Fraunces Tavern — Restaurant in New York

Even though I was greeted by an unpleasant amount of scaffolding due to exterior renovations, Fraunces Tavern has proven itself to be a restaurant that is actually worth coming to.

I think most people become familiar with this restaurant due to it being the oldest in NYC which is great and all, but that means nothing to me if the food isn't good. And thank God, it was. Yes, the interior design is nice and obviously very unique, but the quality and taste of food is always be my main consideration when leaving a review.

For starters, we arrived a little early to our 5PM reservation, but we were still able to get seated immediately and order starters while they transitioned to the dinner menu.

I ordered their chicken wings with buffalo sauce and they were pretty good. I'm not sure if I would go as far as to say it was the "best wings" I ever had though (as someone in another review said) because there are only so many ways you can make buffalo wings before it stops being buffalo wings. So for me, it was pretty standard-tasting, but also had a little bit of an added crisp which is what I enjoy. I just wish they would give more blue cheese because the small cup they give with it isn't enough for 8 pieces of wings that are on the large side. I didn't bother asking for more though because I was afraid of what the additional charge might be.

I'm going to breeze past everything else I tried afterwards because I want to mention a few more things so here it goes:

Scotch Egg - This was my first time trying a scotch egg and it was great, but I can't convince myself that spending $15 on a single egg with some sausage around it is worth it or ever will be worth it.

Berkshire Pork Chop - As someone who doesn't even like pork chops, I was pleasantly surprised by how good this tastes. The parsnip puree was truly a welcome addition to the dish.

Handmade Mac & Cheese - I had almost forgotten how good mac and cheese could taste. It was light, yet flavorful and satisfying. It didn't have that weightiness to it that some homemade mac and cheese dishes do when they get piled high with cheeses like cheddar and mozzarella. This mac and cheese made good use of the fontina, cheddar, and parmesan to deliver something incredibly satisfying.

Chocolate Sticky Toffee Pudding - Very good and I liked the ice cream.

Now here are are some of my general pros and cons:

CONS Prices here are steep. Even the cola was $6 for a bottle that's smaller than a kid's juice box. (not an exaggeration. they're only 200ml). Our server changed twice which wasn't a huge deal, but there were times where we didn't know who to call over because the person who we thought was our server just wasn't around. Not a fan of the restroom. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I feel like the whole historic preservation thing should end at the restroom. The wooden stalls look pretty beaten up and the rest of the bathroom that IS semi-modern isn't so great either. The restaurant may have been established in 1762, but I want to use a 2022 restroom with automatic faucets and paper towel dispensers. Sue me. The wooden benches start to get uncomfortable after a while- which I guess doubles as a subtle reminder that we may have been there too long lol. They're not horrible though, but just giving anyone reading a heads up if they plan on visiting. The seating arrangement is pretty compact. We had a very talkative party sit next to us which wasn't the MOST pleasant, but I've dealt with worse so it hardly ruined my experience.

PROS The ambience is unmatched. Between the flickering of candle lights, the cozy seating area, and great music, you're bound to feel at ease while eating here. The servers were friendly and quick to respond whenever we needed them. One of them even walked me to the bathroom after I asked where it was. Great food (this one's a no-brainer).

Overall, had a great experience here and will definitely be back to try the filet mignon on a stone as well as another chicken wing flavor. I hope they don't become too busy during the...

I've loved in the neighborhood for years and frequently come to Fraunces Tavern. While the food has never been the highlight, you come for the ambiance and the kind service that you receive. Unfortunately, after an experience this weekend I feel like I can't really even recommend it for that anymore.

I made a reservation in the Piano Bar, for a half hour before the nightly music starts. As we sat down, we were immediately told we would have to give up the table in 1 hour, okay, not a problem, but a little surprising and would have been frustrating if we had been eating. Our waitress came over after about 10 minutes, which felt slow given no one was really there yet. We ordered drinks and after another 15 minutes got them, she then reminded us again we needed to be out in 35 minutes, we told her no problem we were only here for another 20 minutes before we had to leave for a reservation. She did not come back to our table to check on us or offer us another drink.

When we flagged her down, we let her know we would take the check and give up the table to give her plenty of time to turn over. She then informed us there was a 30 dollar minimum per person. I was surprised by that, there was no pop up on Resy when I made the reservation and no one mentioned in when we sat down. Upon going back to the page, there is a small section where you have to click "read more" to see this stipulation. If it's the expectation, make it clear or put it on the menu.

I understand though that they are doing their best to make a living and was okay with the minimum, but asked, since we only had the table an hour, and were only check on once could we put the rest on a gift card so I could come back and use it. I was told no, they wouldn't do that. If the goal is to make the money either way, why would you not find a compromise for the customer where you received the money and provide a good experience for the customer to come back and spend more money? Furthermore, if you are going to only give someone a table for an hour, and require two drinks per person, which we would have happily had, you need to actually come over and give them the option of getting drinks. Ultimately, the 40 dollar difference to them was enough to lose a customer that has brought and recommended many people, even having past office holiday parties here. Classic tale of mismanagement. Beware if you attend on this not highlighted policy and...

As the whole restaurant was really beautiful with different seating rooms, as we had made a reservation prior, we got put into this tourist room as one of my party members had gone to the bathroom and saw that the next room was far nicer and also pretty available. Not to say the room we were seated in wasn’t nice, but to be honest it was plain compared to the other rooms. As well the atmosphere was mixed, some of the music choice did not complement the atmosphere and at times I even questioned the selections with toward the end at least some smooth jazz classics came on only as we were leaving.

I will say pretty standard selection of dishes, nothing authentic to the theme. Except for the tavern burger which came with onion rings which wasn’t on the menu and I wouldn’t recommend getting the chili, unless you like a bowl of rise only toped with the rest of the ingredients that would normally make an actual bowl of chili, the person who ordered it was very disappointed and even a little frustrated since it literally was just rice all the way down to the bottom with chili ingredients laid out on top.

As for the museum it looked very nice but by the time we had finished eating there was no one up stairs at the desk and only a sign that said they’d be back in 10 minutes and we didn’t wanna wait that long seeing as we just finished our food and gotten up from our table. Which is honestly kinda a minor inconvenience but there should be at least one dedicated staff member for the museum for a varying...