Elisabeth Ivanov

Little Kirin really hits the spot. The food’s packed with flavor — every bite tastes fresh and made with care. The bao buns are soft and loaded with perfectly seasoned fillings, and the noodles have that just-right texture. The vibe is chill and modern, and the staff are super nice without being over the top. Great spot to grab something tasty and hang out for a bit — definitely worth checking out. 🍜🔥

Soloman Red

I managed to get a table at this tiny eatery (3 tables and counter to). The fusion food was amazing, top notch, splendid, so incredible. This was an unplanned visit and I ate the GPS bowl a special garlic, pepper, steak. The meat was so tender, good size portion and the sides were really tasty. I had the pho sandwich to go I can only describe this as one of the best sandwiches to ever pass my lips. The flavours all worked and the meat again very tender. Top marks for this place!

John Kim

Fried chicken sandwich is a unique one I've never tried before! The Vietnamese-Asian fusion adds a nice sweet flavor to the sandwich

Angel Gaguancela

The many options looked and sounded delicious. I could eat all of it, but I decided to get the grandma braised pork so delicious it was sweet with the savory braised pork the combination was amazing, could've used a little more salt for the balance but amazing sandwhich In general. will be trying back to try more!😋 and the people they're are very nice and welcoming -kaelyn

Jesse Yuan

Small in space huge on taste. Everything on the menu is the correct choice but it’s the Pho Sandwich that’s the stand out. Now please remember make it the full experience and add the broth for dipping. Very clean and owner is super hospitable. A beautiful addition to the East Village and of course, a change of pace from the typical burgers and pizza around the area.

+6

Pedro Estrada

I had the Pho Sandwich, and honestly it was fantastic. The flavors felt fresh and authentic, the meat was super tender. I got the Pho broth on the side to dip my sandwich and it completely elevated the sandwich. Without the broth, the sandwich is among my top 5, with the broth it might be somewhere around the top 3 sandwiches I've ever had.

Jenny Tran

Cute little spot with a solid menu! The pho sandwich with dipping broth was delicious and it’s freaking huge. The jalapeños and broth really put it over the top. We also loved the salmon katsu po’boy (this was surprising, reminded me of a really good BLT), crispy chicken sandwich and the tater tots (love the pickled onion topping!). Def need to come back to try the rest of the menu!

Blake Rasmussen

Great little spot with excellent food, fun style, interesting dishes. Really enjoyed the pho sandwich which is kind of their specialty. I would probably get something different next time but everything looked delicious.

+1

Alexandra Carlin

Delicious, high quality food! I recommend getting the Crispy Fried Chicken Sandwich & the Loaded Kirin Tots. Everything was cooked to perfection. 10/10, will be returning here :)

Siena WD

I had a remarkably horrendous start to my day and turned again to one of life's greatest comforts: the sandwich. I heard about this place online and went to check it out and my lord is this proximity going to be a PROBLEM. I'm from Seattle, I've had a lot of salmon sandwiches, my salmon sandwich standards are very high, and when I tell you this Salmon Panko Po Boy was the best salmon sandwich I've ever had that should be taken very seriously. I don't even LIKE tomatoes on sandwiches and I LOVED them in this! What to say. Everything about it. I mean just look at it, it's gorgeous. The sauce, the textures, the bread was perfect, It's the best sandwich I've had since I can't even remember when. I can only speak to this one so far, but I've heard nothing but great things about the rest of the menu. The service was speedy, everyone was so kind, turned my bad day right around. Definitely definitely check it out. These people are adding something beautiful to the world.

+2

Beatrice Evans

It. Is. Worth. The. Hype!!!!!! The pho short rib sandwich is hands down a top 5 sandwich in nyc. The crunch from all the vegetables, the juicy short rib, the flavorful soup broth. My father ordered THE sandwich and I got the Vietnamese meatball parm. I liked my sandwich, but after trying some of his sandwich, everything else didn’t taste as good in comparison. The meatballs were good, the mozzarella added a nice saltiness, the tomato sauce balanced that out with some sweetness, and the jalapeños added a spicy kick if that’s your thing. To really level up the sandwich I would have liked to see more mozzarella and a little less sauce. The portions here are really big and the prices are fairly average for an nyc sandwich. What makes this place so special is the amount of love that is put into everything. I love the slight Asian twist on some classic sandwiches, and overall the space is really clean and nice.

Kong Soe

Amazing sandwich spot 12/10. Get the pho sandwich with the broth you won’t regret it, a genius idea for a sandwich. The ciabatta bread used for their sandwich’s are on point. All the ingredients in the sandwich compliment each other so well. Spicy pork sandwich is also great. I’ll be back to try every sandwich on this menu. For sides the tater tots are delicious and fried to perfection as well as the side cucumber salad. The guys that work here are great, super fast service and the food comes out quick. I’ll be back again.

