Social Kitchen NYC

This place is pretty great. We came after a thesis defense for our masters students and for a big table, they got the orders right across the board. Everybody ordered burgers and everybody really liked their food. A friend of mine ordered the mac and cheese and was gracious enough to share – and boy I was lucky because it was delicious. I personally ordered the short ribs over polenta. Let me tell you — sometimes at restaurants, they will give you a measly beef cube over some polenta. This place served three massive pieces of beef. In fact, my boyfriend and I ended up splitting bites of it and I was so full when I was done. The vibe of the place is also pretty awesome — we asked what music they were playing and it was the Pandora station called Amy Winehouse radio — so you get that smoky, bluesy, jazzy feel that perfectly compliments the atmosphere. I will absolutely be back, especially since it’s so close to work. This was a complete and unexpected score!

Had a fine meal here — nothing extraordinary. Good food but loud music and AC blasting on a 60 degree night. Then the bill comes for our party of 4…
20% gratuity included plus a tip line. I’m with my mother in law, wife and her friend who are all French, so it’s obvious what’s happened here. The waitstaff play dumb when I bring it up and ask if I want to see a manager. Yeah I do.
«Oh this is standard for us. No it’s not disclosed on the menu, but we do this for all customers, since that’s the normal tip. I can redo your bill if you want me to.» I let the manager know yes I would want a new bill and also that he’s clearly lying.
He returns, I call him out again and he gives in admitting «well yeah we just do this for foreigners.» Real nice discriminatory and likely illegal policy you’ve got there. If you don’t want the business of the handful of potentially poor tipping tourists that visit Kips Bay just put a sign up.

This place seems to have a lot of potential (nice environment, liked the look and feel of the place), but I was disappointed in my meal. My boyfriend and I both ordered the social burger (asked for mine medium, his medium rare) and both came out well-​done. The pictures of the burger look great on here, but I would not recommend it.

Came here with my girlfriend to satisfy our burger cravings. The place was very cozy, and was relatively empty when we came. The menu was standard, but certainly had a plethora of options.
We both ordered the Social Burger, which comes with caramelized onions and mushroom, pepper jack and a spicy mayo.
My burger unfortunately was overcooked, which is not a deal breaker, but is obviously not a positive. Besides that, the burger was adequate, but unremarkable. The onions and mushrooms carried more of the flavor than the burger itself, or the cheese /​spicy mayo. The bun was also a bit stale, which is more frustrating than anything.
I would be willing to possibly try some of the other options here, or maybe even brunch, but was disappointed by my first visit.
Should point out that the waitstaff was very friendly and attentive, and the space itself is very charming.

I always pass by this place so I thought I would give it a go.
Entrée– My friends and I all ordered burgers but they came out extremely burned so I had to ask them to send another one since the burnt taste was utterly unbearable.
Drinks– the drinks were really good
Appetizers– Mozzarella balls were nothing special
Service-​AMAZING!

I’ve been going to Social Kitchen for a year now and I recommend this place for many reasons. It has a chill, dim lit/​speak easy vibe. A place to go on a date, or take friends you haven’t seen in a long time. The service and staff are warm, inviting and personable. Their food is top quality, flavorful and fresh! I’ve tried a wide variety of dishes from their refreshingly dynamic menu. Some of my favorites were the chimi-​churri skirt steak, pickled vegetables, braised short ribs & burgers. They have a mixologist who knows his stuff or you can try one of the crafted cocktails on the menu such as the Oro Y Cielo. Cheers! #socialkitchennyc

I can’t wait to come back here again! I popped in with some friends after a show and it amazing in all aspects. The ambience was great for a date night or a night out with friends. The food is good and if you order a burger plan on sharing because they are massive! Everything was worth the price. Our one complaint was we wish the dessert menu had more options.

Ridiculously long wait, 45m. Don’t come here. They have like one waiter for the entire place

Hubby took me here for date night and we had a fantastic time. The service was good, the waitress was attentive without hovering around us.
Drinks were tasty and sufficiently strong. Started with the Grounds For Divorce and then tried the Smoky Breeze and was pleased. My husband got Kreiger’s Twin and I think that is what I will have next time.
Food was amazing. We started with the Fried Calamari and the mussels and then I had the salmon and hubby the branzino. Right now we are both on a meat free diet but can’t wait to go back and try the lamb, someone next to us ordered that and it looked fantastic.
I’m not usually in the area but had a work thing a couple of blocks away so it was great that we decided to pop it and will be making the trip there again soon.

