Dining in FiDi and Battery Park isn’t limited to expense-account steakhouses. The two-block pedestrian zone of cobblestoned Stone Street alone offers everything from Mexican favorites at Toro Loco to barbecue at Route 66 Steakhouse, fine Italian dining at Antica Ristorante to pub grub (and Guinness) at The Dubliner. Beyond Stone Street, which was known for open-air dining even before the pandemic, there’s a veritable world of cuisines to enjoy within the neighborhood.
More than a restaurant, Fraunces Tavern is also a museum, a National Landmark building, and the location of General George Washington’s 1783 farewell dinner for the officers of the Continental Army after defeating the British in the American Revolution. In the oak-paneled dining room, you can sit in Windsor chairs at planked tables and tuck into standards such as New York strip steak, burgers, New England clam chowder, and fish and chips (and you can’t go wrong adding a side of hand-cut roasted-garlic fries). The Fraunces also encompasses a whiskey bar, complete with leather armchairs and a fireplace; the Independence Bar, specializing in craft beers, ciders, spirits, and sodas; and as of November 2021, a piano bar.
Fraunces Tavern was founded in 1762; Daniel Boulud’s Le Gratin is more than two centuries newer, having opened in May 2022. Inspired by the bistros of Boulud’s native Lyon, the menu is a Francophile’s dream: escargots with a pig-trotter croquette, steak tartare, and boudin blanc with cabbage for starters; sole meunière grenobloise, coquille St. Jacques, and steak-frites among the mains. The decor, which features leather banquettes, mosaic floors, and tiled walls rich with painted blooms, is equally alluring.
Blue Ribbon’s FiDi restaurant launched in 2017 as Blue Ribbon Federal Grill, then closed during the pandemic, only to reopen in February 2022 as a sushi bar. (It might add the “grill” component back in the future, however.) Among the specialties are tuna, yellowtail, and salmon tartare, each topped with a quail egg, and the Blue Ribbon roll, with lobster and black caviar. Vegetarian options include multiple sunomono salads, pickled-plum rolls, and cauliflower tempura. More than a dozen sakes are available by the glass, carafe, or bottle.
As its name indicates, Mezcali offers a California take on Mexican standards. That means fish tacos with panko-fried fish and pumpkin-seed tortillas; quesadillas with chorizo, white cheddar, red peppers, mushrooms, and avocado sour cream; and a burrito that includes Oaxacan-style marinated steak and avocado. The restaurant, which opened in December 2021, has an equally flavorful brunch menu, with options including a breakfast quesadilla certain to see you through to dinner, pork-belly tacos, churro waffles, and frozen mango margaritas.
Since November 2021, Wuish has been proving that it is possible to get authentic dim sum below Chinatown. Along with small-plate favorites including shrimp dumplings, scallion pancakes, spring rolls, and stir-fried broccoli, you can order Peking duck, steamed black cod with a black-bean sauce, and other entrees to share. As for the “bar” portion of Wuish Kitchen & Bar, house cocktails such as the Lucky Wuish Daiquiri (Bacardi rum, St-Germain, raspberries, aloe vera, pressed lime) and the Hong Kong Mule (which adds yuzu and ginger candy to the traditional Moscow mule) will make any hour a happy hour.
