DBGB Kitchen and Bar

Had such a great dinner here! The décor is beautiful, elegant yet casual, with spacious seating and a library/​market feel thanks to the copper kitchenware lining the bookshelf-​esque walls (each one has the name of the chef who contributed the kitchenware). When we arrived there were only a handful of other diners, yet the waiters and busboys managed to be attentive but still give us our space, which is always greatly appreciated. Even though the atmosphere was casual, there were small details that stood out like changing utensils throughout the meal and wiping away breadcrumbs between courses.
I thought the food was amazing. For two people we ordered one prix-​fixe and some a la carte. You’ve got to try the Boudin Basque (blood sausage), which was an absolute standout. Juicy, rich, but not overpowering at all, and absolutely divine when eaten with the mashed potatoes it came with. My other favorite dish was the Cavatelli. I’ve never had such tender and flavorful duck confit, and although some pastas that don’t have sauce taste bland, the juices at the bottom of the dish made each bite flavorful. We also tried the Sounchoke Soup and DBGB Dog, which I didn’t enjoy as much as the previous dishes.
My only complaint would be that the bread was served a bit cold, but other than that I had a lovely meal and will definitely be back to try some more.
(Yelp Tip: We checked in for 15% off our bill on a week night!)

Love DBGB — the service, atmosphere, food, it goes on!
Came here in mid January with a friend and was able to get a table right away.
Shared the calamari, very crispy and tangy. Moved on to the cavatelli (a pasta dish) with duck confit. Very delicious and not too creamy. Finished with their sundaes, which ends the meal on a sweet note. I can also recommend any of their sausages, which are made on site.
Love the open kitchen concept — makes it interesting to observe.

Come Sun — Thu they have $ 1 per Oyster special! Very fresh, delicious. Service was great, atmosphere was great, price is reasonable too. Recommended!

Came here for Restaurant Week brunch. Made a mistake not to look at the menu beforehand — wouldn’t have came if I did. It is $ 25/​person with a 2 person minimum. Not a standard appetizer, entrée and dessert menu. From what I understand, you get everything on the list. But all I saw was bread, bread and more bread.
Made reservations for 12:30PM via OpenTable. Got there well beforehand and was told a party took our table… what? How? So we didn’t get a booth. Sat in the front by the bar.
We got the Frenchie burger and the smoked salmon entrée from the regular menu. The burger was decent, but we’ve had better for that price point (~$ 21ish) at Brindle Room and Nomad Bar. The salmon entrée was deconstructed… It was a total mess trying to put each bite together. Fresh, but I wasn’t looking to put pieces together like IKEA furniture.
While we were working on our meal, the party next to us had checked in on Unilocal and used the 15% discount. The manager came over to her and said that it wasn’t valid for brunch, but she’ll honor it anyway since she checked in. So when our bill came, I checked in on Unilocal and tried to use the 15% discount. The fine print says that it’s «not valid on Friday, Saturday and holidays.» Nowhere does it say it wasn’t valid for Sunday brunch.
The manager comes over and tells me, «Sorry, it’s only valid for dinner.»
So I told her, «But, you just allowed the party next to us to use it.»
Then she goes, «OH, you saw? Okay, I’ll give it to you.» —– Lol, really girl? Don’t play me.
Then I say, «Thanks, but maybe you guys should update the fine print if that’s really the case, so this won’t be an issue.»
Honestly, I think she was just making BS up for the day.
Anyway, decent food and service was quick and attentive — hence 3 stars.

3.5 stars. From hostess to waiter the service staff sure had a way of making me feel uncomfortable a few times throughout my brunch experience. But overall the food was decent and flavorful. The piggie burger was a hit, and my beaujolaise sausage had a good blend of fat and lean. Fried calamari was nice and crispy but there were too many fried onion slices there in disguise. Also the «frisee salad» or «mizuna salad» listed as components on the menu are mere garnishes. The Beaujo, which comes with poached eggs on the menu, arrived with overcooked fried eggs. So I guess one piece of advice is to stop being cheap with ingredients… Luckily that’s why this restaurant is good when on a budget. 15% discount with check-​in.

