Casa Lever may be my favorite expression of Park Avenue: architecturally serious, commercially…read moreconsequential, and somehow much more playful than the traditional power lunch establishment. Lever House itself is one of my favorite classic buildings in New York, a 1952 modernist landmark whose glass-and-steel design still looks almost impossibly sharp against this stretch of Midtown. For my money, the design relative to the location is unbeatable if you prefer great twentieth-century architecture to new construction. Park Avenue from the high 40s through the upper 50s is the highest velocity investment corridor in the world: information, fundraising, and transactions all moving through an extraordinarily dense piece of Manhattan. Third Point once headquartered here before moving to Hudson Yards, which I always thought was incredibly cool and a particularly fitting choice for Dan Loeb. I've experienced Casa Lever on several different occasions, including meeting a friend outside for a beer after work and, on another visit, having lunch inside. Inside, everything feels considered, from the curved architecture and sculptural ceiling to the wonderfully restrained Casa Lever typography. The Warhol portraits were the masterstroke when I knew the restaurant: Giorgio Armani, the Shah of Iran, Farah Pahlavi, Aretha Franklin, and Dennis Hopper were among the faces looking out over the dining area. There is something deliciously apt about dining beneath that Warhol pantheon on Park Avenue, where financiers, media titans, and dynastic fortunes have long crossed paths with the people shaping fashion, advertising, and culture. Later, on a completely separate occasion, I returned for dinner with a larger group and remember sitting around a big round table near the banquettes. Across lunch, dinner, and drinks, what stayed with me was how polished the service was and how effortlessly chic the whole experience felt. There is a more creative, feminine energy here than at many of Midtown's harder-edged power restaurants, sophisticated without becoming stiff and glamorous without feeling theatrical. The prices are pure Park Avenue, but so is the proposition: extraordinary architecture, extraordinary geography, and one of the coolest places in New York to bring someone when you want the city itself to participate in the evening. Casa Lever feels timeless because it never seems to chase relevance; the building, the design, and the people passing through already provide enough electricity. Few establishments capture this particular intersection of commerce, taste, history, and social theater quite as well.

We tried Casa Lever for the first time during restaurant week, which was an amazing deal $…read more($60) for such good food and service. The service was impeccable! Our servers even told us about the history of the building (being the first glass building in NYC) and constantly refill our bread and asked us about our food. I love the fluke which goes well with the toasted peaches and the sauce. The skate was also perfectly cooked, and not fishy at all! Both the hazelnut dessert and the tiramisu are amazing. The hazelnut is on the sweet side so I would recommend getting coffee with it. Overall a very great experience and a beautiful restaurant!

Food and service was excellent. For a nice place such as this, they really could benefit from a…read morefresh coat of paint and better maintenance of the restaurant. The walls were visibly marked up and could be perceived as unclean/unkept.

Met a friend for lunch here. Loved the atmosphere and staff. Very polished and professional…read more Corina, the hostess was accommodating and was kind enough to change our table closer to the window during a beautiful sunny day. The menu was full of so many options in my food wheelhouse that I plan on returning. Jesus was our server and wonderful.

