BY Carolina Pichardo
Although there have been several dining areas sprouting out within the last couple of years, it’s safe to name the Garden Café one of the “dining pioneers” Uptown. It was one of the first to open it’s doors with an elegant setting, large selection of wine and great menu. It has also been one of the few to still hold strong after years of renovation and changes in the area.
So what makes this restaurant a true “Eat Up, Drink Up” claimer?
Whether it’s starting out with a delicious plate of chicken cordon blue, dabbing it with a hummus plate and glass of wine, or simply enjoying the outdoor dining area, it seems that the Garden Café has everything for that one-evening escape.
Standing close to Inwood’s Good Shepherd Church, Garden Café was built to demonstrate that laid-back, yet very bold feel and style. Upon stepping in, you’re greeted with a dim, bedroom-ready lighting and soft music that quickly softens your pace. You never think much about it, until you reach one of the servers or waiters and they ask: “Would you like to sit in the outside dining area?”
That’s what you begin to wonder: “What’s really back there to see?”
You’re in the middle of Inwood in Uptown Manhattan, just a couple of steps away from the LAST STOP on the A-train, with 207th Street and the Bronx as the running zone in case anything happens…
And you start to panic, since clearly walking to the back of a restaurant in this part of town couldn’t lead to anything, but those reproductions on Law & Order.
However, once you decide to follow the friendly waiter through the long hallway and into the back, you notice the beautiful, Christmas-lighted bar awaiting your arrival. If it’s a Thursday or Friday night, then you’re just that luckier cause of the live jazz bands that usually perform then. Before you know it, you order a drink and dinner, and soon forget the problems you had with the train that morning, how the printer didn’t work in the office, and that you’re still in Uptown after all.
Garden Café
4961 Broadway
Near 207th Street
Tel. (212) 544-9480