It’s ironically called big bar even though spaces are very limited in here - it’s definitely a vibe though with its cash only and overall divey atmosphere. Lots of disclaimers all around but if you know what you want and can be expedient about it, you’ll be well served here.

Well... I don't know how I never came here before but what a vibe. Soaked in red light, cash only, a very chill, eclectic crew, all of that made it for me a perfect later night after dinner spot, even if the back bar is unsurprisingly thin and I low-key hate carrying cash on me these days unless I'm a regular somewhere. As an old head with a kid, I'm not sure when I'll be back but when the opportunity presents itself, I'm down.

Super cozy and cute. No wait despite NYE weekend but still busy/lively. Love the red lights. Bartender was alright / weird vibes. Maybe they were tired / had cruddy customers before me. Just had a glass of a house red

J Lynn

Solid food bites when you are on the go in this exciting scenic area of The City. It is like a city within the City so you need food fuel. This is grab & go food fuel with good flavors. The Brisket Banh Mi is good with or without the Pho Broth but better with it. The Pho broth is clean, soft and has plenty of oniony deliciousness. We did not have to add the broth to the sandwich so we drank it. One would want a little cold so the broth could cure it. It was so good! The Chicken sandwich was thick and juicy but a little less razzle on the dazzle. Needed more seasoning. Still a decent bite. Overall, we would definitely return for more quick bites.

Jessica Yang

Came here for the pho sandwich which was really tasty but very expensive at $18 and that's without the broth to dip in. Actually everything I ate here was overpriced. The pho sandwich was good and it's something to try once but not something I would pay $18 for again. I also got the tots which were whatever. And the fried Mantou was super yummy but such a tiny portion. You can get fried mantou in chinatown for much cheaper.

Shane S.

I got the Pho short rib rice bowl with fried egg (extra) and small Pho broth. It was a satisfying meal, tasted fresh and the broth was excellent.

Priya Mishra

NOTE- THEY NO LONGER MAKE / SELL THE SHROOM SANDWICH OR BOWL This is reflected on their website but not on the Google maps menu. A bit of a bummer because I was looking forward to it- now they just have a sweet chili tofu rice bowl for vegetarians, which is fine, but nothing to write home about.

shimmeringpath

Interesting sandwich spot on St Mark's Place at 1st Avenue. Some of the sandwiches seem to be Vietnamese ( like their famous Pho Beef ) but it's not really a Banh Mi place. I got their Salmon Katsu sandwich and although the salmon was a large piece and crispy there was WAY too much mayonnaise on this sandwich. I got the feeling a lot of their dipping sauces for their Crispy Tots were mayo based too. The tots were good though and the portion on the large was nice . They have ketchup packets you can get too , and I'd recommend getting those instead of a dipping sauce. My friend had the Pho Beef Sandwich with the broth on the side and he liked it and said it was substantial. I feel it's a bit overpriced for what it is though and there are definitely better Vietnamese sandwich spots in the neighborhood .

C J

I had high hopes for this place when I saw a blog post about the food here. Was a little disappointed. We had the grandma’s braised pork and pho short rib sandwiches. The sandwiches were lacking in flavor and adding sriracha helped… There was too much bread and the bread needed to be a little crispier on the outside. I liked the dipping of the sandwich in the pho broth but again the broth needed more flavor. The tater tots was nice and crispy and I liked the dipping sauces - sesame aioli and ginger scallion aioli. The chilled marinated cucumbers and the salad with salad dressing had great flavor!

Quang Dang

The staff are nice and friendly but the food is mehhh. Not sure how this place got a 4.7-star rating on Google. I ordered a pho sandwich and soup for $25. The sandwich was just okay, and the soup was overly salty and didn’t have the authentic pho flavor it should. We dined in for about 30 minutes; there were customers coming in and out, but we were the only two Asians I noticed. As a Vietnamese, I wouldn’t recommend this place.

Looks like some bartenders take tips for granted, expecting tips while being so rude to customers with the excuse of “being busy”. Wow, what a good reason for being disrespectful of customers. Reminder of the principle of a tip (which unfortunately has been forgotten): tips are here to reward good services for bartenders who deserve them, they should not be taken for granted. So just one thing busy bartender: if you want some tips, just do your job properly by being just slightly nicer, and not just demand “give me tips “. For your pride at least!

