Chat ‘n Chew

This place is YUM! Great homey comfort food.
The only negative is that the place feels so tiny and stuffed. But to be honest you’ll be enjoying your food too much to really care and after you will be in a delicious food coma.
What I had:
Catfish Cajun Poboy: it was really well seasoned and flavorful and the sweet potato fries were awesome.
I also tried from around the table: The Meatloaf, Thanksgiving sandwich and The TV dinner.
All of it was delicious! I am craving ti all as i type this review.
Not really a date place either, a great place for just friends to hang out and eat themselves silly on a cheat day!

Just walked down 16^th Street and noticed that Chat N Chew is gone!!! This place was my go to restaurant when friends were visiting from out of town. Great salads, burgers, Mac n Cheese. The vibe was cool too with all the vintage knick knacks on the walls. So sad to see this institution gone :(. RIP Chat N Chew.

Oh no! Closed??? Where will I now go for the world’s best macaroni and cheese??? I want to cry. The food here was so adorable. Heavy sigh.

I can’t believe this place is closed. I went here many times about 4 years ago. Their thanksgiving sandwich is the best I’ve ever had! So sad it’s gone.

I can’t fairly rate this place probably but I’ve been wanting to go to this cute spot since I first noticed it a couple years ago. Only tried their ‘award winning’ mac n cheese. It was tasty but the macaroni were wayy overcooked… much too soft and soggy. Would have been much better if not so overcooked.
So that’s all we tried… though the salmon dish being served next to us looked like a great size portion and delicious!
Prices were okay and the host (perhaps he is the owner?) is incredibly funny.

This was one of those New York spots that was solid from the 90’s till last week. Afew years back they did a mini remodel and took down the old school christmas lights, I loved the look of those. They really fit the vibe of this place well.
Food was great, Shrimp Po Boy was my fav. Also the Meat Loaf, Killer.
Best Mint Julep in the city!
Sad to see another great place fall to high rent, a true loss.
Thanks for the memories!

I’ve been to Chat ‘n Chew only a couple of times before the renovation. I always sat outside so I never saw what was indoors. The food was just okay but served it’s purpose for comfort food and reasonably priced then. I remember having the turkey dinner and fried chicken which were both okay but nothing to rave about or remember.

My friend asked me to find us a restaurant near her office for dinner in Union Square. I decided on this place because of its vibe. Sure enough, Chat ‘n Chew had a rustic, cozy feel to it, perfect after a long day of work.
I ordered a mojito. I enjoyed it so much, I ordered another one. The food took awhile to come out of the kitchen, but I mainly find that to be the case at restaurants that serve comfort food. While I enjoyed my order of macaroni and cheese, I can’t say I found it very memorable. My friend liked her vegetarian chili, but she kept stealing off my plate and talking about how much she loved the macaroni and cheese.
The waitress didn’t check on our table often and it took awhile to get the check. Considering its relaxed atmosphere, I’d recommend going to Chat ‘n Chew if you’re not in a rush and as a place to catch up with friends.

Il faut croire qu’il est à conseiller ce petit resto en sous-​sol à deux secondes et demi de Union Square. Puisque que je l’ai encore bien en tête, 4 mois après mon passage.
En plus il nous a été conseillé par une new-​yorkaise qui a bien vu notre détresse de touristes affamés, à quelques blocs de là. C’est le premier nom qui lui est venu en tête quand on lui a dit qu’on voulait manger américain, ça devait forcément être formidable, non !?
Eh bien non ce n’est pas FORMIDABLE, mais c’est sacrément bon. Le craquant du bacon de mon philly sandiwch me résonne encore entre les dents et le fromage fond encore au fond de mon gosier. Parmi les choses qui m’ont marquée, il y a également le gros facepalm du moment où j’ai demandé un acompagnement «mi-​frites, mi-​salades» en sachant qu’on a le choix entre les deux et que c’est le même prix et que le serveur m’a dit que non, ce n’est tout simplement pas possible. Aïe…ok…j’essaie toujours de comprendre…
En résumé, carte simple et familiale, vous y mangerez ce que les new-​yorkais mangent dans une salle sympa et si il vous reste de la place, les desserts sont gigantesques et fièrement exposés sous cloches dès l’entrée du resto, miam !

