tasty.
It was around this time that we decided we wanted to order a little something to help soak up the booze. We deferred to the one with the food allergy, and ended up asking for an order of the fries to share.
THIRTY FIVE MINUTES LATER, we were still fry-​less. Our waitress came by to say that her shift was ending, and that she’s just checked on the fries, which she promised were coming. She said we’d be taken care of by the new waitress, but she lied.
New waitress was terrible. I mean, just awful. She ignored us. The one time she did come by, she was rude and indifferent. We had to catch the eye of the manager to get a update on our order of fries, because new waitress didn’t give a hot damn about us.
A full fifteen minutes after talking with the manager (so, almost an hour wait for fries), they were finally delivered.
And they. Were. WRONG. We asked for regular fries. We got waffle cut, instead. But you know, after all that, we didn’t want to argue. Who knows how long it would’ve taken to get the correct order?
I will say that the manager, at least, did his best to do right by us. Plus, he apologized several times, and seemed to mean it. That counted for a lot to us, slightly tipsy and vaguely annoyed as we were.
Three hours after parking our tushies in the chairs, we paid our bills and hit the road. Unbelievable to think that an hour of that time was spent yearning for fries…

I was a little confused to even be having brunch here. It is in meatpacking, but it isn’t a trendy, sceny or party brunch. And why else have run brunch in meatpacking, quite frankly?
Likely because Chesters is in the Gansevoort Hotel, it has too much a touristy vibe. My friend selected this place, but otherwise I don’t think I would have come here on my own accord. I prefer the larger space of the other Gansevoort Hotel in the city. This one feels cramped, I don’t like the interior layout of this one, and it seems more run down than the other one (lots of wear and tear on the couches in the lobby, for instance).
The outdoor brunch seating here makes you feel like you are sitting right in the heart of meatpacking, which has such a different vibe during the day (more shopping than partying). The steak and eggs I had for brunch were rather good as well. The steak came on this pesto garlic sauce which made it good. The eggs were eggs, but the potatoes on the side were better than I expected.
What I wasn’t so thrilled about was the service here. Everyone is nice, but they try to rush you out when it isn’t even that crowded. Like the first hour was fine, but the second hour was like not so subtle questioning of whether we need anything else, were we done yet and could they take our dishes away, and then they finally had the gall to seat this family next to us as the tables are like long picnic style bench tables outside. That did it and we quickly left thereafter, but we were only there for two hours total which is not unreasonable for brunch. I actually felt more bad for the family that was just getting seated and were being brought to our picnic bench to share seating with us. I think we all were collectively thinking this is so ghetto. ..

Two stars only because of our server Allie and she deserves five stars. Allie knows the menu and drink menu. She’s a sweetie and professional and maintains a wonderful composure.
The kitchen and other workers, an absolute disaster. Them I give not even one star.
Kitchen couldn’t have a thing come out correctly, didn’t have answers and the people serving our food kept dropping everything. Our salads, entrees nothing came out correctly as ordered. The boys bringing out food– basically severed it to other tables first. Finally at our table, it was thrown at us.
Allie has tried and done her finest in rectifying all she could.
As for the ringmaster who facilitates and manages this ‘circus’- perhaps go back to a hot dog stand and learn something.
As I type this We are waiting for our correct entrees… and they did. That took 25 minutes. During ‘the wait’ a manager? Assistant manager? Whomever he was, he was a kid with no explanation why all dishes initially ordered were served abruptly and incorrectly. Did this young man ever come back and ask if it was corrected? How was it? Anything else he can do? Absolutely not. Not even an offer of let me take the incorrect entrée off, or may I get you a drink or dessert. He never followed up and was aware all entrees were sent back. Bill paid in full, even for the extremely wrong entrée. Two in my party ordered steak frites. Those were sent back into the kitchen. If you would like eating rubber meat, this dish is for you. Both were rubber and could not be chewed!
Left and went elsewhere for dessert.

This place is the worst and has mice everywhere…
The food sucks and the drinks suck and i am against having mice running around me while I’m eating.
I also don’t like posers and this place is full of them. Everyone here sucks and I am going to report them to the authorities of health.
I am disgusted by poserism. The bathrooms are also disgusting and full of used tampons. Stay away and go to Chik-​Fil-​A instead.
Mice!!!

