review: gravy - 6/15/2011

i really wanted to like gravy... but i didn't.

i went on a monday night with 6 friends. we ordered most of the appetizers and sides, plus a few entrees. i searched high & low for the biscuits mentioned on yelp (no sign of them). i also looked for gravy - only found on the mashed potatoes.

FOOD
appetizers:
-chopped salad - good size, but overly dressed in a runny dressing
-king crab legs - 4 small pieces, overcooked
-peel & eat shrimp - the tastiest of the bunch even though the FOUR pieces of shrimp were dry and overcooked (the comments from the table were "i like chewy overcooked shrimp")
-hummus - interesting but the focaccia served with it was stale (they brought us some grilled whole-wheat sourdough bread once we told them, but sorry, too late)
-crawfish fritters - these tasted good, but they were more like rice balls w crawfish in them. and there were only 4 small-ish fritters (seems like 4 is a theme)

entrees:
-sullivan bog - SMALL. overcooked seafood. in theory it was good.
-scallops & honey grits - i didn't try this, but my friend who ordered this said it was inedible
-corn flake crusted chicken - terrible... all white meat, completely DRY, i didnt see any cheese stuffed inside

sides (the best part of the meal - not saying much):
gravy fries - this was overly old bay'd fries w ranch dressing on the side. the name was VERY MISLEADING.
mashed potatoes & gravy - standard, nothing special
braised collards/kale - standard
roasted mushrooms - nothing special but tasty
crackling creamed corn - i liked this but no one else did. it tasted a lot like roasted peppers, which i like.
grits 3 ways: the pork & cheese were quite tasty. the honey was very sweet.

we did not have dessert bc this dinner took FOREVER as it was.

DRINKS
decent wine options although no one really knew much about the wine to help make a choice. i had the garden of good &evil cocktail - it was quite good and well-balanced.

SERVICE
the restaurant was pretty empty, so i understand there being only one waitress, but there were a few other people who worked there around, and NO ONE was helpful. the service was flat-out bad. the food took forever. we ordered peel & eat shrimp while having drinks at the bar BEFORE, and we never received them, yet they tried to charge us for 2 orders of the shrimp (we obviously caught and had them correct). the slooooowness of the South in new york does not work.

add to that, the bill ended up being $82pp even tho 4 of us shared 2 entrees.

overall, every aspect of this restaurant (and we tried a lot of things) was a major disappointment.

gravy
32 east 21st st btwn broadway/park ave s
new york, ny 10010
212/600.2105