Yes, there is a cafe at the Fairway in Upper West Side. It is on second floor, and pretty roomy but crowded. It has lots of big windows, so it was nice and bright, with mostly red brick walls which gives that nice cozy feeling. Each table had a cute flower arrangement with fresh flowers, I always love fresh flowers… They also have a bakery section where you can see all the sweets they serve there as well. They offer all sorts of coffee, tea, and other drinks.
This place is known for their silver dollar pancakes, so we went early morning on Sunday, and there were few people already waiting to be seated. The staff moved pretty fast, we were seated in matter of 5 minutes or so. The server seemed like he was moving at million miles per second, but very efficient. He took our order, recommended their French Press coffee rather than ordering regular coffee (which we thought was good suggestion), and went on his way to another customer. We ordered Large French Press coffee ($15), and it was a lot for 2 people. Unless you are truly coffee lover and needs 3 full cup per person, I think ordering smaller size ($5) might be smarter thing to do. The French Press coffee didn’t come out immediately, I guess it is better than getting an old pot of coffee right away (you don’t know how long the pot has been sitting there… right?). The coffee was nice and strong, we had to ask for milk (it is not easy to catch one of those fast moving servers, so grab anyone who works there when you can!). Our server also brought milk after we asked for it to someone else, so we had doubled the amount which we needed with this large amount of coffee. After having 2-3 cups of coffee each, we still had coffee left, but we couldn’t finish…
For brunch, we ordered “Eat Big Breakfast” and “Eat Big Waffle”.
Eat Big Breakfast ($13) comes with stack of Elaine’s or Martha’s silver dollar pancakes, Bacon, Eggs, and toast. (Martha’s is gluten free). The toast was surprising since it wasn’t mentioned on the menu, but I gotta say, I was so happy it came with it because it was so good! I know, it is just a piece of a toast you are thinking, right? But their toast was magically delicious! Toasted to perfection, had nice flavor, had a little sweetness to it. The bacon was not overcooked, which I enjoyed since I don’t like extremely crispy bacon. And the pancakes, yes, it was really great. I see why people love it. It was soft, fluffy, moist, and tasted great! I had my eggs over easy, which was perfect for my toast also. It was really big, I couldn’t eat all of it alone. But, they taste so good that anyone would be delighted to help you eat it.
Eat Big Waffle ($15) came with bacon, eggs, and fresh fruits. This one we asked for scrambled eggs. Fresh fruits were not mentioned on the menu, but again, a great addition! The waffle was nice and soft, fluffy, and moist just like the pancakes, I felt like it didn’t come with as many strips of bacon as the pancake breakfast, but after sharing my breakfast, it was just the right amount between the two. 🙂
The food came out within reasonable time, the server was pretty good with ensuring everything was ok, and we came out full and happy. If you are around UWS early morning and want to get a nice breakfast, give Fairway a try – they are open from 8AM every day. The silver dollar pancakes are really awesome, you can order just the pancakes if you don’t want all the extra stuff. I would definitely go back for some more!
Fairway Cafe – 2127 Broadway, New York, NY 10023