#TerrificTakeout #PeachyDeegan #AnchorBarManhattan Inaugural Review #AnchorBar #WhomYouKnow #Manhattan @ManhattanPeachy @AnchorBarWings
Buffalo Chicken Salad
Fish Fry!
It's not who you know, it's WHOM YOU KNOW and now we know the Anchor Bar. Located on West 57th Street, Anchor Bar opened on May 23, 2018 and is owned by Carlos Rosario, and we were also pleased to meet his daughter Janilda Rosario who works there too. It is his first Manhattan restaurant, however, Anchor Bar is a franchise and it was started in 1935 in Buffalo, New York. We like how the history is on the wall with a picture of the founder, and all the current locations. We also like their Canadian representation as we love Canada and hockey.
We also like the nautical theme. It is based on the fact that the founder, Frank, was a Marine. Frank and Teresa started it. The Manhattan location, which is the only location we are familiar with and the only one we have ever visited, is 5,000 square feet we are told and seats 155. During the day it is known for its family-friendly atmosphere while at night it transitions to a sports bar. We found it to be clean on our first visit, which we can't say for many bars. This location has a more extensive bar with 40 brands of hard liquor Carlos told us; he has a background in package stores.
Carlos suggested we start with a Pina Colada, and if you like them, this is a solid showing.
We absolutely love fish and chips especially in the UK and Ireland, and we started with them at Anchor Bar, which calls it "Fish Fry." 11oz of breaded cod is magnificent, and it was our favorite edible of the evening. It comes with tartar sauce and french fries, however, we would like to see it with chips that are more of the British persuasion and also a bit of green salad with arugula or frisee to up the freshness factor over cole slaw. We don't remember ever seeing anyone eat cole slaw in Manhattan or featuring it in a review. Anchor Bar will probably see that restaurants here in Manhattan are quite different from their other locations.
Anchor Bar's staple menu item is chicken wings, and we have never seen such an array of them. If you are an enthusiast of chicken wings, this venue is a must for you. Traditionally they are served with blue cheese and these are boneless with chipotle bbq sauce, accompanied by potato wedges.
Avid readers know we are drawn to Italian food in a big way. So, we tried the wings with Spicy Garlic Parm, and we did prefer this method. Celery and carrots arrive in style with the wings and we liked the crudites tremendously. Ranch was thoughtfully placed on the side as ordered.
We preferred the Buffalo Chicken Salad, which was nicely arranged. It's their signature salad, because of the obvious chicken influence per the wings. We chose the chicken strips to be grilled, however, you may order yours crispy. Cucumbers, tomatoes and greens join the party along with blue cheese crumbles.
The Caesar salad is what you'd expect, and was chopped. We would have chopped it even more. Carlos told us his favorite edible is the Caesar Salad wrap, and it was convincing:
It was fresh and delicious, and we liked the slice on the diagonal. We'd prefer sides options other than fries however, like spinach salad or fruit salad. The menu is extensive; we did not try the roast beef or meatball grinders, however, they sound good.
Finally, the chicken wing has even made it to the burger.
Meet the Buffalo Wing Burger: angus beef patty with wing sauce on a fresh kaiser roll with a chicken wing akin to a cherry on top.
We like how the lettuce, tomato and onion are automatically part of this.
We look forward to seeing what Anchor Bar does next.
