The Snail: A Review on NYC’s Buzziest New Spot
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about The Snail. Opened by Austin Baker, an alum of the restaurant group known for Au Cheval as well as Saraghina Pizzeria, this place has had lines out the door for many reasons. It’s arguably the buzziest place in town. In fact, multiple news publications have already listed it as one of the best new places to eat for 2025. Another “martini and fries” place to add to New York’s extensive list, The Snail was definitely a spot for the NABI tastemakers to check out. Here’s how it went:
4:30 - On a Thursday afternoon, our Editor-in-Chief, Milly, and Senior Food Editor, Ruby, arrived to be the first party in line for the evening. Most people arrived around 4:40pm to line up.
5:00 - I was running late (of course), and by the time I arrived, there were close to 10 parties waiting in line. If you plan to visit, arriving at least 20 minutes early on a weekday is a smart move to secure a table.
5:15 - Cocktails
Ginger #2 vodka, grapefruit, lime, ginger 16
Hemingway Daiquiri - rum, lime, grapefruit, maraschino 17
House Martini - 16
The cocktails were solid—not particularly memorable but well-suited to the restaurant's ambiance.
HOUSEMADE BREAD & FENNEL BUTTER - $12
The standard for bread service in New York City is high, and The Snail delivered. The whipped fennel butter had such a unique light and airy quality, while delivering these satisfying herbaceous notes.
ESCARGOT parsley-garlic butter, Nick & Sons baguette $23
Because of the name of the restaurant, we absolutely had to get the namesake dish! And these did not disappoint. Absolutely doused in butter and cooked to perfection, there was nothing but pure satisfaction here.
LAMB TARTARE olives, marconas, chili, preserved lemon $19
What a flavor bomb! This tartare hits all the notes that I wanted it to. It was packed with flavors and textures and was one of the more memorable dishes of the evening.
BAY SCALLOP CEVICHE habanero, cilantro, lime $12
This dish was beautifully presented in the shell. For the portion size, the price seemed a bit steep, but the flavors spoke for themselves. The briny saltiness balanced very well.
5:39
CAPPELLETTI crab, orange saffron beurre blanc, chives $29
All things considered, this was a solid pasta! The texture of the pasta itself was cooked to a nice al dente, and you could taste that certain unique handmade quality to the pasta. The pasta to filling ratio was absolutely perfect and the consistency was really pleasant to chew on. The only deduction was that it was a bit heavy handed on salt. Halfway through, the filling became overwhelmingly salty.
DOUBLE CHEESEBURGER mustard aioli, pickles, onion $19
The burger itself was delicious and was one of the tastier items that we ordered. The meat in the patty was alright (I personally felt it could be seasoned a bit more), but mainly because it was balanced out by all the sauce it was doused in. In the best possible way, it felt like a really good 7th Street Burger, but slightly elevated! Surprisingly, I didn’t mind the raw onion—a rare exception, as I usually prefer grilled.
In terms of the fries, these were nicely fried and salted. They had a certain heavy and rustic quality to them which I really enjoyed (compared to some other fine dining restaurants where you're eating mostly air), but I would say these are the types of fries that are best consumed pipping hot. Once they cooled, the starchiness became more pronounced.
6:11pm
FLAT IRON CHICKEN jus, confit garlic, preserved lemon $39
Of all the dishes we had that evening, this was the one I felt most conflicted about.. Both Milly and Ruby liked it, but for me it just felt very similar to something I could make at home for a fraction of the price. The chicken was beautifully cooked, a juicy chicken breast and an amazingly crispy skin that was nicely salted, but the thought of how it was something that I could make at home, kept gnawing away at me. So do with that what you will!
KOGINUT SQUASH whipped ricotta, ONINO chili crisp $12
If this were an episode of American Idol, this contestant would’ve gotten the golden ticket to Hollywood, but probably get eliminated in the next episode or two. We had one strong vote for no (Our Editor-in-Chief Milly), a solid vote for yes (our Senior Food Editor Ruby) and a lukewarm vote of yes from myself. On paper, the dish sounded intriguing, but the elements didn’t quite come together as I’d hoped. They still tasted like three separate elements to me. I found myself wishing that the whipped ricotta was more of a cold labneh – something that had a bit more brightness and more body.
6:46pm
STICKY TOFFEE DATE CAKE medjool dates, malt gelato, caramel $18
I strongly believe that when a menu lists an item first on the list, it’s screaming “ORDER ME,” which is what we did — and we had zero regrets! This was a great choice: the cold vanilla ice creamed paired with this hot caramel sauce over a chewy toffee cake? Delicious.
CHOCOSU $18
I’m a firm believer that if you’re doing a reinvention of a classic (especially a good one), you either have to be making a convincing statement for why I should consider an alternative, or aim to execute a classic dish to perfection. The Chocomisu was unfortunately neither of those things for me. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad by any means, I just found myself wishing I had a regular slice of tiramisu. I found myself missing the signature soaked ladyfinger element of classic tiramisu.
TAKEAWAYS: This seems like a great spot to meet with a friend for drinks and small bites, but not a place worth waiting more than 15–20 minutes for. If I were to come again, I would order the snails, lamb tartare (if I’m feeling tartare), the burger and fries, and a dessert – all paired with drinks, of course! I’d probably avoid coming here on a weekend and only come here if it were a weekday evening.