Smoke Jazz Club
“We saw the SaRon Crenshaw Band and they rocked the house with some soulful (and funny!)”
“The space is small and intimate and it's the perfect space to experience jazz.”
“The music definitely appeals to a wide range of audience, and the singer had a gorgeous voice.”
Smoke Jazz Club
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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If the 1 train decides to work on weekends, I'm hitting this place up more often.
Real reaaaaaaaaaaaal high up on the island, this place is a fun Saturday/Sunday afternoon activity.
I met up with some friends on a Sunday afternoon, some ordered food/drinks all were brunch themed type menu items at around 2pm. The favorite seemed to be the fruit/granola bowl (HUGE) and the steak/chicken tacos. The jazz singer was amazing..can't believe how talented she was, as well as the jazz band. These people are worth coming up this high for.
The place itself is really nice, big cushy booths, great for hanging out and listening to music.
The only downside was the service, a little spacey. Forgot to place some food orders and had to keep flagging down to get a refill on water even though the place was barely half full :/.
Came here for Sunday brunch !! The live jazz was amazing !! Good alternative to the loud tiring boozy brunch, this was very nice and relaxing.
Ambiance was perfect.
Now on to the food, I ordered the breakfast pizza, wasn't really a fan, I asked for feta cheese on my pizza and was brought out without, the crust was a bit too crisp for me almost a bit burned, the bacon was almost not there, this was basically just thin pizza toast with fried egg on it, others with me had the chicken and waffles and they had no complaints I suggest you stay away from the breakfast pizza and opt for something else.
My 4 stars is simply on the ambiance, and entertainment! Service was alright nothing crazy nothing major lacking but also no wow factor.
Come for the Jazz stay for the Jazz !!
Set out with my roommate for a different kind of bar experience and ended up in Smoke. We loved it! The space was very cozy and it was relaxing just sitting at the bar and listening to the band on stage (who were very good, by the way).
They have a bar but also a space directly in front of the stage for sit down dining. There is a $12 cover for sitting at the bar and then you can't spend less than $20 for food and drink. We decided to stick to drinking, since the food looked very expensive ($25 for a burger, what?). I believe there is also a cover and some other rules about sitting at the tables, so it would be good to find out before you go in.
I also wouldn't come here in a large group or if you have the intention of catching up or talking with people. They ask that you respect the bands on stage and stay quiet while they perform, so there isn't a lot of conversation going on (also because it would be hard to do above the music).
A refreshing alternative to the usual boozy brunch. Smoke Jazz Club is a must try for Jazz lovers looking for good food and live music. The space encourages a more intimate interaction with the band and allows for a more personal experience. The lovely singer even greeted my boyfriend a "Happy Birthday" from the stage.
My boyfriend ordered the Belgian Waffles with bacon, pecans, strawberries, and maple syrup. I opted for the Eggs Benedict over english muffin, topped with Canadian bacon and hollandaise, with a side of tater tots and organic baby green salad. The portions were filling. Both were good but I wouldn't say great. The live band experience definitely outweighs the quality of the food.
I wouldn't recommend coming here if you're looking to catch up with company. The restaurant does ask that you respect the performers and keep chatter to a minimum. All in all, pricier than your usual brunch menu but worth the show.
Very cozy place. If I could give half stars, this place gets a 4.5.
Unlike other jazz clubs, the food here is actually pretty good. We got the 3-course Fixed Price menu for $38. Brussel Sprouts and Quinoa Fritters were fresh, colorful, and flavorful. It felt like some heart and effort were actually put into these two. The fried chicken was also very good and fatty – you could definitely taste the honey in it. Among the better fried chickens I've had in the city (probably in the top 25th percentile). The presentation of it was enough to make me smile, too. Dessert was a bit subpar though – nothing special about the brownie.
Also, they really made the menu vegetarian/vegan friendly which I don't see much in other places of similar cuisine.
Service was very tentative.
Acoustics were controlled well – great vibe in combination with the space and ambiance. We came through on a night with tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander. An awesome pleasure to listen to.
In total, a three course dinner – where the servings were plentiful – along with the ambiance and great music makes this a place well worth visiting. Everything in total was $50 a person (we didn't get drinks).
It's a very good deal – jazz fan or not.
Came here for a Monday night date. This place is fantastic, with classy atmosphere. We came here for a 7pm show. I recommend coming here at least half an hour before the show starts, so that you can order and settle down before the music starts.
The food was medicore but large portions. We both ordered prix fixe. I ordered the salmon and my date ordered the steak. I kind of expected the food to be medicore, so I was happy with it. Nevertheless, awesome place for music and food.
Came to smoke for something other than a bar in New York City… It was great! The performer that night did an awesome job of keeping the crowd paying attention and feeling good. The food was very expensive which we had none of so I don't know if it was worth the price. They have a long drink menu. All sorts of beers, wine, cider, and champagne. They have all the normal liquors. It wasn't too expensive but it did cost 9$ a beer. Overall great atmosphere and fun place to be on the upper west side !
Small, but nearly perfect. Amazing music. 4.5 stars.
Smoke Jazz is small. Really, really small. Even by NYC standards small. There are chain restaurants in the mid-west that have bathrooms larger than this place. The whole place is – and I'm not exaggerating – about the size of a suburban living room. To pay the bills, they pack in guests like sardines, in two narrows rows of tables plus some seats at the bar. There's room for maybe 50-60, all elbow-to-elbow. The only place that's packed in tighter is economy class seating on an airliner.It's definitely not for the claustrophobic, or even those who have issues about personal space. You'll need to coordinate with your neighbor to turn your seat to face the stage.
The good new is that a small space is, almost by definition, an intimate space. Even the tables in the very back are great seats, and the front table are so close you could play the instruments yourself. For several reasons, this makes Smoke a great place to experience live jazz.
For starters, it sounds great. The acoustics are great, and the sounds system, which might not even be needed, is setup well enough that's it's basically transparent.
From such a close distance, you can also get a real sense of just how talented these guys on stage are. We attended the Saturday night show of the Russell Malone Quartet. Watching him play guitar is like watching a magician – his fingers are just that fast. Willie Jones, on drums, was amazing. He played a cyborg robot on fire… always perfect, yet with intense passion as needed. (And somehow without breaking a sweat, even in a suit under the stage lights). Rick Germanson (whose family was seated two tables over from us) was amazing on piano. The new kid, Luke Sellick on bass, kept up well all night but was a little rough in the solos.
Overall, it's a great experience. Like seeing music at a friend's house. If, someone, your friend new some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world.
The focus here is on the music, but the food here is pretty good as well. The first two sets of every evening are for dinner guests; they recommend you arrive an hour early to have time to eat. Prices are perhaps a bit of the high side, especially given the somewhat hefty coverage charge for the music (the cover charge varies by night, depending on the talent), but the food is good and tasty. The fried chicken is definitely recommended.
Given the tight spaces, service is pretty good. The wait staff has gotten pretty good and squeezing into tight spaces, and they are especially good at being unobtrusive, yet still responsive, once the music starts.
On a night with major talent in the house it can get pretty expensive (the music charge is $9-40, and then there's dinner, tax, and tip on top of that). There's a serious lake of elbow room. But live jazz, in a small club, is a true New York experience.