Essex Pub

Essex is a pub/bar hybrid now, so I will divide this into food and bar parts.

Food: I was actually a bit surprised by how much I liked the food here. It's not fancy and it's not the best food I've had, but you can do worse for bar food. The burgers are pretty good and there are even some vegetarian options. If you are in the neighborhood and would like a bite and a beer on an afternoon, it would suit your needs.

Bar: The biggest problem with the Essex is that they do not have a cheap, crap-ish beer on the menu. You would think that given the neighborhood and the clientele that they would have some PBR or some Genesee or some Yuengling -- but all they have is Rolling Rock on tap which is a) disgusting, and b) overpriced at $9/pitcher. I know that they are probably trying to drive out some of the customers who like cheap beer, but it's Buffalo so you are going to have to make some concessions. But, they do have a nice selection of beers if you are looking to spend a little more (prices are similar to places on Elmwood like Cole's). There is a nice dartboard in the back and the pool table is good (but you cannot really play when the place gets crowded).

Anyway, it's still pretty chill. The jukebox is great and everyone is usually pretty relaxed there. I miss the old days when it was a little more run down but it's nice to see the place get fixed up and the food is a nice touch.

Very limited menu.
The portions are TINY but the taste is ok.
The burgers are really small and NO FRIES.
They surve chips instead !!!!!
Service is good and friendly but I left the place hungry.

I was very excited to try their new menu items, but the service was bad and the food was meh.  We ordered the PLT salad, soup, and a side of mac and cheese to start then a single order of wings.  It took 25 - 30 minutes just to get the soup and salad.  Now I am very forgiving if the restaurant was busy, but there were maybe 12 people there ordering food.  

Out of the three things we ordered, the PLT salad was the most memorable.  After we finished our food, so about 40 minutes in, we inquired about our wings only to find out that the order was never put in and they just ran out.  We were given this news right as the person next to us received their order, which they place 20 minutes after ours.  Once again, I am a forgiving person, and having been in the business before, I would have done only one thing to a couple who waited 45 minutes for their food....comp....  comp, comp, comp!  Take care of the drinks or give us another round for free....SOMETHING!!  I don't blame people for mistakes, stuff happens all the time, but they should compensate for their errors if they want to keep my business.    

So the sad thing now is that I will most likely never go back for food and will only have this experience to remember this place by.