Our first wedding anniversary landed in the middle of a comically glamorous New York stretch that…read morenow feels like a little time capsule from another chapter of life. We were in town for a friend's wedding at the top of Rockefeller Center, then spent the following night celebrating ourselves at Dowling's at The Carlyle. The trip also carried a real sense of homecoming: I had lived in New York for many years, my wife spent our final year there living with me in Greenwich Village while working and teaching at NYU, and the day after we returned from our honeymoon, we moved to Philadelphia. Inside The Carlyle, we permitted ourselves to go considerably grander than our usual date night, and Dowling's rewarded the decision. The sunken levels, handsome bar, enormous plants, and procession of service carts create an almost theatrical version of Upper East Side New York that still feels warm and genuinely fun. Rockefeller Center the night before and The Carlyle that evening shared a certain Columbia University quality in my mind: established, formidable, beautifully mannered, and unmistakably connected to the old institutions of the city. What I remember most vividly was our captain, who had worked at The Carlyle for decades and seemed to carry an extraordinary amount of New York institutional memory. He was an expert and a showman, but such a tasteful one: an iconic UES dandy who was funny, gracious, and entirely comfortable in his skin. Beside us, an enormously affected couple ordered gaudy quantities of caviar while conducting a running discussion about the money involved that became almost nauseating, and somehow this only made our captain's understated confidence look better. He had clearly seen every species of wealth and eccentricity pass through those doors and knew exactly how to keep the evening moving with class. Meanwhile, another side of the weekend felt unmistakably NYU. We were staying at the Arlo NoMad in a room so tiny it bordered on conceptual art, and the next morning I headed downtown to AARMY, one of my favorite truly one-of-a-kind fitness studios, for a punishing but fun studio cycling class led by the legendary Akin Akman. Shortly thereafter, I was at JFK boarding a flight to Mykonos for another wedding, giving the whole stretch a wonderfully kinetic mix of downtown energy, internationalism, and ridiculously indulgent scheduling and consumption. Looking back, Dowling's sits perfectly at the center of those few days because it gave our anniversary exactly the level of ceremony it deserved. The food was excellent, the hospitality was extraordinary, and the entire evening carried that rare New York combination of history, theater, and humor. Sometimes a grand restaurant can feel like it is asking you to admire the institution; Dowling's made us feel lucky to be there together.

Dowling's exudes sophistication paired with exceptional service. We enjoyed a lovely meal for…read morerestaurant week, starting with the scallop ceviche and the burrata. For our mains we both ordered the NY Strip Steak, which was cooked perfectly. Honestly, every dish was amazing! I really loved the table side bread service, ultimately opting for my favorite sourdough! Definitely worth a visit for a special occasion!

Spent a week in the mark hotel and their restaurant is just fantastic. Casual elegance serving…read moredelicious food and drinks. Service was top notch consistent every day. The bar is hip and inviting and if you go broke there's a hotdog stand outside the hotel.

Outstanding service from Manager Hamud, who made sure both my guests and I had an exceptional…read moreexperience. It was also a pleasure seeing Jiby again--he's just as kind, welcoming, and genuine as he was when I first met him at Chez Margaux. Their hospitality truly stands out. I highly recommend treating yourself to this experience--you won't be disappointed!

Beautiful restaurant with illuminated marble throughout including the tables and walls. Somebody…read morespent a lot of money to decorate this restaurant. What is a little unusual for a place this beautiful is they have TVs along the walls. This night guests were enjoying the World Cup. They also have outside seating. The food was very good to excellent. We enjoyed the octopus, hummus, tuna avacado, and the fried zucchini. The wine served by the glass or bottle was tasty and everybody enjoyed their main courses, including Lamb, short ribs, & chicken kabob. Service was good until the restaurant got busy and then our waitress disappeared for a bit. Bookmarked!

The absolutely horrendous service experience makes me question all the 5-star reviews as fake/paid…read more Came for a Sunday brunch, we were probably the only people at the restaurant when we arrived and ordered. Got a hummus and some brunch mains (hummus was to share but mostly for our toddler to get started during the wait). 30 min or so passed before they showed up with the hummus. I initially thought they decided to bring everything together so it took so long but no. Had to wait another 30 min for the mains. I had to ask for more bread since 1 hummus for 5 people was clearly not sufficient and taking 1 hour to deliver brunch food in an almost empty restaurant is beyond unreasonable. Took them another 40 min to get a piece of pita bread out, came after the 1-hour-wait mains. Manager came to apologize and said she will come back "to walk us through what happened and what they can comp". Okay... of course she never came back and the waiter took off a coffee and hummus off the bill. The two cheapest items. Not even the overpriced mocktails that are sugar water priced like an alcoholic drink and literally cost them nothing. Hummus I couldn't even eat because after 1 hour of waiting had to really entertain the toddler (who behaved perfectly until over 1 hour of sitting around in one spot starving). Really disappointing and concerning that the restaurant seems to be creating fake positive reviews that mislead customers about the actual quality.

