Fairway Cafe and Steakhouse
Categories: Steakhouses, Burgers, American (Traditional), Pizza, Sandwiches [Edit]
Neighborhood: Manhattan/Upper West Side2127 Broadway
(between 74th St & 75th St)
New York, NY 10023 (212) 595-1888
- Nearest Transit:
72nd St (1, 2, 3)
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: No
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Breakfast, Lunch
- Alcohol: None
23 Reviews for Fairway Cafe and Steakhouse
Fabulous burger and one of the great straightahead lunch places on the UWS. I used to live a half block from it so I'm biased, and the prices rose precipitously in the days I frequented it most, but it's still a great place and you can rely on its grocery-calibre freshness.
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1 Previous Review: Show all »
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05/03/2007
One of the finest hamburgers I've ever had, and at $7 for the platter it's a fantastic value. I… Read more »
One of my favorite places to have weekend brunch - the food is almost always great - tho they have a limited choice on bagels.
Brunch specials - you must have the Elaine's Pancakes - silver dollar pancakes that are amazing.
Lunch - I am a fan of the burgers (incredible), the Roast Beef Sandwich (sloppy cole slaw) and the Spinach Salad (real 24-yr old Balsamic vinegar).
Give Mitchell a hello from me - and see if he will give you one of his cupcakes (insanely great).
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I've had lunch here twice and been happy both times. The first time I went to the Cafe was in the afternoon, not long after it originally opened, for their hot chocolate, which was amazing (and not on the menu, unfortunately). However, was back a week ago for lunch, and had the Croque Madame .... quite happy with it. They could have had a little more salad on the plate to accompany, but the sandwich was satisfying. I'm dying to try the place for dinner!
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Recommended for: Brunch or lunch with friends/co-workers.
Food 4, Service 2, Ambiance 3.
Came here one late morning to meet up with my friend, CTO and consulting comrade in arms. I had been to Fairway before to shop for miscellaneous things for a Boxer Day party, but didn't know that they had a 2nd floor with a cafe.
The cafe itself has somewhat of a rustic feels. Many tables are unbalanced (or it could be the floor boards) and thus you need to ask for a corck screw or board to keep the table level - charming, but slightly annoying. The exposed beams continue on with a rustic feel and overall was ok. However, the service was abhorrent. Slow, confused at times and did I mention slow!!!
But, onto the food. My friend had the cobb salad (more mixed greens than actual substance, he gave it back and they put more stuff in it. Me, I ordered the "Big boy" - I mean, I am a big boy after all :P. It was two eggs any style (i got sunny-side up) a stack of pancakes, 2 slices of toast and yummy thick bacon. I was slightly hungry after eating it, but again, that's cause I'm a big boy :P
Anyways, if you are on the UWS there are plenty of places to get brunch. But if you want brunch and then immediately shop, this is definitely a place to check out.
Sean Approved: Yes.
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Pleasantly surprised. I been here twice and each time the food was straight foward and good. I order the strip steak, broccoli rabe and salad.
The desserts are pretty good to. I like to eat here then pick up some stuff in the market.The ambiance is nothing u are basically eating in a supermarket. I f u are in the hood or if u are starving and need to eat before you grocery shop go here. This is not a date place.
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First of all, everything I've tried so far at this restaurant has been delicious (the chicken noodle soup, fish 'n chips, dry aged rib eye steak). I love the ambience (very simple, casual yet with just a tad bit of elegance - candles for dinner/flower/glasses/white table cloth). This is one of my favorite restaurants/places to eat.
Honestly, the best steak I've ever had (the same consensus with about 6 other friends) was Fairway's dry aged rib eye steak back in 2006. We went back to eat it the next night as well. It was suprisingly better than Peter Luger's, Wolfgang's, Spark's, Mastro's in L.A. (just to give a comparison of the steak places that I've tried). Unfortunately, I went back to try their steak in Sept. '07, and it tasted nothing like how it did when I first tried it (no garlicy/buttery flavor). I even brought some friends that night, and they were really disappointed (I was EXTREMELY disappointed). Not sure what happened.
