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Home > Restaurants > The Waverly Inn

The Waverly Inn

Critic's Pick Critics' Pick

16 Bank St., New York, NY 10014
at Wavery Pl.  See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
no (useful) phone Send to Phone

  • Price Range: $$$

    Key to Prices and ratings

    Upscale
    • Almost Perfect
    • Exceptional
    • Generally Excellent
    • Very Good
    • Good
    Cheap Eats
    • Best in Category
    • Excellent
    • Delicious
    • Very Good
    • Noteworthy
    • Very Expensive
    • Expensive
    • Moderate
    • Cheap
  • Critics' Rating: *

    Key to Prices and ratings

    Upscale
    • Almost Perfect
    • Exceptional
    • Generally Excellent
    • Very Good
    • Good
    Cheap Eats
    • Best in Category
    • Excellent
    • Delicious
    • Very Good
    • Noteworthy
    • Very Expensive
    • Expensive
    • Moderate
    • Cheap
  • Reader Rating:

    7.0 out of 10

      |  

    7 Reviews | Write a Review

  • Cuisine: American Traditional
View Slide Show
Photo by Mark Peterson/Redux

Hours

Sun-Mon, 6pm-11:45pm; Tue-Sat, 6pm-12:45am

Nearby Subway Stops

1, 2, 3 at 14th St.; A, C, E at 14th St.

Prices

$19-$36

Special Features

  • Fireplace
  • Hot Spot
  • Romantic

Alcohol

  • Full Bar

Reservations

Recommended

Profile

I didn’t actually beg to get my table at the Waverly Inn. I had other people do it for me. And once inside, I must admit, I felt pretty damn good about myself. And why not? There was Graydon Carter (for whom I once wrote briefly at the New York Observer), resplendent in his regular banquette, which is situated, like a wary gunfighter’s, in the back corner of the room. There was Richard Holbrooke next to him, and next to both of them, hidden discreetly in a little alcove, was Michael Stipe, whose owlish glasses and salt-and-pepper beard made him look bizarrely like Sigmund Freud. And who were all these other people? Who knew? Who cared? Tonight we were all members of the same select and cozy club. The rooms are even decorated like a kind of modest, Anglophile dining society, with low-wattage lighting and lots of raggedly debonair little tchotchkes (piles of tattered books, old photos of the ’49 Brooklyn Dodgers) that look like they’ve been gathered from some long-ago Vanity Fair photo shoot. And what about the food? For a semi-private club, it’s not bad. For a public restaurant, it could be better, although if you’re Graydon Carter and a place like this opened a few doors down from your own townhouse, you wouldn’t be too upset. In accordance with the fashions of the day, it is stressed that “local and organic” ingredients are used whenever possible at the Waverly Inn, and that the restaurant’s water is filtered through “reverse osmosis,” whatever that is. But don’t let these little flourishes fool you. This connect-the-dots bistro menu isn’t designed to win any culinary awards. It’s designed to feed patrons in a familiar, semi-competent way, without distracting from the real business at hand, which is to have a drink or two and bask in the reflected glow of each other’s glorious presence. — Adam Platt

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7.0 "Recommended"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10		 Write Your Own Review
71% Would you go back?
71% Would you take a date?
14% Would you take kids?
42% Would you go on business?
71% Would you go on a special occasion?
Food: 7.6
Service: 6.9
Décor: 8.0
Value: 7.1

Nothing to write home about

NYC_Gal from 10025 | Posted on 6/18/09

Overall Rating: 3 (Not Recommended)
Food: 4
Service: 7
Décor: 5
Value: 3

Please, please tell me what the hype is all about? My favorite neighborhood byob that has one cook and 10 tables serves better food. The decor is heavy, pretentious, and the food is mediocre, on a good day. My friend insisted that we go and try it. The hostess had to "check" with the manager if they had a table for us, it was 6pm and they were completely empty, and still not full when we left, by the way. The salad appetizer was ok, my pasta which was a special was not good, too spicy, very little sauce and sticky overall; my friend's hamburger was $20, was dry and the fries were too salty and dry as well. We decided to skip dessert and head to a local cafe for a probably much better option. To be fair, the cocktails were made very well, although too pricey, and they charge $14 for a glass of Riesling, (2007, the bottle probably costs as much). I am not going to visit this place again.

Terrible

foodcritic1 from 10012 | Posted on 8/7/08

Overall Rating: 3 (Not Recommended)
Food: 3
Service: 1
Décor: 4
Value: 4

The food was average and the service was reprehensible. There are many great restaurants in new york city, don't be allured by the exclusivity.

Read All 7 Reviews >>

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