AYZA Wine & Chocolate Bar

Great wine bar with a fun crowd and the servers were all really nice and they were playing fun music. It has a really European feel We sat inside but next time I’m there I’d like to sit outside – they have a very nice patio.

This is potentially a cozy place with a good wine list and interesting menu options. The wines are indeed good, you should try the several suggested combinations, particularly together with cheese platters. But the food itself doesn't quite live up to expectations, and absolutely do not go there if you are looking for a quiet spot or a romantic evening. Much too noisy and cramped.

Great spot for post-work drinks. Or any time drinks for that matter. Great wine list but a great list of specialty cockatils top. Not to mention that they have a nice outdoor patio which is key after being cooped up in the office all day. I come with coworker ssometimes and we'll do drinks and apps. Then I brought my gf for a date recently and we had a nice dinner. The cheese plate is a must order, but their hummus is great too. Pretty much you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. Though when my gf and I were there we had the soufflé for dessert. It came out not heated all the way through, but we told the waitress and she immeditably took care of it. She was apologetcic and fixed the problem pretty quickly.

This was my first and last experience at AYZA. Why? Simply because It was a disaster! Let me start with the bottom line: If I were an owner of this place, without any doubt I would reconsider and rehire my entire staff. The waiter, the host, the chef, the bartender – they think that they hold a clerical job with 9 to 5 schedule. Today, with economy so deep down and the highest NYC restaurants competition ever, AYZA turns their customers away with out a second thought. Thanks a lot AYZA for my unforgettable birthday memories. Wish you best in this serving people business world!

Here’s the story: I had a birthday on Sunday and decided to take my friends for wine and cheese on that night. I called in advanced to AYZA to make a reservation for 8 people on Sunday at 9pm. I asked the host who took my reservation that I saw on the website that kitchen gets closed at 10pm. And the host assured me that kitchen will stay open till 11pm and we could sit in the bar area till 1am. So, I was satisfied with all I heard. On Sunday night we arrived to AYZA, all 8 of us. We placed the order for drinks and cheese platter. Btw..,the waiter told us they don’t serve coffee!!!!!! That was a start. When she brought our drinks and cheeses, we decided to order more cheese platters. The waiter said that kitchen is closed and we can’t order more. It was barely 10:01pm (!). We were shocked. We didn’t ask for meal to cook. We asked just for cheeses. So, we were told they can’t serve us more cheeses, because they have to take them out from fridge and cut on the board, so kitchen has to be cleaned again. We agreed to be nice and not to cause any mess on the kitchen. But we wanted a desert, at least some chocolate as it’s a cheese and chocolate bar. The waiter keep saying us, we can’t do that because chocolate was also coming from the kitchen. Since it was a birthday party (waiter was aware of that), we decided to stay just for drinks. So, we called our waiter again to order more wine and drinks. She was new at AYZA and probably didn’t know that alcohol brings the highest margin (profit) to any bar. So, she said to us that we have the last call for the drinks because bar gets closed too. And it was 10:35pm. I asked for manager. Most likely he was not there. So the host came by and I explain the situation. I told her that when I made the reservation I was assured that kitchen will stay open till 11pm and we can order drinks and stay even later. The host was very tough and said very sharply that we shall wrap up and leave. Our waiter was almost crying that it was after 10:00pm and she was still at work. We had nothing to do but wrap up and leave. We paid our bill. But the night was screwed. Thanks a lot AYZA for my unforgettable birthday memories. Wish you best in this serving people business world!

The food is excellent, and the small plates idea is fun but they have entrees as well. I'm a veggie and never have trouble finding things to eat, which is nice. I’ve been a couple times and every time I go it’s a little more hip, but it’s still not super-pretentious or annoying, which I love. The staff are all laid back, though the last time we were there it took a while to get our food. Usually the service has been really quick though.

They definitely got an impressive wine list and we shared some cheese to strt, which was great. I had this famtastic goat cheese salad and his fish was really nice as well.