The wine list was small but varied and had some very good choices. The Reisling I had was passable, the Pinot Noir much better. The hot clams were hot and clams but utterly flavorless.
The dry aged NY Strip au poiuvre was stellar. Truly delicious. The cut of the meat was what made it. My DH also got the dry aged NY Strip, but chose grilled and his cut of meat was considerably less quality. No points for inconsistency.
Desserts are nothing to write home about. The chocolate cake was just moist enough but tasted old. My husband's creme brulee had toasted layer of sugar a half an inch thick- it was brickle rather than brulee, gah.
The dribble of red pepper sauce with the hummus starter was a nice touch; so good, I asked the waitress what it was. She offered to show me the jar but never came back.
A solid 2.5 stars if I could do halfsies.
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i'm pretty wary of what i guess you call vertical operations. as in, this is a restaurant run by the grocery store downstairs. i won't speculate here, but let's just say, things like that tend to make my mind wander, and not in a good way. but, this place was around the corner from my old apartment, and i'd heard good things, and well, hey, i'm lazy.
and i have to say, vertical, horizontal, whatever, this place ended up being one of my favorite neighborhood breakfast places. i've only been for breakfast/lunch, and probably wouldn't go for dinner (are they even open?), but for breakfast it's great. i basically always get the same thing - scrambled eggs with chorizo, fresh jalapenos, and roasted tomatoes, with brioche toast. delish. elaine's pancakes are also awesome - they're light, fluffy, and tiny. and if you get them in the big boy special (i love hearing people order that), they come with eggs, bacon, and brioche toast. i've also had good luck with the burger.
the atmosphere leaves a lot to be desired--but, it's better than you'd think from the outside.
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I heard about the Fairway Market Cafe and Steakhouse from a Food Network show, that recommended it as a place for a great steak at a very reasonable price. The restaurant is actually secondary to to a much larger grocery store. I suppose that because the food for the restaurant come straight from the store below, the prices can remain low.
V and I went for dinner and ordered from the $29 prix fixe menu, which offers most everything on the main menu in a three course meal. A good $15 bottle of wine rounded out the meal.
For an appetizer I ordered the white bean soup, which I expected to be kind of thick or creamy, but was actually a broth based soup. It wasn't as hearty as I expected, but it was pretty good. V had roasted clams, which were in a nice butter sauce and were a good start to her meal.
We both ordered steaks, V the Prime Dry Aged N.Y. Strip Steak, and I the Marinated Skirt Steak. Both were good, V's more tender and mine with a bit more flavor. I had mashed potatoes on the side that were over mashed, but the fries with V's steak were well seasoned and crispy.
For dessert V had apple pie which was good, but I wished it was warm. I had a slice of carrot cake which was pretty moist and had a coconut frosting. I've had better, but it was a nice end to the meal.
The restaurant is pretty simple, upstairs from the grocery store, filled with wooden tables, light metal chairs and some large pictures and banners on the wall showing fruits and vegetables. We arrived early for a Friday dinner to a relatively empty dining room, but by the end of the meal the place was close to packed. The service was good, and our waitress was vary friendly.
Overall the meal was good, but not great. I suppose for the price it was what you would expect. I don't know if I'll go back, but if I lived on the Upper West Side, I'd definitely be a regular, for a satisfying, cheap, dinner.
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Have been here only for breakfast, brunch and lunch. It offers a great bargain and fresh, great quality food that you'd expect from a cafe inside Fairway and run by Mitchell London. The menu is pretty diverse especially at brunch - when you can get eggs and lox, a burger, fish and chips, trio of salads, thin-crust pizzas, and much more. The portions are just right and most entrees being about $10 are a good deal.
Bonus - you can order one of the tempting desserts on display as you walk in.
And there's a good, reasonably priced wine and beer list.
One drawback is how crowded it gets especially on weekends and if you don't like kids, you may be bothered by the majority of families/ parents with multiple kids scattered around.
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When I lived in NYC, I used to go grocery shopping at this mother of all grocery shops on the Upper West Side. I think I have tunnel vision because it also took me over a year to discover that there's a whole second floor to the grocery store (for organic and vegetarian/vegan items). So when I heard that Fairway had a cafe on the second floor, I said, "Huh?"
