Union Square Cafe

Best Restaurant in Manhattan

by pw321

March 02, 2009

My girlfriend arrived 20 minutes early for our 7:30 reservation on a busy Saturday night. Despite being early we were immediately seated. The server was excellent, he overhead us talking about the duck confit and came over to tell us more about it. My girlfriend has been to Italy, been to most of the best Italian restaurants around, and said that her ravioli she got as the first course was the best pasta she ever had. The food was amazing, the price is excellent for a top tier restaurant, and the service was impeccable. I cannot wait to go back. This is a must visit.

• Pros: Excellent service, excellent food, excellent everything, more relaxed
• Cons: None.

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Redemption after 10years of contempt

by puiyin1031

January 26, 2009

I finally gave them another go after 10 years of staying away after my initial visit. There was a long BLONDE hair in my salad & when I tried to return it, the waitress implied that it was probably my hair that fell in after she served the dish?.ahem, I am ASIAN, enough said! Then we got charged for not 1, but 2 salads..talk about audacity. Any other restaurant in the country would?ve given me the salad free of charge. I left making the vow to never return again. & was disgusted year after year when they made the top of Zagats list. Fast forward10yrs to Restaurant Week in early ?09. I went with my Mom to celebrate the Lunar New year. The food was tasty, service brisk yet polite. & the ultimate redeeming moment was when the pastry chef decorated our dessert plates with a beautiful illustration of a dragon & an ox, to signify the Chinese horoscopes & in observance of the Year of the Ox which started today. We were so delighted with the personal attention that we asked to meet her, what a sweetheart! People & good service are what make the restaurant business succeed?don?t forget that.

• Pros: Convenience, decor, amazing pastry chef
• Cons: Reservations require planning ahead

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Bad Management wrecked USC

by rachelz3

July 21, 2008

What a difference 4 months makes! I wrote in July that USC was "near perfect" and "welcoming". Two hostesses discouraged my Nov 1 booking. This time I stopped in personally two days in advance to go over the seating arrangements for my son's stroller. We've been to USC with the stroller twice before (including July)- no problem. Jesse, a male host, apologized for the rude reception we received at the door. Just as I began to forget the trouble during the meal, Assistant Manager Jill came up behind me, put her hands on my back and told me that I would have to move the stroller to accommodate a male diner at another table. I tried to sort it out with Jill- she turned her back on me. I stood up to confront her. The male diner interceded to say that he has a child and he was quite happy with the stroller as it was. Jill's bizarre behavior explains the dismal performance of the blond hostesses. Our meal was wrecked, we cut it short, paid the bill, thanked the kind gentleman diner and left. Go elsewhere, USC is in trouble now.

• Pros: good food, a few great servers
• Cons: Bad Management wrecks everything

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Excellent food, relaxed atmosphere

by dr378

March 27, 2008

Wonderful dining experience. Our dishes were exceptional. I'm not a huge fan of pasta usually, but the linguini and ravioli appetizers were so delicious. Ample entree portions and reasonably priced for the exceptional quality and taste (try the tuna or the slow roasted lamb...so good!). Loved the laid-back but elegant decor of the restaurant. We requested and promptly received a romantic, comfortable corner booth next to the painted walls. Our server was so knowledgeable, friendly and took good care of us. USC is a favorite spot for many NY foodies, and for good reason. Great place. Can't wait to go back.

• Pros: Delicious food, a little pricey in total but not unreasonable ($30 avg entree price)
• Cons: always crowded so can get a little loud.

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Delicious, Relaxed, Wonderfully Delightful...

by MvG2007

February 28, 2008

My brother took me here on Tuesday for my birthday- and what a treat!! Although we were seated about 15 minutes after our reservation, the bar was friendly and we enjoyed some delicious champagne... Our table was adorable and right next to the hand-painted walls, and our server was so friendly and refreshingly honest! The rest of the staff and even the other patrons were so relaxed and happy. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the Foie Gras (my first time having it- wow. so good) and the Lemon Pepper Duck. Although the inside of the duck was quite juicy, the outside was a little over-cooked for my taste. And then as a surprise and "compliments of the server" - they brought me a delicious dessert complete with candle. I'd definitely say that the chef really enjoys the natural taste/flavor of meat and doesn't over-season it, and it seems the ambiance only compliments the delightful service and food. I would go back in a HEARTBEAT.

Thank you so much for such a wonderful evening!

• Pros: Extremely relaxed, friendly staff, ambiance, Delicious food, fantastic Foie Gras!
• Cons: 15 minutes late on seating...

