Tavern On The Green Reopens As Visitors Center

NEW YORK — The New York City landmark Tavern on the Green is back in business, but visitors will find the place unrecognizable from its days as a restaurant.

The revamped tavern is now a visitors center for Central Park, where tourists can sign up for nature tours or visit a gift shop.

The old restaurant is gone. Its famous Crystal Room has been demolished and replaced with a courtyard featuring catering trucks.

Some people dining at the new food court Friday said the cuisine was actually an improvement.

Gourmet food trucks have gained a following in New York City in recent years, and the lineup at the tavern includes vendors selling Turkish tacos, Chinese dumplings, fresh soups and ice cream.

The city is still seeking an operator for a full restaurant at the site.

Comments

[EthicalJournalist]

11:14 AM on 12/10/2010

Boo. Hiss.

It really needs to be a magical restaurant, as it once was.

I admit, it had bad years and good years. Well, not so many good ones. But it COULD be good. It could be great...but not as a Jersey Turnpike rest-stop wannabe.

Yuck.

[CPAwADD]

05:56 PM on 10/18/2010

Soon to be re-opening as Applebee's on the Green?

[drjasonmd]

11:05 AM on 10/18/2010

A McDonald's would be an improvement over the crap they used to serve there.

[clarkesq]

09:16 AM on 10/18/2010

The food at the Tavern on the Green was awful and over-priced. Once we went in and sat, saw the food being served, and we got up and walked out. Life goes on, New Yorkers, so stop chasing fads and mirages, and get real.

[MNmommy]

09:09 AM on 10/18/2010

Shame really, whether or not the food was good anymore. :(

[lexingtonKY]

09:08 AM on 10/18/2010

Sad, It haw now become "Roach Coach" on the Green

[GeoNorth]

08:55 AM on 10/18/2010

Visitor's Center on the Green just doesn't have the same ring to it.

[crom14]

08:29 AM on 10/18/2010

I will never forget my brunch at Tavern On the Green, the most delicious Blackberry crepes I have ever imagined.

[drjasonmd]

11:06 AM on 10/18/2010

Must have had them delivered from another restaurant.

[mmille732003]

05:50 AM on 10/18/2010

Yeah! It was a gorgeous place.

[JhNyc]

04:50 AM on 10/18/2010

No matter its shortcomings, Tavern was a one-of-a-kind place that delighted visitors. It was also a spectacular party venue. The wonderfully garish decor has been stripped away and sold at auction, so it would be impossible to recreate as it was. Sad.

[EthicalJournalist]

08:57 AM on 10/18/2010

Agreed. I went only a few times when I lived in NYC, and the food wasn't always great. But it was a landmark and one worth visiting if for nothing else, for its location. Especially in early spring and in December. Very sad, indeed.

[Evil Umpire]

03:52 AM on 10/18/2010

CBGB's is gone, I'm still angry about the Penn Station atrocity. My friends and I have a few bets going, my money is on the Statue of Liberty getting torn down and replaced with a Chase Manhattan Bank branch. Double if it's a Jamba Juice.

[outofhere]

07:23 AM on 10/18/2010

Oh I don't think the statue will be torn down. The naming rights are too valuable.

[Hillrick]

07:48 AM on 10/18/2010

Also useful when just wrapping yourself in the flag isn't sufficient.

[wolfiegirl]

08:19 AM on 10/18/2010

The Statue of JP Morgan Chase. I can see that.

[GeoNorth]

08:49 AM on 10/18/2010

The Bottom Line is gone, too.

[defdes]

12:10 PM on 10/18/2010

Max's Kansas City is now a Korean bodega.

[Frog in a pot]

02:58 AM on 10/18/2010

It was incredibly festive during the holidays.Over the top decorations and light,.it could make even the most jaded feel like a child again.Ill miss it.

[Sacred Kaw]

01:34 AM on 10/18/2010

It was an autumn evening in 1988, we had just finished dinning at The Tavern On The Green and as we left the restaurant I got down on one knee an proposed to my wife. She said yes, and we've been married for 21 years. I'll never forget that magical night at The Tavern On The Green.

[kel]

08:16 AM on 10/18/2010

For a moment I was fearful as you did this romantic gesture you were going to imply you got mugged.

Glad that wasn't the case, and what a magical memory.

[shirleyfeeney]

01:31 AM on 10/18/2010

Reminds me of when the Brown Derby was torn down here in Los Angeles. Sure, the food wasn't great anymore, but it was still a city landmark.

[MAB]

01:10 AM on 10/18/2010

I did ToTG for brunch in '08; FABULOUS and I didn't realize it was an opportunity soon to fade away. And back in the '80s, I dined at the Tavern owners' Washington, DC, restaurant on the Potomac. Also full of multi-color chandeliers. SO cool.

The real truth is that capitalism has reached the Tipping Point and is taking away everything of character. I primarily blame the COMMERCIAL real estate industry, which LONG AGO left any semblance of a market of the mainstream and now has everything else operating on its out-of-reach-for-all-but-the-wealthy plateau.

[JBoy]

02:16 AM on 10/18/2010

The real truth is that it's only YOUR OPINION thatcapitalism has reached the Tipping Point.

...don't try to sell your opininon as fact.

[Lancelot Mallia]

05:37 AM on 10/18/2010

That applies even more to your opinion. As a Native New Yorker, I fully agree with MAB. JBOY doesn't seem to realize that America looks the same everywhere...soulless places like Chile's or Appleby's now stand where one-of-a-kind places used to be.

[MAB]

10:47 AM on 10/18/2010

When the baby in your avatar can't afford to live anywhere without four roommates, tell me again that I'm wrong. Commercial real estate is the driving force behind 80% of price increases and everything that results from them; a TRUE result of capitalism gone haywire. IT NEEDS TO BE DIALED BACK is all I'm saying. Sure, it's my opinion but I'm damn right.