Minetta Tavern

All 1,890 rated mentions, most helpful first

  • You pay for the privilege but the Black Label burger never disappoints. Accompanied by a perfect little heirloom tomato salad, if you ignore the mountain of (delicious) fries you can almost make the case it’s a well-balanced if not healthy meal.

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  • Keith McNally’s restaurants (Balthazar and Minetta Tavern) go out of their way to welcome solo diners by sending a very festive complimentary glass of champagne. They would also fall within your budget, have great people watching, and an appropriately jolly atmosphere.

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  • STEAK FRITES — LOVED! Would like to reorder this again!

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  • replying to u/yitianjian: Better than 4 Charles, Au Cheval, Minetta Tavern, etc?

    to me it was on par with Minetta Tavern. Both are amazing burgers that let the patty's flavor do the work rather than smothering it with sauces.

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  • I've been a regular at Minetta since it opened. The dining room has an amazing atmosphere, I love the long, dry aged steaks, the wine list is very well selected and I always get good service

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  • replying to u/SuurRae: Gallaghers for old school, Hawksmoor for modern, or Minetta Tavern if you just want fantastic food/service with a vibe.

    Minetta's cote de boeuf may be my favorite singular steak entree in NYC. I just love it with the bone marrow. Great cocktails and wine as well. And the souffle is to die for.

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  • I love Minetta and have been a regular there since it opened. The atmosphere and hospitality are definitely what bring me back again and again.

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  • replying to u/HistoryAlarmed1319: Minetta tavern. Horrible one every level Felt like I was inconveniencing them for even being there

    I will counter and say that the service at Minetta Tavern is some of the best I’ve ever experienced in NYC.

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  • Minetta is the move. But I’m going to be super controversial here and say don’t go for the burger. Go for the vibe, the history, the people, and the incredible menu. Get the duck! It’s incredible.

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  • replying to u/Leading-Efficiency-8: Disagree. It’s not bad it’s just underwhelming.

    But the burger was so flavourless, fries were crunchy. Even my free dessert was bad ☹️

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  • I felt rushed since the kitchen was closing and obviously the servers and staff wanted people to bounce at a reasonable time. I get that sometimes shit happens but making people wait 30+ minutes for their reservation is kind of crazy and the food honestly didn't justify it.

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  • I prefer the latter and it's a nice comparison between a very good cheeseburger (the regular Minetta) and a steak trying to be a burger (black label.) Their bone marrow is also outstanding as an appetizer but if you prefer less meat, I'd order a souffle in advance for afterwards as it's among the best in the city.

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  • replying to u/UFmoose: Question about Minetta. I’ve heard people call the burger “funky” in taste. Did you feel the same way? Anything you can compare it to? I have a reservation.

    it was a Tier 1 meal and the burger was indeed good

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  • replying to u/xnaa: I have no idea since I’m not from the area and I wanted to try an nyc burger. Monkey bar seems good overall since I wanted to try 4 Charles but couldn’t get a res. But in terms of burger that’s why I wanted to ask 

    It’s the evolution of the Peter Luger burger and does something special with meat that makes it stand out. It’s high end steak turned into a burger.

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  • The food at Minetta isn't the same as Balthazar. It's generally high quality and more expensive. The steaks are dramatically better and would always be my go-to order. There are many more specials, which keep it interesting. And the soufflés are excellent.

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  • The Cote Du Boeuf for two is truly outstanding...it is the best piece of meat I have ever had in the city, bar none.

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  • replying to u/personaljournal325: I went to minetta tavern today as well and the burger was definitely off. Super overcooked and very underseasoned. Rough day for the kitchen I guess, but I can't just keep pissing away 38 dollars + tax/tip for the chance at a good burger. I am currently ride or die for cozy royale's dry aged burger

    also had an underseasoned straight up -mid or less- black label burger at minetta. like 6/10 is a stretch, but i’ll give it that for quality ingredients or whatever.

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  • replying to u/sd2042: Dining solo at Minetta Tavern for dinner. Any recommendations?

    The bone marrow is pretty awesome, but super rich. People rave about the burger, and it is great, but I feel like other options are a better bang for your buck.

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  • Everyone should eat at Minetta Tavern at least once. It’s a legendary room with a few legendary dishes with enough years to have a beautiful patina and NYC character hovering all over the room. The burger is still astounding and there have been so many copies of it.

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  • replying to u/loydhope3: No ones mentioned that if you dine alone at Minetta (or any other Keith McNally restaurant) they comp you one glass of champagne!

    Minetta is actually the worst place to dine alone. They basically shamed me for assuming they would have a walk in seat available. Full bar was open and they sat me in the corner and then ruined my meal with a undercooked burger and week old stale bun.

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  • replying to u/ReliabilityTalkinGuy: If you’re going to have a real American burger, you should go get a thick one, often called a “chef’s burger”. Unlike Australia we don’t have laws requiring us to fully cook ground (minced) beef, and a medium-rare burger is a whole different experience. Don’t just go get a fast-food one like you’ve planned. Also, more generally, Australia does burgers more wrong than like anyone else. I’ve never figured out why that is exactly. I guess maybe y’all are always putting eggs and stuff on them because your beef is so overcooked. So go find some more exciting burgers. I used to work on a team that was split between NYC and SYD and we’d go visit each other once a year in both directions. Once the SYD people discovered NYC burgers (you could argue this city does them best in the world) it’s all they wanted every time they landed. Also jalapeño poppers. Those dudes loved their jalapeño poppers. Anyway, skip Peter Luger’s (it’s way overrated and for tourists anyway) and make your steak house option Minetta Tavern. Except the secret is you’re not going to order a steak. You’re going to sit at the bar and order the Black Label Burger. It’s absurdly expensive for a burger, but you have good steaks in Australia anyway. What you don’t have is the Black Label Burger. Order it rare or medium rare. It’ll fall apart in your mouth in a way you didn’t realize a burger — or any beef — can. In a good way. 

    I got the black label burger medium - which was really dry, even though there was some pink in it. My friend got medium rare and it was stone cold in the middle, he nearly threw it up

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  • Sat at the bar for 10 minutes without a menu, without being greeted, without service. Just watched the bartender hangout and ignore me.

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  • replying to u/rescuelullaby: Seconding the Minetta comment — they were both extremely rare (way too rare, I ordered medium) and yet extremely difficult to cut through??? It felt like an unpleasant chore to eat them and I ended up giving up halfway through and picking at the frites…

    I think it was cooked fine (med rare) but the quality wasn’t good, it was so tough, like a piece of rubber and for that price I wanted to cry, plus it was Valentines day. Total rip off! All hype.

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  • replying to u/Kroksfjorour: Minetta tavern has one of the best burgers in nyc. And if you dine alone, they'll give you a free glass of champagne. 

    I went relatively recently for the first time and was very disappointed by the burger. Was looking forward to trying it for months. Everything else I ordered was great but the burger was dry even after ordering it medium rare, wasn’t a whole lot going on for it outside the patty either.

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  • replying to u/milkstake: Minetta for sure

    Agreed with everyone else here - honestly very mid burger even ignoring price. Badly needed salt. Been to the top 15 beli burger places and this one was by far the worst

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