What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play! Though The Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room isn't coming back, a new cabaret is coming to fill its void—and this one has a real pedigree. Come June, the 160-seat 54 Below will open its doors (you guessed it) just below the storied Studio 54 space in Midtown. And the newcomer isn't just about capitalizing on its upstairs neighbor's famous name, there is some serious talent involved in this one. Life is a cabaret, after all! more ›

You guys, did you know that restaurant empire-builders like Danny Meyer and Daniel Boulud expect borderline-ridiculous things from their employees? Are you in any way, even slightly, surprised? Allow Page Six to pull back the velvet curtain from before your sheltered eyes! more ›

Restaurants add brunch to their menu repertoire seemingly everyday and it is really no big deal. But when that restaurant is 25-years-old and is considered, hands down, to be one of the best places to eat in the city? Worth noting. And so, we'd like to point out that starting on September 3rd Danny Meyer's much-loved Union Square Cafe is adding brunch. more ›

Yesterday, we told you about Milk Burger, the new burger joint in Harlem with a menu suspiciously similar to Shake Shack's, and a ganked photo of a Shackburger on their website to boot. Now, the owner of Milk Burger is claiming he's innocent, blaming the flub on, of course, an intern. more ›

There is no point resisting restaurant impresario Danny Meyer and his ever-expanding Shake Shack empire, as one small-time Brooklyn businessman is finding out. In November, it was announced with great fanfare that Meyer would be opening the first Brooklyn Shake Shack location, at the foot of the Fulton Mall in downtown Brooklyn. Borough President Marty Markowitz praised Meyer for "beefing up the Fulton Mall," and you could almost see the line of Shacknatics, as they're known, lining up already. But lost amid all the hoopla were the six businesses that had to find new homes to make room for Shake Shack. One of those merchants, Roma Shoe Repair & Shine, has now filed a lawsuit. more ›

Don't get us wrong, endless salad and breadsticks are great, but this tidbit from Post columnist Steve Cuozzo's feature on the recent rash of restaurant closings was pretty depressing: "Prudential Douglas Elliman's Faith Hope Consolo said landlords want chain "Fig & Olive types." "Every time I get a space that's fit for a restaurant, the landlord calls and says, 'I don't want a typical restaurant -- I want Pret a Manger," she said. "Or, 'Bring me another Olive Garden.'" Well, not only are you family at the OG, you can also apparently find classy chicks. more ›

After seizing strategically vital territory in the theater district earlier this month, Danny Meyer's Shake Shack army continues to gobble up their portion under the sun. The restaurateur's insatiable lust for Shake Shack über alles is surpassed only by New Yorkers' lust for Shake Shack, and sources inside the Meyer camp have revealed that Meyer is now greedily eying Battery Park City, where he could plant the Shake Shack flag as early as January. As Meyer declared last year, "A hamburger stand is a very democratizing amenity." But Meyer's bring a lot more than just democracy to that desolate southwest region of Manhattan. more ›

While its official opening is scheduled for tomorrow, the new Theater District outpost of Shake Shack had a "soft" opening yesterday (there was a soft opening for the UWS location in 2008). The Shack burger-lovin' Tweeted, "Still not that long of a line at Shake Shack Times Sq. But seating area more crowded than before," "Crazy lines out the door already," and "W 44th is open and mobbed!" more ›

Shake Shack, Danny Meyer's insanely popular upscale burger joint, is expanding, with new Manhattan locations planned for the theater district and the Upper East Side (as well as the previously announced Nolita outpost, plus Miami Beach and Kuwait). In all, five new Shake Shacks will open in 2010, and Meyer's not stopping there. In an adulatory Times profile, he says "in five years we could have 20, mostly up and down the East Coast." And why not? These shacks make bank. more ›

Danny Meyer, the powerhouse behind such hits as Shake Shack and Eleven Madison Park, is almost done reinventing the downstairs space at Ian Schrager's Gramercy Park Hotel. The spot was formerly home to the failed upscale Chinese restaurant Wakiya; as you can see here Meyer's team has been busy transforming the dreary cave into a rustic bar and Italian trattoria. Dinner service starts tomorrow, and yesterday the main dining space, which seats 70, was filled with staffers training for the big debut. more ›

