Pastis
Order the cheeseburger a l'Americaine, two slender patties under special sauce.1 Bryan Kim rated the room 7.7 in June 2025.
Why go
Pastis opened in the Meatpacking District in 1999, closed in 2014, and came back a few years later a block away in a bigger room.1 The bistro card is the standard one, escargots and chicken paillard and steak frites, and it comes out at speed. Bring six people on a Saturday, drink a martini, and expect ten of them to hear you.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the burger. Kim calls it the most reliable option on the menu.1
- Order: escargots, one order per two people, which is Kim's own arithmetic.1
- Order: the bar steak at around $40 if you want beef, and the fries come with it.1
- Avoid: the trout amandine, which Kim says can lean dry. He sends you to the chicken paillard under chopped almonds instead.1
What locals & experts say
- Bryan Kim, The Infatuation, 12 June 2025, rating it 7.7:
The food doesn't change lives, but for a sceney spot that operates at the pace of a NASCAR pit, it's great.
1 - Kim on what it is for:
If you need something lively and French, where you can drink a martini, pick at pâté, and gab with full confidence that 10 people are eavesdropping, Pastis is perfect.
1
Good to know
- Booking: book it, especially for brunch.
- Format: all day, so it works for a late lunch as well as dinner.1
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Ruhlman rec"
Verdict
could-visit — Book it, especially for brunch, and leave the trout amandine. Bryan Kim rated it 7.7 and wrote: "The food doesn't change lives, but for a sceney spot that operates at the pace of a NASCAR pit, it's great." Jeff's note says Michael Ruhlman recommended it and I have not found the piece.