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All Reader Reviews of...

Craft

43 E. 19th St., New York, NY, 10003
nr. Park Ave. South
212-780-0880

Avg. Rating

8
Food: 8
Service: 8
Décor: 8
"Recommended"

Average Reader Rating on a Scale of 10.

66% would go back.

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A simply unforgettable night at Craft

By gdirector on 9/8/2011

  • Overall Rating: 10
  • Food: 10
  • Service: 10
  • Décor: 7
  • Yes, I would go back!

I went to Craft on Tuesday (incidentally the same night their new NY Times review came out) as part of a NY Supper Club event (www.tnysc.com). We experienced their tasting menu and it was just 3 hours of true eating pleasure. The first course was a specially made lobster dish made exclusively for our group and it was unbelievably tender and delicious with preserved lemon and fennel. The rest of the menu was incredible as well. The farm egg, which was slow poached, came with soppressata and sweetbreads and was incredibly tasty with the contrast of the soft egg and crispy meat. I wasn't surprised that The Times gave Craft 3 stars because the experience was absolutely top notch...perhaps they've raised their game again. Lastly, it made the night go over the top when we noticed Tom Colicchio hanging out at the bar and he was kind enough to sign a few menus and shake a few hands.

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62 out of 137 people found this review helpful.

Craft lives up to my expectations!

By Mercy on 8/31/2010

  • Overall Rating: 9
  • Food: 9
  • Service: 10
  • Décor: 8
  • Yes, I would go back!

Can't rave enough about the service, quality of food, and overall experience at Craft. My girlfriend's and I celebrated a birthday there one Monday evening. The staff, and there were plenty of them, were personable and efficient. Braised short ribs, monkfish, and scallops were all a hit at the table! As were the sides: baby carrots, polenta, heirloom tomato salad....the German potatoes were slightly over done, but good nonetheless. Try the sugar and spice donuts and even the coffee was exceptional! A lovely experience in a nicely run restaurant, worth every penny of the pricey tab!

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103 out of 201 people found this review helpful.

Disappointing: Tom Colicchio - was he ever a good chef?

By JandE on 7/3/2010

  • Overall Rating: 2
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 7
  • No, I would not go back!

We were very disappointed with the food. Our meals were bland, in some cases undercooked; it was by far our worst dining experience in nyc. The service was also terrible (our waiter could not recommend wine pairings, or even which side to pair with a main, etc.). Perhaps this was once a good restaurant, but it seems the only thing to recommend it now is the hype around Colicchio and Top Chef - not the food. We think Colicchio should revisit Craft - his criticism is needed at his restaurant far more than it is on TV. (If you are looking for a fresh, simple, yet sophisticated dining experience, we suggest going to blue hill at stone barns.)

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89 out of 199 people found this review helpful.

It's just ok

By foodismylife84 on 12/23/2009

  • Overall Rating: 5
  • Food: 3
  • Service: 7
  • Décor: 8
  • No, I would not go back!

As always a lot of hype from a celebrity chef restaurant, I've ate here several times always with a problem. Cold food, bad service, etc..... Can't wait to see how the new restaurant does.....

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129 out of 295 people found this review helpful.

Must try

By Jstlookather on 6/3/2009

  • Overall Rating: 9
  • Food: 9
  • Service: 9
  • Décor: 9
  • Yes, I would go back!

Another restaurant we tried in NY & only because of the Chef. It was a wonderful dinner but nothing over the top. Although, we enjoyed it there are much better restaurants out there in NYC.

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160 out of 315 people found this review helpful.

Table for 4?

By matthewf on 4/12/2009

  • Overall Rating: 6
  • Food: 6
  • Service: 5
  • Décor: 7
  • No, I would not go back!

