The Smith: A Lincoln Center Restaurant Arrival

Exterior shot of The Smith restaurant at its new Lincoln Center location at night

The Smith restaurant in NYC has finally opened its doors to a sprawling and handsome new space across from Lincoln Center. For months their expansive front window taunted us with promises of their delicious first-rate casual eats. The Smith has been one of our go-to restaurants in the East Village for the past five years and we’re big fans of their food, their prices and their staff.

We’ve been really excited about this second location; especially since we’ve had experienced disappointing indie dining at Lincoln Center and Celebrity Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s restaurant also near Lincoln Center didn’t wow us either as high end locations for a quick bite. After one visit to The Smith Lincoln Center restaurant, we’re happy to say that it seems like partners Jeffrey Lefcourt and Glenn Harris have delivered another winner. 

A plate of Blistered Shishito Peppers from The Smith restaurant at Lincoln Center

The Smith at Lincoln Center: New Location, Same Great Food

The Smith’s Lincoln Center menu is packed with crowd-pleasers, including all of our long-time favorites from downtown. The Hot Potato Chips with Blue Cheese Fondue was the first thing we ever tried and the flavor and texture palette of this dish is awesome. It’s creamy, chewy, crispy, sharp and salty. Ditto The Smith Burger Deluxe, which is one of the best, most under-hyped ground beef sandwiches in town. A little more left-field is the Vegetable Bibimbap. A sushi rice topped with a combination of shiitake mushrooms, spinach, pickled carrot, edamame, bean sprouts, and a sunny-side-up egg is also a satisfying filling and unique meal.

Customers sit and eat in the dining area of The Smith restaurant at Lincoln Center

A Satisfying Meal From a Restaurant at Lincoln Center

For dinner, The Smith at Lincoln Center gave us three dishes, all of which were terrific. We devoured our starter, the Blistered Shishito Peppers, which were nicely salted and, as forewarned by our friendly and attentive server, a lot more fiery than usual. Pasta is another standard orders, and on this night it we were treated to a plate of Orecchiette. Cooked perfectly al dente as usual and tossed with a generous helping of chicken sausage, pickled chilies, and broccoli. It was a little oily towards the end of the bowl, but still made a great meal. We also enjoyed our side roasted Brussels Sprouts, a bit of a cliché this time of year, yet still finished things off nicely.

Plate of orecchiette pasta tossed with chicken sausage, pickled chilies and broccoli at The Smith restaurant at Lincoln Center

More Than Just Another NYC Midtown Restaurant

Aside from the always-satisfying food at The Smith, the real appeal to the place is their attitude, they care. Little touches like sprinkling crunchy sea salt on top of your butter, or placing two bottles of water on your table; one tap the other a bubbling sparkling water are the sort of things you do when your best friends or loved ones are eating over. It was that attention to detail, to that made sure you felt tended to, even during a quick dinner before you head over to Lincoln Center for the ballet, or to see a movie on one of the 25 screens just a few blocks away.

‘Bravo!’ to The Smith. And thank you.

The bar with water bottles at The Smith restaurant at Lincoln Center

The Smith Lincoln Center

The new Upper West Side Smith is located on Broadway and 63rd Street, across from Lincoln Center, and is “Open Early ‘Til Late,” serving breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner, with a lively bar scene up front as well. For lots more information and a look at the complete menu visit The Smith online. 

THE SMITH LINCOLN CENTER on Urbanspoon

Posted in Midtown West, NYC Dining, Westside | Tagged