I celebrated my 3 – 0 at Social Kitchen with a large group and couldn’t have asked for a better experience. The food was delicious (burgers for the win!), drinks were were on point, and the service was spectacular. I wasn’t the only one who felt this way — got nothing but positive feedback from friends at the party. Can’t wait to get back!

Went there on a Tuesday night the restaurant was pretty empty. The wings were great, definitely try it if you’re there. My wine had cork in it and when I told the waiter, he was incredibly rude and didnt want to swap it out until I asked. I had the pork ribs as my main course, it was a bit dry but ok. My friends had their lamb chops which they really liked. Definitely not a place to go out of your way for. Hope the service gets better!

Came in for brunch with some friends this past Sunday, and while the experience wasn’t bad, it’s was very much just «meh»
Firstly, the restaurant was super empty — maybe 3 other parties. At brunch. On a Sunday, In Manhattan. That should have been our first clue that this maybe wouldn’t be the best brunch ever — when every other place in the city is overflowing at brunch on any given Sunday, Social Kitchen was really empty.
Despite the lack of patrons, the service was slow and inattentive. Come on, you have 3 tables — how about offering us another round? Or glancing over every now and again to see if we need anything?
We ordered a round of drinks, which were good. Strong.
For breakfast, I ordered the omelette (which was exactly the same as the frittata, by the way — don’t let the name fool you, they’re both just omelettes). The omelette was ok — a little bland. It came with homefries and salad. The salad was actually really good and the homefries we also ok.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad spot, and if you don’t want to wait then I guess it’s perfect — but there’s much better brunch to be had in Manhattan.

This relatively large restaurant has an appealing variety of seating options — from bar stools at the bar and at high-​tops to various dining-​room tables, to a semi-​private party room in the back (or maybe really not-​at-​all private because it’s on everybody’s way to bathroom). We sat at a high table by the window, which was great for both conversation and people-​watching.
The beer and wine menu is fairly limited, but is sufficiently varied that most drinkers will find something they’ll like; in fact, each of the four of us stuck to the same drink for multiple rounds. They also have liquors and cocktails, but I did not pay attention to them.
The food was pretty tasty and everyone enjoyed their dish. The prices were reasonable for the neighborhood and restaurant type. Service was friendly and timely.

Has potential, but lacking.
Came in here for brunch yesterday afternoon, and was disappointed by the experience.
First, the good:
Our drinks for the most part were good. My brunch companions stuck to their mimosas, I tried some of the other cocktails, and they were good. Well mixed, good presentation. Our second server, Adam, was also great. He was attentive, cordial, and was a plus to the entire experience.
The bad:
Our first server, who’s name I didn’t even care to get, was awful. When we were seated, we asked if the bottomless mimosas were an option, and his response was «I’m not sure, you can ask the bartender.» His rudeness continues when asked about items on the menu, as if he couldn’t be bothered with such questions as «how is the Canadian Bacon on the eggs Benedict cooked»
The food itself was ok. Nothing to write home about, though I’d avoid the Mac & Cheese — it’s slightly better than the Kraft Blue Box.
Overall — I won’t be back. There are much better brunch options in this area.

Walked in on a Tuesday night for dinner. Place was empty. Now I know why. While these guys do a great job at food presentation (see my pics). I only wish the food tasted as good as it looks. Brussel Sprouts were soggy. I asked for them to be cooked a little more so they’d be crispy. They tried, but failed. The bison burger lacked taste and the truffle fries lacked salt, and you could barely taste the ruffle. Major disappointment. Over all the food lacked taste. It didn’t taste BAD– it just didn’t have any flavor. ONLY tasty part were the cheese balls. Won’t be going back.

So, I’ve been here about 5 times now.
I really like the interior. The layout is really interesting for a NYC restaurant; lots of cool details and it feels really intimate. I love sitting in the nook towards the side. It’s difficult to describe but you have floor length windows running along 26^th street next to your tables (really great if you like to people watch!).
The food is pretty good. Honestly, I don’t usually eat much when I’m there, but I really enjoy the brussel sprouts side! (I really loved these choose-​your-​own pickle things they had as an app when they first opened but unfortunately they don’t serve them anymore).
The drinks are AMAZING. The wine menu is pretty limited (3 reds, 3 whites, and 3 sparkling) but I’ve tried a few; they’re really versatile wines that taste great (and most of them are locally sourced!). The cocktails, however, are out of this world. I love, love, love the Earl Grey Revival! One of the best cocktails I’ve had in NYC.
Ok, so he’s said all these great things so far — why only 3 stars? Well, frankly, the service kinda sucks. I don’t know if it’s because I usually come at off times or I’m young and the waiters assume I’m not going to buy much/​tip but the servers have been really hands off every time I’ve been there. Like, to the point where I haven’t even seen them in 15 minutes and my drink’s been empty for five (The bussers are great though. Thanks for helping me out in getting our waiter’s attention!). I just wish they were a bit more attentive.
I’ll definitely come back. But maybe I’ll stick to the bar next time.

