Live Bait
“Live Bait sits adjacent to Madison Square Park and Shake Shack in the Flatiron vicinity.”
“Hush puppies with a hint of jalapeno and some excellent homemade tartar sauce are crisply fried and satisfying.”
“It's tough to compete with Shake Shack right across the street, but Live Bait covers the seafood void that Danny Meyer lacks.”
Live Bait
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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AHH I keep going back and forth on this place.
$1 oysters all day is great. I had them and hey were really good.
Calamari – SO PERFECT. It was cooked perfectly. It was tender and flavorful; the sauce was also great.
Bartender was nice/friendly. Let us taste his "white sangria concoction."
Still 3 stars, since the bad brunch experience. Will be back but NOT for a meal – just for oysters, beers and appetizers.
I've been to Live Bait a few times with some friends and though I love the bar's happy hour deals — $5 margaritas and $1 oysters, plus they have cool iterations on the traditional oyster like buffalo and cheese — the service is quite poor. Not only did my friends have to wait 30 minutes to receive their complete order of oysters on Friday, which is frustrating especially as the bar wasn't packed, my friends and I received a lot of unnecessary attitude from the bartender as well. There's a lot of great spots for happy hour and $1, especially in Flatiron, so I would readily head somewhere where the staff is friendlier to their customers next time.
What a weird place. Came here on a Thursday after work not too long ago, and almost turned around and walked out when I first walked in the door because the front of the bar was SO packed with the grown up frat bros that New York seems too full of. Seriously could barely move around in the bar area. But I knew I had seen photos of tables in the back, so I pushed my way to the back of the bar and seriously, night and day difference. The tables in the back are quieter, totally spacious, and weirdly were mostly empty. I seriously do not understand why you would choose to stand elbow to elbow up front when there are so many empty tables in the back! Maybe I'm missing something.
Anyway, the hostess seated us without a problem. Food selection is fun – lots of fried seafood and Louisiana-style stuff (I think my friend got shrimp and grits, which seems about as Southern as it gets). I got the hush puppies to snack on, and they were tasty enough, not my favorite bar food, but nothing too bad. I was disappointed that the bacon tots that I saw on some older menu photos were no longer available.
The one annoying thing about sitting in the back is that you can't see what beers they have on draft, and their printed beer list they give you is almost entirely useless. It lists just a few "standard" drafts (think Sam Adams and stuff), otherwise you have to ask the waitress what's rotating. And the bottle/can list is totally outdated – I tried to order two different cans and she said they didn't have either. Poorly maintained beer lists are a personal pet peeve of mine, but really, not a huge deal in the long run. They ended up having a respectable craft selection – nothing groundbreaking, but enough to make me happy.
Overall, I would come back here for happy hour with someone happy to sit in the back with me. I would NEVER come if standing at the bar was on the agenda, and personally I don't think the food excited me enough for this to be a big meal destination. But with so much going on in the area, it's a good option for a casual beer and snack.
Great lunch! Better than the 3 star rating. Our server was really great. Super friendly and attentive. My blacked salmon was really good! The brown butter sauce that came with the corn hush puppies was pretty addictive and you could totally get carried away. The salmon was cooked really well and the collard greens were tender without being overdone. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals. Looked like a spot that would be super fun for happy hour/drinks.
Deal Seeking Diva tip: $1 oysters and $2 specialty sliders at happy hour! Get it!
So average. Nothing really stood out for me at this restaurant. For starters our server took forever to even ask us if we wanted anything to drink. The benches were dirty and creeky, and I am not sure why but it was hella dark in there. I'm sure they were just trying to set the ambiance… But this is an oyster bar not a 5 star romantic restaurant, let's get the lights on! The entrees were just eh, I had the fried clam strip sandwich. Too much batter not enough flavor. The only thing saving this from a one star was the cheap oysters that were pretty good. Save your dough or just come for the oysters.
Hit and Miss
This is a very lively and fun bar, so I will give them a "hit" based on the bar and booze aspect. Plus, the restaurant has $1 oysters all day. However, this place gets a bit of a miss on the food side. Interestingly, i have been coming to this bar for years, but the other night was my first time dining here . . . Unless, doing pickle backs count as "food". Plus, the bartendress was really nice and very prompt with her service.
The food was a little struggle, I ordered the catfish and fried pickles as an appetizer. Bringing the appetizers out with the main course is a major annoyance I have with some restaurants. When you do that, the appetizer becomes A SIDE. I guess the figures that since everything friend that it doesn't matter when you get them. Plus, the fried pickles were not really much to write home about. That aside, I was expecting a catfish fillet but I got something that looked like catfish nuggets and the "nuggets" were kind of soggy However, I will say that the tatar sauce is pretty good. This place is always busy, so maybe the kitchen was having an off night because my friend did not like his burger because it was overcooked.
I know that I will be back but I think that I will consume my calories in heavy beers.
This is a lovely little Manhattan hole in the wall. Hubby and I were happy to stumble upon it. We had Bloody Mary's… I have to say that this is clearly not their signature drink. We managed to doctor it up with the condiments on the table. The hush puppies were tasty. But the thing we're still marveling over is the clearly incompetent oyster shucker. A place that touts its raw bar has an incompetent shucker? We saw only one other table with oysters on the half shell so we could not understand why it took 45 minutes to get 1 1/2 dozen oysters and 1/2 dozen clams. I'm glad we were there at a slow time, otherwise I wonder how long it might take to get oysters.
My alma mater is close by so I've popped in several times over the years – drinks and small bites and such. Can never go wrong with their blue point oysters and a glass or two of accompanying róse cause you know I keep it fancy like that. Their "she-devil" eggs served with chives and salmon caviar came out not feeling firm or fresh but right out of the fridge being soft and mushy and minus the chives.
Mind you, on a late Saturday afternoon service was quite expeditious even though they were seemingly busy. I'm sure it also had something to do with the inside fact that I know someone who happens to work there and bartenders, Juan Carlos and Brian were attentive and sociable while being too legit to quit!
I can't really speak to anything else on the menu as I have yet to try it. However, I can definitely see this becoming my go to oyster spot, or at least one of them in the city. The crowd can be altogether boisterous with men outnumbering women in the throng at the bar – make sure to walk past the front as room does open up toward the back of the bar and seating area.
"Oysters are the most tender and delicate of all seafoods. The stay in bed all day and night. They never work or take exercise, are stupendous drinkers, and wait for their meals to come to them."