Vinegar Hill House

Went there for brunch this past Sunday. Food and menu was good, but the service was just not good at all. This isn’t the first time I’ve been here that the service wasn’t great, but this was at the end of brunch so not busy and the place is small so no excuse. The waiter (a male) was just non existent. Every time I needed something I’d have to find him. Oh and if the menu calls for bottomless cups of coffee, shouldn’t they come by to ask for a refill? Of course I had to ask for it. He never came by to ask how are things or if I need anything else. I“m just sick of getting shady service, maybe I’m spoiled, but I shouldn’t have to remind him on my drink order when the place is empty. Once he would bring it, he would just disappear into the back so not sure what his deal was, just not very good at all. To look around to hope make eye contact with a waiter to get their attention is annoying. I try to like this place, but the overall feel and experience of the place is just plain blah. If there is a next time, I’ll sit at the bar.

Rustic American fare with a Southern twist, this is basically comfort food raised to restaurant level. And the food is really tasty. Come for brunch and try the sourdough pancake. Prices are not all that cheap but this charming little place always delivers. DUMBO needs more places like this!

Happened upon this spot with my husband and mother in law last weekend for brunch. Zagat rated it highly and Michelin recommends it, so we thought it would be a safe bet. I’ll echo the other comments about the service being patchy at best. The seemed pretty disengaged and disinterested, and the overall service experience seemed to be a product of disorganization and general apathy. We were sat at a booth along the front window. I’m all about rustic charm, but this place is bordering on dirty. The food was definitely below average. My husband ordered the pulled pork sandwich ($ 16), which was cold and under-​seasoned on a dry bun with a bag of potato chips (Lays?) plopped on the plate next to it. I ordered the braised red wattle pork and grits with a poached egg ($ 17). The pork was identical to the cold heap of pork on my husband’s sandwich, so no differentiation there from what I could tell. It was also terribly bland and lukewarm.
You win some, you lose some– it happens all the time. But I would never go here again or recommend it to anyone.

Was there last night. Split the country chop, tagliatelle with pork ragu, corn bread and asparagus.
The cornbread was amazing and they have a nice wine selection for being a smaller place. The outside was great in the evening and they even had some bug spray.
The rest of our meal was good but didn’t knock my socks off.

I can’t say we actually ate here but it looks like a great dining spot in a rather barren neighborhood. We intended to dine here late night after watching a cool «Night Flight» demo (2,000 pigeons with LED’s launched from the Brooklyn Navy Yard), but when we arrived the place was packed– 45 min wait. Interesting menu and nice vibes from this neighborhood eatery. Will try again. Suggest you try it too.

I don’t understand all of the buzz surrounding this place. I found most of the food we ordered to be average — with the exception of the pork chop, which was very good. The drinks were *carefully* measured out and, at $ 13 a pop, over priced. The ambiance seemed to be more of an attempt to hide the chipped paint and age-​worn walls than a mood setting technique.
I would recommend you try the place if your in the neighborhood and you’ve tried everything else. It certainly was not worth a cab ride from south of DUMBO.

I went to vinegar hill house to celebrate my birthday with my two daughters in spite of the negative reviews I had read on Unilocal I was hoping some of the reviews were exaggerated but unfortunately they were spot on. From the terrible service to the burnt yet soggy cornbread to the grossly undercooked wattle chop I will never distrust Unilocal again. I also would add the rude attitude of the host and hostess. And when they say salvaged décor they mean from someone’s garbage On a positive note the drinks were good even if we had to wait a long time for them My daughter actually had to ask the bus boy THREE times to please get our waitress. Save you money for someplace that actually appreciated your business

