This neighborhood is so lacking in good bars and decent restaurants that residents will settle for anything, it seems. Exhibit A: The District. Acceptable burger and hummus plate aside, the food is awful, badly prepared, sloppily presented after a long, long wait time. Wait staff vary, some cheerful and clueless, others sullen and clueless. The prize is at the bar, though. Is the blond bartender related to the owner? Did someone owe someone a favor when they hired her? Rude doesn't begin to describe her. On our 5th (and final) visit on a weekday afternoon about 4:00, she was standing at the far end of the bar talking to someone when we arrived, and she made no effort to conclude her conversation. Eventually she sashayed over, and when we asked for menus, she rolled her eyes, fetched the menus, and threw them down on the bar. Since we had seen this act before, we knew this wasn't a one- off on a bad day, so we just got up and left. Get rid of her. Her reputation as a crank is beginning to spread, and even in this hard-pressed, post-collegiate-crowd neighborhood, people are talking. A friendly bartender is key to a successful establishment. Time for Miss Priss to follow her dream to the stage or the runway or grad school or wherever she thinks her special gifts will be appreciated. As long as my friends and I see her sour-puss through the window as we walk by, we'll keep moving. read more

I went to the District about two nights ago with two friends of mine, one from out of town. I live across the street and frequent this bar/restaurant and have always enjoyed the atmosphere. Our waitress was unwelcoming, unfriendly and made it very clear she did not want us there and did not want to serve us. I will make it a point that we are three African-American people. She was an older blonde white woman with glasses. She was constantly asking us if "that was all" as a means to get us out. That establishment showed extreme poor service to people of color. That waitress in particular needs serious reprimanding. Awful experience. I was embarrassed to have taken my friends there. If I could give no stars I would. read more

Been to The District many times before but just to the bar where the bartenders are great and make you feel at home. However, I had friends who wanted to sit down for dinner and watch a Mets game and thought the The District would be good since they always have a Mets game playing. Realizing that many of the previous reviews cited the poor waitress service of this place I decided to try it anyhow. Sadly, the previous reviews were spot on--the waitresses are clueless and really don't care. Two of us ordered the chicken/steak quesadilla which were both soggy and served without sour cream or salsa--bland dish. I asked the first waitress for hot sauce and she agreed that hot sauce was a good addition when ordering but didn't get it. I had to ask the food deliverer for it. I was asked by the 1st waitress if I wanted another beer to which I said yes but did not receive it. A second waitress asked if I needed anything and I told her that my second beer never arrived--she brought it out. The first waitress asked if we were good and we said we were ready for the check, which we paid. However, the 2nd waitress handed us the check again after we already paid it. We informed the 2nd waitress of the mistake and she never apologized and just spoke with the first waitress. The place was more than half empty and the 3 waitresses were not busy at all but acted like "keystone cops, not coordinating with each other." Lack luster food and unattentive waitresses left a sour taste in my mouth. I'll stick to the bar and not dine there again. The food server seems to be the one with his act together--the waitresses are too busy being cool. read more

My burger cravings continue, The District delivered a decent burger with the addition of egg and bacon. All in all the burger was decent. The added egg was cooked enough, though the bacon could have been thicker and tastier. Fries were over cooked just as the chicken wing appetizer was. Our server Dora was super pleasant and the best part of our meal. read more

I love this place. Finally a nice bar in the area. The bartenders are great and Joe made my drinks perfectly. They are true professionals and efficient even though it was busy. Great crowd and decor. Finally I have a local bar that I can go to on the regular. Highly recommended. read more

This place is AWESOME! It's a beautiful place, different from your typical upper east side sports bar. I had brunch there today and the food was AMAZING usually you expect crappy bar food when you go to a bar at the upper east. On another note the staff is really friendly, especially the bartenders Joe and Mark. When I go there at night I just have to walk up to the bar and they know my drink already. Really cool really friendly team, and they are quick my glass is never empty (my kind of bar!) read more

Went there for drinks. Hostess greeted us at the door and was polite enough to change the television to the game we wanted to watch. But our waitress was sub par and rude and ruined the experience. It could be a great place to go to, but for some of the few. If I'm going out and about and paying premium prices for drinks, then the service should match what I'm paying for. I would not visit this establishment again. read more

THE AIOLI. It is worth a visit just for the aioli that comes with the burger. I will never order anything else there, and if they sold it in jars, I would buy it. Prices are quite reasonable, and the atmosphere is nice. I like sitting outside when the weather is nice, and I love that it's all Irish girls who work there! It's a unique little spot on the UES. read more

Decor is memorable and their chicken under a brick is very good but I've never been wowed. My husband and I have been here a few times and it always takes a little while to get a hold of the hostess to be seated - don't go to this venue if you have a limited time for a meal. For a night of drinks its an acceptable place. read more