Came here for restuarant week family style brunch — for $ 25 a person, you get:
— a tiered pastry tray, with lemony crisp fluffy madelines, the best i’ve tried, pain au chocolat with gooey melted chocolate folded in, buttery crisp croissants, and peach galetes, with a pat of butter and fresh strawberry jam on the side
–sausages in a cast iron skillet (i had the one with wine and lentils — amazing)
–crispy home fries (these were okay)
–eggs benedict (pretty standard)
–brioche french toast, soaked in a sweet custardy sauce and so crisp — almost on par with the french toast from jane
even the coffee was great, and it came with frothy steamed milk.
the service could be improved — the french toast course came almost an hour after the last item, and they forgot to bring out or switch out our plates twice. however, it is restaurant week so perhaps it’s usually different.

The ambiance is so good, but the food is just good to be honest. The steak tartare tasted exactly like the steak tartare in Matisse restaurant which is much cheaper. I rate the places based on the price, i mean the way if its really worth it. The ambiance was great I cant lie, but they can improve the food as well as the dessert. Please get a new cheff you have a potential!

Decoration is very nice with names of chefs hanging on the wall and you can kind of see chef behind the kitchen while they’re cooking.
Came here for restaurant week today and had mixed feeling about my choices.
To start off i had smoked salmon rillettes. It was seasoned perfectly and tasted really fresh. With side on the plate it was an awesome dish. For main course i got cavatelli which is a pasta dish. To me it tasted reaaaalllly salty… I was debating whether to send the plate back. It was that salty but i didn’t want to be rude so i just ate it with water. Pasta was cooked right and king mushrooms tasted great as well but it was too salty for my taste. Lastly i got apple tart for dessert and it was divine. It literally melts in your mouth and you honestly dont even have to chew.
My boyfriend got split pea soup which tasted really creamy and good. For main course, he got the infamous frenchie burger. The patty was cooked just right, super juice and fat. The portion was huge and it comes with fries. For dessert he got black&white but he didn’t really like this one.
Overall it was good dining experience. I heard their sausages are good so might come back for sausages.

The décor is really cute and it is a bit dim inside. Golden pots were named after famous chefs so that is an adorable décor idea.
Came here for Restaurant Week lunch time. My group ordered a variety of food. The smoked salmon rilettes tasted nice and fresh, it’s not as tasty as sashimi imo. I ordered the pâté and it was served with grilled bread and two choices of mustards. I personally prefer pâté with jam or something sweet, but eating the pâté with the whole grain mustard is not bad. The grilled bread did not complement it, I would eat without it.
For the next course, I chose the cavatelli and my friends chose the oxtail. The pasta was nothing special and not that flavorful. I prefer the oxtail so much more. It was soft and chewy, but not too chewy. Super flavorful as well. I tried the french fries that came with the Frenchie burger and it tasted regular.
For dessert, I tasted the apple tart, the sundae, and the cheese plate. The apple tart was good, the black and white is sweet, and the plate of cheese is quite refined. Be prepared to taste some funky cheeses. Although the cheese plate was small, it came with a wedge of aged goat cheese and a wedge of some funky cheese I could not decipher. The plate also came with dried apricots, strawberries, and walnuts. The combinations on the plate didn’t stand out much, but it paired well with my $ 16 wine. It better pair well if I was spending that much! haha jk. not really jk: o.
Overall, it was an all right experience. Service was on par.

As a heads up, if you’re coming for Restaurant Week lunch on a Sunday, it’s a brunch only family-​style menu for 2 ($ 25/​person), not the 3 course lunch option.
The interior is really cool and vintage-​inspired. Service was fairly prompt throughout the meal, though food was slow to arrive at times. The brunch option comes with a bread basket, Eggs Florentine, two specialty sausages, Brussels sprouts, home fries, and French toast. My favorites were the croissants (flaky and came with a tasty homemade jam), Vermont sausage w/​cheddar cheese, and the French toast w/​berries. The Eggs Florentine weren’t bad, but the eggs were a little too runny.
Overall, more like a 3.5, but worth a try!

More like a 3.5 because of the interior!
A group of friends and I decided to come for Restaurant Week. I got the smoked salmon rillettes, braised flat iron, and finished off with the apple tart. Overall, the food was good. The service was attentive at first but then it took them extra long to bring the desserts out. Some of the ice cream had already melted by the time it came out so that was a little disappointing. Other than that, it was a good experience but I wouldn’t be rushing to come back for anything besides the Restaurant Week deal.

