Grand Brasserie
French restaurant · Midtown East
89 E 42nd St Vanderbilt Hall, New York, NY 10017
Highlights
French brasserie in Grand Central serving classics all day
French brasserie in Grand Central serving classics all day
"The 400-seat, 16,000 square-foot, all-day restaurant in Grand Central is the kind of restaurant everyone craves. It’s open an astonishing seven days a week, 365 days a year, from 5:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for brunch — incorporating breakfast and lunch menus — and from 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. for dinner and late-night dining. The place is so big, you probably don’t need a reservation, so maybe you don’t have to wrestle with Resy or OpenTable. What’s more, its multiple transportation linkages make it ultra-accessible. Brunch fare is a safe bet, with items like a lobster omelet or buttermilk pancakes." - Melissa McCart
"Grand Brasserie inside Grand Central operates three hours short of 24/7, which makes the 16,000 square foot restaurant useful when you miss that 12:30am train and need to kill time with some french fries and a rather large glass of wine. Or, come for a 2am feast of steak frites and martinis with 12 of your closest friends while everyone else is asleep." - willa moore, will hartman, neha talreja, bryan kim, sonal shah
"A 400-seat, 16,000 square-foot all-day dining restaurant at Grand Central, serving food until 2 a.m., replacing the Great Northern Food Hall." - Melissa McCart
"It’s close to midnight. You’re stepping out of a Broadway theater and into the neon hellscape of Times Square. You’re hungry, and too dignified (and/or sober) to wait two hours for a slice of Joe’s Pizza. The Olive Garden, Hard Rock Cafe, and Margaritaville don’t enthrall you, despite their ability to seduce out-of-town masses. The Rum House, a perpetually mobbed piano bar, will require you to beg and bribe your way in. What’s a patron of the Midtown-based arts to do? We say make a beeline for Grand Central Station. No, you’re not fleeing, you’re dining. Admittedly, most of the city’s major transit hubs are not places where one would dine by choice. And yet, this 1913 Beaux Arts architectural masterpiece is home to two very good restaurants. It’s too late in the evening to visit the century-old Grand Central Oyster Bar, but you’re just in time for dinner at Grand Brasserie. This 400-cover, 16,000-square-foot restaurant opened in 2024, but you’d swear it had always been here. Situated under the cavernous, chandeliered ceilings of Vanderbilt Hall, this classically French restaurant is open 5:30 a.m. to 2 a.m., seven days a week, and the kitchen stays open right until the bitter end. Given that 750,000-odd souls pass through this hall on a daily basis, Grand Brasserie could easily have coasted on location and looks alone, which makes its food as much of a surprise as it is a delight. The menu of bistro heavy-hitters by chef Guillaume Thivetwhich encourages cosplaying life in the Gilded Age, and we’d recommend the leeks vinaigrette, crab persillade, and skirt steak au poivre to help get you in character. If you’re hoping to play robber baron for an hour or so (we encourage this wholeheartedly), get the lobster frites. It comes bathed in shamrock-hued persillade butter and cleaved in two, the claw meat removed so that aspiring aristocrats need not dirty their fingers. Two hungry diners could easily split it, particularly if you dunk the accompanying crisp, slender fries in said butter. It’s a fittingly decadent way to leave New York, or just to pretend you live in a different version of it. Know Before You Go Should you and a few trusted companions find yourself in Grand Central Terminal during the day, order the vertiginous tower of smoked salmon, bagels, and accouterments to share." - rachelrummel, Diana Hubbell
"Grand Brasserie, located in New York City's Grand Central Terminal, is a new restaurant blending quintessential New York and Parisian bistro charm. The venue features a 300-seat main dining room and an additional 100-seat Green Room bar. Designed by the Rockwell Group, the restaurant opened in October and is led by Executive Chef Guillaume Thivet. Notable dishes include foie gras mousse, onion soup gratinée, and tuna tartare, complemented by a wine list of over 400 labels. The restaurant aims to draw both solo diners and large groups to experience its sophisticated ambiance." - Meredith Lepore Meredith Lepore Meredith Lepore is a freelance writer, editor, and content strategist. Her work has appeared in dozens of publications, including The Observer, Travel + Leisure, Refinery29, Bustle, Architectural Dige
