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We ate often with friends at the Cafe des Artistes, more for the history and the art than for the food. Tonight we ate at the Leopard for the first time since they opened. It felt like the offspring of an old friend: familiar but better in so many ways. The food was fresh and interesting; the staff was attentive without hovering (with a sense of humor) and the renovations cleaned the lines of the rooms without erasing them. Who can miss the intertwined plants in the windows for the last 100 years? Cannot wait to share the Leopard with friends, house guests, and kids.

The food and the atmosphere was awesome..nice murals.We will be back!

Undoubtedly the worst Thanksgiving meal I have ever had. Can't decide what was worse - the food or the service. About 15 minutes after my wife, my daughter and I were seated, the waiter walks over and abruptly says, "You ready to order?" No greeting, no hello, no introduction, no welcome, no explanation of the menu, just a rude and impatient waiter with a note pad. Every time during the meal that he placed something on the table, I said "thank you." Not once did he say "you're welcome" or even utter a word. Then came the food. We ordered the $65 prix fixe Thanksgiving menu consisting of an appetizer, classic Turkey dinner and dessert. The appetizers were small and unremarkable, but what would follow was truly shocking. The turkey dinners consisted of a few odd scraps (and I mean scraps) of dry turkey with oversalted stuffing, sweet potato puree and cranberries. When the plates were served, my wife turned to me and said, "Looks like they ran out of turkey." My 11 year-old daughter did not even have enough to eat, and she hardly ever finishes her meals. Of course, the waiter never once asked us if everything was okay although the manager did come over to the table and I politely told him the truth. He said he would speak to the chef. In the end, the manager deducted one of the meals from the bill but I was not there to save money. I took my family to a beautiful restaurant in a historic venue for a first class meal only to be thoroughly disappointed. I have had better food and better service in diners. Whoever owns this reincarnation of the old Cafe des Artistes should be ashamed.

Love the mural. Ok if you eat alone. But if you dine with others, forget about conversation. If you consider the need to shout in order to be heard by your dining partner to be chic, this place is for you. But if dinner is something of a relaxing social event for you, go someplace else. Tight space, tables close together, ceramic tile floor, hard ceiling, no drapes or curtains on the windows, --the perfect combination for an extra-noisy NYC expensive restaurant. Food and service just fair for the price. We live here, and go to restaurants 3-4 times a week. For sure, not going back to this one.

We made a reservation for 8 people and had to wait one hour for a table, even though there was an empty table available the whole time we waited. We complained about our wait to the maitre d' several times and were told. "We are very busy. You only made your reservation the night before." Finally, my friend got furious and they gave us the empty table. It was a very embarrassing situation as our guests had never been to a NY restaurant before. The food is average, considering the prices. I would never go back here again. Rudeness ruled the evening!

I love the renovation. I think they did a great job with the space. The murals look wonderful and the restaurant looks lighter. Our food was delicious. The pasta dishes were all exceptional as was everything else. The service was friendly and efficient. It was a great evening. A wonderful place to celebrate a special event

Food was excellent and our waiter was competent, very nice. However, we were first seated at a table near the bar which was quiet. When we asked to sit at another table we were seated at a banquette area next to the computer. We chose not to sit there and of course that was a great decision, the traffic at the computer was constant. Then my order was incorrect and finally a manager (I presume) came to ask how our meal was. The food was quite good, but when we explained that my order was incorrect and that while I waited for my dinner, my husband's order (over 5 mins wait) was getting cold. No comment other than I'm sorry and then no acknowledgement during the rest of the evening. Even when we left, the same manager thanked us for coming but never acknowledged the error. It's pretty clear that the difference between a good restaurant and one that is considered high quality is dependent on these small, but critical issues. An acknowledgement when we left, would have gone a long way to resolving our concern that bringing an incorrect order to the table, and then having us wait, while the other diner's dinner begins to get cold, is the least that could be offered. Not a good start, and though Sam Sifton's review was glowing, these kind of critical points make an important difference. We live in the area, and I'm not so sure that we will return as quickly, and certainly, as often as we might have had we been considered in this oversight. And by the way, our waiter also left prior to dessert. Not a great way to offer good service to clients.