Gallagher's is back and improved
Posted: Feb 9, 2014 | 9:24 PM
Gallagher's NYC steak house since 1927 is reopening Monday, February 10th.
Last night we got a "Friends and Family" preview.
This was especially meaningful because I had been eating at Gallagher's since the 1970s or 1980s with my family.
Everything good about it is back or better than before it was sold and closed for renovations and a revamp.
The pictures, meat locker, grill, and staff and steak is still there. The horseshoe bar still serves great drinks. The classic pictures are back. We dined beneath an inscribed James Cagney photograph.
The steak is even slightly better than before, which keeps Gallagher's rank as one of New York City's great steak houses. We enjoyed the king of steak, a porterhouse.
This is new: they serve a good fish selection, this now being a Dean Poll restaurant like his Boat House in Central Park. The crab cakes are a treat.
Striking is the improved atmosphere. Fewer tables, more staff, better service, better lighting and acoustics.
Gallagher's had increasingly become touristy and what I call a "Birthday Song" restaurant in which you can hear the song sung at a big table every five minutes. The staff used be great but it was spread thin.
You might recognize the return of several of the waitstaff who have a great deal of pride to be back and better than before.
http://www.gallaghersnysteakhouse.com