Oleanders

I thought the food here was extremely good. I had the fish and urged great flavor. I would definitely come back again and bring more friends.

Oleanders is having an identity crisis. Their shots list (Alabama Slammers!) says, «Hey, we’re a good times bar!» But their prices say, «Hey, we’re an overpriced hotel restaurant!» And heir food says «Hey, I’m completely mediocre!»
Their menu is short, and uncreative in the way that TGIFridays is uncreative. A burger, a ($ 30!!!) skirt steak, a lasagna (which my server advised me not to order because it was «small»)…it’s just ho hum food at Times Square prices. The place was basically empty on a Saturday night, which is telling.
The service was also a bit… off. I ordered a glass of wine, and the server poured me the dregs of a bottle (why not just offer me a new bottle when you realize there’s hardly any left?), then opened a new bottle and continued to fill the glass on top of the clearly been-​open-​too-​long previous bottle. The music was on in some parts of the dining room and not in others… it was just lackluster. I hope this place figures out what it wants to be and gets there quick. It could be great – it just isn’t.

This place is so confusing. It looks like an upscale place upon entering. Then, you get seated and the waiter asks if he can start you off with some appetizers or… wait for it… shots! Then as you’re perusing the menu, with offerings like fried chicken, burgers, and pasta… all for around $ 18.00, he lets you know that they can add black truffles to any dish for an additional $ 25.00. I mean REALLY?! How pretentious can you get?! It would be like Fuddruckers serving mozzarella sticks on Wedgewood china. These dishes, although fine tasting, are hardly worthy of a black truffle.
We went for New Year’s Eve and they had a Prix Fixe menu with the same exact items that were on the regular menu, just bundled into a package. Hmm… not one special dish? What’s the point?
The wait staff are all very pleasant and accommodating but they are all dressed like hosts and hostesses so you have no idea who is whom. I thought one lady, all in winter-​white, was the sommelier but she apparently was a server. And the guy who sat us, bussed more tables than the busboy did. Although I’m not sure if the busboy was a busboy. maybe he was the chef… or the owner… who knows?
My advice to this place would be to pick a lane and stay there. Are you a shot-​pushing pub with fried chicken and burgers? Or are you an fine-​dining restaurant with black truffles and Veuve Clicquot? I suggest the managers all take a field trip to Sweetwater’s or Juliette… both nearby establishments with similar menu offerings that are aligned with the dining experience. Casual menu, casual experience.

Found Oleanders through Instagram, when a picture of Chicken and Waffles popped up on my feed. This being my favorite food in the world, I had to check it out. We made a reservation, and were shocked on a Saturday morning to see that the place was full of empty tables. The décor is absolutely adorable and the staff was so friendly and accommodating.
All of the food we ate was incredible, but our favorite had to be the DRUNK TOAST topped with «chicken wing butter.» Oh my god, I still have dreams about that butter…
I think it’s just a matter of time before this place is Brooklyn’s new brunch hot-​spot

Great food and atmosphere! Must get the burger and cottage fries. Only downfall is it is a little expensive. $ 18 for a burger. Cottage fries not included. French onion soup was awesome also.

The food was delicious and the service was fantastic. Would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a nice dining experience. Will be returning soon!

Amazing place! Went here for dinner last night to celebrate mom’s birthday and we were not disappointed. The throwback theme of a fern bar is pretty cool & makes for an interesting atmosphere. The service was top-​notch with Angela as our waitress. Everything came out in a timely fashion but not at all rushed. There were no mistakes made and my water glass was never empty. As far as signature cocktails I only tried the grasshopper. As the theme goes, this was a sweet drink with tons of mint flavor. Tasted like a liquid Andes mint chocolate. The food was tasty and unique. My clams casino app with my trout as the main course were phenomenal. One of the best prepared trout I’ve ever had. Tried the lobster and artichoke lasagna and they were winners all around. Not only was the food great but the people who work here are too. Christopher (the matradee) & Angela (our waitress) took every opportunity to show us how much they appreciated our business. You will not find this kind of service at the fanciest restaurant in NYC.

Décor and lighting could use some work but the pasta was fresh and cooked to perfection.

The food was very good. However, if you order the lobster thermidor be prepared to eat something else when you leave this restaurant because all you get is a very small lobster without claws which has a very nice sauce on it. There is nothing else on the plate. Four forkfuls and you are done for $ 32.00 Definitely not worth it.

Oleanders. Some good things had tonight. We started with clams casino and shrimp. Cocktail. The clams were good but the shrimp had a chef made sauce that didn’t surpass your store bought sauce. The chef had at first made us the clams but the manager luckily said it wasn’t up to par because it was over cooked. So he sent out drinks for a I’m sorry! I ordered the beef Wellington which was a bit odd. The waitress poured a Marsala sauce over the whole ting so it was a bit soggy. The beef was over cooked only on half of it. And Rare on the other side. My husband had the pork chop which was excellent! Homemade apple sauce came along with it. The manager named Chris was great! The kitchen was impeccable! Give it a try.

Great bar service and solid drinks. Wild Burgundy snails are delicious. This place is a must try.

Animal portraits everywhere are not well lit. This is good. If they were, it would be creepy.
Didn’t care for the Clam Casio. Just give me oysters on the half-​shell.
Wait staff was well-​intentioned, but execution was poor; Waited 20+ minutes for our entrees after they took away our appetizer.
The aged-​beef burger is the way to go.

