The Early Word on Tipsy Parson

Nearly three weeks ago, Tasha Garcia Gibson and Julie Taras Wallach's follow up to their LES restaurant Little Giant, Tipsy Parson, opened its doors on 9th Avenue. Since then, the restaurant has attracted a fare share of buzz, drawing visits from southern expats, the locals, and the doyenne of Chelsea, Martha Stewart. So far things seem to be skewing toward the positive, with most people agreeing that there are a lot of things going right in the food department. There's also the usual smattering of early word complaints, but it remains to be seen if the restaurant can fix these issues or if they're the start of something bigger:

The Downright Horrible News: Twitter user @theorem10 delivers a serious pan with an early word tweet: " tipsy parson may be the worst restaurant i ever went to. bad food, bad service. long wait. blecch." [Twitter]

The Pretty Good News: Goodies First has mostly good things to say about the place and makes special mention of the formidable pork shank: "Fried cheese curds beat mozzarella sticks any day. At the last minute we switched our minds from lamb ribs to chicken livers. The opposite of neutral cheese curds, these breaded organs stood out: creamy, a little funky, not for everyone. Where many of the dishes lean towards snacky and sharable at Tipsy Parson, the hunk of pork that our server quoted it as being around a pound and half—do keep the bone heft in mind—is certainly an attention-grabber. Tipsy Parson is a cute restaurant that I can’t compare to Little Giant because I’ve never eaten there. It does feel a little Brooklyn, or maybe it’s that the casual, seasonal style just isn’t typically Chelsea." [GoodiesFirst]

The Fantastic News: The Hungry Roach pens a love letter, fawning over everything the place has to offer: "I am proud to be a Southerner. To be a part of the inspiration behind a restaurant like the Tipsy Parson makes me want to amp up my lacking Southern accent and start sipping mint juleps on a regular basis. Hurry to Chelsea - I fear this one has already been discovered. By their second night of dinner service last week, the chefs had already nailed it. I could have easily returned for dinner on Friday, brunch on Saturday, or even just dessert on Sunday - and I will most likely do so this weekend. I am still in awe over their homemade herb rolls that arrive at the start of the meal as the bread basket. It was hard to have food envy since our dishes were so good, but rather, I was just wishing there was more time and room in my stomach to try more. Tipsy Parson and Southern hospitality win again." [HungryRoach]

The Not So Great News: A Yelper likes the idea of the place and thinks the service is fantastic, but has some issues with the food: "The service was great. But it wasn't only our waiter - it was the rest of the staff who made our experience delightful. The food...I'm not sure yet. The mac & cheese was great - I do wish they had cooked the pasta a wee bit longer, but the sauce was perfect. The biscuit was a tad unremarkable. The pork belly was the most disappointing. It was a little "cold", perhaps because it was prepared early alongside other entrees and had been waiting to be served. But my friends weren't as thrilled with their entrees either (pork shank, mackerel and the trout). We also ordered 2 hot chocolates - one with liqueur and the other virgin. I assumed that the one without the liqueur would be a little cheaper than the one with the liqueur...but they charged the same price for both. All in all, it's a nice addition to the up-and-coming Chelsea neighborhood. Not sure if we'd be so willing to "dine" there again..." [Yelp]

The Great News: From the tipline: "Last night I ate at Tipsy Parson for the 2nd time. My first time I went I heard that Bobby Flay was there the night before, but last night Martha Stewart was 2 tables away from me. She was with her assistant and when they left I heard her tell her server and the host how she loved the entire experience! Man if you can make Martha proud, they must be doing something right! I think I'll become a regular there!" [Eater Inbox]