Tink’s

Ordered: (complimentary) Pumpkin soup with coconut shreds, Ricotta have it gnocchi, Pretzel crusted fried chicken, and Seared tuna sesame sliders
Pros-​Great customer service and interesting décor.
Cons-​Pretzel chicken was just crunchy-​no pretzel-​like taste. Other items were good but not amazing.

A small restaurant in East Village that offers small plates of American style tapas to share. I went here for a friend’s birthday dinner with a group of 8 on a Friday night. What’s great was that they took reservations so there was no hassle to get seated. The restaurant is very narrow and small, so our party took up half the space.
We shared several tapas amongst our group. We ordered the Shrimp & Grits ($ 12), Pork Belly ($ 9), «Grown Up» Grilled Cheese ($ 10), Ricotta Gnocchi ($ 10), Mac and Cheese with mushrooms ($ 12), oreo cheesecake ($ 8) to name a few, which were all good. The food was definitely very filling and heavy if you are in the mood for that kind of meal. I also ordered the Sangria ($ 8) and thought it was way too sugary and sweet.
The atmosphere was laid back and cozy, and the prices were reasonable. Based on the reviews, brunch seems to be more popular, so will definitely come back to try the brunch!

Dude… dude…dude…just go.
The food is unreal. Utterly unreal. I went with two friends. We split 5 dishes and it was the perfect amount.
The adult grilled cheese will make you see god. The best fried chicken and waffles I have ever had. Shrimp and grits were spectacular. This place is plate lickin good

This place is super cute! I can’t speak to the food, although I do want to go back and get brunch here sometime, but the service was friendly and I love the atmosphere. Grabbed a quick glass of wine with my boyfriend and we were able to sit at one of the cute tables out front. Fair drink prices and it’s adorably decorated– I highly recommend!

Located right across from Butter Lane Cupcakes and Big Gay Ice Cream, I never would have known about this place if my high school friends hadn’t decided to meet up here. You can make a reservation on OpenTable, which is recommended as the restaurant is not very big.
The menu is diverse but limited enough that you aren’t flipping through pages of options. I opted for the chicken and waffles because of all the delicious-​looking photos. I loved how the fried chicken had pretzel bits sprinkled in the batter to give it an extra crunch, while keeping the meat moist. My friend got the shrimp and grits which I tried a bit of and enjoyed it as well.
With your entrée choice, you also get an option of coffee or tea, plus a mimosa or bloody mary ($ 2 more for the bloody mary) for a total of $ 18 which is an excellent deal for brunch in NYC.

Sweet little brunch place. I loved that we could get a reservation for 2 at noon on Sunday. The service was a little slow (only 2 servers for 9 or 10 tables) but they were very nice. The place is overflowing with poinsettia wreaths and other gold Christmas decorations, which could be a nightmare for you but I found it cosy and cute.
Cinnabon Pancakes: 4.5 stars
These pancakes have an amazing fluffy texture and come drizzled generously with cream cheese glaze and a spiced apple compote. If you’re a fan of cinnamon buns, you’ll love this.
Chicken and Waffles: 3.5 stars
The draw was the spiced crispy chicken; pretzel crust was delicious and well spiced but meat was on the gristly side. The multigrain waffle was good considering it was multigrain.
I couldn’t help comparing this to the Demon Lover at 900 Grayson in Emeryville, CA – similar spiced fried chicken and multigrain waffle. Tink’s wins on the waffle, but Grayson wins on the chicken.

Brunch for $ 16 in the East Village?! HELLO! …And yes, that includes your entrée, a cup of tea or joe & a mimosa, thank you very much!
The meals themselves were fantastic.
— The pretzel breaded (boneless, might I add) chicken w/​multigrain waffle? Amazing w/​a dip of maple syrup & chipotle butter!
— The sweet potato hash worked so well. Holy smokes, pieces of carmelized sweet potatoes mixed in w/​fried chunks of potatoes then simply season w/​a bit of salt? Just perfect. Aaaaaand ya’ll can’t forget the two fried eggs on top… mmm hmm!
— Have you ever seen more creamier grits moxed w/​perfectly cooked & seasoned shrimp? Yeah, I thought so lol.
The décor of this place is so cute. Unique antique pieces hanging as decorations, including Dorothy’s shoes on top of the entrance. Plus two tables or so right in front of the restaurant for outdoor dining/​people watching.
Did I mention the waiters are great, too?