Came here to have a holiday gathering with old friends and it was nice. The food was good but the…read moreservice was better. Located close to Central Park between 5th and Madison. The space is small but super cute especially this time of year

Really good place to find lunch. when every place else is busy this place is available. And it was…read moregood. I am Italian and the Caesar salad and the pizza was great. They had a lunch special. Excellent staff. So I give it five stars. Grazie!

Actually I couldn't sit long because our one of friend was sick. So she wanted leave…read more Even I couldn't finish the order. Only I tried one bite of all... Eggplant with mozzarella was good, mushroom pan was good, hummus also was good too. But I eat better ones at Israel, Amman, Beirut and Türkiye... Ambience was good too, service was fast and our waiter helpful. Only thing was we wanted cancel the reservation because of our friend. She felt sick. But still they wanted charge 75$ per person. So this is why she push us to come, but unfortunately she felt worst and we didn't eat the food... I wish when we call for cancellation they believed us. She wanted to forward us to customer service. She said write an email to them. Free cancellation up to them... Anyway, it was tough night! I will come back and finish all my dishes:)

HaSalon has to be one of the most interesting restaurants I've been to…read more In terms of the food, everything we had was very good, but I would be lying if I said that it was amazing. While there were no complaints, nothing really blew us away, and we were honestly a little bit underwhelmed by the food. I love the uniqueness of each dish and the way that the menu is structured. It's such a refreshing change from the typical restaurant menu. However, the execution while good, wasn't anything outstanding. Regarding the service, it was beyond great. Our waiter and everyone we interacted with couldn't have been nicer and more attentive, and we really enjoyed the service that we received. Now onto what I think is HaSalons biggest attraction - the ambience. This has to be one of the most fun dinners that I've been to in a bit as just as we were finishing our meal we got up on the table and were dancing with the entire restaurant. Overall, I would say that while HaSalon is good. I don't know that I will be running back. This will definitely be a special occasion type spot for me. If you haven't been definitely check it out, but I don't know that we will be rushing back.

A pretty, cozy, and cute French wine bar in East Manhattan. The atmosphere is very French, with a…read morefew outdoor seats. Their service was great, and we ordered the Steak Frites and Boeuf Bourguignon, both dishes were delicious. They also have a plenty of good French wine selections. Price is very reasonable for Manhattan.

This was our second visit here, we like the ambiance and menu. Our party of three was seated inside…read moreon a quiet Sunday night. We ordered two glasses of wine and sparkling water, all arrived quickly. We started with the Three Cheese Plate. The plate arrived with three small portions of cheese and a small amount of jam. We asked for additional bread, which also arrived quickly. We liked the cheese ($30) which was sufficient as an appetizer. One diner was looking forward to trying the Shrimp Persillade (sauteed shrimp in Persillade, Garlic Confit & Lemon $25), but they were out of shrimp. Not a great answer when the menu is already limited. As a result, we ordered: * Goat Cheese Salad (crispy Roasted Goat Cheese Medallions served over Mixed Greens With Bacon & a Light Vinaigrette $26). * Steak Frites, Sauce au Poivre (grilled Hanger Steak (6oz) with Peppercorn Sauce and Fries $38). * Poulet Roti au Jus (1/2 roasted Organic Sasso Chicken served with Fries & Salads $35). The goat cheese salad was overly dressed, arguably drenched. The diner wasn't happy with this dish. The steak was tasty and the accompanying fries were crispy. The chicken was good, the breast was cooked very nicely, accompanied by a mild but tasty sauce. The chicken dish was served with a side salad of uncut lettuce, with a strong vinaigrette dressing, which I didn't like. The fries however, were crispy and tasty. Overall, it was a mixed bag, but I'd be willing to try this place again.