Public

Critics' Pick

210 Elizabeth St., New York, NY 10012
nr. Prince St. See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-343-7011 Send to Phone

Price Range: $$-$$$
Reader Rating:
6.5 out of 10

22 Reviews | Write a Review
Cuisine: American Traditional, Eclectic/Global

Photo by Lauren Klain Carton

Map

Reserve a Table

Official Website

Rate & Review

Hours

Mon-Thu, 6pm-11:30pm; Fri, 6pm-12:30am; Sat, 11am-3:30pm and 6pm-midnight; Sun, 11am-3:30pm and 6pm-10:30pm

Nearby Subway Stops

6 at Spring St.; N, R, W at Prince St.

Prices

$20-$30

Payment Methods

American Express, MasterCard, Visa

Special Features

Brunch - Weekend
Private Dining/Party Space
Design Standout

Alcohol

Full Bar

Reservations

Recommended

Make a Reservation with opentable.com

Profile

You’ll find New Zealand snapper, pink sea trout from Tasmania, and New Zealand venison served with ginger-glazed carrots, all served in a swank, oddly themed setting designed to evoke public institutions like schools and libraries. The two-level room used to be a bakery, and the proprietors have put in sliding industrial doors and hung trendy filament bulbs along the ceiling. Swatches of what appears to be cheesecloth cover the wine rack, and oil lamps line one of the brick walls. A wooden library-card catalogue has been placed by the coat check, and the menus are presented on clipboards and stamped like office order forms. Happily, this oddly forced décor is transcended, for the most part, by the cooking of the American-born, London-trained chef, Brad Farmerie. Australasian cuisine, as he defines it, is an agreeable mishmash of American structure (everything’s arranged in a Portale tower), farm-fresh ingredients, and global (mostly Southeast Asian) spices and tastes. That includes an inventive kangaroo dish (cut in slivers, arranged on crisp falafel cake, and crowned with a spoonful of tangy green-pepper relish) accompanied by a nourishing bowl of parsnip soup flavored, in the Indian style, with cumin and coriander, plus a rogue sprinkling of dried barberries. — Adam Platt

Extra

Try visiting Public for the superior weekend brunch, which includes novel delicacies like coconut-stuffed pancakes and a fine version of eggs Benedict made with tea-smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce flavored with yuzu.

Weddings
This young restaurant in the heart of Nolita, featuring a “free-spirited fusion” menu, can host sit-down receptions for 100 to 125. Public can also be the site of the ceremony, with 25-step staircases, a lounge–cum–dressing room, and a picture window looking onto the Elizabeth Street Garden. Receptions range from $25,000 to $30,000.

Recommended Dishes

Grilled scallops, $15

Reader Ratings

6.5

"Mixed Reviews"
Average Reader Rating
on a Scale of 10

Trouble with service and wines

Sctory from 10022 | Posted on 4/26/08

Overall Reader Rating: 7 (Recommended)


Food:	8
Service:	4

Décor:	6

Value:	7

I know people who swear by this place, so i think my surly service the other night was an anomaly, but still worth mentioning. Our waiter acted exasperated that he had to serve my table from the moment we sat down...Read More

Brunching Out

darryladachi from 10016 | Posted on 9/16/05

Overall Reader Rating: 8 (Recommended)


Food:	8
Service:	7

Décor:	8

Value:	7

I met some friends for dinner at Public and liked the open atmosphere so much that I headed back there for Sunday brunch a couple of weeks later. I couldn't decide between the egg fry up or the banana stuffed...Read More