Freds Madison Avenue
“What could be better than spending a day shopping or browsing at Barney's, and lunching (and cocktailing and dining) upstairs at Freds?”
“Very friendly greeting front of house, server on point, giant loaded salad with generous mounds of tender pulled chicken, and gorgeous people watching.”
“But it's so beautiful there on the 9th floor of the Upper East Side building and there is a coziness about the restaurant I just loved.”
Freds Madison Avenue
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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Decent lunch spot. A bit too overpriced for their food though but it is in Barneys. I had the Wild Hens of Mushroom salad and the Salmon. The salad was bland. The mushroom helped but I think they need to put a bit more balsamic glaze. The salmon was good. I like the crunchy skin paired with the salmon. Salmon was a bit overcooked. Overall, decent place.
This classic Manhattan restaurant has seen better days. The industry is brutal for longevity. So when you have a good thing and can charge your guests pretty much any price you want there is no room to be mediocre.
I enjoyed the shrimp salad, huge portion lots of jumbo shrimp the dressing had little taste the eggs Benedict with caviar was a bit cold as well as the rest of the side items, spinach and potatoes.
All this I can deal with but the condition of the room were awful. Leather bar chairs ripped and torn, extension cords and cables showing, plastic jugs of Mary mix behind the bar, no music ect… if this was a dive bar then cool.
This is upper east side for gods sake get a grip baby! I don't mind dropping $100 for brunch but I don't expect to have to bring my own furniture! Best to you on your way to the middle.
I forgot how much I liked this place. Must be revisiting it because it's Mercury retrograde time. It's perfect for my palate. Excellent and interesting wines by the glass and a stunning half bottle selection…simply stunning. Great Chardonnays, Pinots from Oregon and lovely Burgundy's as well as the requisite Big Boy Italian to round out a well thought out selection…yum! Some really great cocktail concoctions too. I certainly love my Saint Germain.
The menu has a little bit of everything. It's very easy to be upscale vegetarian here. Very easy. Great appetizers, interesting salads, delectable pizza and pastas along with fish choices. They even offer a vegan pizza and a vegan pasta bolognese. And, they gave me no qualms about ordering off the brunch menu despite it being past that hour.
A very pleasing place to dine. Oh, and if your solo or prefer to be more casual, the bar is an excellent spot. I never knew it existed before. It'll likely draw me back more frequently.
Delish, overpriced, fun place to go. Definitely an experience to have, though I'm not sure if I'll be running back any time soon. I'm definitely not an "uptown" kinda girl 🙂
Frequenting Fred's in the past, I would have posted 4-5 stars. My recent visit.. Much different experience.
A friend visiting from CA, staying in the area, I suggested we meet here. I made our reservation and thought we would catch up over a great lunch.
Crowded, the usual, no problem. That's Fred's vibe. We were seated to the far right, an area that felt more like a living room, than a sophisticated high energy lunch scene.
Then we were greeted by a Rude, in a mad hurry, Weathered Waitress… Lunch was over before it started. I politely told her that we needed a minute to look over the menu. She came back to take our order 5 times in a period of 5 minutes. She insisted we order, as the kitchen needed time to prepare our meal. We ordered elaborate salads.. No surprise, our meal was delivered to our table in 1 nano second.
Our reservation was at the latter part of lunch and Fred's was emptying out .. No need for the rushed service or the attitude.
My friend had The Club Sandwich. She loved it… Huge portions as always. Fries crisp & cooked to perfection.
I had the Chicken & Avacado Salad… Loved it… Fred's grilled chicken is the absolute best. Moist & delicious.
We swallowed our meal and we were out the door. Never ate so fast in my life. This was far from enjoyable.
Next lunch will be at Il Mulino, Lavo, Tao, Philipe, anywhere but Fred's!
A shame … They have their Niche.. But better think about who they hire for Wait Staff! The thrill is gone
The Fries are good.
We were starving and I told the hostess that we needed food asap. Then they let us sit there for (I timed it) 26 minutes without any word from the staff – even though I was desperately trying to get their attention.
I got the vegan pasta with the vegan cheese they put on the pizza. Oh, I wish I hadn't. I am a vegan and I've had omni places do wrong by me, but that was just penne with some sauce and very few ultra chopped veggies and the weirdest vegan cheese I've had. My grandmother got the vegan salad and I ate most of that even though I didn't think it was great either. My mom left 3/4 of her chicken caesar salad on the plate.
If you want expensive fries and you can wait all day. By all means come here.
I love Barney's. This we all know. (Please see my review of the department store.) Yesterday was my birthday and my parents wanted to take me out to lunch. They made a reservation for us to dine at Fred's. I was, as always, running a few minutes early and had a chance to people watch. I can hardly judge the other clientele for not being at work on a Thursday at 1pm, as I personally was using a PTO day, the men appeared to be on corporate power lunches, and some of the families there seemed to be coming directly from Rosh Hashanah services. However, you could tell there were plenty of ladies who lunch, quaffing bottles of wine together.
The place was PACKED. And LOUD. My parents and I could barely hear each other, though the banquette we were given was quite nice and had a window for us to look out of. The service was prompt.
The food is honestly expensive. A chicken Caesar salad, even if it is as tasty as the one I had yesterday, should not be ~$30. The portions are gigantic, though, and the quality of the food is impressive (esp. the focaccia).
This is a good place to go if you're looking to splurge and/or at Barney's and feeling ravenous. This is not the place for you if the idea of the cheapest menu entree (some sort of pasta) being over $20 at lunch boggles your mind. However, if you have a Barney's credit card, you can apparently get a free glass of wine.
Perfect place for a fun business lunch.
Definitely enjoyed one of the best salads of my life (I had the madison avenue chopped Tuna salad), but at over $20 for a salad – not cheap. However, the plate was huge (I definitely could have split it with a friend). All of the ingredients were very, very fresh and tasty.
The service was quick, and we were able to dine in under an hour.