Union Square Cafe vs Gramercy Tavern: Which to Book

Book Gramercy Tavern, at 42 East 20th Street, for the Dining Room’s five-course seasonal dinner at $178 per person, or for a walk-in seat at the Tavern bar, which its reservations page calls available “at all times.” Book Union Square Cafe, at 101 East 19th Street, for à la carte dinner nightly (last reservation 9:30pm) or for its 2:30pm to 5pm midday service, which has a Bar Bites menu. Neither site calls its restaurant Italian, and the Italian rooms on the same two streets are covered near the end. Everything below is taken from the two restaurants’ own websites, checked in October 2026.

How do Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern compare?

Gramercy Tavern is two rooms, so the table lists them separately.

Which is better, Union Square Cafe or Gramercy Tavern?

Neither website ranks itself against the other, so the answer follows from what each publishes. Gramercy Tavern’s About page says it opened in 1994 and has earned nine James Beard Awards. Union Square Cafe’s site says it was founded in 1985 and has won five. Both belong to Danny Meyer’s restaurant group, so what separates them is format. The Dining Room’s dinner is a five-course seasonal menu with a choice at each course. The Tavern is à la carte, with a wood-burning grill and a bar that accepts walk-ins. Union Square Cafe prices dishes one by one and adds a separate midday menu. Pick the Dining Room for a fixed evening, the Tavern for flexibility, and Union Square Cafe for choosing course by course.

How far ahead do you book Gramercy Tavern?

The reservations page says it accepts reservations 28 days in advance, with new dates released at noon. If the 28 days count back from the dining date, a table for any Friday opens at noon on the Friday four weeks earlier; confirm how the restaurant counts. It takes calls from 12pm to 9pm daily at 212-477-0777.

Union Square Cafe prints less. Its pages give a phone number, (212) 243-4020, and a Reserve button, but no booking window or walk-in policy. They do print last-reservation times: 2:30pm at weekday lunch and weekend brunch, and 9:30pm at dinner. Ask by phone how far ahead its calendar opens.

Can you walk in at Gramercy Tavern or Union Square Cafe?

At the Tavern bar, yes. The reservations page says the Tavern accepts reservations for table seating and that “The bar is available for walk-ins at all times.” The Dining Room’s pages say nothing about walk-ins. Union Square Cafe publishes no walk-in policy, so that is a question for the restaurant. Other rooms around the park are in the guide to eating near Gramercy Park.

When is each room open?

• Lunch. Union Square Cafe runs weekday lunch from 11:30am to 2:30pm and weekend brunch from 11am to 2:30pm. The Tavern is open daily from 11:30am. The Dining Room’s pages mention a lunch menu but list no lunch hours, so confirm days and times.
• 2:30pm to 5pm. Union Square Cafe lists a midday service every day, with a Bar Bites menu. The Tavern’s kitchen is open throughout the day.
• Dinner length. Union Square Cafe lists a 5.5-hour dinner window nightly. The Dining Room lists 4.5 hours Sunday to Thursday and 5 hours Friday and Saturday, so a week holds 38.5 listed dinner hours at Union Square Cafe against 32.5 in the Dining Room.
• Late evening. Union Square Cafe’s 10:30pm close comes with a 9:30pm last reservation. Of the three rooms, only the Tavern, open until 11pm, lists hours past 10:30pm. Gramercy restaurants open late compares the full late field.

How much does dinner cost at each?

Union Square Cafe’s regular dinner menu prices dishes one by one. Appetizers run from $19 for the Bibb Salad to $31 for the Seared Sea Scallop, entrées from $35 for the Jerk-Spiced Honeynut Squash to $68 for the Duck Breast Agrodolce, and desserts start at $16. One line sits apart: a Koji-Rubbed Brandt Farms Ribeye with a choice of two sides at $170. The page does not say how many people it serves, so it stays out of the comparison below; ask the restaurant.

