The Ainsworth – Midtown

I came here for an alumni event last week. Found the place to be very open but also confusing and probably too big for our small event. I ordered a glass of wine but the bartender did not tell me the happy hour deals and just poured it, so my wine was very expensive. The appetizers were delicious but I probably would not go again because it did not feel very friendly to me.

Meh. Service slow & spotty, meh drinks for $ 16, and a chicken avocado salad that I could have bought at a deli. Meh.

Probably my favorite of the Ainsworth locations. This place is super spacious, especially for Manhattan. 3 bars, tons of seating and tables, great for any size party. They also have a full food menu where our table had just about everything on it, and the food was amazing. This place also had a nice outdoor terrace with a full bar.
I 100% recommend this place, for friends, coworkers and even clients, and expect this to be a hot after work spot when the weather warms up.

This is a cute sports bar to hang out with your friends. It’s an upscale sports bar so you can have a casual and classy night at the same time. It is a bit pricey there for drinks, so j would suggest going during happy hour!

Ainsworth never disappoints I watched the Super Bowl at the midtown location and the service was top notch. Everyone in the staff was very friendly and the food was excellent. Keep up the great service and excellent quality!

Bathroom situation is deplorable how in the blue fuck you only have one urinalysis? Call a 1−800-PLUMBING-FOR-DINGUSES AND GET ONE OR TWO MORE TOILETS! This ain’t the Great Depression b.

Very unorganized place in a really odd location. Horrible loud music that they play on Z100 or frat parties. Employees don’t look very happy there and that’s never a good sign. This Ainsworth is no comparison to the other ones. It seems like it’s not managed very well. They charged me for ketchup and mayonnaise!!! This place is a waste of your time. Is it a club for wanna be models? or is it a sports bar? Or is it a restaurant for tourists? I don’t get it. Not worth it.

Nice, upscale sports bar, just like the other Ainsworth locations. Prices are on the higher end for a sports bar, but the food is good as is the atmosphere.
Do not be deceived by what is visible from the street. The rear of the space opens into a huge second bar and a few large seating areas.

Was really thinking I’d give this place a better review but in my opinion it needs a lot of work.
We came in for dinner as it was associated with the hotel next door that we were staying in. It was a Friday evening, and New Years Day at that so most the well known venues in NYC were full to bursting and we were struggling to find somewhere to eat. The host greeted us in a friendly manner before taking us to a table. After a chat about where we were from (I guess our English accents gave that away) and a bit about what we were up to in NYC she told us that they were a bit short staffed and that she would try and take our order for us to save waiting. She did her best and we felt (although a little clumsy) she was really endearing and that we were being looked after. Sadly it went downhill from there.
The food was ok, but even for New York prices was over-​rated. Slightly limited choice restricts diners (realistically) to burgers and steaks with not much more variation other than that. I chose the French Onion burger and a side of Mac and Cheese. The burger was a fairly average burger with a strange pot of what looked like French Onion Soup — not sure why but I expected some sort of French Onion in the burger not a dipping sauce… And a watery one at that. That said the Mac and Cheese was fairly decent.
We barely saw our server and when we wanted to pay the bill we had to get up and ask for it after waiting 15 minutes after finishing our food. On the table next to us there was some sort of disagreement going on between a party of diners and who I can only assume was the manager: the exact details were hard to hear (and actually none of my business so I was trying not to listen) but it was hard to miss comments like «We’re not paying for this» and «Did you hear what he just said about me?!» from irate diners. It was awkward to say the least. Our server eventually took our cards which offered us hope that we could walk out, albeit a further 10 minutes until our cards reappeared.
As an Englishman I tend to make a point of tipping for good service when I’m in the States, even though this may seem like an alien concept to us. I appreciate that to some servers tips are needed to pay the bills and that they work really hard to earn them. This was possibly the first time I genuinely considered not tipping, but my concience won over in the end and I gave a standard tip.
As we left we got a friendly goodbye and well wishes for the rest of our vacation from the hostess who had greeted us so well. For this reason, and this reason alone she saved a 1 Star review and I bumped it up to a 2 purely for her efforts. However she was the only glimmer of light in what was a fairly poor show of service and I would not choose to come back here if I had a wider choice.
Overall, nice décor in the venue is let down by average food and poor service. Whilst it has a lot of potential, this venue has a long way to go yet.

