Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Price Range $$$

It’s become an annual tradition of mine to visit my friends in New York City on Thanksgiving.  As part of this visit, we always find our way to the Gramercy Tavern.  Upon entering the restaurant you are greeted by the wonderful smell of a wood fire – something unexpected in Manhattan.  The restaurant is washed in a blaze of fall colors from the painted tapestry design bordering the upper walls in the tavern to the rich dark wood of the bar, stools and tables.  Wonderful smells and sounds flow from the open kitchen.  Depending on where you’re seated you can either enjoy views of the street or see into the kitchen and the open hearth ablaze with foods being prepared near the fire.  The hostess greets you with a warm smile while offering to take your coat.

The service this year unfortunately was not as “exceptional” as we experienced in years past.  We plan to arrive at the restaurant as it opens, noon sharp.  No reservations are taken in the tavern but the tavern is where you must be.  Although we were the second party seated, the tavern quickly filled to capacity over a period of twenty minutes.  Drink order were delivered promptly.  Our menu orders were also taken.  After patiently waiting more than 45 minutes we questioned our waitress.  She was pleasant but excused the delay due to the kitchen being overwhelmed with the capacity crowd.  After an hour of waiting our waitress returned again apologizing.  Shortly after which the restaurant manager appeared apologizing and saying our courses would be complimentary due to the wait.  Our appetizers came and were exceptional as usual – shortly followed by our equally exceptional main courses.

As an additional offering from the restaurant manager, she returned to ensure our meals were satisfactory along with a bag full of Gramercy cookies – there were mini cookies of exceptional quality – should be bagged and sold at the hostess station!  As far as we are concerned, despite the delay in receiving our meals the staff did their best to rectify the problem.

If you find yourself in Manhattan, make it a point to visit the Gramercy Tavern.  Parking is available on the street.  Enjoy one of the unique cocktails created by the bar.

RATING: 4 Stars (out of 5)

Price: $$ (menu items range from $7 sandwiches/burgers to market price fish dishes ($20)

After two great back-to-back visits to Cabby Shack in Plymouth I wanted to let everyone know how great this place is!  Saturday night I had dinner with friends.  We arrived at 5:30 PM hoping to beat the crowd. But for the prime seating on the upper deck we had to wait. Although we were told 30 minutes our wait was actually an hour. But the hostesses were very pleasant. They were correct in saying the weather was so nice, people were lingering after their meals.

We were seated with a prime view of the harbor. It was well worth the wait. Our waitress promptly came by introducing herself and taking our drink orders. We ordered an appetizer, fried Calamari which also came out promptly. It was warm not hot, but nonetheless very tasty! Cabby’s adds fried banana peppers which compliment the calamari. My friends ordered the “Big Shack” Roll – this was a HUGE lobster roll with nothing but lobster meat and mayo. It was so big; my friend brought more than ½ home. My other friend ordered the Baked Stuffed Haddock. The haddock filet was a good size topped with an awesome seafood stuffing made from shrimp and covered with a lobster cream sauce. I had the fish and chips; the fish was fresh, flaky and favorable. There were three large fried filets so much that I couldn’t heat half the French fries. Service was good, the waitress had many tables, the deck was full but she came around regularly to make sure we had full drinks.

Sunday my sister and family offered to take me to dinner for my birthday. I thought they might enjoy this restaurant so I suggested it. We only waited 20 minutes for the upper deck. A band was playing on the lower deck – way too loud for the patrons to hear themselves. Service again was good; the waitress came around regularly checking on us. We shared an order of Calamari and this time it was hot! We were charged an extra $.50 for the Cajun sauce – I don’t think we were on Saturday. Either way, I think they should just offer it for free. The bar was out of Corona which was a bummer! But the Sam Summer Ale turned out a good substitute. My sister ordered the Baked Haddock, she really enjoyed it. My brother-in-law ordered the fried clams which were great. I ordered the fried scallops. They were huge, tender and tasty! My nieces had fish and chips, burger and chicken fingers. All off the adult menu and all were pleased.

I recommend this restaurant. The atmosphere is a little “island” there are even palm trees around the exterior of the restaurant. The view is great – overlooking Plymouth Harbor. Parking is not free, Plymouth now charges 7 days a week, $50/hour. I think this is short sided of the town.

I recommend Ziggy’s Ice Cream a block away for desert. They have great ice cream, including fried ice cream.