I had dinner here last night with friends. The cornbread was so good we ordered it at the start and end of our meal. But that’s not why I’m writing this review. I’m writing about the gnocchi.
We asked our waitress what the difference was between the appetizer and entrée gnocchi dish. Apart from saying one was bigger than the other (duh) she couldn’t tell us. I think if you work in a restaurant you should know everything about your product. You should completely know the menu, because how the heck should I, the customer, know? I’ve never been here before.
So we ordered a appetizer gnocchi and a entrée gnocchi and I can report the following:
appetizer gnocchi = 13 gnocchi’s at a cost of $ 18 = $ 1.38 per gnocchi
entrée gnocchi = 18 gnocchi at a cost of $ 25 = $ 1.39 per gnocchi
This sort of information would have been invaluable for our dining party prior to ordering.
Against my better judgement and at the corralling of my friends I sought to outline our discovery regarding the gnocchi to our diligent waitress. As I proceeded to breakdown the gnocchi calculations my so-​called-​good friends buried themselves in their cell phones. I think they could sense that after a long shift, and fielding multiple questions from newbies and having to cancel one order and make it vegetarian (completely our table’s fault) the waitress was starting to crack. She did not seem too enamored with my calculations, retorting with a stiff «Well, that’s good to know» and swiftly spinning away on her heels. I was only trying to help.
Still, that cornbread…

Atmosphere was mediocre aside from the outdoor patio which was charming. Pancakes that are supposedly ‘to die for’ but were overly buttery to the point where my stomach starting churning after 2 bites. Pork sandwich was okay and a bit dry. The best part of my meal were the Ruffles chips that came with the pork sandwich.

I really wish I could be leaving this review under better circumstances… but I’ve just nearly recovered from 3 days of extreme stomach pains brought on by a «brined» pork chop dish served to me at this restaurant. Ordered a few minutes before the kitchen closed, I was served this «medium rare» pork chop that was much more RAW then rare. I only ate about %30 of I had a few cocktails in me at that point and I’m a very trusting guy so I guess I assumed it couldn’t hurt me. boy was I wrong.
On the positive I haven’t eaten anything solid for 72 hours so i’m probably losing weight!

This place is awesome. I took my girlfriend there the other weekend and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The cornbread is to die for and the entrees were very very tasty. The restaurant is in a historic section of Vinegar Hill and the décor most definitely reflects this. It seems as though somethings haven’t changed much in the house for the past 100 years. I actually found this place online by typing an address I had found on my great-grandparent’s marriage certificate and the Vinegar Hill House came up. So I had to check out this restaurant in this house where my great-​grandfather had lived in 1915, when many Lithuanians still lived in Vinegar Hill. I may be partial for this reason but I recommend it very highly and look forward to coming back soon.

Was looking forward to trying this restaurant after seeing all the positive reviews on Unilocal.It is a little out of the way if traveling by train. If traveling by car, parking was not too hard to find. Located on a quiet, isolated part of DUMBO.
We did not have reservations so we opted to eat at the bar. Small restaurant with a rustic décor. Bartender was friendly and helpful. We had their flank steak, red wattle country chop, and blue corn cornbread. The flank steak was a little tough but flavorful. The country chops was flavorful but a little on the salty side. The cornbread had some butter and honey on top which made it a little too sweet. Probably would have been better if the honey and butter were in the side.
Overall, the service was friendly and food came out fast. A little disappointed in the food. On the pricey side for the quality of food you are receiving.

Absolutely charming ambiance. Warm. Friendly. Great bar vibe. SO wanted to love it. But the acorn squash was poorly prepared with raw skin and an acrid olive tapenade. And the skirt steak was served rear in ½ inch cubes rather than thinly sliced. The side of creamed veggies was served as a slop — running all over the plate — and hideously salty. Just simple stuff — with short cuts and the «we’re cool and don’t need to take care like we used to». A shame. $ 141 for one app, one entrée and cornbread (with a huge dollop of butter drenching it) plus a decent bottle of Greek red wine. Will NOT be back.

