My wife, Wendi, the founder of this blog, and I seem to have a negative effect on New York businesses. A year after we visited the Waldorf Astoria it closed. After we visited the famed Carnegie Deli it closed. We ate at Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen & Bar, and now it has gone kaput. Where will it all end?
Well, a little truth in advertising: The Waldorf Astoria closed for repairs (you can read about it here); I think the owner of the Carnegie Deli just wanted out of the business (you can read our post about it here); and Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar, well it seemed to be doomed from the day it opened five years ago. The popular host of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives took it on the chin a lot about the restaurant, which you can learn more about by reading this scathing New York Times review in which the 500-seat Times Square restaurant received zero stars.
Wendi and I ate at the restaurant in August 2017. We vacationed in New York City with Randi and Shaun Vahl, Wendi’s sister and brother-in-law. The Hyatt Centric in Times Square was our home base for the five days in the city, and on the first day we headed to Guy’s restaurant before catching Groundhog Day: The Musical (which has closed). Wendi captured it as one of the many we did while in NYC. If you want to see more, check it out here.)
I ordered the pretzel-crusted chicken tenders …
Wendi ordered the pork slyders …
Randi had the Waldorf chicken salad sandwich …
and Shaun settled on the roasted rosemary half chicken …
I said Shaun had the roasted rosemary chicken.
All of us had a good time, and we enjoyed our meals. They were nothing special, perhaps a little pricey, but the restaurant is in Times Square, where real estate is at a premium. It wasn’t the best restaurant we have ever tried, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. Perhaps our waitress, Rolanda, made the evening special. She was very engaging, very helpful and very friendly. She gave us pointers on our meals, and she sort of served as an unofficial tour guide, giving us a lot of pointers on things we could do for free.
Because the restaurant can accommodate up to 500 people, we got a table quickly. We also didn’t have to wait too long for our food. While the restaurant has endured a lot of negative publicity (read this piece or this one), I was glad we went. I remain a big fan of Guy Fieri. I really love his Diners’ Drive-Ins and Dives show, and the show played an important role in my life (I will share how one day, not today).
It is kind of sad to see the restaurant close. I would not have known about the restaurant’s fate had it not been for my co-worker, Emily, who we rely on for the latest in pop culture news. It has just become one of a handful of places that we were fortunate enough to visit before their doors closed. I am reluctant to tell Emily, a huge Mets fan, that we took in a game while we were there. I sure hope the Mets don’t fold or I’ll never hear the end of it.
Here’s a slideshow from our visit:
