Ha's Snack Bar: A Unique Vietnamese-French Culinary Experience in NYC

Ha's Snack Bar Introduce

In the vibrant and ever-evolving culinary scene of New York City, some of the most memorable dining experiences are found in the coziest, most intimate spaces. Ha's Snack Bar, located in the Lower East Side, is a perfect example of this. This small, highly-sought-after restaurant offers a unique and intriguing blend of Vietnamese and French cuisines, creating a flavor profile that is both innovative and deeply satisfying. It's not your typical restaurant; it’s an experience designed for those who appreciate creative, small-plate dining and a carefully curated wine selection. The name "snack bar" is a bit of a misnomer, as the dishes are far more sophisticated than the name suggests, but it perfectly captures the casual, unpretentious atmosphere.

The ambiance at Ha's Snack Bar is a key part of its charm. The venue is tiny and intimate, creating a cozy and convivial setting where you're seated close to your fellow diners, almost as if you're at a group dinner party. This close-knit environment, while not for everyone, contributes to a unique sense of community and shared discovery. It's a place where locals can escape the city's chaos and settle into a relaxed, friendly space. The atmosphere is casual yet trendy, reflecting the artistic and bohemian spirit of the surrounding neighborhood. While the space is small, the flavors are big, and the experience is a true testament to the idea that great things come in small packages.

Location and Accessibility

Ha's Snack Bar is conveniently located at 297 Broome Street, New York, NY 10002, nestled in a lively and easily accessible part of the Lower East Side. This prime location places it within walking distance of several subway stations, including the Delancey Street-Essex Street station (F, J, M, Z) and the Grand Street station (B, D). Its position on Broome Street makes it a natural stop for those exploring the area's many boutiques, galleries, and other dining spots. The neighborhood is known for its eclectic mix of old and new, and Ha's fits right in, feeling both like a hidden gem and a local institution.

While the physical space is small, the restaurant makes the most of it by offering both indoor seating and a few tables for outdoor dining. Due to its popularity and limited seating, planning is essential. Ha's Snack Bar accepts reservations, which are highly recommended and can be a bit challenging to secure, a testament to its popularity. For those arriving, paid street parking is available, though as with most of Manhattan, public transportation is often the most convenient option. The dining experience is designed to be a leisurely one; it is not a place for a quick meal, but rather a spot to relax and savor each dish.

Services Offered

Ha's Snack Bar offers a focused set of services that cater to its unique dining style.

Dine-in: The primary service is a full dine-in experience with table service, where you can enjoy the cozy atmosphere and savor the multi-course meal at your own pace.
Outdoor Seating: On a pleasant day, patrons can enjoy their meal at one of the few tables outside, adding to the charm of the experience.
Reservations: Given the limited seating, Ha's Snack Bar accepts reservations, which are crucial for securing a spot at this popular establishment.
Table Service: The restaurant provides attentive table service, ensuring a comfortable and well-guided culinary journey.

Features and Highlights

What truly sets Ha's Snack Bar apart are its distinct features, which combine to create a truly one-of-a-kind dining experience in New York City.

Unique Vietnamese-French Fusion: The menu is a creative and successful fusion of two distinct culinary traditions. Dishes like the "Beef Tartare With Lime Leaf & Mint On Toast" and "Skate Steamed With Ginger, Agretti & Nuoc Mam" showcase this innovative blend, offering flavors that are both familiar and excitingly new.
Small Plates Concept: The menu is designed for sharing, with a focus on small, flavorful plates. This tapas-style approach allows diners to try a wide variety of dishes and discover new favorites.
Extensive Wine List: Despite its small size, Ha's Snack Bar boasts an impressive, multi-page wine list, offering a wide selection of wines to perfectly complement the food. This focus on wine over cocktails makes it a true destination for wine lovers.
Locally Loved: This spot is a genuine local favorite, drawing a crowd of New Yorkers in the know who appreciate its unique charm and exceptional food. Its popularity is a testament to its quality and distinctiveness.
Accepts Reservations: For a small and popular venue like this, the ability to make reservations is a crucial feature that allows diners to plan their visit without the uncertainty of a long wait.
Casual & Cozy Atmosphere: The ambiance is a major highlight, providing a relaxed and intimate setting that feels both casual and special. It’s a place where you can feel comfortable and completely at ease while enjoying a sophisticated meal.