First visit, I was a little underwhelmed. Second visit, much, much better.
First visit, I had a 1:30 brunch reservation. Don’t bother trying to come for brunch without a reservation – this place is small. Like room for only one server because two could not fit in this packed restaurant. The 1:30 visit was loud, and I was smashed next to four girls screeching about their Hamptons wedding and who to invite for best gifts. I nearly died when they started twittering about which Instagram filter to use on their brunch picture. Anyway.
I ordered the grown up grilled cheese sans mushrooms. It was pretty great! The onion jam is really delicious. I recommend eating the sandwich quickly though, because the bread felt a little soggy/​greasy once cold. The prix fixe brunch included my coffee and a mimosa. The mimosas tasted more OJ than sparkling, but free is free.
Second visit, I had an 11:45 reservation, and there was already a short stand by line for tables. We were seated quickly in the (quiet!) restaurant, and our server, who was the same as last time, was very friendly. Our coffees were poured right away.
I had the sliders, which were surprisingly really good! I’ve had a lot of sliders dried out, but these were cooked to my preference and juicy. Served on a brioche bun with a little dollop of onion jam and a crunchy pickle: yum. I stole a bite of the French toast bread pudding my boyfriend ordered (which is topped with bacon) and it was really yummy too – but definitely more sweet than savory (or filling).
By the time we were done, the place was uproariously loud again (with a table of six blonde late 20 something girls screeching it up). I would recommend coming here early, or bringing the girlfriends. It was hard to keep a conversation going without yelling. This isn’t a brunch date spot.
My only gripe: my coffee or water was never refilled. I am a two cup minimum kind of girl, and the one cup of semi weakly brewed coffee doesn’t work for me.

I was so disappointed. I really wanted to like this place after reading all the reviews, but i just didn’t. The atmosphere itself is cute. Its very small and you are sitting literally on top of the person next to you. We went for a Saturday brunch. They have a $ 18 prefix menu. upcharge of 2 with a bloody mary or mimosa. To start, they ran our of bloody marys!!! That already had me sad.
Then, i’ve never eaten chicken and waffles SO i finally decided to try it here. I was so disappointed. The waffles were dry and not special. I only ate half of them. The chicken was ok. My friend ordered the adult grilled cheese. It tasted as of it was just sitting there all day and greasy. We were both disappointed in our meals.
With so many options in the area, i would not return here again.
The service was quick and our waitress was nice. The mimosa was ok.

Tapas bar with lots of good beer choices but disappointing qualities for the actual plates. There’s a trend where the main protein of a plate is a small fraction and the filler makes up most of the plate (grits, rice, things like that). We also had cake which felt like it was left out for too long.

I keep going back and forth between giving this restaurant 3 or 4 stars because the food was very tasty but I left the restaurant still hungry.
I was very impressed with the staff, it was a small team but they were very attentive, friendly and welcoming. My friend and I were there for a while and no one had a problem with that. I love good service.
The décor is adorable. Everything on the walls (my favorite was the giant fork and spoon) were just so appealing to the eyes. Even when I went to the restroom the decorations made me smile. And the check was placed in an R.L. Stine Goosebumps book which made me giggle like a small child.
Be warned though this place is small. This is a good date place of for a small group. And I highly recommend making reservations.
When I looked at the menu everything seemed appealing so my friend and I decided to share a few different plates. I thought the plates would be of normal size. The portions here are small. The food was delicious but don’t expect to share here. I think ordering 3 small plates on my own would have been a better option for me.
The food portions were small but the drinks were well sized. I recommend the «Dumb Plumb» (it’s got plumb wine in it) plus it’s sweet and perfect for drinking while eating spicy foods.
I ordered the shrimp and grits, Tater tots, and winner winner chicken dinner.
All 3 dishes were amazing. The shrimp was seasoned to perfection. They were plump but be warned you will only get 3 large shrimp. The grits were thick I wish they were a bit looser. The tater tots were not crispy and was topped with gravy. The gravy included pieces of duck and cheese bits, this dish was very warm and comforting. It reminded me of poutine. The chicken dish was served on sweet potatoes and topped with marshmallows. The chicken should be eaten with the sweet potato to obtain the full effect and the marshmallows are just fun to eat.
I do not recommend ordering the chocolate fudge cake for dessert. The slice we ordered had a weird taste like it was sitting in the refrigerator for awhile. Maybe next time I will try the chocolate cheese cake.
The overall meal was pretty pricy being that 3 small dishes were shared between 2 people.
I’ll give it a second thought if I return here and I’ll have a snack before I go as well.

