Another Friday, another reset, and another restaurant that looked way too good on my feed to ignore. This time it was Estelle’s NYC, and before anyone gets confused, this is Estelle’s with two L’s in the Meatpacking District, not the other one downtown. Yes, I’m convinced the naming overlap is intentional… and yes, someone has definitely Ubered to the wrong one before.( not Me for once)
Let’s get one thing straight. I pay for my meals. I work hard, I eat harder, and when I say something is just “okay,” it physically pains me a little inside. Unfortunately… this was one of those meals.
I kept it simple and went with my usual lineup: wedge salad, steak tartare, the signature Estelle burger, and of course a couple of martinis because therapy is expensive and olives are cheaper.
Starting with the drinks, the martinis were… fine. Not offensive, not memorable. Just sitting there like a neutral third party in an argument. They did the job, but no one’s writing poetry about them.
The Meal
The wedge salad actually had some strong moments. Thick-cut bacon, jammy soft-boiled eggs, and a solid dressing all showed up ready to work. But then… they serve the lettuce as a full chunk and hand you a butter knife like it’s a trust exercise. So now I’m sawing through lettuce like I’m building furniture. Again, not bad, just… why?
The steak tartare followed the same pattern. Nothing wrong with it, just no personality. It’s like it showed up, clocked in, did its shift, and went home without saying goodbye.
Now the burger. This one hurt. It looked incredible. We’re talking cheese waterfall, crispy fries on the side, everything you want visually. The fries, by the way, were the best part of the meal. Absolute stars. The burger itself? Asked for medium rare, got well done. Not hockey puck bad, but definitely not what I ordered. The grilled onions helped, gave it some life, but overall it landed in that same “it’s fine” category.
And that’s really the theme here. Nothing was bad. But in New York City, “okay” is a dangerous place to be when there are 20 new restaurants opening every week trying to blow your mind.
The saving grace of the night? I wandered over to Members Only after and fixed the martini situation properly. Made a couple new friends, good energy, packed room… honestly, that ended up being the highlight.
Final verdict: Estelle’s NYC is fine. If you want fine, go for it. If you want memorable, there are better options. I’m not rushing back unless someone I trust tells me I caught them on an off night.
Did next week’s restaurant pick Caversteak, make up for the bad pick read it here?
As always, what do I know? I’m just a fat guy from Brooklyn trying to survive the week, one martini at a time. If you want more Top 10s steakhouses, burgers, restaurants, you name it, click the words and keep going.