Venue and décor is an 11÷10− a truly awesome space. The food is a ³⁄₁₀ at an absurdly high price point for what you get. The burger with fries will set you back $ 25 and is nothing to write home about. The chicken was decent but nothing special, and the pasta primavera could not have had a more bland presentation. They should consider canning the chef and introducing a new menu at a more popular price point for the neighborhood before it’s too late. We ate on a Saturday night at 7:30 and the place was empty.

Like music and fashion, food trends are cyclical. A hot new fad catches on, it gets spun and interpreted a million different ways, and as it loses its novelty we turn back to the past and start experimenting with old favorites. As the era of the kale salad winds down, Oleander is getting ready for the next cycle to begin by offering a retro Americana menu. It’s a well-​timed attempt, but it’s going to falter here for several reasons.
First off, the menu is so retro it’s almost a parody. It reads like a Good Housekeeping cookbook from the 70’s. Lobster Thermador. Crab Louie. The cocktail menu is filled with names I recognize only from the paper placemat they use at every Long Island diner. Could you order a Rob Roy with a straight face? Before we saw the dessert menu I made a bet that there would be baked alaska. I won.
It’s a bold move. These bits of culinary history pre-​date my restaurant dining years, as it does to the majority population in Williamsburg, so it’s not really going to score on nostalgia alone– it’s going to require some innovation to make it more accessible. As far as I can tell, there was no innovation to be found. These were strictly by-​the-​book implementations.
And if they were banking 100% on the nostalgia market, some precision would be nice… but there was none of that either. The Beef Wellington was frightfully salty. The pork chops and applesauce were quite the opposite. The risotto was a bit al dente. The gazpacho was tasty, but was somehow saltier towards the bottom of the bowl. I’m not entirely sure how that even happens. The best dish on the table was the charred bean salad– deliciously caramelized green beans with halved white grapes and chopped almonds.
For dessert we shared a banana split, which was decent. The sour cherry ice cream was tasty. I had a forgettable cup of lukewarm coffee, and my friend ordered an espresso which looked to be a quadruple-​shot in a cup with no handle.
Overall we were at the table for over 2 hours which didn’t make any sense at all.
At the very least they will need to step up their execution game quite a bit. As it is, they are on course to serve as an object lesson for the retro Americana restaurant that will hit it big next year.

Nothing exciting going on here unfortunately. The place is super quiet and there’s very little on the menu that’s inspiring.

Inviting atmosphere, retro Out of Africa vibe, complimented by classic rock background music. The service was impressive. The food simply delicious, would recommend the dry aged burger or treat yourself to the trout. Enjoyable dining experience.

Cool atmosphere, great music (classic rock playing in background). The burger on the English muffin was really tasty. Only gripe is that it’s overpriced. Definitely hotel restaurant pricing– $ 26 for plain risotto and $ 18 for the burger. But that was, a tasty burger.

Had an absolutely awesome dinner experience here. The dry aged burger was fantastic. As were the cocktails and the apple Brown Betty desert.
The service was great and the design/​setup of the restaurant is very cool. This place ticked every box for me. Definitely coming back very soon.

Excellent replacement for the short-​lived The Elm as part of the McCarren Hotel.
It’s a beautiful space on the lower floor, with really high ceilings and a nice atmosphere. The coolest part is how they converted one of the portions of the dining room that was off to the side into a little room with a TV and a foosball and bumper pool table. Super random, but fun, especially when the restaurant was empty like it was tonight and you have time to have some fun while waiting for your food.
The vibe here is of a «fern bar», which is apparently a place for «older» singles to come and mingle, so my wife, baby and I were in the wrong place but at the right time, since it was only 7 PM and it just opened and was literally empty. The young woman serving us told us that by «older» singles she meant «like 30 and older or so» which made us want to kill ourselves.
There is lots of shellfish on the menu which I couldn’t try due to my allergy, but there is also plenty of other great stuff to make for a very satisfying meal:
— Pasta Primavera ($ 24)
This was ok. The pasta was cooked well and had a decent amount of flavor and was a good lighter option.
— Dry Aged Burger ($ 16)
This is a really awesome burger. The one thing that might improve it is a normal bun over the English muffin. The dry aged meat gives it that delicious, funky taste, and the aged swiss and onion rings add even more great flavor. It also comes with some of the delicious Cottage Fries.
— Cottage Fries ($ 7)
A good server would have told me that the burger came with Cottage Fries when I asked for these, since it doesn’t indicate that on the menu. Unfortunately, we were not informed. I wasn’t too mad though, since these happened to be great.
— Peas and Baby Carrots with Whipped Ricotta ($ 11)
Another issue with service, as we received these instead of the potatoes mentioned below. They were nice enough to just leave them (I hate when they take the food back, they should always just leave it when they mess up), but I didn’t really like this side, so I’m glad I didn’t actually order it. The mushy carrots mixed with the ricotta didn’t really provide much flavor.
— Baby Red Bliss Potatoes with Crème Fraiche and Caviar ($ 9)
This side was really awesome. Yes, we got even more potatoes, after the cottage fries that came with the burger and the additional side of cottage fries, but it was worth it. These are actually crispy potato skins, and so are like a thinner, crispier version of those cottage fries. They are also topped with crème fraîche and some salmon roe, which makes for a really unexpectedly delicious combo.
— Apple Brown Betty ($ 8)
This was a delicious little dessert, with a piping hot apple betty topped off with an excellent but tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream.
— Baked Alaska ($ 10)
Like the apple betty, this dessert was also pretty tiny. It was delicious though as well, with an even better bananas foster ice cream at the center.
I would imagine this place was empty as it literally just opened, and will have no problem filling up soon, as the vibe is fun and the food is great. Service needs work, which was surprising since we were literally the only customers, so hopefully that’s something they work out by the time they need to serve multiple parties at once.