This place is terrible. We waited forever to order. Waited forever for the food to come. Waited forever for the check. It took us 3.5 hours to have our meal done.
The food was ok, not as good as what we have expected.

Went there on a Friday night for dinner around 6pm and the dining room wasn’t too busy (perhaps 12 tables were occupied). The service was good but for the price point, I expected better execution on the food.
BREAD BASKET
assorted slices of bread with a rich creamy side of butter
ahhhh, this is GREAT bread, especially the French baguette –wonderful crispy crust, good hole structure inside with a bit of stretch (perfect chewiness) — they must proof the dough properly to get perfection!
CRISPY CALAMARI
red rye beer batter, vidalia onion, mizuna salad, spicy pickled peppers, kaffir lime cream
very fresh calamari enshrouded in a nice crispy batter paired with an interesting spicy kaffir lime cream smeared across the side of the plate — the sauce was the consistency of a bean spread; there just wasn’t enough of this delicious spread to lace all the pieces of calamari — I would highly recommend this appetizer
THE YANKEE
just wanted to try a burger that wasn’t disguised with other fixings. The 7 oz. beef burger was perfectly cooked as per a medium request — reddish pink, not to rare and not too cooked, there was an excellent char flavor and the meat had the right amount of juiciness. Ordered the burger with cheddar cheese however the cheese didn’t have much of a flavor profile. I’ve had better burgers elsewhere though; this was good, not great. The side of French fries were very good, crispy with a good potato taste and nicely salted. The sesame bun didn’t have enough structure to hold up the burger along with its lettuce & tomato toppings so it just fell apart. Perhaps DBGB can use some of their bread-​making expertise and devise a Kaiser-​like roll that can hold a proper burger and its topping together!
CAVATELLI
duck confit, cremini mushrooms, smoked garlic, tomatoes
good portion sized entrée with a good amount of duck confit but sadly those are the only positives about the dish. The cavatelli was over-​cooked; the duck had a freezer/​refrigerator odor; the barely-​present sauce was watery and tasteless. I had to sprinkle a fair amount of salt into the dish just to give it some flavor — this was a poorly executed dish. Is there any executive chefs in this kitchen checking the execution of the menu items!

I used to love this place… the food, the service…
Went there Monday night with friends from out of town. There were 5 of us, and the restaurant was about ¹⁄₃ full… The service was terrible. Needed to get up and find a captain/​or food server and ask that we get a cocktail menu… really?
Then we waited forever for the drinks to come…
Needed to prompt the food servers at all points… just to get drinks, food etc.
SO SO SO Disappointing… perhaps that is why it was only ¹⁄₃ full. This used to be one of my favorite casual places… I will not be going again! A shame, they used to be really good.

With loads of restaurants in NYC throwing out pre fixe menus on new years’ eve, DBGB stuck to al la carte in addition to a few specials for the holiday. I’m down with that. Came here with the boo and caught the tail end of their oyster happy hour (5 – 7 pm, 1 dollar oysters).
The place is very snazzy! Great for a date night.
We ordered
— Foie Gras terrine
— Mushroom Panzanella
— Toscane & Vermont Signature Sausages
— Mussel & fries
— The Frenchie
The foie gras terrine was pretty disappointing. It had the consistency of fioe gras but whatever else it was mixed with really accentuated the mineral flavor you get in most livers. Pass. The sausage duo was standard. Great drunk food. Panzanella is a must get. Delicious and has great flavor profiles. Skip the mussel if you’ve had it at other Belgium establishments. You won’t be impressed but it does the job. The Frenchie is known as one of their more popular dining options. The boo wasn’t impressed. I took a bite and while it was decent, It wasn’t a standout burger.
Staff was super friendly! Our waiter answered all our menu questions with a smile. Kudos to him. Overall the place is trendy, the staff is awesome but the food doesn’t justify its cost.

