The Ribbon
“Such great vibes and food here – the best new spot to open up on the UWS.”
“Then it was onto delicious bone marrow and potato latkes with salmon and caviar.”
“We had the Butchers Board which was lovely, not least because they had Stilton from where I grew up in Derbyshire, England which was delicious.”
The Ribbon
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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IN SHORT: Part of the Blue Ribbon restaurant empire, this spacious New American outpost on the Upper West Side is surprisingly perfect for any meal of the day, and will easily become your favorite restaurant in the neighborhood.
THE STORY: From sushi to fried chicken, Blue Ribbon restaurants have managed to develop a portfolio as diverse and individualistic as the neighborhoods they call home, and somehow, from the Lower East Side now to the Upper West, quality is not lost among such breadth.
It's ultimately a wise strategy, for if one brand of restaurant should fall out of favor or fashion, the empire is not left scrambling for survival. At The Ribbon in particular, this strategy can be felt within the restaurant itself. At both a brunch and dinner in recent weeks, it's clear that The Ribbon's appeal is vast and deep, ensuring its rightful presence in the neighborhood for a long time to come.
Craving an elegant piece of salmon on Friday, but would prefer to end your Sunday with a large portion of fried chicken and southern sides? The Ribbon offers it all, dressing up a wide range of American classics just enough to set them apart from the crowd of other so-so restaurants on the Upper West Side, and to lodge them in your culinary memory until you just have to return again for more.
At dinner, the Sliced Hangar Steak is one of these dishes, whose thick, rich, green peppercorn sauce lends the perfect amount of vegetal acidity to the decadently tender cuts of beef. The delicate shoestring fries on the side are no joke either, somehow maintaining their crispy exterior even when soaking in the sauce for a few minutes.
The wide-reaching menu also offers house-made pâté and a butcher board of meats and cheeses, but the Beef Marrow with Oxtail Marmalade should be the appetizer everyone rushes toward. Sweet and buttery, the marrow is the perfect spread over charred challah toast topped with small leaves of fried parsley for an ethereally crispy, herbal finish.
While dinners at the restaurant can feel crowded and boisterous quickly, brunches tend to be more subdued, as families with strollers and friends sipping on Bloody Marys while watching the latest football game sit side by side in peace.
The eats at this nebulous weekend meal are also satisfying to all walks of life on the Upper West. Of course there is Avocado Toast with cherry tomatoes, radishes, chia seeds, and espelette pepper on a thin, sometimes too-soft piece of whole-grain bread, and of course there is Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon for a lighter, saltier, and brinier plate.
But there is also The Pig Club, a hearty sandwich with rotisserie pork, smoked bacon, pickled jalapenos, and provolone for a less traditional, arguably spicier brunch. The thick slices of pork find home here in a crunchy, airy hero bun, with perhaps a bit too much bread for the otherwise great pileup of ingredients.
And then there is the Prime Rib Poutine, featuring, obviously, a thick, tender, perfectly pink slice of prime rib topped with a fried egg over french fries, sauteed onions, and a thin cheddar gravy.
As my Canadian boo so eloquently put it, "That's not poutine." He's right, it's not, but I've come to wonder, is anything actually poutine? It seems the Canadians have such a monopoly on these gravy-cheese-curd-fries, that it's possible I've never had poutine in my life. I suppose I'll have to go to Montreal to find out.
But like so much at The Ribbon, this poutine-inspired plate is remarkably flavorful and satisfying, without feeling like a brick of carbs and fat was just dropped into your digestive tract. Against the backdrop of The Ribbon's spacious, retro vibes, and next to one of the restaurant's "design your own" Bloody Marys, there's ultimately not much to complain about.
Sometimes there is an incremental cost to achieving and maintaining flexibility in restaurants, but The Ribbon shows no signs of struggling. A success across cuisines and times of the day, many restaurants could learn a thing or two from this American classic in the making.
Fantastic ambiance, food, drinks and service.
The ambiance: somewhat dimly lit, a good amount of energy, contemporary and with warm decorative details. Seen at the bar, down the steps to the bathroom, and even warm contemporary details in the bathroom I liked with very cool bathroom stall doors and faucets.
Service: Bartender was attentive and friendly. Table server was knowledgable about their menu items and oysters, and made great recommendations.
Drinks: My dirty martini was super with fresh plump olives. I tried the Mezcel drink "Bet on Cincy" off their specialty menu, and it was wonderful!
Food/ what we had:
– Oysters. Must have the copps island oysters! Mmm ! I think these are my new favorites over blue point. According to the server, the Ribbon has a special agreement, and this Oyster is only distributed to them. Sizable and wonderful.
Only negative is the oyster dish/ stand is too high; I couldn't see the oysters and had to extend my reach too much to access them. I am only 5'2 but hey petite women like to see their food too 🙂
– Chicken. The server recommended this as did my friend, and it was delic! So tender, perfectly flavored and with a light broth that was fantastic.
– Burger. My friend ordered their burger and loved it.
– Mushrooms side. These were wonderful, great on their own, and also paired well with both the chicken and burger.
Highly recommend as a restaurant to come with friends or a date.
Came here for dinner on a weekday after work and was not disappointed. My coworker and I were seated right away. They had a special for potato chips which were really yummy. We also shared the Buffalo Style Cauliflower, which was my favorite. I had the Scottish Salmon and my coworker had the Striped Bass. Both were solid dishes and the fish was cooked perfectly. We also split the creme fraiche cheesecake; it was a very small portion, but it was so delicious and full of flavor.
