Grand Central Optical

Meet NYC's friendliest eyewear specialists.

(212) 599-1220

369 Madison Ave (btw E 45th and E46 Street)
New York, NY 10017 40.755 -73.9776

Get Map & Directions »

Neighborhoods: Midtown Center, Midtown

grandcentraloptical.com

Years in business

Established in 1963

Hours:

Mon 8am-7pm

Tue-Thu 8:30am-7pm

Fri 8am-6:30pm

Sat 10:30am-5:30pm

Last updated 8.17.11

Category:

Opticians, Contact Lenses, Optical Goods, Eyeglasses, Optometrists

Payment Methods:

American Express, Visa, MasterCard

Email Business

What People Are Saying About Grand Central Optical

The Owner

Grand Central Optical

Owner

Grand Central Optical Co. Inc., a family-owned practice in operation for over 40 years, is a full service optical company providing the finest in ophthalmic services and eyewear. Professional consultants guide patients through the process of selecting frames, with an "eye" to prescription compatibility and enhancement of facial features (facial feature enhancement). Excellent quality control is maintained by an on premises manufacturing laboratory, which houses the latest, high tech equipment necessary for our high standard work. Services include glaucoma testing, cataract testing, medical…

Provided by CityGrid

Read more from the owner

Featured Review

Contributor

Contributor

The Scene – For nearly 40 years, Grand Central Optical has been providing quality eye care and glasses to midtowners, tourists and office workers in two convenient locations (the other's in Grand Central Terminal). Unlike most of the overly designed (and understaffed) eyewear shops along this intimidating stretch of retailers, GCO has a crackerjack staff of specialists who seem genuinely concerned with your eye care and salespeople who actually say hello when you walk in. – – The Goods – The staff is professional, without being pushy, and are willing to take the time…

ambiance
85.71000099182129% positive
  1. “The staff was fun to work with and I ended up finding the ones I wanted that no one else had.”
  2. “went to the Madison location and had an excellent experience.”
  3. “They had a large selection of glasses suitable for a professional atmosphere.”
  4. “The employees are very rude and nasty at the Madison location.”
  5. “The staff was fun and down to earth.”
  6. “Shopping for eyewear should be fun, and eye exams are far too important to be anything less than informative.”
  7. “co-worker of mine recommended Grand Central Optical because of their professional service and convenient location (369 Madison Avenue).”
menu variety
100.0% positive
  1. “They had a large selection of glasses suitable for a professional atmosphere.”
  2. “absolutely love Tom Ford sunglasses and have to admit that Grand Central Optical has among the largest selection anywhere that carries them.”
  3. “The staff explained to me my best options for my prescription and all turned out well.”
  4. “The selection was neatly kept and very diverse and the service from the staff was excellent.”
  5. “The staff is very professional and the selection is so diverse, picked with such taste i was very happy that i stopped in there.”
overall
100.0% positive
  1. “What a great place to get glasses!”
  2. “great store check it out”
service
79.7599983215332% positive
  1. “Moreover, the service is really bad.”
  2. “The staff explained to me my best options for my prescription and all turned out well.”
  3. “Their knowledgable and patient staff helped me to choose the perfect frame and lense for my RX.”
  4. “Very bad service”
  5. “The staff is very professional and the selection is so diverse, picked with such taste i was very happy that i stopped in there.”
  6. “friendly service with a great value”
  7. “The staff was rude and not pleasant to work with (unless you want to spend money).”
  8. “Excellent service, knowledgable staff and most importantly great frames with exc.”
  9. “Horrible customer service.”
  10. “The selection was neatly kept and very diverse and the service from the staff was excellent.”
  11. “accepted that as my fault, but I was somewhat perplexed by this service faux pas (for the record, I have never encountered this obnoxious gesture during my ten years of living in Manhattan) since the place was near empty the entire time I was there.”
  12. “Custeromer service was very poor and while half of the employees were helpful, the other half were rude.”
  13. “The employees are very rude and nasty at the Madison location.”
  14. “The staff was very nice and helped me choose a great pair of glasses.”
  15. “The staff was very friendly and attentive to my needs and budget.”
  16. “co-worker of mine recommended Grand Central Optical because of their professional service and convenient location (369 Madison Avenue).”
  17. “fast service and trendy frames right in GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL!”
  18. “How do people order online then?”
  19. “got great service and we had a great time in New York City.”
  20. “then called Grand Central Optical where they were able to squeeze me in and get my new glasses done for me A.S.A.P. Frames were phenominal, service was excellent.”
  21. “The staff was fun and down to earth.”
  22. “Great doctor, sales staff inexperienced(some)”
  23. “was very disappointed with the service I received and the huge inconvenience I was caused by their incompetence.”
  24. “The salespeople were helpful even though there were a lot of other people who had procrastinated like me and it was busy.”
  25. “picked glasses, and got great post sale service!”
  26. “The doctor was very nice and the staff was helpful and friendly.”
  27. “The staff was fun to work with and I ended up finding the ones I wanted that no one else had.”
  28. “Great service”
value
55.56000232696533% positive
  1. “We had one woman helping us at first who was fairly pleasant, then another saleswoman seemed to swoop in and usurp things altogether, only to make the whole experience unpleasant by showing us the more expensive and stylistically questionable items descri”
  2. “friendly service with a great value”
  3. “In a huge need of contacts they took my credit card over the phone and had them.”
  4. “was very disappointed with the service I received and the huge inconvenience I was caused by their incompetence.”
  5. “Little did I know that my company had a huge plan that many have been overlooking.”
  6. “don't know if they work on commission there, but if you wish to experience a diorama of class struggle, a fiefdom in which the feudal eye-lord dwells behind an aluminum door and stoically takes your eye exam then retreats into her lair, do venture into ”
  7. “...ha ha ha) was a huge difference from what I have been used to.”
  8. “The salesperson was very pushy and kept showing me expensive glasses, which I was not interested in at all.”
  9. “The staff was rude and not pleasant to work with (unless you want to spend money).”
wait time
66.66999816894531% positive
  1. “definitly recommend this place to anyone who wants a long term eyecare professional willing to accomodate any situation!”
  2. “came to grand central optical in need of an eye exam and a quick pair of professional quality sunglasses.”
  3. “walked over to grand central optical where they made me my distance prescription to get through the day in 30 minutes and had my full progressive prescription ready in 2 days.”
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