Worst. Brunch. Ever. Don’t go with large groups. They take forever to get your food out, the waitresses don’t understand English, and the food tastes like something I could buy at the corner market for half the price. Not. Impressed.

If you don’t like mice, stay away from this bar! Was enjoying my (expensive) drink and saw 4 mice running around inside! I have a bad phobia and started crying and screaming and the waitress accused me of being drunk. I left immediately and wrote them an email the next day. I got no response. Disgusting for an «upscale» food establishment/​bar.

This review is for brunch, and in particular the gilt City deal, which is not a very attractive deal unless you’re looking to have a few discounted cocktails with brunch at a trendy location.
We grabbed brunch on a Saturday using the voucher I had purchased for $ 59, and which included four cocktails, one appetizer, and two mains. My two primary issues with the voucher were that there were only two appetizer options without an up-​charge, and that there was a mandatory 20% gratuity, which was not advertised and which I have not experienced with any other Gilt City vouchers. Without these issues, I would have offered The Chester 3 stars (taking one away for slow service and another for good but not great food and lousy cocktails). Given that slow service was an issue, the required 20% gratuity was frustrating. However, I would like to add that our waitress, while slow, was very nice.
In general, the Chester is a chic spot inside the Gansevoort Hotel in Meatpacking so you expect to pay a little more in exchange for good vibes, but we sat in the upstairs alcove which has no atmosphere at all. I started with a bloody mary made from a pre-​packaged spice blend, which is not necessarily an automatic indictment, but the blend lacked flavor and the bartender did a poor job of mixing the drink. There were sips that tasted like nothing but spices, and sips that tasted like straight vodka. I ordered a second, hoping to find that the lack of continuity was an anomaly, but the second was equally disappointing. The crudite appetizer was fine, and the french toast and eggs benedict were pretty good, so no further complaints there. The meal itself wasn’t a bad meal, but it also wasn’t so spectacular that I would be willing to overlook the other negatives highlighted above.
If you add it all up including the gratuity and tax, the meal came to ~$ 105 when using the voucher, and, while we did have four cocktails, even at that discounted price I’m confident you can do better elsewhere.

The Chester is always packed but has impeccable service! I would recommend eating outside if you want a beer-​garden feel. The inside is elegant and has a completely different atmosphere. The menu varies depending on where you sit but this is your choice. The staff is very friendly.
I found that most of their dishes were rather small but delicious. My friends and I originally came in for the half off drink special but misread the fine print. When we received the final bill our faces must have dropped and the manager immediately ran over and helped us. He was very accommodating and even took the entire liquor bill off! I would highly suggest this restaurant.

This review is just for wine served outdoors a few Sunday nights ago. We were waiting for our Apple Genius Bar appointment time.
We were greeted by the hostess at the entrance and we requested outside seating. We were seated at a shared picnic table under very nice heat lamps. So far so good. The waitress came over after about 20 minutes and asked us what we wanted. We both replied a menu would be nice and we really only wanted drinks. She came back promptly, maybe 5 min later and told us she would be right back to take our drink order. We never saw her again. We left 5 minutes before our scheduled Apple Store appointment.
FYI, They fixed my wife’s iPhone problem in about 30 seconds.

I have fond memories of coming to the Hotel Gansevoort during my single days for my friend Max’s legendary happy hour gatherings. Tanuki Tavern, which I adored, is now gone, and has been replaced by The Chester. No longer single, or living in Manhattan for that matter, I came to The Chester from Forest Hills with my husband. This restaurant had tremendous shoes to fill.
Our meal began with cocktails – I had the SoCo sangria and Mike had a jalapeño concoction. I could go for another glass of that frosty beverage right now. Like it’s predecessor, The Chester serves strong drinks. I respect that. We ordered the cheeseboard to start and enjoyed the pairings of unique cheeses, chutneys, and pretzel-​like bread instead of crostini, since this is a beer garden. I had the seabass over ratatouille as my entrée and Mike had the burger. We sampled each other’s meals which were similarly excellent. We don’t make a habit of ordering desserts but when we saw the Oreo ice cream cake on the menu, we did not hold back.
It was fun to reminisce about happy days gone by. Frankly, I noticed some positive changes in the Meatpacking District and would welcome the opportunity to come back there frequently as I once did. We certainly found a good restaurant to do so.