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Had brunch on a Sunday with my young son. This place looks like it might be an UWS institution. At the very least, I figured it must be good to be pretty consistently busy. Unfortunately, that wasn't my experience at all. I would have rated the service a 1.0 except for that our server was polite to me and that counts for something. It took multiple requests of different people and a 10-minute wait to get a high chair, and later the bill. Water didn't arrive at our table without another wait. The food came out relatively fast, but was at best bland. I figured out pretty quickly why the girl across from us was dumping Tabasco on her omelette. Strollers get parked up by the bar but not in any organized way and with zero help from the hostess, unlike other area restaurants. By the time I left, I had to disentangle mine from a pile while the hostess and my server stood behind me arguing over which tables she was using to seat customers. By my count, there was about a 3:1 ratio of servers/staff to customers throughout my meal, which should have meant better service all-around, but then again, quantity is not quality. Overall, I guess the place has a busy vibe and therefore maybe good ambiance as a bar. Maybe they do a better job with dinner than they do with brunch. Based on this experience though, I'm not planning to go back for a second try. Oh well.

Always full with regulars, Hi Life is a place where servers remember your name. Always a great value on food and drinks. Different specials every day. The place gets crowded evem on Monday and Tuesday for the sushi nights, so it's hard to get a table for outside. I go on Thursdays or Saturdays too fo the fantastic Steak Fajitas special and domestic drafts for $4.50. Highly recommended.

I picked Hi Life for my birthday again this year, because there is something for everyone on the menu. We had the 3 for 2 sushi deal to start and then everyone ordered all sorts of stuff from the diverse menu. I had the best time here with friends and the perfect martini and champagne cocktails. Our server was cute and very patient with the crazy girls party.PS: the DJ plays the requests all night on the weekends.

Let me just state upfront that I went here for brunch for the first time during the World Cup final. Admittedly the crush of people may have overwhelmed the service staff somewhat. That being said, the brunch at Hi Life was pretty good. We ordered the sirloin steak and eggs and the caviar omelette. Both were excellent (especially the caviar omelette) and reasonably priced for NYC. The portions were also pretty generous. There is also complimentary cinnamon toast and muffins with strawberry butter served in a bread basket. Overall, a pretty decent brunch place. My only complaint is that the mixed drinks are not good at all-the sangria was one of the worst I've had in NYC. But that's a very minor blip on otherwise solid brunch place-I'll definitely be back!

I have been to Hi life a few times for dinner...it's fine but brunch today was disappointing. The servings are TINY. The 3 egg omelette looked like it had one egg and there were maybe 2 pieces of "potatos" on the plate. We should have known better when every place on the UWS had a line and hi life had plenty of open tables. Never again!

Everything I have tried there has been excellent (especially the sushi). Service is excellent. There are always great specials. Excellent drinks also.

When dining at Hi-Life, the other evening my date and I felt like we were in an episode from Cheers. The place was packed with regulars and there was a super friendly vibe. The food was excellent as well. We'll be back until somebody knows our names.