Fraunces Tavern

54 Pearl Street
New York, NY 10004
(212) 968-1776
website

After a grueling week at work, my Friday wasn’t going any better, as I’d been asked to push off going to lunch.  I finally managed to escape around 2, and decided to treat myself to Fraunces Tavern.  I’d passed by the place numerous times and heard it mentioned frequently: George Washington stayed there; the food was good but overpriced.  Those were the two notable things I’d heard. 

After perusing the menu on MenuPages, it didn’t look awfully expensive, but then the portions might be super small.  With that in mind, I trekked the two short blocks over from my office to the Tavern and entered.  Despite it being late in the day, I’d made a reservation anyway, for myself and my famished coworker.  She was keen on trying the place as well, since she adores history. 

We both started with soup; her with the French onion, which she’d never had before but enjoyed.  For some reason I cannot fathom in the slightest, I managed to forget to take a picture of my soup (New England clam chowder) while taking a picture of her soup. 

This is such a shame, although the soup looked like regular old NE clam chowder, it was really delicious.  There were pieces of thick cut hearty bacon sprinkled throughout, although not many clams as I would have liked.  The chowder part itself could have been thicker, though this is personal preference.  Other than that, it was pretty darn good. 

My coworker craved a juicy burger, and opted for such.  She said it was pretty good, though not the best she’d ever had.  At $13 for the platter, it does seem a bit pricy, though then again, this is the Financial District, which, as someone once termed it, is a “Good Food Wasteland” and incredibly overpriced. 

As I mentioned, I’d been having a grueling week and wanted to go all out, so I ordered the seafood cobb.  Though I was a bit peeved to discover that the shrimp were clearly frozen/canned petite shrimp, and the lobster/crab meat was also of the canned variety, the salad was actually pretty darn good.  I mixed all the components together and was rewarded with a tasty mixture of red onions, lemon vinaigrette, shredded lettuce, bacon, and either shrimp, lobster meat or crab meat, which all pulled together nicely.  I did feel it was on the small side, though I was full after eating it all.  The deep fried wonton wrappers were a nice touch to munch on afterwards, or to layer a bit on top and eat like that.  $14 for the dish.

Yvo says: I didn’t feel it was overpriced, though $27 on lunch is a bit much (incl. tax & tip- soup was $8).  I mean, I enjoyed my meal every much, and the atmosphere is so much like eating in a museum or historical landmark (which it is), that it’s very pleasant to sit there and eat.  Although we had a great window table with a view of the bagel cart outside, it still felt authentic.  HOWEVER, I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here.  If you work in the area and want to go to a slightly more upscale place than is the standard fare around here, go here (or Waterstone Grill, down the street… or Delmonico’s, a few blocks away…).  If you want the historical aspect, definitely go here and enjoy.