Andre Balzac has had an uphill battle reforming the former failed hotel into a model member of the Standard Hotel brand, and the Cafe Standard may be the final proof that he's succeeded with this East Village outpost. Stylistically, the restaurant and bar are Americana done with a French flair—or perhaps it's the other way around—and it comes off as unusually cohesive and completely New York. The menus are all short when you excise the extra two and a half pages of drinks, leaving a small but well-curated selection of dishes to choose from. For lunch, the beet salad or soft omelet—featuring wild mushrooms, fontina cheese, and fries—are your best bets, while you can't go wrong with the Standard Burger, which comes with—as all things should—bacon. The dinner menu is largely the same as the lunch menu, but as with any vaguely French, vaguely bistro restaurant, the hanger steak is a sure thing, although we generally wrinkle our noses at the anemic potato slivers chefs call "frites." If steak won't do it for you, there's a stunning salmon that comes with equally excellent sides of pearl barley risotto and Brussels sprouts.