My spouse and I dined at The
Palm West Side for lunch on a Saturday afternoon in late October 2019. The West
Side location is open for lunch on Mondays through Saturdays (no lunch Sundays)
and dinner daily. Diners can book a spot using the online Open Table
reservation system.
The West Side location of The
Palm opened in 1999 on West 50th Street near 8th Avenue.
Besides the Midtown West/Theatre District location where we dined, other NY
locales include Midtown East/Murray Hill (the first Palm opened near here in
1926), Tribeca, and JFK Airport. In addition, the Palm has other domestic
locations in Atlanta, Atlantic City, Beverly Hills, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago,
Denver, The Hamptons, Houston, Las Vegas, LA, Miami, Nashville, Orlando,
Philly, San Antonio, Maryland, and DC, and two international locations in
Mexico City. At West Side, guests can dine in the front bar room either at the
bar or at tables adjacent, or in the main dining room, which is semi-divided
into sections using half-walls that provide sides for the many dining booths
(lots of stand-alone tables are also available). A private side room offers
overflow dining and event space. The main decor at The Palm features
caricatures that decorate every wall, a tradition that began in the 1920s at
the original location when artists would draw the restaurant clientele as they
dined.
The Palm is a traditional
American steakhouse, although it offers sandwiches, salads, burgers, and a few
entrees for lunch. Dinner offers more a la carte fare like classic steaks and
traditional side dishes as well as other non-beef protein entrees; both menus
are available at lunchtime. While we perused the menu and ordered some drinks
(we ordered an iced tea, which never arrived until we re-requested it when
ordering our food, and a draft beer (our waitress didn’t know the two kinds on
tap and had to go out to check, then she wasn’t sure if the “Sam Adams” was one
of the seasonal varieties or not), a staff member delivered a basket of
delicious breads, along with whipped butter. (The bread basked was extensive,
and we enjoyed every bite of it, but several times during our meal, various staff
members attempted to remove the still semi-full basket, and we had to request
that it be left each time.) As starters, we ordered the thick-cut bacon (served
with tomato slices and steak sauce) and the wedge salad (topped with cherry
tomatoes, bacon crumbles, blue cheese crumbles, crispy fried onions, and a
vinaigrette dressing). My spouse finished with the bacon dish long before I
finished with the wedge salad; regrettably, staff had not been trained to leave
an empty plate if other diners in the party were still eating) and before we
could say something, the bacon plate was whisked away without our consent. When
we ordered, our waitress had asked if we would like the kitchen to cut the
bacon because it was very long and thick, but we declined; when it arrived, it
was indeed thick, but not so very long, so we were glad that we asked for it to
arrive without being cut. The wedge salad was enormous although we ordered the
lunch portion (priced at $10.50 on the lunch menu, but on our bill, we were
charged $17.00, which was the dinner menu price).
As our main courses, we
ordered the classic burger (served on a buttery toasted roll, with lettuce,
tomato, and onion and choice of cheese, as well as an option of fries or slaw.
Although we requested a side of mayonnaise for the burger, and even though our
server said that she too liked mayo on her burger, she delivered it without and
we had to re-request it). We also ordered the cheesesteak, which was served a
la carte. We inquired about the “half and half” side dish on the menu, but our
waitress struggled to explain it. She said that many diners always order the
“college” fries and onion straw dish when they visit. (In reality, the dish
contained “cottage” fries. When we asked her about them, she said that they got
their name because of their light and airy texture because they were made with
cottage cheese. (After we dined, as we suspected but wanted to prove, we
searched many cottage fries recipes on the internet, and not one recipe contained
cottage cheese. Instead, we learned that the potato chips derive their name
because they resemble the tiles used on English cottage roofs. No cottage [or
even “college” as she mispronounced more than once] involved!) They were
essentially like homemade potato chips presented with half a plate of crispy
onion straws.
The food at The Palm was
delicious, but the service was appallingly disappointing. We hope that it was
our waitress’s first day on the job, and if not, then she required much
additional training. Interestingly, the manager made the rounds of nearby
tables to inquire about other patrons’ meals, but he never stopped at ours or
we would have provided some constructive criticism. It seemed that he purposely
avoided us, and he was also not present when we departed the premises or we
would have stopped to speak with him then.
Unfortunately, although we
enjoyed the food (except for the half and half), we would never recommend or
return to the West Side location of The Palm (even though we often attend
Broadway shows and this is an excellently located property), nor would we visit
any other location of The Palm because we would be afraid of receiving similar unacceptable
service. We had specially chosen The Palm because we were celebrating a
birthday, but we left without even ordering dessert, not wanting to prolong our
experience or suffer even more mistakes. Not recommended!
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