It’s a damn travesty that this place isn’t rated higher.
So you spoiled wannabe critics have to walk through a quiet and seemingly «gritty» area — which by the way is only 2 blocks. Two whole blocks! Ask the residents of next door Dumbo in their multi-​million dollar apartments how «dangerous» it is.
So you cheapskate wannabe critics want lower prices. How come 3 Star Michelin restaurants can charge an arm and a leg and be located in small remote town in France or Spain but this lovely gem can’t have fair pricing in this location? It has to be cheap because it’s not in the UES?
And for the pampered wannabe critics who must have their every whim catered to with white glove service. Seriously. What? No complaints about the mismatched rustic furniture or décor? What else do you not like? The waitstaff don’t wear uniforms?
We’ve been coming here for years. And we just finished a fantastic brunch — my first brunch here. Everything was superb. The food was just wonderful. The pork and grits– great. The pear sourdough pancake — sublime and possibly the best pancake in Brooklyn. The lamb shoulder special — so good.
We had a lovely stroll through the neighborhood. We were able to take our time to talk and catch up over a meal like real friends. And got to do it all in a non-​pretentious restaurant that was great for a small group to just enjoy each other’s company on a Saturday afternoon. Almost felt like my own Brooklyn version of a Woody Allen movie (a good one).
There’s no such thing as perfection. But this place is definitely 5 Star worthy.

Amazing brunch experience in DUMBO! Came here after a weekend staycation. A bit off the beaten path from the F train but well worth it! We ordered the pork and grits, the large pear sourdough pancake, and the poached eggs and lamb hash special. Everything was delicious! Will definitely be coming back

I have been to VHH twice for brunch, both times I experienced very good service, underwhelming grub, and left with a much lighter wallet. 2.5 stars!
Service — friendly as fuc*. Make reservations before coming.
Food — the omelette was as dry as a high desert at midnight, while their eggs benedict were nothing to write home about. Also, a small bag of Ruffles with the $ 17 burger? Someone there should learn how to cook up some damn fries. I can.

Now you’ve done it, Vinegar Hill. I’ve come here for brunch at least twice a month for the past two years since it’s one of the only restaurants within walking distance. Due to location it’s overpriced af, but again and again my indolence prevailed over my common sense. Today’s brunch was the last straw — my «seasonal» pancake (seasonal-​my-​tuches, it hasn’t changed in over a year!) was drowned in cheap sugary maple syrup, and the trout egg benedict was fishy and mediocre.
Can someone finally open a decent restaurant in the area, or nah?