The food the ambience really cool. Definitely a good place to go to on upper east side. Descent crowd very day and the entrees are mouthwatering. The muscles, burger, grilled chicken caesar salad Mac & cheese and truffle fries are amazing. I would definitely recommend. the service is great and so are the bartenders. read more

Great lunch! Came here to eat, drink and enjoy a World Cup came and was impressed with the quality of the food. I'd been here before for happy hour and late night drinks and always found it busy but packed. This was my first time for lunch and I was pleased to find a menu with good variety. The pesto chicken sandwich was excellent-great bread, chicken that wasn't too dry and lots of pesto... And make sure to get the fries! read more

This place is a disaster. Atleast it was at lunch. We come in and the server was overwhelmed at even saying hellow to us but there was only another two tables and one guy at the bar. She brings us glasses for water but places them upside down so the part that will touch our mouths has already touches the dirty tables. Who does that. We order, I order the one item on the menu that doesn't come with a seeded bun since I can't eat seeds. I make it clear this is why I am ordering this item. She tells me I can order anything else and they can just not use a seeded bun. A nice gesture but I was happy enough going by the menu. Everybody else in my party got items on the menu that clearly stated they came with seeded buns. We wait about 25 minutes for the food to come. Everybody gets plain buns (without seeds) and I get a seeded bun. I mean how hard is it to just stick to your actual menu. read more

Terrible service for mediocre food. First off, the waitress was just plain unfriendly. My girlfriend and I ordered two items off their football Sunday special list and were given one about 30 minutes before the second. When the second arrived it was the wrong thing. When we asked the waitress she said what we had ordered was not on the menu, but was unable to actually produce a menu. When I recited all 5 items off the football Sunday menu to her she was flustered but stood her ground. If you care more about a chic environment than you do about friendly and quality service and good food go here. If not, there are plenty of other great places on the UES. read more

Stumbled upon this great bar/restaurant while walking around the upper east side. Our son lives in the area and this will definitely be our new go to place. The décor is perfect! Beautiful big glass windows. Nice and cozy. Not to loud. A lot more elegant than a typical pub but a menu with pub prices. More interesting variety and tasty fare then you would find in the usual bar/restaurant. Delish! Although this place is Irish owned you wouldn't know except for the great Irish staff and warm welcomes. read more

The District is one of my favorite bars on the upper east side. It is a great neighborhood pub with a cozy and comfortable atmosphere and attentive service. The bartenders are very friendly and make a point to get to know you. The food is consistently good and more upscale than your typical bar food, yet still reasonably priced. If you're looking for a casual, low maintenance evening to grab dinner and a few drinks, The District is the place. read more

Its an OK place. Bright and casual and high ceiling make the small place feel less crowded. Decent selection of beers and a good menu.

The atmosphere will attract you, the food will underwhelm you, and you will never return again because of the incredibly slow and professional service staff read more

My sister and I took my mother here for a chill brunch on Mothers Day and had a lovely experience. Prices were great, we all enjoyed our brunch entrees and my Bloody was tasty albeit could've been spicier. My mom got a complimentary glass of wine (in addition to the brunch cocktail) for being a mom! Also everyone we interacted with, from our server to food runners to the manager who came by to check on us, were pleasant and helpful. Great casual brunch! read more

Been here a handful of times for brunch and dinner. The brunch is fantastic. The burgers and drinks for dinner are very good as well. Will continue to be regulars. read more

the high rating is for the absolutely fantastic burger. it's the best burger in the area by far. the other food is just fine bar/pub food. definitely worth a visit for district burger, fries, extra aioli on the side, and a beer. read more

Take a pass on this place - there are so many other better eateries at which to spend your money in this stretch of the UES! I tried a couple of times before tonight to check this place out. The first time, there was a very limited menu that they weren't serving quite yet. The second, I walked in trying to get a table, and no one was there to greet me or assist me with that. Terribly poor service, especially for a spot that has had two other restaurants in that location since I moved into the neighborhood. I had the burger. Poor burger-to-bun-ratio as I had a wad of extra bread left when I finished the meat. While the burger was cooked perfectly medium-rare, the meat itself was not of the best quality, it was obvious. Look, if Shake Shake can get Pat LaFrieda meat and if Parlor has a great burger for the same price as this place does (with the $2.00 extra for cheddar cheese at The District), why spend the money here for lower quality? The fries were really uneven, some were soggy and some were crisp. they also didn't arrive very hot. The aioli, I suspect, came out of a tube or a jar. I'd also ordered a celery root and apple soup to take the chill off of the winter's evening. While the soup arrived scalding hot, it had no real flavor at all. I added salt and pepper, but it didn't seem to help. It was incredibly bland and was overly root vegetable-ish without any hint that an apple had been near the soup. Very disappointing as the server had said it was very, very good. Dessert - three choices: bread pudding, cheesecake, and chocolate layer cake. Why not a great sticky toffee pudding? Or apple crumble with custard? Something that is at least somewhat interesting and that I couldn't buy in the bakery section of the local grocery store. The menu is uninspiring and confusing. Is it a pub? Is a local restaurant? There seem to be a bit of each style dishes on the menu with no coherent pattern. The folks who put the menu together obviously are not from the neighborhood and did not do any research at all before concocting the menu. No local brewery beers, predictable drinks list (no local bourbon, vodka, gin; no NYS wine). The decor is tacky and wanna be. The bar looks like it was bought at Home Depot and they just slapped faux frontage to the exterior of the building. The slate fireplace is seriously out of place, and the mirrored ceilings are also a bit weird, as the pressed tin variety is more in tune with Yorkville architecture. Again, the owners didn't really seem to do any research before opening up this place. read more

