O'Brien's Welcomes Us to NYC - CLOSED

O' Brien's NYC

134 W. 46th St.

New York, NY 10036

Recently, we headed to New York City for a week to see a baseball and hockey game and, of course, to see what the Big Apple had to offer in terms of food. I have a lot of places to show you, so hop on that subway car, and let's check out NYC.

We arrived from LAX on Sunday at about 10 p.m. After a quick walk through Times Square, we were famished. I had a list of places to eat, but we wanted to go somewhere close for a quick bite, so we went across the street from our hotel and found O'Brien's.

O'Brien's is a narrow restaurant and bar right in the heart of Times Square. Dark and tucked away, this bar attracts the locals and people trying to escape the chaos of Times Square. Two stories high, with their upper level termed the "Sin Bin," this is where we are seated for our first meal in the Empire State. Let's check out the food.

Eating at such a late hour, my Mom wanted a light meal and ordered the Cream of Broccoli Soup. She felt this soup was okay, but she was much more excited about the bread basket that came with it. The soup was also average, too watery, and a little too bland.

My Dad went with the BBQ Beef Sandwich—sliced roast beef served with barbecue sauce. He did not rave about this sandwich, but when asked, he told me it was good. The winner on this plate seemed to be the fries. My Dad devoured these skinny fries, and my Mom had her fair share of these, too, so much for eating light late at night.

Katie wanted to return to her Irish roots and got the O'Brien's Classic Corned Beef on Rye. She felt the meat on this could have been sliced thinner, and the sandwich only came alive once she added the spicy hot mustard. She rated this sandwich about average.

For my choice, the O'Brien Burger was calling my name. This burger came with Irish cheddar cheese and limerick bacon. The limerick bacon had an almost Canadian bacon look and taste—a little less salty and more mellow than American bacon. This burger was fine but a little overcooked.

Okay, so the food at O'Brien's was average bar food. It did sustain us and help us go to sleep with full stomachs. The real reason to go to O'Brien's is the staff. They made us feel like locals each of the three times we returned here for a nightcap. A special shout out to our new friends, Honoree and Tunde, who we met here. You guys killed it. Thanks for everything.

So out of five shamrocks, five being best to zero being worst, O'Brien's gets 2.5 shamrocks.

For more information on O'Brien's, click here: http://www.obriensnyc.com/