
West Village
16 Bank Street, corner of Waverly Place
no phone
Reviewed again on April 11, 2009: Pascale and Michael were in from Zurich and wanted to hit a New York hot spot. Some place that requires a password to gain entry, where the scene is the draw. So we went back to the Waverly Inn. The drinks, the wine, and the mac'n cheese with truffles were all expensive as hell, but the food was, as usual, good, and the vibe was happening.
OVERALL RATING: We saw Hugh Grant
Freshly reviewed on September 30, 2008: Wynn was in town and we wanted a place that was happening, as well as a good meal, so we walked over to Ye Waverly Inn a few days before and made a reservation -- they like to eyeball you before deciding whether or not you can reserve a table. Normally, we wouldn’t endorse this behavior, but we kind of like the challenge. There's a small bar room at the entrance where we drank and chatted and absorbed the charged atmosphere -- it's a see and be seen crowd, with many tables reserved by publicists for whoever is in town. They take care of their own just like we take care of Wynn. We had salad and soup and tuna tartare with avocado to begin, then crisp roasted chicken with root vegetables, all quite good, as they had been on an earlier visit. A Waverly lemonade with gin was a sassy lubricant. Dessert included a pedestrian apple crisp and the excellent chèvre cheesecake to finish. When we left at eleven, the joint was still hopping.
OVERALL RATING: Sean Penn was there
Originally reviewed on March 18, 2007: We'd heard all the good and bad about the recently reopened Ye Waverly Inn. That it was snobby and pretentious, hard to get in, with a simple menu of well prepared food. We walked by in the late afternoon on our way home and made a reservation for a few hours later. We were offered a table in the main room. It looked clubby and dark, so we opted for the back room which is glass enclosed with a gas burning fire. The end of day light lit it brightly. The food was very good. We had tuna tartare with avocado and frisee, and roasted beets with crumbled Humboldt goat cheese to start. Then Amish chicken roasted crisp with earthy mushrooms, and smoked trout served on a cedar plank with whole, lightly roasted carrots. And a side of sauteed spinach. Hard to say which was the best -- they all competed for first place. We felt obliged to try a dessert -- the Vermont chevre cheese cake was smooth and creamy, and a good way to fulfill an obligation. The space is undoubtedly unchanged from years gone by -- in the daylight it was borderline seedy. But when the lights go down, your tongue can't see, and what it said was all good.
OVERALL RATING: A new favorite