Elizabeth is the new creation by the owners of defunct Rialto, a sweet but unsuccessful restaurant that shuttered in that Nolita space a few months ago. It's also the newest project of Doug Psaltis, who consulted on the small plates menu. The garden alone will bring in the Nolita crowds, but only if the management works out the service problems mentioned in almost every early report. Luckily, reviews of ex-Country chef John Iconomou's cooking are much kinder. But let's get to the good news and the inevitable bad news:

1) The Bad News: A Chowhounder publishes the first online review of the place and it. is. not. good: "I'm hoping it's just first-week jitters that made our experience with both the service and the food barely mediocre. I'm sad to say the meal was far less than great, despite the pricey check (and we left hungry)...The lamb was our best dish...The burger was mediocre, the fries were soft, and the chicken was on the dry side...We waited forever for the food and for our drinks to come though." [Chowhound]

2) Okay News: The first Yelp reviewer gives Elizabeth the benefit of the doubt and writes off her bad experience to first week jitters: "...all kinds of disorganized from not taking our name from the get go, seating people in an area without heat lamps and the waitress didn't know the menu well...despite all the snafus the food was delicious...beautiful space but there aren't many tables so be prepared to wait. it's a good place, just needs to work out the newbie kinks." [Yelp]

3) The Suspiciously Good News: Watch out for this comment later in the week in Adventures in Shilling: "Had a great meal at Elizabeth. It's nice to get high-end food in the neighborhood without all the fuss. The place is packed." [Eater Comments]

4) The Mostly Good News: Another Chowhounder chimes in with some more service problems but likes the place overall: "I agree that the portions are small but I didn't not think they were outlandishly so given the quality. I would not go with people with large appetites...I particularly liked the watercress risotto and the steak tartare...The service was a bit slow but considering how full they were and how recently they had opened (about one hour as of when I went) I thought it was perfectly fine." [Chowhound]

Filed under Manhattan: Nolita, Elizabeth, Good News/Bad News

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