Best Restaurants for People Watching in Gramercy Park

Jst a fantastic evening. We had not been in so long. You easily fall into trap of thinking such places are indeed tourist traps. But this is the real deal: lovely decor, excellent food (and sizable portions), and attentive staff. And post dinner some wonderful jazz in the bar area. Cannot think of a better way to spend an anniversary in our own city!

The fried squash blossoms were unbelievable, so make sure you ask what’s good on the specials. Ask for the Ragu sauce, it is in a class all by itself, making the pasta dishes stand out. They have wonderful wines by the glass if you don’t want one of the great bottles on the well chosen list.

Tao is such a beautiful lively restaurant and my go to for taking people from out of town. Last night they had a great price fixed dinner that was a good deal. We each got it and it was enough to share and bring food home. We had a great time --the drinks were great, and the energy was fantastic. Lots of good photo ops by the Buddha! I will be back again of course. Our waiter was helpful too with suggestions.

We had a wonderful group dinner at The Smith, it was ideal for us with a child and they were very mindful of a dietary restriction in the group which made us all feel at ease. Service was 10/10 and portions are huge!

Burger was delicious. Crab cake is full of fresh crab, but could use a little more of the sauce. The slaw served with it is very good too. However, I think the crab cake the boathouse used to have was better. Appreciated the complimentary plate of veggies to start. Offering some bread would be nice too.