Contact Information

For inquiries or to attempt to make a reservation, you can find Ha's Snack Bar at the following location.

Address: 297 Broome St, New York, NY 10002, USA

Please note, no phone number is publicly available for reservations or inquiries; direct contact is not listed. Reservations are typically managed through online platforms.

What is Worth Choosing

The menu at Ha's Snack Bar is ever-changing, reflecting the seasons and the chef’s creative inspiration. However, there are some dishes and styles that are consistently exceptional and worth trying. The Oysters With White Pepper Mignonette are a fantastic way to start, offering a refreshing and flavorful bite. For something rich and comforting, the Chicken Liver Pate On Toast or the Egg Mayo With Anchovy & Sweet Chili are superb choices that beautifully showcase the French and Vietnamese influences.

The larger plates are where the creativity truly shines. The Skate Steamed With Ginger, Agretti & Nuoc Mam is a standout, combining delicate fish with a flavorful, aromatic sauce. The Roast Leg Of Lamb With Sweet Chili & Marinated Zucchini is another highly praised dish that perfectly marries bold flavors and tender meat. For dessert, the options are as unique as the main courses. The Panna Cotta With Red Berry Granita is a light and refreshing end to the meal, while the Chocolate, Meringue & Candied Pistachio Ice Cream offers a rich and satisfying sweet treat. Given the small portions and the quality of the dishes, the best way to experience Ha's Snack Bar is to order several small plates to share and savor the full breadth of the menu. And, of course, be sure to ask the knowledgeable staff for a wine pairing to complete your dining experience.

Ha's Snack Bar Menu

Bubbles
Oysters With White Pepper Mignonette
Beef Tartare With Lime Leaf & Mint On Toast $12.00
Egg Mayo With Maggi & Anchovy $14.00
Chilled Mussels With Cucumber & Chili Crisp $24.00
Salad Of Fennel, Green Beans & Rau Ram $22.00
Tartlette Of Trout Rillette $32.00
Snails With Garlic & Tamarind Butter $23.00
Skate Steamed With Ginger, Agretti & Nuoc Mam $42.00
Lamb Chop With Sweet Chili & Marinated Zucchini $54.00
Ha's Chinese Chicken Salad $28.00

Others
Panna Cotta With Red Berry Granita $15.00
Almond Cake A La Mode With Peaches $15.00
Chocolate, Meringue & Candied Pistachio Ice Cream $10.00
Chicken Liver Pate On Toast $12.00
Egg Mayo With Tarragon & Anchovy $14.00
Tuna Crudo With Cherries, Capers & Toasted Rice $24.00
Rice Salad With Spring Peas, Peanuts & Lime Leaf $25.00
Tartlette With Trout Rillette & Chili Crisp $32.00
Salad Of Sorrel, Rau Ram & Shallots $20.00
Snails With Tamarind Butter $23.00
Skate With Ginger, Nuoc Mam & Lettuces $42.00
Roast Leg Of Lamb With Sweet Chili & Tomato Confit $45.00
Panna Cotta With Sour Cherry Granita $15.00
Nectarine Cobbler For Two $22.00
Mango Sorbet With Chili Ants $10.00
Peanut Brittle & Date Ice Cream $10.00
Oysters With Green Chili
Chicken Liver With Onion Agrodolce On Toast $12.00
Egg Mayo With Mussels Escabeche $14.00
Crevette Grises With Caramelized Fish Sauce $24.00
Cold Pork Belly With Mam Tom & Peanuts $23.00
Salad Of Wild Herbs & Shallot $20.00
Roast Pork Shoulder With "Vietnamese Bbq Sauce $39.00
Skate With Ginger, Nuoc Mam & Summer Greens $42.00
Vol Au Vent Of Seafood Stew $46.00
Panna Cotta With Lime Granita & Mango $15.00
Ca Phe Sua Da Tres Leches $15.00
Double Cherry & Fig Leaf Crumble $19.00
Mussel Escabeche On Toast $12.00
Bonito Crudo With Caramelized Fish Sauce $24.00
Gourgeres With Chicken Liver Pate $15.00
Egg Mayo With Sweet Chili & Anchovy $12.00
Braised Pig Trotter With Galangal & Lime Leaf $18.00
Beef Heart Tartare With Mam Tom & Peanuts $24.00
Pâté Chaud With English Peas And Morels $36.00
Skate With Nuoc Mam & Little Gems $42.00
Double Strawberry & Rhurbarb Crumble $18.00
Chocolate Cake With Caramel & Peanut Brittle $15.00
Oysters W/Green Chili
Black Pudding W/Pens & White Pepper
Pate Chaud W/ Sorrel $32.00
Egg Mayo With Anchovy & Sweet Chili $10.00
Salad Of Wild Herbs, Spring Greens & Shallot $20.00
Beef Tartare With Fermented Shrimp & Peanuts $24.00
Radishes With Caramelized Fish Sauce & Dried Shrimp $21.00
Pâté Chaud With Sorrel $32.00
Lamb Shoulder With Asparagus, Mint & Lime Leaf $45.00
Skate Wing With Ginger, Scallion & Little Gems $42.00
Strawberries And Cream Parfait $15.00
Vacation Dreamsicle $15.00
Chocolate, Caramel & Peanut Tart $15.00
Coke
Diet Coke
Coke Zero
Mussels Escabeche Toast
Black Pudding
Sweet & Sour Seafood Soupy
Egg Mayo With Anchovy & Chili Crisp $12.00
Pate Mam Chung $18.00
Carrot, Herb & Citrus Salad $18.00
Tuna Crudo With Rhubarb & Lime Leaf $24.00
Pate Chaud With Buerre Blanc $26.00
Roast Beef With Sweet Chili Au Jus $45.00
Sweet & Sour Seafood Stew $47.00
Tripe Braised With Carrots & White Pepper $38.00
Lemon Meringue Pie $15.00
Creme Caramel With Coffee Granita $15.00
Chocolate Cake With Coconut Ice Cream $15.00