Came here for a burger with one of my girlfriends and was extremely impressed! We both got the Yankee and added cheddar (great decision). The burger comes piled high with all the works (shredded lettuce, tomato, etc) on a fluffy seeded bun. It’s topped with a crisp pickle above the bun and served with hot, thinly sliced fries. The first bite into the burger is almost magical. It is about an inch thick and is juicy and cooked to perfection. Make sure to add some spicy mustard and ketchup to really round off the experience. The burger is heavenly, but also a bit pricey. It came to about $ 20 each for the burgers alone.
I would say the $ 20 burger was well-​worth it, though. The restaurant is really adorable and had a warm, cozy vibe. The service was great and they were super fast in getting us our food. It’s a must-​try and I for sure will be going back!

There were things I liked and things I didn’t, but overall I didn’t think the quality was on par with what I would expect from a Daniel Bouloud restaurant. However, it’s a large space which is great for large groups and I like the look/​feel of the restaurant — lots of glass, dark wood, copper pots and pans create a hybrid library/​kitchen feel.
For starters, I tried both the chop chop salad and the butternut squash soup. I really enjoyed both! The dressing on the salad was not too heavy and it was an excellent mix of avocado and watermelon. Neither dish was incredibly exciting but it was definitely satisfying.
The sausage platter was underwhelming, and frankly (didn’t mean for this to be a pun but acknowledging that it is) not that great. I liked the hot dog version of the sausage the best. The others were a bit too salty for my tasting. The rest of the team seemed to agree as we had a ton of leftover sausage that we ended up dropping off at the Bowery Mission after dinner.
For my entrée, I tried the hake. I also didn’t love this — it was well cooked but not tasty. The mushrooms, mashed potatoes and the purple potato chips helped give it more flavor and made the dish more unique. I took a bite of my friend’s burger (I forget which one he got but he ordered the one with the pork belly) and thought it was too dry. Both the bun and the meat seemed ove cooked. However, the fries were great!
I did really enjoy the dessert and the cocktails. I tried a carrot juice cocktail (gotta get those vitamins in) which was surprisingly delicious and a gin gin mule. For dessert I tried both the pear blackberry sorbet and the apple tart with vanilla ice cream. Both were really great and I’d recommend!

I’m surprised this place doesn’t have more stars. Our server Tim was friendly, helpful with suggestions, and always made sure we were all set with drinks etc.
Started with the calamari and the beet salad. I’d recommend both, I think the beet salad could use more than just two tiny pieces of Brie cheese though.
We got the two sausage platter, the española and the one with onion bacon etc and both were delicious. If you’re hungry, I recommend throwing another order of sausage on.
As for the vibe, it’s definitely casual and great for groups. It’s not intimate because it’s a large space so the lighting is more to a restaurant than a darker sexy cocktail spot.

Great food. Great service. What more could you ask for?!
We ordered from the pre-​fixe menu which gives you an appetizer, entrée, and dessert for $ 38 — not bad. I had the Cavatelli which consisted of duck confit, cremini mushrooms, smoked garlic, tomatoes. It was simply mouthwatering. My friend had the Frenchie burger which was all in all a good burger. For my appetizer, I got the chopped salad with mushroom, watermelon, and avocado with s special dressing and it was just good… nothing to write home about. I chose the black and white sundae for dessert which was I defiantly recommend!
All in all, I had a great experience.

Came here with a party of 15 on Thanksgiving — and the service (Zach was amazing), atmosphere and food was fantastic.
Was definitely a little reluctant with such a big group on a holiday but every one of the servers made us feel right at home and cemented a new Thanksgiving tradition.
The service is extremely attentive without being obnoxious even for our large group.
The food was excellent and as delicious as they look in my photos. Recommend their sausages (you just can’t go wrong here) and the calamari was distinctively delicious.
Wonderful dining experience. Welcoming and warm.

I can see why this DBGB is struggling just by coming in for their ice cream sundae.
1. I had to search for the host/​hostess to be seated.
2. I found a group of servers hiding behind curtains joking among themselves while guests were wandering looking for their servers.
3. My half melted sundae was brought out by a busboy. There are only two tables, where was my server, again?
4. The honey ice cream was lumpy and not the velvety texture it should be. In addition, it was overwhelmingly sweet. For a restaurant known for its whimsical sundae, this dessert was a total letdown.
A simple dessert course was already a nightmare, I can’t imagine myself or anyone coming in for an actual meal.