Big Bar is hard to miss with its bright red interior lights shining onto the sidewalk, but when you walk inside you’ll have wished you did miss it. I recently had the displeasure of stopping by this ‘dive bar’ and it was an experience I won’t soon forget; unfortunately. This bar harbors a particularly rancid vibe. Everything from the bar tender’s hall monitor attitude, to the Gen X clientele sitting at the bar top, to the bald man in a bright blue sweater standing outside holding the door looking to start arguments. It all meshed into a miserable, spoilt, and rank experience. This self touted ‘dive bar’ is a total disaster from start to finish. The atmosphere is dreadful. The space is cramped and awkward. The decor is tacky and lacking grace. It is all too evident that they tried too hard to come off as this trendy, relaxed, dingy dive bar but you can feel how incredibly gauche and trite the ambience really is. The supposed "dive bar" charm was nowhere to be found. Instead, it felt more like a sterile and sanitized version, where an older crowd can live out their dreams cosplaying being a patron at a dive bar. Without actually having to step foot in one. The raw authenticity of a dive bar is nowhere to be found here. Instead what you will encounter is a travesty of such magnitude that it defies the very essence of what it seeks to embody. Stripped of any genuine character, it is a desolate void. Big Bar’s ambiance is a facade. A cheap costume masking a soul devoid of grit or character. Stepping inside, the sterility of the place struck me immediately. But it was the customer service that truly revealed the rot at the core. At the helm of this charade was a bartender whose demeanor is a chilling specter of authoritarianism. Her presence fills the room and adds to the festering of a putrid environment. We did not get her name, but she is a heavy set brunette woman with glasses and nose piercings. She made comments that were teetering on discriminatory and seemed to convey a covert racism. She was abrasive with a patron over a seemingly arbitrary qualm. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear other patrons share a similar experience. The libations, one might hope, would salvage some semblance of a good experience, but they were as soulless as the decor. The drinks are underwhelming and bereft of any skill or care in their making. They didn’t seem to have any thing of substance worth drinking. All the bartender had was well liquor and flat beer. And in a location filled with other options that have better drinks and a more refined atmosphere, we did not stay long. In sum, this Gen X haven is truly a pit of despair and disappointment. This establishment is a blight upon the landscape of nightlife. A soulless simulacrum devoid of the grit, grime, and charm that define a dive bar. It feels more of a sterile tomb and I would implore seekers of a genuine experience to look elsewhere.

Bouncer dressed like where’s Waldo for Halloween tonight is a problem for a small business like this. I walked in with a few girls and he was hitting on the customers inside I did not see anyone in the front of the door so I walked inside. I thought he was just some big goofy Halloween dressed older over weight guy talking to younger girls. As I got though the door he started getting aggressive super weird because he’s a lot shorter than me and I’m not an aggressive person. He asked for ids I thought he was being funny but still reached in my back pocket to accommodate him. That’s when things got really weird he started acting aggressive so I turned around to leave because I don’t want to hurt this bully so I said I’m gonna just leave.. That’s when I asked the girls I was with to come he decided to follow me out screaming have a good day just so we are clear it’s night time! This place should really watch who they hire because clearly they don’t! You have been warned stay away from this place!

I really regret to change my review here. I really liked the place and used to go there. There is a specific bartender working there that is absolutely rude. She made a whole scene because some people tipped only $5 for 5 cans of beer. She was ringing some bells and her friends were shouting 'you should tip your bartender and blah blah..' and pointing to those people (that had actually tipped). Let alone that she earlier did lift me from my seat for her those friends of her to sit... When we told her that we understand that you are busy but this doesnt justify you being rude she took our drinks from us (had just bought them and i had personally tipped $3 for a jin) and asked us to leave the place. She just ruins that great bar and the nice vibe.

At the end of the day it's a bar.... The bartender and bouncer are the singular most offensive and pretensous people I have ever met in my life. Full of self importance and a vibe like they are keepers of all. They essence of the place has great bones and a good vibe overall... Just hope you catch the bartender on a night she isn't feeling like being rude and stuck up.Its far away from a premium bar and has an attitude problem equal to the snobbiest bars in all of Manhattan.... It's a hard Miss.

I stopped by Big Bar while visiting New York, and it was one of the most disappointing experiences I’ve ever had. The bartender was incredibly rude from the very beginning — no greeting, no smile, just an attitude like I was bothering her by even being there. She clearly had no idea what she was doing and couldn’t answer the simplest questions about the place. I didn’t even end up ordering a drink because the atmosphere was so unpleasant and unprofessional. I left after a few minutes, completely unimpressed. For a city like New York, where good service is everywhere, this was a huge letdown. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.

I had a very disappointing experience at Bog Bar in New York. We asked about the recipe for a Whiskey Sour, and were told it’s just whiskey and lemon juice. When we mentioned that a classic Whiskey Sour usually includes egg white, the staff became rude, told us not to “teach the bartender how to do their job,” and we were basically kicked out shortly after. Instead of a friendly conversation or a simple explanation, we were met with disrespect and attitude. Customer service matters, and no one deserves to be treated like that. Would not recommend this place.

I would leave zero stars if I could— I work service too and never leave reviews, this case was extremely bad and deserves to be shared. Absolutely horrible experience with the femme presenting bartender on a pretty empty Saturday. Extremely rude, condescending, unbearable and had to leave pretty immediately, it was ageist and very unpleasant to be around. The two lonely men sitting there were also questionable and she seemed way kinder to them, than to us fellow non-men with a kind demeanor. Will not come back, thank you for making us feel horrible. Thank you!