Ha's Snack Bar Details

Service options
Outdoor seating
Dine-in
Delivery
Takeout

Highlights
Fast service

Popular for
Lunch
Dinner
Solo dining

Accessibility
Wheelchair accessible parking lot

Offerings
Alcohol
Coffee
Small plates
Wine

Dining options
Lunch
Dinner
Dessert
Seating
Table service

Amenities
Restroom

Atmosphere
Casual
Cozy

Crowd
Locals

Planning
Accepts reservations

Payments
Credit cards

Parking
Paid street parking

Ha's Snack Bar Photos

Ha's Snack Bar Location

Ha's Snack Bar

New York New York County New York Broome Street

297 Broome St, New York, NY 10002, USA

Ha's Snack Bar Reviews

An average rating of ★4.5 from 115 user reviews.

oysterssnailsthe menuvietnamesebutterpatepuff pastryfrenchpork bellyclams

★ 5★ 4★ 3★ 2★ 1

Delicious and flavorful food but it’s indeed snack-sized. Leave hungry unless you plan to drop serious money. Two people, no drinks, almost $200.Reservation was hard to get as this place is tiny tiny and when you arrive they seat everyone with the same approx. reservation time together so it feels like a group multi-course meal.Food is good, flavorful, and different. It’s a small menu that changes often. Everything we got was pretty good but I would definitely SKIP on the snails. No flavor and ultra tiny. We ordered 7 plates total (6 apps + 1 large) to split between two people.Oddly, their food menu is 1 page while their wine menu is 5-6 pages. No cocktails, only wine and some sodas.Service was fine. It was a hot day and with how packed to the brim they were the waitress was slow to refill waters. Food takes some time to come out too so you have time between dishes. Don’t expect to get in and out though.Space is too tight. You are elbow to elbow with everyone there, whether table or counter seating. We sat at the counter and it was hard to even keep my phone on the table with the dishes on it. We dropped things often on the floor. The bathroom is so tight to get to too- you have to basically jump over the kitchen past all the staff. If you’re a bigger person I would skip this place altogether.It’s a nice, cute place with good munchies. But given the price tag, small portions, and super tight fit, even the vibes and charm probably won’t get me to come back unless they got a bigger location.
July 25 · Iun Chen
Super cute vietnamese + french restaurant, housed in an originally cozy wine bar. There's seating for ~6 at the bar, ~6 outside, and ~12 inside other than the bar. It's a tiny venue, which makes the reservations super hard to get.When arriving, somehow the reservation got messed up a bit, so we got punted from 6pm to waiting for an inside table in the scorching heat. It took about 45 minutes to get the table, which was brutal, but the owner was lovely and gave us 2 delicious spritzes ($17 - well worth).Regarding the meal, it's designed for those who love french food with a twist of vietnamese. The snails were delicious and the meal came heavily with bread. Favorite dish was the fish, which came with rice ($42). Pate was also quite tasty in general.The portions are small, and felt like tapas size. Meal is ~$100/pp without alcohol, ~$150/pp with alcohol.Service overall was good, so I won't ding them for the reservation blunder. It took a while to get new water, and they seemed to be running around in chaos. Could be a bit more organized.Overall 4/5 stars given the pricing to food, and the overall service which was hit or miss sometimes.
June 24 · Albert K
Second time here and still impressed. Super fun, imaginative, tasty menu, amazing wine list, great vibe, really friendly staff and owners. Also they may have the best desserts in the whole city. Really can’t say enough good things about this place. Highly recommend
