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ACME Bar & Grill advertises the slogan, "an okay place to eat," and for a frigid, wintry day when your body craves comfort food in no serving size anyone would dare call small, ACME is a more than okay place to be. The Cajun and Southern inspired menu starts off with "appeteasers" like flame-roasted cajun corn, Maryland crabcakes, shucked oysters, and catfish fingers that only help warm-up to mouthwatering po-boy sandwiches, burgers, and hearty meat & seafood entrees. Fried oyster or shrimp po-boys are perfect for those craving seafood and meatloaf po-boys and bacon cheeseburgers are readily available for visiting carnivores. "Big Bowls" of jambalaya and seafood gumbo or southern favorites--collard greens, mashed potatoes, and homemade coleslaw accompany entrees, all to be accompanied by the bottles of hot sauce available on the table and smattered along the wall as decor. For bold and hearty food, sure to fill the belly, stop by ACME and wallow in it's fried-food joy. ACME Bar & Grill is located at 9 Great Jones Street between Lafayette & Broadway. Open for lunch, dinner, and brunch on the weekends. (212)-420-1934.
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there was a company lunch there at the old company i used to work at, and a rat ran across the floor. they decided not to say anything. no joke!
I'm really surprised to see this restaurant written up. I've always walked away disappointed with both the food and service at Acme and would definitely not recommend it.
I thought the food was decent, but I have had bad service both times I have eaten there. I was scoffed at for requesting that I have my salad before my meal.
Very surprised to see Acme written up. Not unlike Dojo or BBQ there's really no reason to eat here unless you are 22 and new to the city. Wait, that's not even a good enough reason. Icky.
It's admittedly a college-like, fraternal dig, but good for greasy cravings. I try to cover as wide a range of places as possible.
ms. park, have you ever had southern food before? because acme sure as hell doesn't serve it.
Great Jones Cafe around the corner has MUCH better Cajun food than Acme.
Will: yes, and see the "good for greasy cravings" comment.
James: I agree.
Have to agree with the other comments -- Acme is the weakest spot for southern food in the city, and if it wasn't for NYU would have been long gone long ago. Writing up this POS rather than Great Jones was a mistake. Acme is and always has been horrible.
dude: I've already covered great jones and like I said, I agree it's better, in fact it's one of my favorites: http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2005/09/02/camera_in_the_kitchen_great_jones_cafe.php
part of writing this column is about the places I end up or am able to document, for good or for bad.
ms park,
they might be greasy, but if they can't do the catfish right and put sugar in the cornbread i have no use for them.
dude - is mamie's worth the trip uptown? i avoid southern food up here because the best of what you get here is worse than what you can find in a generic service station in mississippi.
dude, thanks.
the photos of food are pretty bad. everything looks slimy! (too much flash? light from outside?)
ignore haters, you're the bestest
I'm from VA. I like Acme; it does its job well. I think the mission is comfort food, not authentic Southern. Nothing to call home about, though. When did it become a matter of "I'm awsome because all of the places I won't eat?" Having been raised on chitterlings and neckbone, I don't turn up my nose at much. Besides, come on, the Great Jones Restaurant? No one's ever heard of that! So knowledgable!
Some say Fear Factor, I say Sunday at Grandma's.
For those looking for good soul food, Charles southern on 151st....best fried chicken in the city barnone.
I have to agree with both sides on this one. Acme is pretty non-authentic. I have only eaten there once, and the only thing I remember was that the sweet tea was the same caliber as a wine cooler to a seasoned alcoholic. Absolutely repulsively wrong – at $3 a glass – no refills. 100% WRONG! However, the po-boys are close to what you would find in New Orleans, or at least in my experience, but I'm no pro.
Southern food in New York is like a visit to Epcot Center. Everything is embellished and blown so out of proportion that all it really does is piss true southerners off. The BBQ sauces are all too sweet or tangy and I can’t tell what they are based on other than sugar. Seriously you yankees -- there’s more to the South than sugar... mk?
All I really want is a buffet with pulled pork, mac n cheese (DONE RIGHT), some authentic fried chicken, and SOME REAL SWEET TEA. Oh yeah, and the banana pudding with nilla wafers for dessert.