11/20/11

Great Staff

by KHenderson14 at Citysearch

I went here after leaving my glasses on the plane. (Don't know how someone can see thru my lenses). They were excellent with their customer services and helped me pick out glasses. They even take my insurance and did all the paperwork for me which was great for me. I had new glasses in 2 hours

Thanks again. You guys rock!!!

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

11/12/11

great staff and great selection

by sugaslaw at Citysearch

the staff is very knowledgeable and understand what works and what doesn't work. Cutting edge frames. Great store and great location.

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

10/29/11

great place

by pinooo at Citysearch

I have been going to their place in Grand Central Terminal for years. The people are very knowlegable, friendly and they have a great selection of frames to choose from and if they dont have what youre looking for they'll get it for you. This fellow Gregg works there. He's got the best personality and if you are a picky customer, he's for you. He's very helpfull. By the way if you're a tipical New Yorker like me and you have a dog, bring him/her to the store, they love dogs

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

10/28/10

Great Store and Service

by ryane54321 at Citysearch

I always go to the store that's located in the Grand Central Terminal, but needed help because I lost my glasses and needed something real quick for a business meeting. When I called the store, they told me that I can come in and they would be able to help me. They informed me that I could go to either store. I didn't know that they had another location on Madison Ave., which was great because I work on 44th and Madison, so this store was one block away from me. The employees were able to help me find a frame and they already had my prescription on file. I ended up with a pair of Silhouettes because I love the rimless frames, and they told me that they would ready in 1 hour. The glasses were ready quicker than that and I was able to get to my meeting right on time. The employees were thorough and worked together to help me out. Thank You Grand Central Optical.

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

10/26/10

Quick Service

by bpatterson8080 at Citysearch

I usually pass through the Grand Central Terminal and decided to stop in and check out the selection of frames that they have. I was surprised to find out how many brands they actually carry. The sales reps. were very polite and extremely helpful in picking out frames that best fitted my needs. I told them that I needed to go to a doctor and get my eyes examined and they informed me that they have doctors on staff that can perform the exam at that time, which was awesome. The whole process took about 30 minutes and the next day they called me to let me know that my glasses were ready. I thought they were kidding, but to my surprise, my glasses were really done. I love my glasses and can't thank these people enough. They made the whole process so quick and provided such great service. Highly recommend this place.

The Details on Grand Central Optical

Place Categories:

  • great frames
  • excellent post sale service
  • great place
  • excellent eyeglass purchasing experience
  • worst whole experience
  • helpful salesperson
  • very nice doctor
  • bad shop
  • never love backup glasses
  • recommend upscale store
  • love glasses
  • really bad custeromer service
  • very rude employees
  • really nice tom ford sunglasses
  • huge need
  • not pleasant staff
  • fun shopping
  • recommended coworker
  • professional quality sunglasses
  • best tries
  • absolutely recommend grand central optical
  • excellent help
  • full prescription
  • fun knowledgable staff
  • great overall exprience

Message from Grand Central Optical

  • Eyeglass lab on premises
  • Eye exams
  • Bifocal contact lenses

Grand Central Optical Co. Inc., a family-owned practice in operation for over 40 years, is a full service optical company providing the finest in ophthalmic services and eyewear. Professional consultants guide patients through the process of selecting frames, with an "eye" to prescription compatibility and enhancement of facial features (facial feature enhancement). Excellent quality control is maintained by an on premises manufacturing laboratory, which houses the latest, high tech equipment necessary for our high standard work. Services include glaucoma testing, cataract testing, medical exams, designer and economical frames. Specialize in contact lenses, bifocal contacts, progressive and high index lenses.

Grand Central Optical