Makor Cafe

I just found this place and have never heard anyone say anything about it. It was great! The food was very good (I had a spinach and feta stuffed flounder with and orange butter sauce, the pesto pizza was the best I ever had) The service was very good and the atmosphere was awsome! There was a great live band playing in the background and I was still able to have a nice dinner while listening to some great music. I didnt even have to pay a cover charge to get in. I talked to the manager (really nice guy named Elya) and he told me they are open for lunch and dinner as well as brunch on sundays. They are even open on saturday nights year round.
Anyone else ever eat there?

[double M]

Makor is one of my favorite dairy restaurants in the city. I have been there for the food as well as for the music.

I hope the new location will be better not worse.

[arlana]

My husband and I went to Makor to see a music show and have dinner. Repeated attempts to place our order with the waitress failed as she said she was "too busy". As we waited, we watched the waitress act extremely rude to the other customers. Granted she was the only one to serve all tables, but that only shows the poor management of the cafe.

To add insult to injury, we waited for change from $40 cash we left on a $22 check that never came. When we asked the waitress about it, she first claimed that we never paid and then claimed that she had no record of change being owed to us. We asked to speak to the manager and were told there was none on site. We asked for the phone number of the manager but when we tried to call, the phone number given to us was not for the manager at all but for a random person unassociated with the cafe.

I would warn everyone against going there.

[Joe Berger]

arlana, I'm sorry you had so much aggravation. I've eaten there several times and noticed the help is spread pretty thin, but the service and food was more than adequate while distracted by live entertainment. Unfortunately Makor is closing this location in May'07 and moving to the Village, so perhaps the level of service has fallen off now that they are near the end of that lease. Hopefully the new place will be worth schlepping and parking down by NYU.

[EvanM]

I think they are staying open through end of May, and then the cafe is moving somewhere on the West Side. The chef is really very good, and many people think it is a gem. I think that the makor institution and the cafe have nothing to do with each other, its just a kind of concession

[Joe Berger]

I'm sorry Evan, but you are misinformed;
http://blog.92y.org/index.php/item/ma...
perhaps some of the staff will continue to work on the UWS,
but the 92nd St Y institution itself will be reopening in Tribeca.
the Makor cafe has everything to do with the institution, so
whatever restaurant reopens in the same space this summer
cannot be Makor, and is doubtful to continue to be kosher.

[whitewater]

The current location will not be re-opened as a restaurant, CUNY has purchased the site.

Good tuna sandwiches, and ambience definitely beats that of other local places. But the loud music is sometimes bad enough to make you want to forego food altogether.

Location? Hashkacha?

35 w 67th street b/t central park west and columbus

The hashgacha is by Rabbi Avrohom Marmorstein, who is accepted by Orthodox shuls on the Upper West Side.

I've been tempted to check out Makor, but have been a bit intimidated, since I've heard that it's a gathering place for the young hip crowd. Do you think that some of us "more mature" types would be uncomfortable there, or is the crowd somewhat mixed?

The crowd in the Cafe is usually mixed. Makor overall attracts a young, hip crowd -- so you will either feel younger (part of the crowd) or older (in contrast).
I am 53, young at heart, and feel totally comfortable there.

For those who have trouble with steps (there is a flight of forbidding steps in front of Makor), there is a ramp straight into the restaurant, but you have to press a buzzer, clearly marked, for assistance.

I have eaten at Makor Cafe for the past 4 years, under various managements. Several months ago I wrote here about their Sunday brunch.

It is one of my favorites on the Upper West Side.