Le quartier de Dumbo nous offre de bien agréables surprises à Brooklyn. Situé à l’ouest et non loin du pont qui relie à Manhattan, ce quartier est en pleine transformation avec ces anciens entrepôts transformés en habitation de luxe ou bars et restaurants. C’est un peu à l’écart de ces lofts que se trouve une rue bien paisible qui ressemblerait plutôt à un petit village hors du temps et que se trouve un autre quartier appelé Vinegar Hill à côté du précédent et non loin du bord de l’East River.
Un quartier dont le nom se réfère à la bataille du même nom de la rébellion irlandaise en 1798 du village irlandais de Enniscorthy et qui fût l’endroit où les irlandais vivaient à une époque. Un petit village de Brooklyn qui a su préserver son aspect 19ème malgré la modernisation des quartiers adjacents. Des maisons de style Federal et aussi d’architecture Greek Revival qui s’est épanoui en Angleterre et aux États-​Unis aux XVIIIe et XIXe.
C’est ici que vous trouverez la «Vinegar Hill House «dans une rue presqu’un peu sombre. Si vous né connaissez pas l’adresse, jamais vous né découvrirez au hasard cette très belle adresse car déjà c’est probablement le seul établissement de cette rue et de plus il n’y a aucun nom sur la porte de celui-​ci.
Un numéro 72 sur le haut de porte, un peu de lumière à l’intérieur…c’est là.
Et c’est un peu une surprise avec cette salle de restaurant d’une autre époque comme si rien n’avait jamais changé. Murs défraichis, structures boisées un peu vieillottes, luminaires simples et peu puissants, tables de bois qui ont probablement vus d’innombrables générations. Et c’est une certaine magie qui s’opère car il y a une très grande harmonie dans tout ceci et la clientèle présente semble fortement apprécier ce voyage dans le temps.
Quelques tables dans la première partie de cette pièce qui officie de salle à manger et quelques autres dans des parties presque privatisées mais probablement que la structure initiale de ce restaurant avait d’autres fins que de servir de la cuisine.
Les murs sont recouverts ci et là de vieux objets, de miroirs et de peinture un peu passées.
Tout au fond, une cuisine vraiment petite ou s’affaire une équipe de cuisiniers plutôt jeune. Il faut observer quelques instants l’activité pour s’apercevoir que personne né chôme et que l’affaire est plutôt rondement menée.
Juxtaposé à cette cuisine un bar devant lequel l’on peut également manger ou prendre un apéritif en attendant que sa table se libère.
Il y a une réelle atmosphère magique dans ce lieu qui pourrait presque aussi à certains moments faire penser à un appartement privé. La carte qui nous est tendue est plutôt courte mais on s’aperçoit immédiatement qu’il s’agit de mets confectionnées à partir de produits choisis provenant de producteurs locaux qui cultivent ou élèvent selon des techniques respectueuses de l’environnement. Ici cela s’appellera «organic «qui est notre «bio «chez nous, ce qui né peut que faire grandement plaisir. Des plats dont les énoncés annoncent une cuisine de saison, d’inspiration multiple sans jamais être d’une nationalité particulière. Plutôt une cuisine américaine moderne qui est d’ailleurs en pleine évolution.
Pour commencer, une Mousse de foie de poulet, oignons vinaigrés, pistache. Arrive une planche sur laquelle se trouve un petit bocal de cette mousse très bien assaisonnée et plutôt légère. Sur le dessus les pistaches broyées et sur le côté une petite salade et une confiture d’oignon vinaigrée. Le pain toasté est délicieux. Une entrée réconfortante et bienvenue.
Pour moi, le Crostini, stracciatella, coing, marmelade d’oignons et noisettes. Ce même pain toasté est recouvert de ce fromage frais de couleur blanche à base de lait de bufflonne avec dessus les noisettes concassées. A côté le coing en pâté qui aporte une très plaisante touché sucrée; les oignons eux aussi en compote sont doux. Simple mais particulièrement bien réalisé.
En plat principal, un poulet cuit en cocotte en fonte aux échalotes, sauce au vinaigre de jerez. A nouveau quelque chose de plutôt simple mais le produit est magnifique, la volaille est goûteuse, cuite à la perfection et le jus est assaisonné avec précision.
Autre très beau plat principal, la Côtelette de la région, gruaux de maïs doux, romesco et mélisse. Il s’agit d’une fabuleuse pièce de porc provenant d’une race américaine plutôt assez proche d’un porc sauvage, voir marcassin qui est en passé de symboliser la culture su «slow food «aux USA. Des petits producteurs qui élèvent ces bêtes avec leur couleur tirant sur le rouge. Cuit ici à la perfection, à savoir encore rose et déposé en tranches sur une sorte de polenta assez crémeuse, une touché de sauce romesco qui est d’origine espagnole à base de tomates, piments et noix. Et quelques feuilles de mélisse pour la touché végétale parfumée. Un magnifique plat campagnard qui finalement né se trouve pas si souvent que cela sur les cartes.

If you’re walking around starving in this neighborhood, you’ll likely pass Vinegar Hill with its unrecognizable speak-easy’esque storefront. Upon entry to the quaint and cozy restaurant, the copper topped bar is turning out both classic manhattans and signature cocktails. The Pink Moon is a Vinegar Hill stand out as a spicy twist on a margarita with cucumber and hints of chili pepper.
I tasted the Tagliatelle with a pork ragu. Hints of crème, fresh pasta, and a beautifully done pulled pork seal the deal on this dish although the saltiness is a bit overpowering. The fennel salad is absolutely flawless and the shaved pears will make grown men weep with tears of joy.
After asking about how the steak was prepared and requesting the au jus on the side, I was a bit disappointed in the presentation of the steak. This was not because it wasn’t cooked and presented nicely, but because it wasn’t as described and the portion size of 5−6oz’s simply doesn’t do much to satisfy a grown mans appetite.
I will surely visit Vinegar Hill house again, but will stick to the cast iron chicken next time as this really was the best of the bunch of entrée’s we had on the table.
If you’re looking to escape the beard bar restaurants of Williamsburg and want to take a walk on the river front of DUMBO, make Vinegar Hill the final stop on your night on the town.

