The Redhead - Is the hype justified?

After Frank Bruni did one of his last reviews for The Redhead, the wait time for a table turned into a 1 to 2 hour marathon on any given night. You are welcome to have a seat at the bar where you can order from the full menu - but good luck getting a seat without baring some teeth.

Last Saturday night my boyfriend and I stopped by The Redhead at around 8:45pm. After being told the wait was around 1-1 1/2 hours long - we proceeded to try to shimmy our way into an advantageous spot near the bar that would make it easy for us to nab two seats.

Not easy at all. Just as a group of 4 got up to go to their table, 3 men swooped in, leaving just one spot for me. Boo - was my boyfriend supposed to eat standing up? Anyhow - I sat guard on my seat and proceeded to order - thinking this would guarantee us the next bar seat available.

Wrong again. After the couple next to me got up - it was only after I bared some teeth that I was able to wrangle an extra seat. Tip - eating out is not for the weak in NYC....

Ok ok. Onto the food. We started off with the much talked about and raved about bacon brittle and peanuts.

Huh? For what I could tell - they were just planters peanuts with some bacon! Maybe I just didn't get it. A bit overly salty and sweet for my taste - this probably appeals to those who enjoy Momofuku Milk Bar...

For our main dishes we ordered the fried chicken, of course! And the burger. While the chicken was crispy and juicy all the way through - even the guy next to us agreed that sometimes nothing beats good old KFC...

The salad accompanying the chicken however was very nice- sprinkled with pecans which added a nice sweet touch. And you can never go wrong with cornbread.

As for the burger - at $10 bucks, I'd say this was a pretty good deal. But again - it's nothing special. Just a regular burger. And not that big of one to boot.

Finally we got the salt and vinegar fingerling potatoes. Ouch! Super strong vinegar and doused in oil - these are for only the strong at heart...and strong stomachs....

Which brings me to my last comment - apparently something went wrong with my stomach, because I didn't feel too good the rest of the night.

But maybe that was just me - my boyfriend was fine!

All in all - The Redhead is your average neighborhood spot - nothing special, and in my opinion certainly not worth the 1-1/12 hour wait.

Maybe I came on an off night??

P.S. No pictures this time - sometimes it just feels awkward taking pictures at a bar, don't you think?

The Redhead
349 East 13th St. (between 1st and 2nd)
212-533-6212