New York City: American Whiskey (May 2016)

My spouse and I enjoyed an early dinner at American Whiskey on a Friday evening in late May 2016. We chose this restaurant because of its proximity to Madison Square Garden (MSG), where we were seeing Billy Joel later that night. American Whiskey is located on West 30^th Street between 7^th and 8^th Avenues in the Midtown South/Garment District/Chelsea area. It is a quick walk to MSG, especially if you take a short-cut: after you exit the front entrance of the restaurant, turn left and immediately cut through the parking garage of the building next door, which will lead you close to the steps of the Pennsylvania Plaza side 31^st Street entrance at MSG, where you are able to bypass the larger crowds at the main 7^th Avenue entrance. American Whiskey is open daily for lunch, dinner, and drinks. The restaurant accepts reservations by telephone, or using the Open Table reservation system. Being able to make a dinner reservation was another reason that we chose American Whiskey, because we thought that trying to find a table at a nearby restaurant as walk-in customers preceding an event at MSG might be difficult.

American Whiskey opened in the fall of 2013. The restaurant space covers 6,500 square feet spread over three levels. The street-level space is large; the front half contains a long bar and some tables, while the rear of the street-level floor contains tables in the main dining area. At least three different sets of stairs lead to an upper loft space, which is open to the street-level bar. The loft area offers additional table dining, another bar, and some lounge-type seating. A private room in the basements holds events. Although the restaurant contains many TVs positioned around it, none of them was broadcasting during our visit (perhaps they turn on the TVs only when a New York sporting event occurs). The décor is western rustic roadhouse, with concrete floors, wood bar, wood tables and chairs, and a few stuffed/mounted animal heads hanging on the walls. Chalkboards near the ceiling above the bar back offer a little pictorial on whiskey.

American Whiskey boasts a collection of over 375 different whiskey options, although they also serve other kinds of alcoholic beverages including beer and wine. The restaurant serves upscale American comfort food. We shared a few menu items: white corn grits (topped with shrimp butter), one duck duck goose slider (duck confit, duck breast, foie gras butter), one Homer L. Ford slider (fried sweetbread, cole slaw), and tater tots (served with black pepper mayonnaise). The tater tots and the duck slider were particularly tasty. Other menu items that sounded interesting: lamp lollipops, poutine, olives and cheese curds, grilled cheese, and the short rib sandwich. Please note that the items in the sliders section of the menu come one to an order, and they are the size of your standard slider. (For some reason, we expected more than one slider to an order, even though the price seemed quite reasonable for Manhattan!)

We were happy with our choice to dine at American Whiskey prior to attending an event at Madison Square Garden. The restaurant serves better-than-average pub food, the service was attentive despite the large crowds, the space is expansive, and the location is ideal.