After years of protests and a long, drawn-out lawsuit, the city is moving forward with a plan to convert a large part of the 80-year-old Pavilion in Union Square park into a restaurant. The Parks Department recently put out a request for proposals to operate a seasonal café in the park's refurbished pavilion; the deadline is in two months. According to the Post, the winning bidder would secure a 15-year contract to run the private café six months out of the year, and also have the option to operate a satellite cart or kiosk. more ›

After announcing last week that Shake Shack would be opening new outposts in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, The Union Square Hospitality Group has now brought tremendous joy to the exotic land south of Houston. According to a press release, the newest Shake Shack will be located at 47 Prince Street, on the northwest corner of Mulberry & Prince Streets—by far their furthest location downtown. Shake Shack impresario Danny Meyer exults, "We’re ecstatic to have found this one-of-a kind downtown location in the Nolita neighborhood—just steps away from the heart of SoHo. Shake Shack is thrilled to make its home in this bustling, vibrant community that attracts throngs of people—New Yorkers and tourists alike—on a daily basis." It's unclear exactly when this bad boy will be open for business, but we're told it'll be built as a stand-alone building on a long vacant lot—where lines are probably forming as you read this. more ›

This week the Times revisits Danny Meyer's groundbreaking restaurant, Union Square Cafe. Critic William Grimes gave it three stars in 1999, and now Frank Bruni, on his way out the door, takes one of those stars away. But it's only because he cares: "I can’t think of another New York restaurant that enjoys such acclaim, basks in such adoration and yet exhibits such humility... The courtesies explain something else, too: the blind eye many Union Square regulars seem to turn to its slippage; their silence about its drift. In my occasional trips to Union Square over recent years and in a more concentrated series of visits over recent months, I never had an experience whose caliber was consonant with the restaurant’s enduringly lofty reputation. I had a few flatly mediocre meals." The Times also has a glowing review for Bed-Stuy trattoria Saraghina. more ›

Restaurateur Danny Meyer sat down with the Wall Street Journal to talk about the future of the restaurant industry. A number of Meyer’s competitors have gone out of business this year because of the recession, and while the USHG boss has been asked about cost-cutting maneuvers before, here Meyer specifically addresses the future of high-end dining in New York:

“I don’t think there’s going to be sustainable demand for restaurants that force you to spend hours there. Long tasting menus will continue to be elected by some but cannot be legislated by the restaurant. We’re going to have more bistros and trattorias. People will have luxury items—caviar, foie gras, truffles—less frequently, having done without them for a year and a half, but they will come to appreciate them more because it won’t be at every bar and grill in the city.”

Mix Shake Stir, Danny Meyer's recently released book of cocktail recipes, contains a bunch of quasi-unattributed but helpful quotes from bartenders at Union Square Hospitality Group restaurants like Blue Smoke, The Modern, Eleven Madison Park, and Tabla. For example: "'Like a good cook, an experienced bartender tastes everything before serving it to guests. A cache of straws comes in handy!' — Union Square Bartender." more ›

Serious Eats reports that the UWS Shake Shack location will begin serving corndogs during Memorial Day weekend. Per the post, Danny Meyer and his crew of nostalgic, frozen custard loving, fast food scientists are currently busy perfecting the batter recipe at Union Square Hospitality Group's remote facilities on Shake Island, located somewhere in the North Bronx. Serious Eats says the corn dog will be available at the end of this month, and then will "reappear as a summer holiday special around July 4 and Labor Day." As others have noted, corn dog madness seems to be on the rise: along with the Shack Corn Dog, talented chef Akhtar Nawab has added a house made corn dog to his brunch menu, and the dank, "corn smut" (or huitlacoche) corn dog first served by Sam Mason at Tailor has now migrated across town to join the hot dog pantheon at PDT. Will Daniel Boulud's beer-and-sausage based DBGB, which will be previewed on Saturday, be the next spot to offer up another kind of corn dog? more ›