I'd heard it was pretty good and that it was featured on the Food Network, so I figured I'd check it out. The ambiance is more industrial cafeteria than bistro, but it's all in tune with the frenetic energy of Fairway. The very enthusiatic, Fairwayesque signs claimed that this was the place for "New York's Best Burger," and I was feelin' like a big hunk of meat so I decided I'd test that claim. I ordered a medium-rare burger with avocado and sprouts (how funny for me to order such a "California" burger); much to my surprise, it came to me w/ cheddar cheese that I didn't order (and wasn't charged for!). Sure, if you insist! My friend ordered some eggs with potatoes and other stuff. I'm not sure about NY's best burger, but it was pretty darn tasty! And cheap! About $7 plus a couple more for the extra avocado/sprouts. The fries that came w/ the burger were a tad soggy, but I could deal.
I'd be curious to try their fresh baked pizzas and *maybe* their much touted cupcakes (which look kind of gross to me)...kinda cool that these quick, cheap eats were right under my nose (uh...or above my head?) for so long!
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I've brought more than a few people into this cafe who just don't believe that it exists. I try to explain that the cafe is, quite literally, inside of the grocery store. They all stare at me increduously as I lead them up the stairs past the screaming checkout ladies. "Next on four! Next on twelve! Hey mister, that means you!"
Once upstairs, though, it's a different story: a bustling cafe with tons of families from the Upper West Side (say what you will, I think they're better than Park Slope.) There are windows that open onto Broadway with great views if you can snag a table there.
Breakfast and lunch are best here. The burgers really are fantastic (though they take a little longer to cook than most other menu items) and the eggs are prepared very well. The pancakes are thin and light as air. My favorite menu item is the mediterranean vegetable platter: your choice of roasted salmon or chicken, plus your choice of four out of ten different prepared vegetable salads. It's a great combination and gives you a lot of individual choice.
Okay, the ambiance may be lacking and the waiter service sure as hell isn't Le Bernardin, but the food is the best kind: plain, simple and good.
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I'm tired of giving either a very positive or very negative review - its just fulfilling too many people's comments on my personality. So I'm going to say that Fairway was good although not great. Some parts were fantastic (the bread and the butter) while others were ho-hum (the lamb) and I'm going to have to give them credit on the deserts. That's what's pushing them from a 2 star to a 3 star. But overall I wasn't blown away. But I would recommend it - they were better than I thought they would be. Also a good beer and wine selection.
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I went to Fairway Cafe for lunch with rather low expectations, but left relatively pleased. The cafe is located on the second floor of Fairway market, and has an odd warehouse feel to it: cheap tables and chairs, just inches away from the piles of groceries from the market. I had the chicken salad sandwich, which wasn't exactly cheap (around $8 if I remember well) but turned out to be quite good. The chicken salad was delicious and plentiful, and the seven-grain bread it came on was also quite tasty if a bit dry. It also came with a small side of mesclun salad. Top this with an espresso and you have yourself a pretty decent lunch on the UWS for under $10.
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Dinner at the Fairway Market Cafe was the perfect warm-up act for the Squeeze/Fountains of Wayne concert at the Beacon Theater on a hot, steamy, and rainy Friday night in August.
Here was the set list and a few choice lyrics:
1. Behind Blueberries - "No one knows what it's like to hide a cafe. Above Broadway. Behind blueberries"
2. Mitchel London Calling - "Mitchel London calling to the hunger zone."
3. Smells Like Green Salad - "With the caesar it's outrageous. Mild anchovies. It's delicious."
4. Higher Ground Beef - "Burgers keep on munching. Grilled onions keep on crunching."
5. Fries (In The Name of Love) - "Early evening, August 3rd. Pourin' ketchup on crispy fries."
6. Every Bite You Take - "Every you chew you make. I'll be ingesting you."
7. Scarf It - "When a mini-cupcake comes along. You must scarf it. Scarf it good."
8. You Lost That Hungry Feeling - "Now it's gone...gone...gone...wooooooh."
As you can see, the Fairway Market Cafe rocked my appetite and my evening.