I was there with 34 of my friends to celebrate my 27^th birthday on a Saturday night for dinner and drinks. I booked the restaurant through a third party called Party Booker — don’t use them and check out my negative review on it!
When I arrived Party Booker had messed up the reservation and Ainsworth only had a table for 12 set up for all of us. However, the manager Ariel and Danielle were very efficient, friendly, and accommodating as they found us more tables and chairs despite being very busy. They checked in with me frequently to make sure everything was moving smoothly.
I brought mini cupcakes for my guests and they assembled a cupcake stand I brought to put them on. They brought out the cupcakes on the stand after dinner with sparklers (no additional plate fee). Additionally, I brought homemade cookies in goodie bags for my friends and they kept them in the fridge for me and brought them out on plates for everyone to take home at the end of the night. Overall, great customer service.
The food was great and the drinks were strong and perfect. I had the truffle fries which were amazing and the turkey burger which was also really good. My guests also really enjoyed their food. I’ve also been to their Hoboken location and the food was equally good there and with affordable prices.
The place is huge and open — a classy sports bar. They have a big lounge area in the back with tv’s surrounding it. Two bars — one in the front (small) and one in the back (bigger). The evening of my party the tv’s were not on because of a large party of 100 using the lounge area, but when I was there a month earlier to scope it out for my party the tv’s were on and a football game was playing.
The night of my party we were sitting right next to the dj which was not loud so we could still engage in conversation. No dance floor, but at the end of the evening, we moved the tables aside and made our own space for dancing. Bathrooms were nice and clean and the woman attending it was very friendly and helpful.
They have a small rooftop area (that is closed for the winter months). I was there in early November and it was still open with heat lamps and a full bar with friendly bartenders. They have comfortable couches on the rooftop.
Overall, good food, drinks, and service. I would definitely go back and recommend it for a nice evening out.

I went in their with some friends because they convinced me that the food was great for the price. Originally you were able to get a starter and main sandwich and drink for $ 18 bucks lunch special and you were given good portions and a good sized burger. I ordered the Panko chicken starter and the meat was dry, the fries were okay but I mean french fries are not rocket science. The cooks should definitely think about some refresher courses on cooking meat and making it juicy and soft. Now the price is almost the same but instead of a regular sized burger you get a slider and the starter is half the size of it’s original version. The last time I went in I only went because I was going to split the lunch special with a friend since it was such a generous serving, instead I ended up blowing $ 20 bucks on a slider, small basket of fries with Panko nuggets and a lemonade. Luckily that’s my last time goin’ there.

The Ainsworth is a clean, spacious, and classy bar in midtown. I overall really liked the vibe! The music, however, was very loud, so it was impossible to have a real conversation once the place became more packed. Honestly wished this was a club instead at that point.
The cocktails here are $ 16 each, so definitely on the pricey end! I had the Ains Martini, their signature drink, and my goodness, it was way too bitter for me. I think it was the grapefruit flavoring that caused this unpleasantly bitter taste. I’ve never been a huge fan of grapefruit though, so perhaps others who do may find this drink much more delightful than I did.

I was so excited that it opened around the corner from my apartment and had happy hour where it was 9 dollars a drink. If you are ordering a drink like a cosmo save your money. It was the worst or rather if I wanted one that didn’t have an icey feel to it I’d have made it at home.

A few girlfriends and I tried this place out on a Thursday night and we were really happy. The bar was packed and full of energy. The music was pretty great too. Our server was fast and friendly. This is a really nice place to hangout in Midtown. We will be back soon!
Tip: I highly recommend the mac and cheese burger and truffle fries.

My friends and I bought tickets from joonbug for Halloween this year and got totally ripped off from them and Anisworth. They did not communicate with each other at all. Joonbug was offering a vip ticket which came with an open bar for an hour and the terrace outside and earlier entrance then the normal admissions ticket. Anisworth had no idea of these events and claimed there was no open bar and the terrace outside was under construction. I even called Anisworth a couple of days earlier to make sure I understood everything and I spoke to a lady who was the events coordinator and she said there was an open bar, the terrace and even a DJ with room to dance. But there was nothing there we had specifically paid for extra. We complained that night but it got no where, not even a refund. We just left and went to a different bar. Never going back there again. They need to learn how to communicate and treat their customers with more respect instead of ripping people off.

Awesome restaurant. I wanted something light so I ordered the Thai Kale salad with grilled salmon. It was awesome. The mint, pepper and peanuts were perfectly blended. I highly recommend this dish and restaurant.

Worst service from start to finish. I was extremely excited to check out the midtown location near my work because I really like the other two ainsworth bars in the city. As soon as my group sat down by the bar, we were greeted by the bartender with an attitude. Suprising that the bartenders don’t understand that they are in customer service. They shared that they offered a happy hour. I asked for a glass of white wine assuming that she understood the implication that I wanted the wine off of the happy hour menu. You know what they say about people who assume… bill comes at end of the night she was serving me $ 15 for each glass of wine. Granted that’s not an astronomical amount in Manhattan but I felt like she had misrepresented it as she had just mentioned the happy hour before serving the wines. My friend was charged $ 6 a glass.
We were a group of 8 and decided to order some food to pick on. I saw sliders being delivered to another table which prompted me to order them and a few other finger foods. The bartender asked me what kind I wanted and she named a few types and I picked three (clearly implying that sliders were on the menu). She delivered three full sized burgers each with a side of fries (we ordered our own side of fries!). I asked what happened to the sliders and they said they don’t serve sliders. They said they only serve sliders to large parties for catering. Strange that I didn’t find that out until after they delivered to the table. We asked for them to take it back and they were extremely annoyed. In all honesty, were a group of 8 people at the bar, who would assume we’d want to eat three large burgers? Side note we also ordered crudite and hummus and were served exactly 3 pieces of brocolli 3 pieces of cauliflower and 3 pieces of carrot. Please ainsworth, lower the portion size I’m worried I may fill up on crudite.
Not impressed. I’ll choose the other ainsworth locations going forward. This place AINS worth it…