The Early Word at The Crosby Bar

It's been just over two weeks since The Crosby Bar opened inside the brand spankin' new Crosby Street Hotel, the first stateside location of a Firmdale family hotel from across the pond. Since then, neighborhood locals, hotel guests, food types, and anglophiles have stopped in to SoHo to see how this British import is faring. Early word shows that things are skewing toward the "there's work to be done" category. The most commonly cited issues are the high price point, inept staff, and uninspired food options. With a nice ambiance in a desirable location, the place seems like a no brainer to be successful watering hole if they can fix some of the problems cited by these early word verdicts:

The Doubly Bad News: Two commenters over on Martini Boys are brief, but can't find anything nice to say about the place: "Completely overrated. I went after reading these reviews.... only to be disappointed by cocky staff, a dismal room and par-average atmosphere," and the second had a similar experience, "Completely agree-- staff lacks class and attractiveness." [MB]

The Good News: @agblackbook tweets some positive news into the twitterverse: "Checked out the Crosby Street Hotel today - gorgeous! Crosby Bar will be great addition to neighborhood." [Twitter]

The Mostly Disappointing News: A Yelper writes about some major problems with the service and price point: "A cocktail menu of $20 and $18 cocktails? What? Like the hotel chain that this hotel belongs to, I think that they imported their prices from England as well. Too bad these prices didn't include good service. "What do you recommend on the appetizer menu?" was answered with "I'll have to ask the manager. I haven't tried anything and he is the only who has." "I'll have a glass of the Bordeaux Blanc." was countered with "Can I see the menu? Oh, okay. The FRENCH Bourdeaux Blanc." Despite the gaffs, the waitress was very nice (it was her first day). And, if you ignore my cynicism I did like this place for a couple of reasons: it was cozier than the Cooper. And didn't have its nose stuck up in high concept like the Standard. And the crowd was pretty cool... after all, the prices will keep cynical people like me, out." [Yelp]

The Mixed News: Another Yelper shows love for the drink menu, but finds the food offerings to be a little boring: "A cool space with high ceilings and tall windows although larger than I expected so not that cozy. The cocktail menu is fairly extensive and also includes a rotating "guest list" of cocktails created by famous bartenders. The Hudson Apple Blow Fizz was quite savory featuring apple brandy, fresh lemon, egg white, cinnamon syrup and baked apple bitters. Not my favorite but weather-appropriate...I was more enticed by the Elder Rose. The food menu is boring, they seem to be playing it very safe with offerings like mac/cheese, club sandwich, fish and chips... I tried the lobster corn chowder and a duck spring roll; both good but nothing memorable...being that I was here early evening there were only a handful of people but I'd expect the vibe to be more alluring at night." [Yelp]

The Brief, Bad News: An Eater user writes a pan in the comments section: "what a mess, service is awful."
— Matt Duckor