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Excellent Meal & Service!

by jennpss

February 27, 2008

My husband and I went here for the first time a few days before Valentine's Day to celebrate. We were seated right away. The service was great. I did have an excellent glass of Merlot off their Wines by the glass list. I ordered the steak which I think was smoked and than grilled. It had a great flavor. We would go back again for a speical occasion.

• Pros: Close to Subway stop!

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APPETIZER WAS AMAZING THE REST WAS AVERAGE

by lovetoeat33

January 26, 2008

I went here during restuarant week and had the eggplant meatballs for an appetizer which I must admit was amazing. The service was extremely slow, and the waitress took a long time between dishes as well as a long time to serve our drinks. I was very disappointed witht the service that was provided. The entree was chicken milanese which looked delicious but on further examination was simply a deep fried batterred piece of chicken topped with a mixed salad. I felt like the entree could have been more creative or had a little something more. I had the banana cheesecake for desert which was delicious. I must say that the appetizer was amazing but the entree was a disappointment. The service was also a disappoint.

• Pros: ambience, appetizer
• Cons: service,

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GREAT customer service!!!

by goodfoodrocks

January 24, 2008

Roasted Butternut Squash & Mascarpone Ravioli with Sage Butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Aged Balsamic Vinegar (really good!)

Spaghettini with Flaked Cod, Broccoli Rabe, Chili, White Wine and Rustic Bread Crumbs (would recommend)

Grilled Sea Scallops with Sauteed Spinach and Roasted Cauliflower-Meyer Lemon Agrodolce (seriously loved this)

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Espresso Zabaglione -- definitely worth it (but it's heavy like a brownie)

Banana Cheese Cake (something something) -- not too good. I enjoyed the food and the service. the waiter JOHN (worked on the 2nd level) was extremely helpful and hospitable. I had received the wrong cocktail and he brought in the cocktail I had originally ordered later on - so two cocktails for the price of one! I would definitely recommend this place for those that have a little extra money to spend and want to treat themselves.

• Pros: SERVICE!!
• Cons: $$$$

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Union Square Passe

by shemphat

September 20, 2007

So I hear people wait a year to get in this place? Wow. My steak was 38 dollars, salty as hell and about as flat as pounded chick breast. For 38 dollars I would have much rather had a decent cut from the likes of any steak house in the city. In any event I can't say it was a horrible experience, the wait staff is spot on - and that's good --- I just think people are blinded at this point by the name recognition this place holds to really see the food they are getting. Granted it sounds amazing when the servers explain the pain staking efforts the management goes through in bringing in the best culinary recipes and/ or artists from around the globe to add their flare to the dish but what is spoken about and what is inevitably on your taste buds are two different thinigs. What sounds amazing and to die for -- becomes at the end of the day, simply just quite okay.

Sadly people will come here because they heard it was good and enjoy their meal because they're suppose to -- then I suppose they will go to a 100 dollar mediocre broadway show and give it a standing ovation at the curtain. Alas, this is what we've become.

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Way too heavy on the salt and lemon flavorings

by robardin

July 30, 2007

My wife and I went to USC for the first time last Friday evening. Because we were seeing a movie at 7:30pm we had an early dinner, we walked in at 5:30pm and got seated at 5:45pm when they began dinner service.

They couldn't find my reservation (placed a week and a half earlier) but there was no wait anyway at that time, being so early. All the same, we got seated upstairs.

I don't know if eating very early was a factor or not but two of the dishes were way oversalted, and the main entree somewhat oversalted (not as badly but definitely tasted predominantly of NaCL).

To start with, we ordered two fairly standard "fine dining" appetizers: the seared foie gras and the yellowfin tuna tartare. The foie gras was wonderful, but the tuna seemed nice quality but was hard to taste over the rather salty capers-and-lemon dressing. I found the olive oil coating slightly excessive too, as tuna is naturally a bit oily. Instead of complementing the taste of the tuna it overwhelmed it.

- For dinner we both got the special of the day, a roast lamb dish, which was quite tasty but slightly on the salty side. This could have been offset by complementing it with something blander, like wild rice or some kind of potato, but the side dish we had ordered with the lamb was the sauteed spinach.

This spinach was literally salty to the point of inedibility. My wife and I each had about two forks of it before giving up. The waiter apologized for it and took it off our bill, but it really was very disappointing given the expectations I had for USC going in.

The desserts we got were nice enough (the banana tart with honey vanilla ice cream and macademia brittle, and the ice cream/sorbet assortment), but not enough to make up for the rest.

• Pros: service, location
• Cons: food was not up to reputation

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