I had called for a 6pm reservation for 4 people on a Tuesday night. I was told all they had was a table for 2. I had seen Top Chef(I know, sad) and thought well maybe its just that good so I wanted to try it. We walked into an empty restaurant and were seated at a table for 4. Odd, I thought there was only room for 2. Whatever. We decided that we'd order the tasting menu as this to me is the Chef's best food forward. Lets just say i think Tom C. needs to head back to the kitchen and take some of his own advice. The entire meal was uninspired. That said, the wine list was wonderful. Wont be going back anytime soon.

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157 out of 305 people found this review helpful.

dear chef tom, i'm disappointed

By missoverrated on 3/12/2009

  • Overall Rating: 7
  • Food: 7
  • Service: 7
  • Décor: 8
  • No, I would not go back!

I went to craft with my boyfriend yesterday night. He and I both love top chef and were exciting to see what Tom was made of. PRO: The inside of the restaurant was a pleasure: classy without being pretentious, nice music, sofa chairs, nice bathroom and overall comfortable and trendy. My main course scallops with side of shitake mushrooms were amazing! My boyfriend's short ribs were nicely cooked. We got chocochip muffin treats on our way out. CONS: The hostess (there were three. why? i don't know.) They were quite disorganized. In this case, three was not the magic number. The first course we got the crispy bacon and arugula with lemon salad. Do not get the salad. It was extremely salty, so much so that you can physically see the salt on each arugula. The bacon was one word: interesting. It wasn't bad but it sure wasn't good. I still can't figure it out. I thought it was suppose to be crispy but it kept sticking onto our teeth, making it hard to chew. We also got the side of sauteed bokchoy which was too tangy and blah.

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168 out of 323 people found this review helpful.

amazing dinner

By angryserver on 2/12/2009

  • Overall Rating: 8
  • Food: 7
  • Service: 8
  • Décor: 10
  • Yes, I would go back!

Very simple food American food w/ French techniques, i dont recommend the tasting menu just because you can create your own menu specially if you r dinning w/ 3 or more people its a better value, the steaks r amazing, service not bad at all but its a little overprice simple tasting food is not that expensive, but overall is a great meal overrated but good, drinks are not that great but they have a very nice wine list

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131 out of 281 people found this review helpful.

Quite disappointing: terrible service trumps very good food

By floyd30 on 1/14/2009

  • Overall Rating: 6
  • Food: 8
  • Service: 2
  • Décor: 5
  • No, I would not go back!

The food was really, really good. It lived up to my expectations, which were high to begin with. Too bad the whole experience was overshadowed by how surprisingly poorly we were treated there. First we waited nearly an hour to be seated, although we arrived right on time for a reservation I had confirmed earlier in the day. The rest of the meal followed suit. The waiter was totally inattentive and the food took forever -- though it was good, it was clear that it had been sitting around a while before it made it to our table. There are many NY restaurants are just as good or better and actually treat you WELL. Which is what one should expect from a restaurant where you're paying $300-400 for dinner for two! Self-respecting diners, look elsewhere.

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144 out of 302 people found this review helpful.

DO NOT go to this Restaurant....

By adriane33 on 12/31/2008

  • Overall Rating: 1
  • Food: 1
  • Service: 1
  • Décor: 5
  • No, I would not go back!

We were in NY and my husband wanted to try this restaurant. We waited maybe 15 min before a waiter even came over to our table. It was my husband and I and our 12 year old neice. We ordered the ravioli, chicken and my husband ordered the ribs. We got 2 sides of the potatoes , mind you, they charge $8 per side. So, the food comes and there were 3 ravioli's on the plate. My neice cuts into them, and there is spinach inside! There is no cheese even on the things. The menu did not say this, and she would not eat spinach. My husband and I each tried one and they were undercooked and gross. My chicken was just OK..I have had better. His ribs he said were not good. And then the worst part. The potatoes were dry and had an outer coating of sea salt. They were basically inedible. We have been to many 4 and 5 star restaurants and I can not understand how people rated this place high. The service sucked and the guy never even came over to check to see how everything was.

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138 out of 274 people found this review helpful.

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