High bar

Ha’s Snack Bar (Lower East Side)

RESTAURANTS • First Person

“Now, or nine?” Front of the line, Friday, 530p, right as they opened, and my second shot at a walk-in two-top at newly debuted Ha’s Snack Bar wasn’t going much better than my first (at 6p on a Wednesday, I was offered a 9p that I had to decline). This time, I took the 9, called a friend, and told him to meet me in 3.5 hours. I wasn’t totally surprised: Ha’s is the long-awaited, first true brick-and-mortar space from Sadie May Burns and Anthony Ha, the couple behind beloved pop-up Ha’s Đặc Biệt.

Since 2019, Ha’s showed up in increasingly popular stints at some of New York’s most beloved spots (and also, some in LA, SF, Montreal, London, and Paris). I’d been to two: one at East Village tex-mex spot Yellow Rose and the other, a collaboration dinner with perennial Paris favorite Bistrot Paul Bert, at Williamsburg pizza destination Leo. Both were booked solid, buzzy, and fun. Both had brilliantly conceived dishes punchily underlining inventive touchpoints between Vietnamese flavors and (respectively) tex-mex, bistro fare, and pizza.

So some trouble getting in to their new spot was expected. Which is to say nothing of how small the space on Broome Street actually is: 24 seats. Ha’s kitchen, open in the back of the restaurant, can barely fit two people. It feels less New York in 2025 than it does Paris, where tiny spaces with intimate dining environs deliver inversely proportional impact to the city’s culinary landscape. But such is Ha’s Snack Bar, in New York, in 2025: exceptional food, a killer wine list, and impeccable vibes, which were evident as soon as I got back to the restaurant. Buzzing and nearing the end of a turn, the staff was warmly welcoming, effusive that we’d followed through with the commitment to the late table.

Robyn, Solange, and Alice Deejay floated out of two beautiful, vintage Klipsch hi-fi speakers in wood cabinets hung over the room, which is otherwise appointed discerningly and warmly. Striking paper lighting fixtures by designer James Cherry cast amber glows over the room, while a floral arrangement via Burns’s mother frames the bar, next to which sits a French bistro style chalkboard menu.

That chalkboard is key to understanding Ha’s heart, which could be summed up as French classics freaked by fish sauce. We started with oeufs mayonnaise, two halves topped with anchovy and chilis. Heat also shows up on a slice of french baguette topped with chicken liver pate, adorned with cilantro and bird’s eye chilis. A carrot salad with rau ram (Vietnamese coriander) and Asian pear was sunshine bright with vinegary sweetness, and a dish of shelled escargot with garlic and tamarind butter was a great excuse to ask for more baguette.

But the star of the show (and nearly every table there) was a vol au vent of curried lamb. The intricate, rich French puff pastry classic isn’t something you see often in New York — at Ha’s, we had it in what appeared to be its second iteration (the first involved lobster). On a freezing winter night, it was hearty, warming, and redolent with wow factor.

We couldn’t resist ordering all three desserts: breaded coconut pudding, a poached pear tartlet with caramel sauce, and our favorite, a citrus dreamsicle of sorbet, grapefruit slices, and whipped panna topped with passion fruit. The wine list, entirely French and Italian, read like a who’s who of cool-kid natural vintners.

We left just after 1030p, out into the freezing January night, pondering the value of a restaurant that will probably stay very, very hard to get into — a reservation system that’s hard to game (“released every three weeks,” per an Instagram), and walk-in availability that requires, above all else, commitment to the bit. I’m not mad at these barriers — far from it. Not since the original iteration of Momofuku Ko has there been a smaller space in such high demand, and there maybe hasn’t been a restaurant in New York as stunningly au currant and forward-facing as it, either. Like so many great things, Ha’s was — and is — worth the wait. –Foster Kamer

→ Ha’s Snack Bar (Lower East Side) • 297 Broome St • Wed-Sat 530-1030p • Reserve.