August 27 · Parsa Rastin
You are almost guaranteed to have combinations of flavors and spices you have never had before. During my visit I enjoyed the skate, summer salad, the mussel pastry dish, egg mayo, berry tart, and the almond joy. Everything was amazing. The skate melted in my mouth like no skate I have had before, and I have had good skate in my life. The sauce under the skate was so acidic it paired beautifully with the side of rice provided. The summer salad was full of perfectly ripe melons with spicy crisped shallots with a ton of fresh herbs that made it one of the best salads I have ever consumed. Compared to everything else the Mussel dish was forgettable. It was tasty but not as special and having to open some of the mussels myself was not fun when shoulder to shoulder with other customers. It felt like an excuse to serve puff pastry, not an innovative variation of it. The egg mayo was not just Umami central, it was UMOTHER. Salty and intensely savory it was a delicious start to the meal. I understand the incorporation of the French baguette as a vessel for the egg but I kept feeling like a more interesting bread would have added complexity. Really delicious either way. The berry tart was super refreshing and on the lighter side of a dessert. It should probably be served with a small knife though as trying to divide the pastry with a spoon kept shooting flakes toward our neighbors. I honestly was worried I was going to break the plate. The almond joy was good but not super memorable. It tastes like an almond joy but lacks the uniqueness that sets the other dishes apart from normal restaurant fare. Would definitely return but note it is HARD to get a reservation and walk ins are a hit or miss with a space so small. The service was great with polite and personable staff. The atmosphere is lively and fun, definitely not stuffy so being such packed seating feels fine. The pricing is steep but makes sense for the most part. It’s a popular restaurant with a small number of seats, it has to be expensive or it will simply close. Many reviews complain about this but it’s a similar story at small restaurants like cervos.
August 22 · Michael
Well, at least they properly describe that this is a “snack bar” in their name. It is quite accurate to what you get here, as the portion sizes are snack-sized. You will have to order a bit of the menu to have a solid dinner for two.Most of the food here was great though, flavor profiles were top notch and the ingredients were fresh and delicious.To start, the oysters with green chili are a must. Absolutely a perfect combination — even to try 1 is worth it!The snails were a bit of a miss for me. Garlic and tamarind butter was fine… but it was mostly just straight up butter. Not really worth it, unless you’re in the mood for snails. (Sometimes you just are.)The scallop was perfectly balanced. Sweet, savory, tangy, sour, spicy. Really had it all with a fresh scallop. Loved this dish, but $25 for 1 scallop really is… something.The Radish starter was a special of the day, which approx 5 radishes and a sweet and savory pork sauce were on a plate for $21.The braised pork shoulder was good, with some puff pastry and fresh greens and onion to balance the dish back out. I thought it was good.Overall, if you can’t tell from my tone, the price to value ratio is quite bad. The flavor in dishes is quite good. Try it out as the team is one of the better crews to do it in NYC, however, they have some work to do.Maybe just get a dozen oysters and a bottle of the Zig wine they have — you’ll be happy with that. That’s what I’d do if I come back. Paid about $250 after T&T for this and a bottle of wine.
May 09 · Patrick No