I passed by this restaurant many times in the neighborhood and always thought the ambiance looked nice (brick walls and it opens out nicely onto the sidewalk), so I decided to try it out with a friend who was visiting from out of town. Definitely choose the front room with the windows over the more isolated back room. The service was very slow. Our waiter took over 10 minutes to give us water and menus, and there were very long gaps between ordering, eating, and paying. But on the bright side he was very friendly!
The drinking and dining experience was very meh. The cider I ordered was sour and I couldn’t finish more than half. Other Unilocalers warned that the burger was mediocre, but we were both really craving one so we just gave it a go. Always listen to the wise Unilocalers! The meat was just a flavorless overcooked blob, although the Social Kitchen sauce wasn’t bad. The menu never said the burgers came with fries, so we ordered the Italian style parmesan truffle fries. Don’t order extra if you get a burger! We had so many fries we didn’t know what to do with them.
Social Kitchen was overall disappointing and not worth the $ 25. I probably won’t be coming back. But if you’re really hungry and in the area I’d say it’s not the worst (the atmosphere is still pleasant).

I came with my daughter for dinner during the week. Really wanted to try this place as it is a new addition to the neighborhood. The place looks nice. Lots of tables but a small bar area.
She wanted the burger and I had the chopped salad.
The salad was ok, I couldn’t finish it. I should have asked for it without mushrooms. They were slimy like the came from a jar.
My daughter was only able to eat half of the burger. She is 6 so I didn’t expect her to eat the huge burger. It was an ok burger, not much flavor. Just tasted like a hunk of meat. The fries were good.
I really wanted to like this place as I feel all the restaurants in the area are not so great. I will try them again as they opened not too long ago and want to see if things change.

Good addition to the neighborhood! Have only stopped by once but was really pleased with the service and meal. Every time I have walked by it has been crowded. The atmosphere is laid back and very relaxing. The back dining room is a little awkward because if you get there and outside dining area is too crowded, they put you back there and there is a very high chance you will be the only people back there. I kind of liked it because everywhere in this city is always so loud and crowded.
Anyway, the food was good too. I ordered a salad — I can’t remember the name of it now but I think there was avocado in it.Yum. The parmesan truffle fries were also super good. I would order those again. Good spot, good food, come check it out!

I’ve walked by this place a bunch and have always wanted to try it so my roommate and I came here for dinner the other night. They’re probably between a 2 – 3 in my book, but the other Unilocalers convinced me to move it up a notch.
The service is fantastic — a host greeted us when we walked in and our waitress was attentive, friendly, and knew her stuff when we had questions. It’s got a nice vibe to it too — since it’s on the corner, there’s plenty of window/​outdoor seating and they definitely take advantage of that by having their windows open essentially the whole way up to make it seem like you’re outdoors, under a deck. The inside bar area was dimly light with dark wooden floor and tables/​chairs.
The reason they’re between a 2 – 3 is because their vegetarian options aren’t up to snuff. For appetizer, we ordered the Spanish fries. On their menu, they have a whole section dedicated to fries, so our thought going in was this is a place that has amazing fries and unique concoctions that they serve up. The Spanish fries have jalapenos and queso fresco on them, and then they came out, we saw (and tasted) that they were just regular fries, nothing really special about them, with some crumbled up cheese that was half melted on the fries and a few slices of fresh jalapenos. It wasn’t really what we were expecting, but that’s fine… we ate them nonetheless (fries are fries).
My roommate ordered the black bean burger and I opted for the Social Kitchen salad. I took the recommendation of our waitress as I asked her which one was better between that and the green day. My salad was very good, however, not as much kale as I would’ve liked and way too much jicama. I find jicama to be tasty, sweet, and crunchy, so it was fine that there was a lot on there, but it was definitely overkill (I left a bunch in my plate). I love walnuts in salads, so that was a nice touch, and they were cut up into small pieces so you can taste them in most bites with the kale, avocado, and apple. From a portion perspective, I thought it was the perfect size after eating a few french fries.
The black bean burger on the other hand, to put it simply, was not good. It looks like a mush of canned refried bean paste and that’s kind of how it tasted. It was dry and super thick, and as soon as you would take a bite, it would press against the bread/​hands and crumble down below into the plate. It’s messy.
If I come back, it’ll probably be just for drinks as they have an extensive wine list and some cocktails that looked good.