Is it so hard for these people here to understand the essential decency of the southerner's culture? There is a true disconnect between the two societies.
Northerners, like my brother, are picky eaters.
He's lived down South now for over 15 years and never had NC BBQ? And, when we did, he didn't like the vinegar/pepper base. He'll probably enjoy Dallas BBQ and does when he comes here. He also didn't like the banana pudding with nilla wafers but loved the free baskets of hush puppies.
We were at a buffet, the atmosphere was not unlike a church rec room.
Regarding ACME, I haven't been there in over 10 years, I see they got rid of their white Tile wall and flourescent lighting.
Sweet Tea at $3 a glass and no refills should be illegal.
Waldorf Cake is ubiquitous; it's the string bean casserole of cakes. They say it originated at the Waldorf Hotel but my money says it originated in a 50s cookbook.
"an okay place to eat" is accurate. Not the greatest, but I go every few years when I have an urge for chicken fried steak.
pugsley, its neither steak nor anything resembling chicken fried. i think that's we were getting at.
dude & Igdhydtph, daisy may's sweet tea is $3, but they give it to you a quart at a time. and it is good. their bbq isn't awful either.
janine -- chitlins rock, and i'm hardly picky eater (i'm still working on the venison liver sausage i received over christmas but i don't think i'll ever eat racoon again,) i just find it annoying that people up here manage to find a way to ruin collard greens.
i'm surprised i'm going to be the first person to point out that the football sucks up here too. :P
anyway, nice talking to y'all.
but Daisy Mae's is a take out/catering joint.
Still sweet tea shouldn't be $3.50, mason jar or no mason jar.
All I have to say is: rat attack.
Some of you are just as annoying as the "authentic california/tex/mex burrito" crowd.
We are that way because we miss certain things that we got used to previously in our lives. These are things that we thoroughly enjoyed and would like to continue enjoying, but the big apple has some strange problem with providing them.
I, for one, miss getting sweet tea at lunch and taking it back to work with me for the rest of the day. Yes, you get a guaranteed hour lunch in the South.
Had lunch there a few weeks back on a Saturday. Not bad oysters but the service was terrible as was the jambalaya. I was under the mistaken impression that the place was affiliated with the Acme down in nawlins. boy was i wrong.
Well, you can't get a good bagel, 24-hour delivery services, and gelato in the South (yes, I know that's a generalization). It's a trade-off.
And oh, my god, I totally understand the hurtin' for a good sweet tea. It hurts in the summer!
SO I guess from all the veracity of the posters that everyone can come to the conclusion that ACME sucks ratballs! avoid at all costs. As a person that's always been near it and wondered but have never sampled I'll take the Gothamists words as gospel. Goon on you. Great Jones here I come
the post above:Posted by: JESUS CHRIST | February 28, 2006 09:21 PM
Jesus Christ has spoken lol!
i had to say that lol!
>
I'm not trying to be harsh, I was just VERY SURPRISED to see Acme written about. I mean, there are a million restaurants in these five boroughs and out of all of them, maybe 999,950 are worth mentioning BEFORE Acme. Gothamist is a favorite of mine, so I think keeping the quality control around here isn't so bad. Anyone who has lived here for more than a year (I moved here in 1987) knows those places that when you're grown up, you have on your banned list. Acme is one.
J
Nothing wrong with reviewing a bar and grill. One doesn't set the "bar" as high.
It's obvious that Jack, Vp and Will all know each other and are either employees that left on bad terms from Acme.Because they ALL posted their comments on the SAME DAY AND SAME HOUR on Feb 28, 2006 between 11-12:30 LOL what are the chances of this??? LOOK 4 yourself! Anwyay i just wanted to say that it's totally obvious your all the same person or you told people to write bad reviews about Acme. Don't worry real new yorker's know not to believe something without checking it out for themselves. Anyone knows that a place that remains in nyc for over 20 years there's got to be a good reason many places go out of business all the time. Acme is a great place because the food is great as well as big portions for very reasonable prices. I have been going there for over 10 years myself and yes somethigs are better other places like steaks for instance but their cajun specialities are amazing like the crabcakes and the catfish yumm. I also never had a better burger the Acme burger is in a class all it's own. I also love going there for brunch the free mimossas are great. Check it out