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This loft-like dining experience just helps you breathe better. That is, before you inhale the juicy handpacked burgers, pickle and belgian/steak fries combo. Their fruit plate is fabulous, since the cafe is located on the same floor as the organic fruits & veggies.
Pros: great ambiance with tons of skylights with ceiling to floor windows
Cons: sporadic long lines --- especially for weekend brunch
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I did not know what to expect from this place since I've shopped her a dozen times and never thought for a second to stop by and eat at their cafe. In fact, I never even bother to go upstairs in the store. I'm already overwhelmed with the crowd downstairs lol Anyway, a friend of mine suggested we go here for brunch on a SUNDAY at 12, no less. I was sure our asses would be waiting until I ate my fingers off, but I agreed. When we got there, it was quite busy, as to be expected. But, we were seated rather quickly. What's on the menu? the usual suspects, I ordered the ham and cheese omelete. Got it made soft. It was delish. I tasted some of her pancakes and they were also quite good. All for a reasonable price. I'd definitely go back, but our waitress was not very attentive. I know it's busy, but she even messed up our bill and disappeared for a while. Another thing is, we were feeling quite clausterphobic with the seating situation. Yes, we are a table of two, but to seat another table of two right up under my arm makes for very little private conversation. I felt a little violated at that point, but we were getting ready to leave anyway. It is a small space, afterall. BTW, they don't take reservations.
For a cafe in a green market like Fairway it's very disappointing. They don't have any vegetarian options for lunch, and only eggs for breakfast. They don't even have a simple veggie burger! Very sad, for a market I like so much! :-(
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Okay. You can use the bathrooms even if you're just shopping the the market downstairs.
This is the cafe that's located on the second floor of Fairway Market. You go in the entrance that goes straight up a flight of stairs. They have a great menu for breakfast and lunch, though I think the dinner menu is way overpriced for a grocery store cafe. After 4:30 (I think) they switch to the dinner menu and break out the white table cloths, so make sure you get there before that if you are poor like me. My favorite breakfast is corned beef hash, and my favorite lunch is the burger with fries- only $8 if you get cheese. It tastes so good on its own I recommend eating it plain with cheddar (no fixins) except maybe dipping it in the hommade garlic mayo that the fries come with. I think it may be my favorite burger in NY. The service is not that great, but the atmosphere is a very nice haven from the rest of the market, and it is perfect for people watching upper west siders over Broadway.
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I came here fairly late in the afternoon when they were just switching the room over for dinner. I ordered the Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese and Scallion Sandwich ($9.50), which the menu says is either on black bread or a bagel with a mesclun salad. Hoping to make an approximation of my favorite brunch item, lox and cream cheese on a bagel, I asked for the bagel. Unfortunately they were all out. I asked if they could subsitute another type of bread that would come closer to the taste of a bagel, the best they could do was multigrain. Okay, so all's not lost at this point. However, when my sandwich came out, I was dismayed. Two thin slices of bread, each the size of a playing card, with only a *scraping* of cream cheese, thickly cut salmon (ew) and no scallions. And the salad? A fistfull of greens with no dressing. I actually had to ask for more cream cheese just so I could taste it on the bread. This is what I get for close to $10? Sorry, but no thanks.
First thing's first - the whitefish salad is out of this world! I get cravings for the whitefish on an everything bagel (served with a generous portion of whitefish, baby gherkins, olives and tomato). In order to enjoy this brunch favorite, I have to deal with tables on top of each other, terrible service and lots of noise. But somehow once I sink my teeth into the bagel, its always worth it. The whitefish is the same that you can buy downstairs at the market and bring home with your own H and H bagel and not have to deal with the aforementioned problems, so that is always an option, too. I haven't been for dinner in a while, so I won't write about that. The brunch menu does have lots of options starting with eggs (good omelettes), soup (chicken noodle is delish) to salads, burgers and various sandwiches - there's going to be something for everyone. My advice is to get there early (around 10) when it's not as crowded and you won't feel like you're in the middle of the Romper Room set.
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unless a masochist, don't go at peak. at non-peak, prices are good, organics good.
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