The heat lamps, hot dog bins, and Shake Shack Miraclean grills are all in place, and the long-awaited Citi Field is a go. This weekend’s Mets vs. Red Sox exhibition games will be a trial-by-fire for every swanky new full service stadium club in the place, as well as every lowly hot dog kiosk, popcorn cart, and concession stand. In order to prepare for the crowds, hundreds of foodservice workers are literally stocking the shelves and cooking things around the clock. (Not all concession stands were open during Sunday's dress rehearsal.) more ›

With opening day around the corner, both Yankee Stadium and Citi Field are brimming with elaborate dining options. People are asking whatever happened to peanuts and Cracker Jacks, some more whimsically than others. The food news has been piecemeal for the most part but is picking up steam now: A menu preview with photos (think pulled pork) accompanied a Times article about Citi Field Tuesday, while Grub Street got first dibs on the Brother Jimmy’s BBQ Yankee Stadium menu (think pulled pork and fried pickles) yesterday. The combined food service operations at both stadiums encompass what might be the equivalent of 20 or 30 non-stadium restaurant openings, highbrow and otherwise. more ›

Food companies have a history of rolling out faux-Gaelic, ersatz mascots around St. Patrick’s Day: Carvel space cadet Cookie Puss flies his cousin Cookie O’Puss (seen here in the 1980s; 2009 Cookie O'Puss after the jump) in for the short season, and Grimace once welcomed his Uncle O’Grimacey (video below), who in a typically avuncular move introduced the dining public to the Shamrock Shake, a minty green milkshake. more ›

So, Shea is gone and Citi Field opens April 13. Hungry? It’s long been known that Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group [USHG]—proud parent of the burgeoning Shake Shack empire—will duly expand into Queens County come opening day. Shake Shack will join the concessions with a scaled version of USHG’s Blue Smoke. Additionally, an all-new joint called Box Frites will open to stadium. Box Frites is so-named to evoke both the largesse of Belgian-style dipping sauces it will feature, but also the sport at large: “Box Frites” = box seats (compare and contrast with original, foul ball name Pop Fries). In other Citi Field food news, Tabla's Floyd Cardoz, another USHG player, will oversee the endless summer-style Verano Taquería. more ›

Chef Michael Anthony can be incredibly emphatic about the farmers who supply Gramercy Tavern’s kitchen. He may tell you how he thinks the soil conditions at a particular farm influenced the flavors of certain vegetables. He might talk about baby turnips as if they’re long lost friends, but Anthony is also realistic about the purpose of food in our lives. more ›

A month ago, when news that a 79 year-old classic burger restaurant in Toledo – the last in town of a defunct chain called White Tower – was being sold for $1 (on condition the buyer moves it off the property where it sits), a reader of A Hamburger Today seized the opportunity to play matchmaker with a NY restaurateur. “Danny Meyer? Paging Danny Meyer?!” wrote the commenter. more ›

Sterling In-Seat Service: waiter service will feature "Best of Ballpark" food from the outfield concourse Apparently, Meyer is a Mets fan and has been a season ticket holder for quite some time, and is very pleased to be putting his mark on the new stadium. "What you eat and drink – and how it's all served – has become a major part of the ballpark experience, and we are eager to contribute as much as we can to why people will love going to Citi Field." According to the Times, the Mets owner and Aramark are negotiating with other noteable local restaurateurs. We'd like to see a NYC Icy stand (or maybe even the Lemon Ice King of Corona), an outpost of Caracas Arepa Bar, and perhaps a Dosa cart for the vegan fans. Plus, it'd be a shame to lose Mama's; hopefully there will be space for them as well. more ›

In a clever ploy to undermine the city’s controversial proposal to lease out the 78-year-old Union Square Pavilion as a year-round restaurant, a group of activists sent a fake press release Monday that claimed to be from the Union Square Partnership Business Improvement District (BID). The release announced the BID’s decision to drop its push for “privatization of the famous park after overwhelming feedback from citizens across New York City.” (NewsBlaze still has the release on their website.) more ›