I have MIXED EMOTIONS about this place. My first experience was pretty BORING and my second time was just a TEENY STEP UP. I come here when I’ve exhausted my other options in the Union Sq area.
QUINTESSENTIAL MAC N CHEESE – pretty BIG serving which makes it a SHARABLE dish for sure. I like the CRUMBLY, CRUNCHY top but overall it’s not the best mac ‘n cheese I’ve had. Not to say that it’s bad; they do it well but it’s MISSING the WOW factor.
CAJUN CATFISH PO’BOY – forgettable.
MISS PATTY’S CHICKEN SAMMY – this sammich encapsulates a GREAT CHICKEN SALAD. The chicken WASN’T DRY and together with the herb mayo and cheddar, it was SO GOOD! Also, the 7 GRAIN was so fresh. SLIGHTLY CRISP on the outside and DOUGHY on the inside… you’ll notice when you take the first bite. This sammich is HUGE; I had to take the other half home with me. It came with a side of TASTELESS FRIES.
Again, I wouldn’t come here because I want to. It’s a bit $$ for American comfort food done right but nothing amazing.

This little hole in the wall, diner-​esque café has a really nice atmosphere. I came here for dinner with a friend of mine and it was perfect because the music wasn’t too loud and the food was pretty good. I got a BLT with fries and they really don’t skimp on that. There were layers of bacon, lettuce and tomato and it was absolutely delicious. However despite that, $ 11 for a BLT seemed a bit much and that’s one of the cheaper items on the menu. The service wasn’t bad, the waitress didn’t leave us waiting long and she was attentive, asking us if our food was good or asking if we needed more water.
I’ve been to the chat and chew before and it was delicious, but I think it’s a little too expensive. Yes I left satisfied and full, but c’mon, $ 10 for a grilled cheese? $ 11 for a BLT and $ 13 for a burger? This is classic diner food and you can definitely get it for cheaper in other areas of NYC.

Last month, I had brunch with a girlfriend of mine at Chat ‘n Chew. It’s been a while since I last ate here so I thought I would revisit with my friend.
It sure looked a lot roomier and has more tables/​seating since I have last been here. The restroom smelled extremely unpleasant. There was a mold-​like scent lingering in the air and detected that most of the restaurant had this musty odor. The wooden floors were dirty and old too.
My friend ordered the Eat It & Beat It Breakfast Special with a hand-​cut smoked bacon. It was a very simple breakfast — two eggs (any style), home fries, and toast. I love how full her dish was and it looked like she got enough for what she paid for.
I ordered the Fresh Mushroom and Thyme Omelette. The portion size of my plate was so small and for $ 10.50, I felt I was ripped off. The omelette was delicious, but very small in size. The home fries were decent.
I must admit I was a little disappointed this time especially with the size of my food and the price of it. I’ve been to many brunch restaurants and diners the past 2 – 3 years and I’ve never had any issues with restaurants and portion size. In addition, the musty odor didn’t help our experience at all. I was so relieved when my friend and I exited the restaurant because we had fresh air finally. I simply can’t stand odors.
So… based on the portion size of the food and horrible odor at Chat ‘n Chew, I don’t think I will be back for a long time. It’s just not as good as I remembered.

Chat ‘n Chew was recommend to me by a friend. A friend who has mentioned it to me every time she comes to New York City. It was one of these many snow storms we had this winter that I actually got around to trying this restaurant, I must first say, that I was no at all impressed. The service was far from even acceptable. I saw the waitress maybe once or twice the whole duration of my meal and I felt that the food took a while to come out.
I ordered Fish and Chips which I guess it was my fault for not asking what kind of fish is was, but it was the fishiest fish and chips that I’ve had. I still to this day do not know what kind of fish that was but I cringe every time I think about it. I ordered an able cider along with my meal which teased like warm watered down apple juice. My terrible experience definitely warrants a talk with my friend and maybe even some ridicule on her horrible recommendation.

Food is tasty, service and price is good. Only one problem… If you don’t mind cockroaches crawling to your plate more than once during a single sitting, then you’ll love this place!
Doesn’t seem like the ownership/​management cares because the bathrooms are decrepit and bulbs over tables are burnt out. Oh yeah… And the roaches.

Cute place, but the service and food are subpar. I asked for stout, waiter brought the pilsner and insisted that it was a stout. Ignorant pompous waiter. Then our sour dough bread sandwich came as focaccia. And my thanksgiving dinner was served with dry crusty turkey.
Not coming back.

