Pershing Square

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There are better (and less expensive) places to get a burger in midtown, and with Shake Shack now across the street, in the Grand Central food court, competition is steep. But Pershing Square is a perfect restaurant for a very particular dining situation: You’re waiting around for your Metro North train, have enough time to kill that you want to sit down and have a drink, and your crew is too picky or unadventurous to belly up at the terminal’s famed Oyster Bar. With soaring ceilings and fixtures trimmed in wood and brass, the dining room is almost glamorous, and the spacious, comfortable seating is a world away from the hurly-burly of Grand Central’s basement food stalls. (A full bar helps, as do later hours than the Oyster Bar keeps.) As for the menu, keep your expectations moderate; the fried calamari and shrimp cocktail will win no awards but are perfectly fine, and the French fries are more solid. Most mains and vegetable dishes lack the luster that their high price tags would suggest. Instead, go for the burger — not the deluxe version with guacamole and chipotle mayo — but the basic yet well seasoned and satisfying pub burger, cooked to a textbook medium rare when requested. With a pint of beer and some calamari to share and a willingness to ignore how much everything can cost, it’ll do just fine in a pinch. — Max Falkowitz

Sat.–Sun., 11:30 a.m.–4 p.m.

Hamburger; fried calamari

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