Union Square Cafe

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Forty Years and Still Essential

Union Square Cafe is the flagship restaurant that launched Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, and after four decades it remains one of New York City's most enduring dining institutions. Founded in 1985, it pioneered a way of eating that felt genuinely new at the time: a casual yet refined dining room where warmth and hospitality were as important as what arrived on the plate, and where the menu answered directly to what was growing at the Union Square Greenmarket just steps away.

The restaurant has won five James Beard Awards — including Outstanding Restaurant and Outstanding Service — and ranked first on Zagat Survey's Most Popular Restaurant list an unprecedented nine times. Wine Spectator has recognized the cellar with its Best of Award of Excellence, a reflection of the serious but approachable wine program overseen today by Beverage Director Dorian González Vega.

The Team Behind the Kitchen

Executive Chef Lena Ciardullo now leads the kitchen, continuing a tradition that has trained and mentored scores of restaurant professionals over three decades. Alongside her, Executive Pastry Chef Toni Weiburg and Chef de Cuisine Andrew Taylor round out a team that keeps the cooking grounded in the seasons while finding room for genuine creativity.

What to Eat

The menu reads like a love letter to the market and the Mediterranean in equal measure. Pasta is a quiet strength — Agnolotti al Limone filled with sheep's milk ricotta and Meyer lemon, Mafaldine all'Anatra with duck ragù, pistachio and amaro, and Gemelli allo Zafferano with ruby red shrimp and saffron speak to a kitchen comfortable with Italian idioms applied to New American sensibilities. The raw bar anchors the room with Island Creek Oysters and a generous USC Seafood Platter. On the heartier end, a Koji-Rubbed Brandt Farms Ribeye and Lamb Scottadito with smashed favas and pistachio relish reward those who come hungry.

Then there are the Bar Nuts — a rosemary-and-cayenne-spiced mix that emerges from the oven every afternoon at around 4:45 and fills the room with fragrance. They won the New York Press award for Best Bar Nuts in New York, and the recipe has since been published in the Union Square Cafe Cookbook. Few things better capture what this place is about: something simple, done with real care, that makes you feel at home.

A Place to Call Home

The dining room on the southeast corner of 19th Street and Park Avenue South serves lunch on weekdays, weekend brunch, a daily midday aperitivo hour, and dinner every night. Private dining is available for groups and special occasions. After 40 years, Union Square Cafe still operates on the belief that a great neighborhood restaurant should always give you a place to call home — and it lives up to that promise.