Indeed, Unilocalers are usually right. This place wasn’t what I expected it to be and I wish I had tried this place a year ago before it apparently changed chefs. After bookmarking this place for a while, I saw the negative reviews but gave it a chance anyway.
The Blueberry Mint Lemonade was fresh and perhaps the best part of the meal. The famed Mac and Cheese was bland and not really «comfort food.» If there were 6 cheeses in there I couldn’t really taste it, making me crave S’mac’s version instead. The Pulled Pork Sammy special didn’t really justify all the pig décor around the place, as it was also bland and lukewarm.
Waitress was nice but overall the meal was not worth the almost $ 40.

My wife, brother and I came here and have all been here before and I doubt any of us will return. The new motif and food is not as good as the old way.
My wife had the Turkey burger which I also tried. Decent, but needs a condiment to match the flavors in the burger.
My brother had the Thanksgiving Dinner which he said was okay.
I had the fish and chips. Tasteless fish which was soggy. I really should have sent it back, but after the table next to me sent food back I had a vision of all the shows and Youtube clips I have seen about food being messed with and it made me decide to stick with the flavorless mushy fish and over fried no flavor fries. Overly crunchy fires with no seasoning. Not worth $ 17.
The soda was warm and flat. Service was okay at best. We were sitting with the check with the cash waiting for change for over 10 minutes.
I know the concept of fresh and local is big now, but I don’t think it was broken and needed to be fixed.
To sum it up $ 60 for blah food and meh service is not worth it to me.

REALLY GOOD COMFORT HOMEY FOOD.
When it’s late and all you want is down right comfort food, Chat n’ Chew is superb. It’s got that 70’s diner feel with just some all around deliciously satisfying, coma-​inducing food. This was my go-​to place after pulling all-​nighters studying for exams. Nothing was better than something hot and oozing with cheese.
My favorites:
— Chicken pot pie (when it’s on the special) — the crust is so buttery and flaky and the the chicken /​gravy filling just warms your heart
— Burger (w/​blue cheese, bacon and sweet potato) … it’s a good sized burger. not a gourmet burger or anything gimmicky like Pat La Frieda /​D’Artagnan beef blend. it’s just plain delicious.
— Grilled cheese w/​bacon
— Mac and cheese
— Buffalo wings
— Vesuvius cake … everything you’ve ever wanted in a cake
Staff is also super friendly!

Let me tell you why this is 5 stars.
Came here for some lunch before heading out to Brooklyn. The place isn’t fancy and it isn’t a dump either. It’s weirdly inbetween. The menu offers a variety of items. The best part is the $ 5 drinks. We got $ 5 margarita’s and they were DELICIOUS. We came back after dropping our friend at work and sat at the bar for another round of those ‘ritas. The bartender made us our yummy drinks and then offered us a shot of some fancy tequila. I shouldn’t say a shot. It was more like 2.5 shots! Warm tequila shot is not my favorite at all, but it was so smooth and so good. He followed that up with another shot of some other fancy tequila. So, for $ 30, we had 4 drinks at lunch and 2 when we returned, and all those shots. Where else do you get that in the city?
Service was great! Food was really good. Prices are EXCELLENT!

I like this place a lot.
I was interviewed for a job here. Don’t get the wrong idea — it’s a super casual eatery despite the fact that an interview was held there.
The food is so great and comes in big portions! I’ve been here three times and all three times I got the mac and cheese. So delicious. You get a HUGE bowl of it. It’s covered in crispy breadcrumbs and freshly grated cheese. The cheese that’s throughout the dish is rich and creamy. Absolutely delicious.
The layout of the store is interesting. It’s in a basement-​esque location and manages to squeeze in a lot of seating despite the limited space. It’s cozy.
As my guy Unilocaler Ben Y. noted, the waiters are a little slow in bringing water refills. Other than that, the waiters are very friendly!
Going to Chat ‘n Chew for lunch is always a treat!

The name says it all — it’s a fun place to catch up with friends while eating food.
The restaurant is indeed cute and cozy. There is a little bar you can sit at but it’s mainly table service. Waitresses are friendly and are quick at tending to you. It’s obviously a neighborhood favorite as it was very busy on a Wednesday evening, filled with couples and group of friends.
The food menu is traditional American. My friend went with their soup of the day and house salad, while I had their Uncle Red’s Addiction (fried chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables). My dish was good but nothing memorable. I’ve had better fried chicken elsewhere. Their booze menu is limited to a few beers, cocktails and 2 types of red or white wines.
Chat ‘n Chew is a decent place to hit up if you want a hearty meal in a low key place in the Union Square area.