So, the lady and I stopped by here on a Friday night after meeting up with some folks at a bar nearby. She was really hungry and we passed by earlier and thought with a name like Tink’s it would at least be ‘cutesy’ –her words, not mine–
The place was small but we were seated fairly quickly and sat down to order and soon before the lady got hangry. The restaurant is basically like American tapas, a concept I hate because it’s a little amount of food for around the same amount you would pay for a regular meal. However, the plates are shareable and left me satiated. The items are all named in a overly clever way but it helps with what they were.
The ‘Disco is dead?’ Disco fries with duck gravy, delicious a nice blend of sweet/​savory and crispy and soft.
‘Phat beets?’ Beet salad, ok, but beet salad is not necessarily my fave.
The Angus sliders were okay-​no matter what the pedigree of beef, sliders are sliders and they don’t have a slick nickname.
On top of that, their mac and cheese is delicious-​just plain and honestly just plain good. I’ve been to plenty of mac and cheese restaurants where it wasn’t as good as the mac and cheese here.
Pretty happy with this find.

Like many of the previous Unilocalers, I completely agree that this spot is overhyped. I came in on a Saturday morning without reservations, but the waitress was kind enough to squeeze me and a friend in. The service was okay, but it felt rushed. Although it’s a small place and there weren’t that many customers, our waitress was dashing back and forth. The food took about 15 minutes to arrive. However, it wasn’t hot, just lukewarm. I had the chicken and waffles, sweet potato hash and rosemary fries.
Chicken and waffles– Chicken was okay, waffles were soggy. and cold
Sweet potato hash– Okay. Nothing special
Rosemary fries– Good, crunchy and have a great flavor.
Honestly, I don’t think I will be coming back again. It’s not worth making a special trip here for brunch.

One thing: I really like giant forks /​spoons… and Tink’s had ‘em on display on the walls. Very cool décor. Tons of clocks too. Fun to look around and oodle at the stuff they’ve got plastered up here.
I managed to squeeze in for an early morning Saturday brunch. Which was pretty awesome, considering they happen to take reservations and I assumed they would probably be decked out. The waiter was friendly and they have an $ 18 brunch fixe per person. The fixe includes whatever brunch option you select and a mimosa, coffee, tea, etc – can throw in a bloody mary for $ 2 extra.
I decided to go with the chicken and waffles option – also grabbed an ice coffee and mimosa on the side. The chicken was cool because it had a pretzel flavoring on the outside and the hot sauce was quite tangy, though it lacked a bit of kick. Chicken was cooked well, but I felt it still lacked a bit of flavor. The waffles were okay. Pretty standard.
I was hoping to enjoy the food more given that the atmosphere was cool and they were so friendly. I’ll give this place another whirl in the future and sample more of their dishes, but as it stands, it’s definitely an okay spot for brunch.

Decided to try this place with some gal pals on a brisk Sunday for brunch and had a wonderful time — could’ve been the food, most likely the company, but either way an overall joyful meal.
The place in tiny! They might fit like 26 people (lol I did a mental count) and it’s tight. We had reservations for 4, but couldn’t be seated until everyone came, however we were able to order for our last member so they agreed to seat us.
We all got the brunch with coffee/​tea and mimosa/​orange juice for $ 18pp which my friends told me was more expensive that they heard. Most people around the restaurant went for the pretzel crusted chicken and waffles. We decided on 2 of those, the adult grilled cheese and a dish that I cannot recall the name of. It might’ve had a French-​ish name with Crème fraîche smoked salmon cheese and greens. We also got curbed beef hash and sweet potato hash.
When the food came, we all sample each other’s food. The chicken and waffles tasted like your run of the mill fried chicken, didn’t really taste the pretzel crust. The French-​ish dish came our looking like a salad, but tasted good and light, and my adult grilled cheese was pretty good, but just grilled cheese with mushrooms inside. Nice and crispy though :) The corned beef and sweet potato hashes (and my fries) were probably the tastiest things we ordered. The waitress did mention that the hashes were very similar, just one had the meat. When it came, it was more of chunks of potato (sweet and regular) and meat and just sweet potato for the other one, rather than your typical hashes.
Overall I had a nice dining experience with the girls and we never felt rushed to finish. They had cute large utensils hanging on the walls and wine bottles as well as holiday décor still up which made the place feel festive and cozy. I would come back to try something else :)

What a cute spot… it’s cozy AND it takes reservations! Had a brunch reservation for 2 on a Saturday around 1:15pm. They seated us once we both got there and it’s $ 18 for an entrée, coffee/​tea, and a mimosa! I ordered an omelet and my friend got pancakes. Loved that the bill came in a Sweet Valley High book.
I’m a fan.