BONE MARROW AND OXTAIL MARMALADE. ULTIMATE WIN. But. But, that's all I can rave about for The Ribbon.
Service here was cute. Good, but not amazing as I felt like the staff tried so hard to be friendly, but deep down wanted to get their shift the hell over with. I've also never been a huge fan of dining anywhere uptown. That snooty uptown old people vibe just isn't meant for a soon to be 26 yr old me. The Ribbon is LOUD though. When I walked in, I felt like I was at a bar. But a bar with the elderly, and some snootz. It's so loud that you need to talk over your friends to make sure your voice is heard. The location, environment, people, and staff didn't set a great tone for me for me to even think twice about giving this place more than 3 stars. Would've been downed to a 2 if not for that bone marrow.
Food wise – Everything was average except for yes, the bone marrow and oxtail marmalade. The bone marrow was the definition of perfection. My favorite bone marrow by far has been from Toro down in the Meatpacking, but The Ribbon's has me a little confused as to which I like more now. Our table also ordered their flatbread with broccolini and bacon on top, lots of fries, mushrooms as a side, lamb chops, and steak. The mushrooms were a major letdown. Such earthy mushrooms were destroyed by the massive amount of salt used. Same for the lamb chops. My poor lamb chops were barely seared and SO SALTY that my underlips were tingling.
This place isn't cheap either. Not overtly expensive but I expected more for the price. Steak and fries at $36 tasted more like $25. My lamb chops at $39 tasted more like $29. Our bill for 5 people + a wee bit of alcohol for 3 of the 5 came out to around $400. The fact that it was a birthday dinner for me had me appreciate this meal a little more, but I wouldn't come here again and wouldn't want any of my friends coming here either.
If you read all the bad reviews, you can see that they were written by fake profiles who have no friends and hardly any reviews, if you read the good reviews, you can see that they were written by Yelpers with extensive profiles. Someone is obviously out to smear the Ribbon on Yelp, which is a shame because a lot of people, including me, rely on these reviews to decide where to eat. Take it from me and my 600+ reviews, that I will be providing you a legit review.
I was so pleasantly surprised by the Ribbon – every time I passed by, I could just hear the loud and exuberant energy from here. The front room does get incredibly and uncomfortably loud (wish they could do something about the acoustics). However, there is a back dining room, equally elegant and charming that is much quieter and well suited for a nice dinner and conversation. I would suggest you reserve a table in this back room.
The cozy, woodsy interior is decorated in a library theme, your bill is presented inside the pages of an old book. Dim light bulbs add a romantic feel. You can even look through the windows to see into the kitchen. We had a well-mannered and sweet waiter. The manager was also pacing (in a good way) the dining room saying hello and making sure all the patrons were happy.
Their food is probably one of the best I've had at any restaurant on the UWS. We started with a round of oysters. I highly recommend them – get a few of the East Coast – they're sweet and delicious and fresh, they're washed very well, no gritty sand in them. They also brought us a complimentary app (or an amuse bouche you might say) – arancini (stuffed rice balls) – delish. I ordered the bronzino – so well cooked and well seasoned. Perfectly flaky and perfectly crispy skin. And two good pieces too. It does not come with a side, so you can order one if you're really hungry. My companion ordered the Ribbon steak, which he liked. For dessert, we had the Ribbon chocolate chip bread pudding, which was a little misleading because it contained no chocolate chips, rather melted chocolate sauce, and no pudding, but a piece of plain pound cake topped with vanilla ice cream. The cake was a bit dry, but the ice cream was really good. My cabernet was perfect.
Such a fantastic and lovely dinner we had here. I cannot wait to come back and try more of the menu. The pictures of their bloody mary look so good – I will have to come back for brunch.
Really not agreeing with all these negative reviews. I did not have that experience at all.
I'm one who enjoys the vibe of the downtown restos, but I live uptown, so sometimes it's just so convenient to stay local. This place had a downtown vibe (filled dining room, didn't clear out at 9:00 or even 10:00 and the average age of diners was lower than my mother but higher than my nieces) and the food and drink were very good. Service was also very friendly.
Baked meatball app and the braised short rib main were standouts. Pastas were very good, but the pasta special was a fairly small portion. Nice wine list.
I'd definitely return on a night I want to stay uptown.
My friend was very excited to try this new outpost of the Blue Ribbon restaurant group. We had reservations for 11 am on a Sunday morning which wasn't really necessary given the quantity of tables available.
We were disappointed that there weren't any bakery or pastry items to start and share. There was a wide assortment of brunch items and I went with the prime rib poutine because I love both prime rib and poutine. I'd never had a dish like this and wasn't sure how it would come out but it was a bunch of fries covered with cheese sauce and with a medium-thickness cut of prime rib on top. It makes a bit tough to eat since cutting through the prime rib causes you to cut the fries into tiny pieces. The dish was okay but I found the cheese sauce slightly salty and the fries (which are the base of the dish) lacking.
Brunch was delicious: the salmon Benedict was savory without being too much. The appetizer special of warm pumpkin bread with cream cheese filling was simple but spectacular. The service was friendly (hot chocolate wasn't a menu option, but our waiter was nice enough to make one for my friend anyway).