Redeye Grill

Manhattan's #1 fan came into the city to take his #1 fan out to dinner. My weekend was packed with going away work parties, and there were a couple painful mornings of being hunched over my keyboard, but I was able to squeeze in one night with Pops.

We still have yet to break out of our midtown meal mode. At least this time we had the nasal- dripping, face-burning, muscle-tightening cold to blame on our unwillingness to walk further than a few blocks from my old office building for dinner.

We noticed Redeye Grill from across the street; its bright red awnings and neon lights sucked us in. Before my Dad could even say, "How about going th-" I was already racewalking to the doors. I ate at Redeye about five years ago for a birthday dinner and loved it. I was excited to see if the food and service were as good as I remembered.

Redeye reminds me of Blue Water Grill. It's large, always packed, and perfect for big parties; but you can still manage to enjoy an intimate evening at one of its many tables. On our walk to our table, we passed plates piled high with yummy-looking seafood and the fish bar. On either side of the fish bar were two shrimp sculptures, which I later discovered are part of the Redeye slogan: "Home of the Dancing Shrimp Bar." I've never heard or seen such a thing, but if you don't crack a smile while saying it, then something's wrong with you. My dad and I sat at the far end of the restaurant, against the back wall, which I wasn't thrilled about. I felt like we were in the undesirable corner where they put the UIPs. As we took our layers of heat insulation off, I could feel the eyes of the other UIPs checking out our every move.

"Yes, lady, I see your plate. I see your bag, and I certainly see your poofy coiff, and I am not going to brush any of it when I take my seat."

Dad and I ordered a couple of drinks and enjoyed looking at the huge menu.

"What do you think you're going to get?" I asked.

"Oh, maybe a soup and a salad, I'm not that hungry," he replied, "and you?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe a burger, the burgers look good."

What happened next is what I like to call my family's "sly order switcharoo." Somewhere within the few minutes from when Dad and I discussed what we wanted, to when our server came to the table to take our order, we switched our meal on each other. This happens. It happens all the time and I can't explain it.

"I'll get the clams on the half shell, followed by a cheeseburger, please," said my Dad.

"What? I thought you were getting the -" I looked at him and he smiled back at me with a devilish grin. "Ok then! I'm getting the French onion soup to start, and the crabcake appetizer as an entree, please."

"I thought you said you were -"

"Like father, like daughter," I replied, with his same grin.

The cheese on my French onion soup was still bubbling when it came out to the table. It was a surprisingly good version of my favorite soup. I think it's the first time I've been brave enough to try it outside a French bistro and I was very pleased.

Dad's clams came out looking pretty resting on a bunny slope of ice. I slurped up one of the clams just in the knick of time, before my Dad put them away.

Dad's cheeseburger looked fantastic, and I almost wished I ordered one. And the fries, oh the fries. They were the perfect formula of thin+salt+crispy. I asked and Dad said it was cooked to his liking, which is always a nice bonus.


My crabcake was a little lonely on its plate all by itself, but it didn't have to sit there too long. The crab meat was loosely packed and broke apart with a light touch of the fork. There was a thin cooked layer on top which I saved for last. Below the crabcake was a layer of celery root, and below that a tangy salsa. I eat a lot of crabcakes and this was one of my all-time favorites. I really loved the celery root. It tasted excellent with bites of the crab meat.


Dad and I were too stuffed to even look at the dessert menu, a feat which doesn't happen often. Just the other day we chowed at J.G. Melon and somehow a chocolate fudge cake ended up on the table with two spoons. Our friendly server came right up to us and delivered the bill in a timely manner. Regardless of the crowds at Redeye, we never had to wait for anything at dinner. As we walked out the door, I winked at the dancing shrimp. It was my way of saying, "We'll be back soon."

890 Seventh Avenue, at 56th Street,
212.541.9000