Súper bueno. Precio, calidad y servicio. Unos de los mejores tacos de carnitas que he probado fuera de México. Salsa verde deliciosa. El menú es un poco extraño para entender. La sangría deja un poco que desear pero todo lo demás son queja alguna.

Wanted to review the food bc we’re all aware of the coffee/​tea AND mimosa with an entrée for $ 16.
Shrimp and grits — 4 well seasoned shrimp with a whole lot of grits, thicker than I usually like so I couldn’t finish my entrée. Grown up grilled cheese was amazing, fries also. Chicken and waffle were just ok, sliders looked good.
I also had a side of 2 mini biscuits with butter and jam. Biscuits were hard on the outside, but soft and warm on the inside.
Service was on point, coffee and water kept coming.
Highly recommend for a quaint brunch, great place to catch up with friends!

Southern tapas! A cute but very small restaurant. They have $ 5 beers for happy hour. They suggest you order two tapas per person. Each of the tapas we ordered came in three’s which was perfect for our party of three! After careful consideration we went with
— Pretzel Crusted Fried Chicken, crunchy and flavorful but the chicken was a tad on the dry side
— Nacho Libre, comes with fresh tuna, a great shareable tapa
— Shrimp & Grits, delicious when it’s warm! eat it quick!
— Scallops, loved the flavors of the rice and the sauce, everything came together perfectly
— The Dogg Pound, three corn dogs with different sauces. Nothing special, wouldn’t order again
— Mexican corn
Can’t wait to come back and try the other items on their menu.

Came here with three friends for dinner. Very charming space (TINY) with Christmas lights and good atmosphere. Service was great.
I love tapas style restaurants and Tink’s did not disappoint. We shared seven tapas (they are good sized portions and we were absolutely stuffed). Highlights were the burrata on grilled toast, phat beet salad, naan pizza and pretzel crusted chicken. My least favorite items were the carnitas tacos (not much flavor) and the chicken pot pie (a little goopy in consistency). Dessert was awesome — don’t miss the tiramisu. Better than any I’ve ever had at a real Italian restaurant.
Even though all tables were full, they did not rush us and we had a great dinner at Tink’s!

My fiancé and I compared our dinner at Tink’s to Eleven Madison Park’s — and sadly but truthfully — Tink’s beat EMP’s hands down. Yep, it was that good.
My fiancé and I decided to take my grandmother out in celebration of Chinese New Year. However neither of us really wanted Chinese food. Luckily, my grandmother is always down to try something new — tapas style dinner sounded just perfect for us.
We made reservation through opentable the night prior. When we arrived for our 7PM dinner, the place was still surprisingly empty. However as our dinner went on, the place became really packed and there were customers waiting for tables by the door. Although Tink’s is tiny, we felt really cozy. We were seated right by the window but there were heat lamp above us which kept us warm and toasty.
We struggled a bit in deciding on what to order since everything sounded amazing! We ultimately went with pretzel fried chicken, seared tuna sliders, disco is dead, scallops on black rice, ricotta have it gnocchi, miss piggy, chicken potpie. Every dish had an unique twist and flavor — my personal favorites — disco is dead, chicken potpie, and ricotta have it gnocchi.
Disco is dead — shredded duck meat, melted mozzarella, tater tots with shaved apple on top swimming in duck gravy. The gravy was out of the world — I spooned and drank every drop. I even dipped my pretzel chicken back in in this dish.
Chicken potpie — the best potpie of my life — best biscuit crust, best gravy — the red curry is really subtle but gave it its unique aroma and richness. Can I have you as my dinner for the rest of my life?
Ricotta have it gnocchi — the mushroom sauce — I spooned and drank this too. The gnocchi — perfect texture — so light and melted in my mouth awesome. Luckily for me this was a tapas dish — I would never have the self control and one would find me eating a bucket of this all in one sitting.
The only dish that didn’t wow us was the pretzel chicken — way too dry! And the paired sauce tasted like a much sweeter version of BBQ sauce.
We ended our dinner with their homemade Oreo cheesecake which came with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream and honey drizzles. After our initial bite, my fiancé and I were convinced — this place deserves solid 5 stars!
Although there were only two waiters working on our evening, their service was amazing. They took their time in explaining the menu, made personal recommendations, checked on us endless times, never left our water glasses empty, and even held the restroom door for me! I already asked my fiancé to take us back to the restaurant for our anniversary so we could create our own tasting — order the whole menu — I mean why not? about $ 10 per dish — it’s cheaper and much much much tastier than what we paid and had in Michelin 3 stars.
My deepest regret — Why did I wait so long to finally try your food?! Come to DC with us!

Nom nom nom