A floor price shows the gap. The Tavern prints one à la carte menu that is not labeled by meal. Using the cheapest starter, main and dessert printed with a dollar sign, three courses cost 61 dollars per person at the Tavern (Chilled Corn Soup $20, Grilled Summer Squash $32, Chocolate Chunk Cookie $9) and 70 dollars at Union Square Cafe (Bibb Salad $19, the squash $35, a $16 dessert). For two, before drinks, tax and tip, that is 122 dollars and 140 dollars. The Dining Room’s $178 buys five courses, not three, and is nearly three times the Tavern’s floor and more than two and a half times Union Square Cafe’s; its optional wine pairing is $118. The Tavern menu adds that its prices do not include gratuity. Prix fixe dinner in Gramercy sets the Dining Room’s menu beside the other fixed-price dinners nearby.

At lunch, Union Square Cafe’s entrées printed with a dollar sign run from $28 (Turkey Reuben) to $36 (Olive Oil Poached Cod), and its three lunch pastas print bare numbers. The Dining Room’s à la carte lunch mains run from $35 to $45. The Tavern’s single menu has mains from $32 to $38.

Two prices need confirming because the pages print bare numbers. Union Square Cafe shows each pasta as a pair, such as 25 | 35 for the Fusilli al Pesto, with no dollar sign or label. The Dining Room’s lunch menu prints “THREE COURSE - 78” with no dollar sign, while its reservations page describes an optional four-course lunch.

What if the table wants Italian?

Gramercy Tavern’s About page describes “contemporary American cuisine,” and Union Square Cafe describes a neighborhood restaurant whose menu “draws inspiration from the Union Square Greenmarket” and whose booking form lists it as “New American.” On paper, Union Square Cafe sits closer to Italian cooking: its dinner menu has a Pasta section of five dishes, including Agnolotti del Plin and Mafaldine all’ Anatra. The Tavern lists one pasta, Ricotta Cavatelli at $34, and the Dining Room’s dinner offers hay-smoked gnocchi or sweet corn agnolotti at its second course.

For a full Italian dinner, each room has a neighbor. Rezdôra, at 27 East 20th Street, shares a street with Gramercy Tavern and serves dinner 5pm to 11pm every night; its pasta tasting is covered in the prix fixe guide above. Carlotto, at 100 East 19th Street, shares a street with Union Square Cafe. Its three-course prix fixe is $65 per person daily, with supplements on selected dishes, which is 5 dollars below Union Square Cafe’s 70-dollar floor above. Carlotto’s Sunday and Monday dinners end at 9pm, while Union Square Cafe’s window runs to 10:30pm nightly. Union Square Fork’s guide to East 19th Street covers that block from the square.

What does this comparison count?

The comparison uses only what each restaurant’s own site publishes in October 2026: hours, reservation terms and menu prices. Award counts are the restaurants’ own statements, and nothing here rates food or service. Totals use the lowest-priced item per course printed with a dollar sign and leave out drinks, tax and tip. Seasonal dishes rotate, so the ones named are samples from the pages as read in October.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, Union Square Cafe or Gramercy Tavern?

Neither website ranks itself against the other. Gramercy Tavern says it has earned nine James Beard Awards and Union Square Cafe says five. The practical choice is format: Gramercy Tavern’s Dining Room serves a $178 five-course menu, its Tavern is à la carte with walk-in bar seats, and Union Square Cafe is à la carte with a midday service.

Can you walk in at Gramercy Tavern?

At the Tavern, yes: its reservations page says the bar is available for walk-ins at all times, and the Tavern is open daily from 11:30am to 11pm. The Dining Room’s pages publish no walk-in policy. Union Square Cafe also publishes none, so call (212) 243-4020 to ask.

How far ahead do you book Gramercy Tavern?

Gramercy Tavern accepts reservations 28 days in advance, and its reservations page says new dates become available at noon. It takes phone reservations from 12pm to 9pm daily at 212-477-0777 and online bookings for the Dining Room and the Tavern.

Is Union Square Cafe an Italian restaurant?

Union Square Cafe’s booking form lists the restaurant as New American, and its site says the menu draws inspiration from the Union Square Greenmarket. The dinner menu has a Pasta section of five dishes, but the Italian rooms on the same streets are Carlotto at 100 East 19th Street and Rezdôra at 27 East 20th Street.