Canadian-themed bar brings the Great White North to the Meatpacking District.

by Justine Goodman

In Short
Nestled inside a townhouse on a prime corner of the MePa District, this cozy spot feels like grandma's house--if grandma's house was located in Swankville. Design accents like old framed artwork, lodge-style ceiling beams and solid wood floors achieve an old-world charm, while the trendy patrons are decidedly new-age chic. The dinner crowd dominates in the early hours, but it's an all-out party after 10pm on Thursday through Saturday nights.

Hits: The door here is downright friendly compared to the less than welcoming entrance policies at most of the area's other bars.

Misses: It may feel like an escape from the city, but only until you get the bill--$9 bottles of Heineken will remind you of exactly where you are.

07/26/07

Expensive and pretentious. Just like Canada??

by signorcolin

When I saw that Inn LW12 shared a building with 5 Ninth, I thought it would be its kind Canadian brother, serving Molson's where 5 Ninth would serves PBR for irony's sake (oh, working class! you are so fun to emulate!).

Alas, Inn LW12 requires excessive patience and a laughably large amount of disposable income. I don't have either trait. It starts at eight dollars for a Molson. Now, if my Canadian stereotypes are anywhere near accurate, Canadian beer is cheap and served with a smile (and possibly an 'eh?' thrown somewhere in there). Not eight dollars plus tax and tip.

Other members in the party got a 14 dollar glass of wine with a miserly pour, and a 16 dollar watered down martini that filled slightly more than half the glass. On top of that, the service was painfully slow, especially considering there almost seemed to be more employees in the bar than patrons.

I'm sure this comes as bad news to those of you who were waiting all this time for the definitive Canadian restaurant to grace the Big Apple (I know I'm disappointed; I'm been looking forward to a such a joint since that pivotal Canadian restaurant scene in Gremlins 2.) But Canada has not displaced New Jersey as the Meatpacking District's best friend.

Bad bar. Slow service. Astronomical prices. Don't go, eh?

• Pros: None
• Cons: Slow service, shoddy and overpriced drinks

05/24/07

Embarrassed Canadian

by nycripps

As a proud Canadian living in NYC for 5 years I thought there was finally a Canadian themed restaurant that I could show off to my American friends. I sent out an e-mail boasting of the Poutine and Sleeman's beer at Inn LW12, and arranged an After-Work get together. I even called in advance to make sure there was room for a group of 10 or 12 to have a beer and enjoy Poutine. I was told this would NOT be a problem. Apparently the bar area (downstairs) was for drinkers while the upstairs was for dining. When we walked in, the snooty hostesses advised that we couldn't sit at any of the empty high-tops (bar tables) and could only order and stand around the bar. This made for a VERY uncomfortable situation, as we were crammed into a tight spot - WHILE THE TABLES REMAINED EMPTY. Needless to say my friends were NOT impressed but continued to order drinks and Poutine hoping the management might loosen up. No such luck, the mangers were no help at all. The bar area got busier and we got increasingly annoyed. (Not to mention missing the NHL Playoffs)

Canadians are not known for having nice accents, being fashionably dressed or cool in anyway. (I know this) The one thing we have in our favor is our rep for being POLITE. If these guys stay open we might as well cross that off the list.

• Pros: Good poutine
• Cons: Over-priced Poutine

04/15/07

If I can save one person from going to this place...

by cdimitriadis

Last night myself and two friends went to The Inn at Little West 12th with a 10pm reservation. We arrived at 9:45pm and were told to wait at the bar until our table was ready. Although crowded, we managed to order drinks including 2 glasses of Pinot Noir. Ok so they don't have Pinot Noir by the glass - no big deal. We were given the wine list and asked to choose another red...we went for a cote du rhone. No luck - they had run out. Now since we arrived there was an empty table for 4 right by the door. Obviously empty because it was way too cold to sit there and enjoy a meal. The host eventually come over to us and informed us that that was actually our table. Asking if there is somewhere warmer to eat he informed us that the table he had hoped to give us had just ordered another bottle of wine so to sit upstairs would be another hour and a half. We were not even half way done with out drinks and very hungry at this point. We decided to go somewhere else and suggested we not pay for these nearly full glasses of wine as our reservation for a decent table had not been honored - he literally laughed this off. I should add that he did acknowledge the table on offer was freezing as they had removed the drapes from the windows in hopes that the weather would get warmer and that the weather had not cooperated. We were not just being high matainence. Honestly, this is the type of treatment that leaves a terrible aftertaste...and we didn't even try the food. Please don't put yourselves through this.

03/22/07

Reservation policy is a fraud

by matthew412

Reservation policy is ridiculous. The say they only offer same day reservations however GMs and employees definitely pre-book reservations for friends ahead of time. For example, I called at 10am which is when they start answering phones and the first reservation I could get that night was at 10:30pm. Totally screwed me. If I knew in advance that getting a reservation for 2 people could potentially be difficult, I would have made other plans.

• Cons: Reservations

03/12/07

Great place!

by tommygr

Fun atmosphere, nice staff and great food, can't beat that! Take your friends from out of town and enjoy!

• Pros: Great service

03/07/07

Delicious

by dpezza02

While the atmosphere is a bit contrived (leaning more toward suburban theme restaurant kitsch than Canadian lounge chic), the food is delicious. Definitely the best fries in New York City. The Poutine ( a Canadian dish of fries, brown gravy and cheese) is off the wall good and should definitely start any order. The appetizers and sides are excellent in general. While the lamb burgers and fish dishes were good, the chicken was the star of the show. For dessert we ordered a chocolate tart with gelato and a cognac sauce that we loved, but the sticky pudding was a bit too hard. Service was also very friendly and accomodating.

• Pros: Poutine!, Food, Service
• Cons: In Meatpacking