Empire Diner
Description
For decades Empire Diner served as a dear friend to Chelsea habitués and a picture-postcard icon of New York City with its art deco chrome facade. It closed in 2010, was briefly revived as the Highliner and finally returned as the better-than-ever Empire Diner in 2014. Amanda Freitag's charming and delicious menu includes the Happy Waitress, poached eggs with thinly sliced ham, cheddar cheese and chili jam; in another wink to classic diners of yore, there's a Greek salad layered with charred octopus, feta and mint. While very much a neighborhood joint—plus convenient to the High Line and Chelsea art galleries—the modern American food has fancy touches like foie gras in the loaded potatoes and black truffle butter in the orzo mac and cheese. The burger is unimpeachable. Freitag inserts seasonal vegetables wherever she can and does a daily "green plate" special, a formula you wish more greasy spoons would copy.