Fairway Cafe
“Want to impress your friends who complain there's no good pizza on the UWS?”
“Their silver dollar pancakes are really great, and it seems to be their famous item.”
“I never waited for a table in the evening, but occasionally for a weekend brunch, there may be a wait.”
Fairway Cafe
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Fairway's cafe is a brightly lit diner-cafeteria with huge windows overlooking Broadway on one side, and on the other a set of flatscreens silently playing things like the Wizard of Oz and old cartoons. One morning here, I noticed all the kids around me staring zombie-like at me, and started feeling uncomfortable until I realized they were looking past me, watching the TVs. I turned around to see Woody Woodpecker committing acts of unspeakable beak violence.
The weekend day crowd is mixed–old Upper West Siders, families, lots of kids, couples, pretty much as you'd expect at a diner–and the menu is like a diner's but with a lot of gourmet touches, e.g. their fruit crisps look like they were homemade, maybe in a barn, maybe in France.
I've heard service here can be poor, sometimes, but in my experience it's been friendly, often perfunctory but also, sometimes, going beyond the call of duty.
Things eaten:
– Omelet with new potatoes, cherry tomatoes, cream cheese and scallions — fluffy and perfect.
– A toasted bagel was half untoasted, half burned. But the salmon on top was swell, and when I asked for scallion cream cheese, they told me they didn't have any, and instead offered me a ramekin of fresh chives. Yes, please!
– If you get the salmon sandwich (as opposed to the salmon board), your bagel will come sliced in three, triple-decker style. This was revelatory to me, the first time I saw it. I cut my bagels in three now, at home. Thank you, Fairway.
– French press coffee was strong, bold, and had an undercurrent of elderberries. (No, it didn't, but I don't know how to describe coffee. It was nice coffee. I'm not sure it's worth the surcharge over the plain drip coffee they serve, but fiddling around with a French press is kind of fun in and of itself.)
– Fairway has a beautiful selection of bagels downstairs in the market, but here in the cafe, the selection is limited to the usuals. No onion bagels on offer. There are so many problems in the world that seem intractable, but some littler problems are so easy to fix. Please, Fairway, make the world, or at least the Upper West Side, or at least your menu, a bit better: offer your onion bagels upstairs at the Café.
The cafe is pretty roomy but crowded. It has lots of big windows, so it was nice and bright, with mostly red brick walls which gives that nice cozy feeling. They are open early, and offers pretty good food. Service is ok, they are super busy and so they move really quickly as well.
Their silver dollar pancakes are really great, and it seems to be their famous item.
Read my full review of this restaurant and food on my food blog, foodlovergirl.
Attended a PR/Blogger event and enjoyed a terrific cooking demonstration and dinner event here last night.
The main grocery store is downstairs and the upstairs features the cafe. It's a nice airy spot, a bit on the small side, but with large windows overlooking Broadway.
The staff was very attentive and the cooking demo was taught by Fairway's chef Vincent Olivieri and wine guru Joshua Wesson. We were treated to a full roasted leg of lamb dinner with appetizer, salad, multiple Australian wines, and dessert! It was a pretty awesome event and the food as prepared was delicious. I also learned that it's not too hard to prepare and cook lamb. I was never a huge lamb fan but after this meal I might have changed my mind. Just wow!
Also, proceeds of this event went to The Common Pantry which is a great cause. I stumbled out of this event fat, buzzed, and in a lamb coma thanks to my blog. Might have to come back here to check out the cafe during a regular night and sample something else.
I was surprised to hear that Fairway Market supermarket has a cafe upstairs that offers brunch, lunch, and dinner so I headed over there as soon as I woke up..
So I arrived on Saturday around 1pm – the place was pretty full, but the host told us it would be about a five minute wait. Sure enough, five minutes later, we were seated. As others have mentioned the tables are a bit cramped and close together. Don't expect a private, intimate moment with your brunch buddies unless you get one of those round tables for larger groups.. I apparently don't have enough friends.
The reviews seemed to praise the pancakes, so I went with the Big Boy – a name that someone once called me to point out that I needed to diet and exercise a bit. The Big Boy Special is a stack of pancakes, two eggs, bacon, and toast. They didn't ask me what kind of toast I wanted, so I assume that everyone gets white toast. The best part of the toast was the raspberry jam that came with it – heavenly. The eggs were a bit undercooked (I wanted over-easy) and watery. Not good. Others mentioned that there was a ton of bacon. I get 'ton' is relative, because I thought three strips of bacon was just a normal amount of bacon. If they gave me a stack of bacon – a whole Oscar Meyer package of bacon – then I would say TON of bacon, but it wasn't. It was cooked well – crispy – and although some pieces were clumped together, who gives a crap? You're going to put it in your mouth and chew/suck on that fatty goodness. The pancakes were ok. Size is a bit smaller than what you might find at IHOP or at a local diner, but the fluffiness made up for it.
They claim that the French Press is the best coffee you will ever have. I'm not a coffee snob, but I can't say it was the best coffee ever. It was darn good coffee though.
Since the place can be a bit crowded, you can expect some old people to stare at you as you eat and talk to you as you're chewing. And as you try to show some semblance of table manners and finish chewing before you speak, they might think you're just being rude and speak no English (particularly if you're Asian). To the older gentleman who sat next to me and asked (in case you read Yelp reviews), yes the french press coffee I ordered is different from the regular coffee you ordered and it was pretty good.
Overall a good place for brunch for the area. Not a value by any means – again, portion size wasn't particularly great as others have pointed out – but a good place to go if you're in the area.
Their dollar pancakes are about the best I've had and I like the busy family atmosphere here for a saturday breakfast. It feels like you aren't in New York … which occasionally can be a good thing.
Silver dollar pancakes are definitely one of the best things on the breakfast menu. Make sure at least one person at your table has ordered them, although the portion is not that huge and you may end up wanting a stack all to yourself.
The brisket special was tender and juicy, but unfortunately, woefully under seasoned.
We'll see how the rest of the menu stacks up, but worth coming back for another meal.
I've been here several times for dinner and brunch. Food is usually quite good. Pre-fixe dinner is a great option and terrific deal. I like sitting by the window and looking out at Broadway.
Service could be a mixed bag. I do recall one instance when the service was pretty horrendous and nonexistent. I never waited for a table in the evening, but occasionally for a weekend brunch, there may be a wait. But for the UWS, it's a nice option and pleasant surprise.
I've been to this fine establishment multiple times. I think the fact that it only has 5 reviews – and the fact that it never even occurred to me to review it – is kind of telling.
Fairway Cafe is a casual restaurant above a booming market, tucked in a corner behind the Organic Food section of Fairway. The food is good and the menu selection makes me happy. If you arrive before 3pm, you get the full breakfast and lunch spread: pancakes, eggs, bacon, bagels, whitefish, soups, sandwiches, burgers, tuna melts, mac 'n cheese. You name it, it's probably on the menu. And it's certainly better than your local diner. Fairway knows food.
However – I don't like the ambiance much, and the service isn't very good. It's loud, I always feel rushed, and there's just no getting around the fact that you're dining in a supermarket.