The low rating is primarily for the restaurant / service rather than bar. Have to repeat what others have said. Nice decor and have been here for drinks which were fine. But if you come to eat you're probably lucky if you get waited on the same week that youre seated. Have tried it twice. Wait staff seem very disorganized, ignoring half the tables. First time was pretty bad and second time finally had to give up altogether and go elsewhere even though restaurant portion was not especially busy. Probably managed by someone experienced with bars but not restaurants. Would not recommend for dining, not a good spot for taking a date due to the poor service. read more

I would have given 4 stars because the food is very good although rather limited menu. The decor is nice, layout is tough cause tables close to bar. Service is so so. The young blonde waitress was particular rude and incompetent. We had to ask 3 times for a glass of water. The worst thing is the acoustics in the room are painful. I'm a sound engineer and measured the SPL level at well over 80db consistently during diner time. These sound levels can cause hearing loss and damage. Forget about trying to have a conversation, you have to shout to be heard at all. Disappointed because we finally have a decent spot north of 90th St but need to wear earplugs to not get a headache if we wanna eat there. read more

I liked the food here, but the service is ver slow when it's crowded. It's also really loud when it's crowded, and the tables are too close together. read more

Such a good go-to! Great atmosphere, good daily menu choices and priced pretty reasonably. They have awesome specials - including happy hour options until 8 and a free drink with brunch. You cannot go wrong with the district! The staff is always extremely friendly and attentive which is an added plus. read more

The District from the outside is aesthetically pleasing and the interior has chic decor, stainless glass and wood finishings in a dimly lit setting. As for the inside theres terrible service, lack of management, and any common decency. The waitstaff aimlessly wonders as they strive to ignore you and only respond to obnoxious flagging down. The food is mediocre at best but the service is horrendous. I WILL NEVER GO BACK AGAIN after my last experience with the clueless bartender... Eek! Methinks not! read more

Not great... My girlfriend found a bug in her drink, when they replaced it is was different and super strong. Her salad was not good, and my burger was undercooked and too large to be eatable. We may have just been unlucky with our menu choices though. It's also pretty noisy inside. Nice outdoor seating area, but unfortunately as of summer 2018 there's construction right outside. read more

Adorable place and good food but the service is deplorable. It was moderately but not very busy with no one at the bar. I ordered two drinks through the course of dinner. We had to remind our waitress twice about the first round. Ok, it's the holidays in New York, it happens. Maybe she's new. We straight up never even received the second round. After having to get up from the table to being this to her attention, she shrugged her blonde bun and flippantly said "so, well do you want it now?" Uh no. Dinner is over. Sorry to have disturbed you. Then we discovered our bar bill included auto gratuity of 20%, a process which is not legal in New York without prior notification. We asked to speak with the manager and were informed there "was no manager." If that's the case, maybe they should hire one. Beware! read more

Came here last night for an impromptu cocktail around 7:30pm. I would echo Jessie C.'s review and say that the decor is great but the place is missing a little something. A place this new should have an incredibly friendly staff and give much more hospitality than it does. We were greeted by the bartender pretty quickly but not with a smile or any kind of warmth. The drinks were good (buffalo trace manhattan and beefeater martini) and the martini glasses bordered being too big. Kind of an awkward size for a cocktail. All in all I have nothing great to say about this place and nothing too detrimental. Just kind of...ehh. I'll probably be back and give it another chance because I think it deserves that at least, considering it's only been around for a few months. Hopefully better things the 2nd time around! read more