I came to this place with such high expectations and maybe that was my first mistake.
First of all, like some of the other reviewers state, this place is really in the middle of nowhere. I don’t often feel unsafe in NYC, but walking to this place, there are no other people are and it’s totally desolate. I kept thinking to myself, I could get mugged out here and no one would know… anyway once I got that out of my mind, we found the place and it is cozy and cute.
It’s highly rated on foursquare (and maybe that was a red flag too…) so we went in and were excited that we could get a seat at the bar without a wait. The bartender seemed overwhelmed even though the bar wasn’t that busy, and it took her a while to make our drinks and take our orders. We weren’t in a hurry and this only bothered me a little, but what came next is what I can’t overlook.
We ordered the corn bread, a salad, a pasta and the cast iron chicken. It took FOREVER. Almost 30 minutes from when we ordered for our salad to come out. It was over dressed and soggy. SO disappointing. The flavors made sense together, but whatever dressing was on it was so over powering. We didn’t say anything though, since we were STARVING. Another 15 minutes later, the corn bread came out and it was completely BURNT. So burnt that we couldn’t even get them out of the pan. So burnt that the bottom was hard and difficult to bite through. We had to send it back because it was inedible. Wanna know the response we got?
They couldn’t guarantee that it wouldn’t come out burnt again. Um… ok? What am I supposed to do with that information? Are you telling me that we shouldn’t have ordered it? We were totally confused.
We waited very PATIENTLY for them to come out again and the second time around, they were able to get it right. The corn bread was good. Not great, but good.
The pasta dish was the ravioli and the flavors were a little strange and the portion was small. The chicken? Forget it. It was so basic and came with basically nothing else except for a couple of oven cooked onions. It was nothing special and frankly, despite all the sauce in the pan, it was kind of dry. AND it was expensive! $ 26 for two little pieces of undressed chicken in a cast iron pan…
So, all in all, this place is out of the way, overpriced, the service leaves a lot of be desired and the food is nothing new. I won’t be back.

I love this place, not sure why it only has 3 stars but I think it’s great. The food is simple but very well prepared so the natural flavors of your meal can shine through. They have a gorgeous backyard garden that’s great for date night and I saw Jonah hill and Alia Shawkat when I was there last time!
Food:
— cornbread: a must get, it’s sweet and moist with a pat of butter on top that’s just the right amount of salty. The jalapeño adds a great tang
— burrata: SO creamy! I wanted a second order. The onions with it were very well cooked as well
— tequila cured fluke: not a very large portion but deeeelicious. The fluke was tender, not too fishy and zesty from the tequila lime. The yucca chips were very crunchy, which was a good texture mix up and cucumbers were nice and refreshing, great to eat with a small piece of jalapeño
— tagliatelle: my boyfriend ordered and I had a bite. The ricotta was unreal. The ragu was with pork and I don’t eat it so I can’t attest to that but he said it was pretty good

It’s worth it to make a special journey out to Vinegar Hill House in this hidden away neighborhood of Brooklyn. Their entrees are perfectly cooked and the drinks are delicious.
You might encounter a wait, but if you do, take some time to go toward the waterfront and watch the sun set against the bridge backdrop. It’s beautiful.
Once you return, have a cocktail here. They’re all fabulously made and well-​balanced.
They have a wood-​fire oven, an amenity lacking in most restaurants nowadays.
The Red Wattle Chop (pork chop) is their signature dish. It’s carefully sourced meat served medium rare to rare. I never thought I would like pork served any less than well-​done but they pull it off.
I’ve also had the chicken which is juicy, butter-​basted goodness. The sauce is made from a red sherry jus that’s part butter, part chicken. The only bad part is that the entrée can be quite small (two small legs) for someone with a ravenous appetite. There are also no sides besides two halves of a shallot.