Need some advice on places to eat and have a drink in Harlem, looking at early afternoon.

http://www.sylviasrestaurant.com/

The Red Rooster, The Lenox Lounge, The Harlem Tea Room, Amy Ruth's

Sylvia's has the rep but it is not great food.

Caveat-We have not been there but the Red Rooster opened by Marcus Samuelsson formerly of Aquavit has been getting excellent reviews.

Why??

You are a 10 min subway ride to midtown


-just wondering!

But if I ever had the slim slim ,chance I would eat at Rao's. (except I am not Joe Pesce!)

-john

http://www.menupages.com/restaurants...ooster-harlem/

I doubt if many of us here will be eating at Rao's anytime soon. It makes me laugh to remember when, about 25 years ago, I walked into the restaurant to ask about getting a reservation for the future. The guy at the bar was as charming as he could be; he gave me a specific date to call them (months ahead) and told me he would make sure I got a table. Guess what? I called, exactly on the date he told me. No one remembered me. I did not get a table.

Sylvia's reviews have been less than good recently. I believe they get a lot of tour groups.

Dinosaur BBQ is good, on the far west side, at 700 West 125, near the Harlem Fairway.

http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/locations/harlem/

Recent article on Red rooster from FT:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/0c23103e-5...#axzz1JrokmBBe

I have never eaten at Rao's but the best I have heard about it is mixed reviews. And they charge an awful lot for their tomato sauces that are sold in supermarkets.

Patsy's is fine near by and you can always eat at the COSTCO snack bar.

I very much liked Miss Mamie's Spoonbread Too (classic soul food) and Amy Ruth's (ditto, with an emphasis on "fill-in-the-blank" and waffles).

Very much disliked Sylvia's (soul food) and Patsy's (pizza) when I tried them and cannot recommend either at all. See my report on all but Miss Mamie's below:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...xperiences.cfm

Mamie's is great and it is near Central Park and the Cathedral of St John the Divine - more Morningside Heights than Harlem but well worth the visit.

Another vote for Miss Mamie's. Wonderful, authentic southern cooking. It's a friendly neighborhood place and, as mentioned, right near the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

I've never had a bad meal there.

If you like BBQ, then definitely try Dinosaur.

I was in NYC a week ago this week. My friend, a local - born and bred in the city - wanted to go to Sylvia's for brunch. She goes fairly often and likes it a lot. (The rest of us weren't that hungry so we stayed in and ate at home).

Perhaps it does get tour buses. It is popular. But it's popular with at least some locals.

This is the edge of East Harlem, but it was reviewed in a local magazine this week and might be something to keep in mind, for locals who live near there, and for OP. More a bar than a restaurant but sounds decent enough for anyone in the area of E. 97th/Mt.Sinai Hospital..


http://earlsny.moonfruit.com/

http://nymag.com/restaurants/reviews...review-2011-4/

Red Rooster is getting good reviews? Here's at least one bad one:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...an-sutton.html

So what happened to Mame? I'm enjoying this thread anyway.

We were at Sylvia's (unable to get reservations at Red Rooster) this week after taking the Harlem Heritage tour (which was very good).
We were eating early and it seemed to be about an even mix of tourists and locals.
There were 3 of us and we got 3 different entrees, 6 different sides and a dessert...we all liked everything. Service was a little slow but we were happy to be sitting (after doing a lot of walking) and we were not in a hurry.
I would go back again without hesitation.
A couple on our tour had been to Red Rooster for lunch before the tour...one liked the salmon and the other thought the chicken was not very good-overall, they did not give glowing reviews. I felt better about being unable to get a reservation!!

Thanks all for your replies. I checked out Sylvia's on the net, as well as the other sites that were linked. From the looks of things, we will be able to find something in Harlem quite easily. So many places, only so much time. Will be in NY in less than three weeks. Going to see Avenue Q Off Broadway. Hope it lives up to the reviews! Thanks again.