I had a disappointing dinner tonight. I ordered the 'Kathy's Salad" of grilled apples and chopped vegetables. They served me the kale salad, which I searched through with my used fork for chopped vegetables. (I asked them to pack the salad for me instead of throwing it out...but they refused.) They said they'd bring the right salad...then brought it with raw apples. They took it back to correct. Then brought apples drenched in butter and soggy from sauteeing (not grilled). The "mixed" veggies were carrots, celery, and raw asparagus. Why if there are only three vegetables, don't they list them on the menu (or have the waitress recite them)? I'm not keen on asparagus. And no bread was offered or served, even though there were bread plates. Terrible service (they should have comped my meal after all their mistakes) and subpar food. read more

Keep in mind that this place is on 94th and Third. You can call it the "Upper East Side" if you want, but it's practically East Harlem. That is why when I saw the prices here I gagged a bit. The prices are just too damn high as a former mayoral candidate used to say. Rents are still cheap in this area and the prices should be commensurate with the nabe and the rents. This place is nice looking, the food is decent, but the prices and the noise, just too high. read more

Heading to the district for a bite with the gang is something we all look forward to. From the second we arrive, we are treated like old friends. The staff is friendly, and have a great sense of humor and always take care of us. The beer is ice cold, and we are suckers for the burgers and the chicken pesto sandwich. I've come to realize that I barely yelp, and rarely do when I really enjoy a place... Kinda backwards.. I know.. But, going to turn over a new leaf, and decided the importance of positivity is often overlooked. Starting with the district!! I can't wait for the warm weather and for the patio to open up. Keep up the good work guys! read more

It was my first time here and I went specifically to watch the World Cup with my partner. It was a crowded bar but I was impressed that the bartender remembered what I was drinking when I went for a second (and third). Having been a bartender, I know that is important. After the crowd left, we ate at the bar - overall the food was good as well as the service. The music did get too loud and techno at one point but was quickly changed when another patron requested. I would definitely go back because it is nice to have a cool place to hang. read more

this is some spot...headed in there last night for the first time with a group of my friends. The atmosphere was was a mix of mellow and that little bit of madness. The Irish girl we met in there (I think her name was faun but you couldnt hold me to that!) was super friendly and hospitable. After we had our fill of the bar excitement a table was made available even though it took some work on the part of staff, which was much appreciated. The food was delicious and held consistency in the timing (hard to find in NY!) throughout our meal :) All in all an amazing place and worth a visit. read more

ABSOLUTE WORST EXPERIENCE. This restaurant overcharged my card and took no steps to work with me to resolve the issue. Four days later I still was being told the manager would "call me back," yet the issue was going no where to be fixed. The service was horrible and the food was mediocre. NEVER go here. The staff is incredibly rude and took no actions to help me with my situation. In a way I sense they were trying to actively steal my money, it clearly was not an honest mistake if it took 5 days to resolve it. NEVER EAT HERE IF YOU ENJOY GOOD SERVICE AND FOOD. read more

Food was ok But the Service More impolite! Burger ok, Seafood Taccos cold and uggly. Don't advise for a visit

Excellent service, ambiance and food. I'm a vegetarian and in my opinion The District has the best veggie burger in the Upper East Side. Also love their brunch, for me it's the French toast, always prepared just right. Wonderful, accommodating and friendly staff tops it off. read more

The burger only safe bet for brunch. Everything else a disappointment at best. Staff nice though service not great.

I dont like to say bad things about restaurants but this is the second time I go there and the food sucks. First time i dont even recall what i ordered but it was weird looking and full of kcalories. The second time today was tacos omg. Disgusting. The tacos were fried (why?) then the chicken was SO hard and overcooked that it lost its taste and was nearly impossible to chew. They put fetta and sour cream and mayo and god knows what on top omg. Last but not least, the guacamole was NOT fresh at all. It was dark green and had no taste at all. What annoyed me the most is how could the chef agree to send such a plate to a table? I took it as full disrespect. Like you KNOW the avocadoes are not fresh and u know the chicken is overcooked why do u do this? Ugh. I really wanted to like this place as it has a fair service and looks okay but sorry it is just bad and I wont came back... last but not least food took forever to come.. read more

I eat every day in this place and every day everything was okay. Thank you previous waiters for good service and good steaks, chicken and soups!! But today (May 16th) I had terrible situation this blonde waiter (I didn't ask her name) I came at 2pm for to eat SOUP, what I eat often here on lunch (because I live near). I explained that in menu it's soup du jour (white color) and I ate this one yesterday. It's only one soup which I like in this place. But (in my opinion) she doesn't know menu and know only lunch special offer. She said that it's okay, on lunch the (she think) the same soup like yesterday And they brought SOUP WITH PEPPER (red color) We tried this soup too with my husband one time. I hate pepper!!!! When I said that I don't like this soup, she said (rolling her eyes ) that she doesn't blame that I don't like this soup! Thank you for I leaved HUNGRY and SPENT 20 minutes of my time!!! read more