University Place Restaurant

Seats were uncomfy. The waitresses were rude. The window seats were great for people watching though. If you’ve noticed my use of past tense so far, you’d probably realize by now that this place is closed. Although all the lights are off and all the furniture removed, you can still still imagine old couples sitting by the window, watching all the narcissistic persons of Greenwich village walk by with their pompous little dogs and their futuristic-​looking baby carriages. Truth is, even though the food wasn’t too good, and the service wasn’t too helpful, anyone passing by this establishment in the morning would wish they were the ones in the parlor seat, enjoying a Egg Benedict, regardless of whether or not it tasted like cardboard. University Place Restaurant may be gone, but the Old New York sentiment is still there.

In the 1960s and 1970s, this coffee shop was run by a Greek man named TEDDY, so all of us locals called the place «Teddy’s.» In those days, there was no sign but it was owner operated, prices were fair, Greek standards were served, and everything was fresh. When TEDDY sold it to an Asian man, that former «pride of ownership» and the presence of management began to go downhill.
Yes, prices went up and quality went down.
The current owners kicked the door shut with four years left on their lease.
When you are aware of the unfortunate fact that the monthly rent here is now $ 39,000, you wonder how anyone can survive. What kind of coffee shop do you need to operate that brings in over $ 10,000/ week???
There were lots of good memories here at 101 University Place and that is why the neighborhood continued to support this familiar low-​key diner.
All the tourists and outsiders and transients will never know what University Place was like during the 1970s when The Albert Hotel was an SRO for drug addicts, prostitutes, pimps, and thugs and there were very few places to sit down and eat along University Place besides the Chinese eatery (1 University Place), the coffee shop on University and East 10^th (21 East 10^th), The Cedar Tavern, and comfortable TEDDY’s (101 University Place). Instead of places to eat, there were blood banks, hardware stores, a liquor store, drugstores, The Swan Bookshop, the bowling alley, garages, lots of «prop houses» (rentals for the movie business and TV sets), auctioneers, and several scary all-​night grocery stores that pre-​dated the more cheerful Asian/​Korean greengrocers.
Thank you to the greedy landlords at 101 University Places whose constant rent increases altered and ultimately uprooted a longterm coffee shop without pretensions that served fresh down-​home food to Greenwich Villagers.
TEDDY’S r.i.p.

So glad this place finally closed. One of the worst meals of my life. I hope something nice opens in that spot instead.

My hubby and I had lunch there today on the busy weekend of the Washington Square art show. We got a table right away but the diner seemed to be short-​staffed.
The food was good and reasonably priced but there was a wait. We will go back.

Pretty standard diner, there’s nothing about it that would make me want to go back. The food I had was standard, I think I had the grilled tuna sandwich.
I actually found it pricey for the quality of the food although the portion size was fair. My friend had the gyro which she enjoyed and she’s Greek so she should know what a gyro should be like!
The waiter took his time with our order, and the best thing about this place was the window seat to people watch in this area.

This gets one star because our waiter was nice, even though he spilled my friend’s chili as he was putting it on the table and didn’t offer to replace it/​clean it up.
If you’re looking for cheap nosh near Union Square, you’re better off going to McDonald’s or Taco Bell. I ordered a Grilled Chicken Salad that had more olives and jalapenos in it than actual chicken or lettuce — and the lettuce was more stalk than leaves. The blue cheese dressing was definitely dodgy. My friend ordered beef chili over veg and spent the rest of the evening and the next day feeling sick.
Our bill came to $ 22 in total. Sure, it’s cheap compared to other New York eatieres, but with a plethora of cheaper and tastier and cleaner options nearby (like Mary Ann’s in the East Village) this place sucks.

Ouch!
Wasn’t in the mood for confrontation in coming to what has historically been a decent diner experience for me, but when I specifically ordered the 2.95 egg sandwich, and my bill showed up as the 3.95 sandwich, my day went downhill quick.
Not so much about the buck, but the unbelievable attitude I received from the waitress.
I was actually surprised when I checked in on Unilocal to see this place rank at 2+ stars.
Now I know why.
Now I know why I use Unilocal.
Because in the aggregate, it usually bears out true.
I was dismayed to find out how painfully true that can be, when I did everything possible to avoid any issue.
Bad service is inexcusable toward communicative customers.
Even this, wouldn’t stop me from returning here, because I enjoy the convenience and ambiance of the venue.

Great diner, very cheap prices for Manhattan.
They have plates under $ 10 for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner specials include fare like spaghetti and meatballs, meatloaf and open-​faced hot turkey sammich.
I usually stick with breakfast at diners. University Place does it well. For a little more than $ 5, dine on 2 eggs, toast and home fries (any time of day, I believe it’s cheaper during actual breakfast hours).
I got my eggs over easy and one of the yolks was broken when it got to the table. Bummer.
Mozzarella sticks here are definitely of the frozen sort.
The menu isn’t as extensive as most diners, but the prices are cheaper than any diner that I’ve seen in Manhattan. There is never a wait to eat here and food comes out pretty fast.
If you’re not feeling creative or in the mood for anything in particular, stick with simple, stick with what you know… either stay home or eat at University Place.

This is probably one of crappier diners I’ve been to for breakfast but the food is cheap, and honestly, you don’t come here expecting something orgasmic. You might not even come here expecting something good.
I had the waffle with scrambled eggs and bacon. The waffle was your standard diner waffle, nothing butter and syrup can’t make tasty. The scrambled eggs however were overcooked and the bacon was terrible.
Bacon is delicious because it’s salty, smoky, sometimes sweet, and fatty. It’s not hard to get the fatty part down, and here, it was definitely greasy. Unfortunately, it tasted like nothing. It was not in the least salty, and had no hint of smokiness at all. It basically felt like I was eating cardboard. If I ever come back, I’m sticking to my eggs done sunny side up. You can’t mess that up, right?

My friend and I came here for brunch an hour before our Harry Potter movie showing in Regals theater down the block. When we came in, we were immediately seated by the door, but my friend then requested for a booth table and the hostess was nice enuff to let us get a booth table even if they can seat 4 ppl but it wasn’t a busy time so why not.
My friend got toast w/​bacon while I got the Eggs benedict. I always see this dish in brunch menu and so I was curious to try it out. And it did not disappoint. Here is a pic:
It’s a diner place so there’s nothing really stellar about it but it’s cozy. And my waitress was patient w/​me cuz my eggs benedict came w/​potatoes, but i wanted to replace that w/​home fries, and then i changed my mind and settled w/​french fries. If we weren’t so rushed to get to our movie on time, the booth area seating would have been a great place to have a nice long conversation while dining over our tasty brunchies.

Decent food, great entertainment. Lousy staff. The large windows allows looking out and people watch.
Update 12÷2÷14 — this place closed well over a year ago

This place is a diner, so please get the classic diner food. Favorites are the sweet stuff: french toast or waffles which u can order with mixed fruit or berries… Whatever they have.
Coffee is decent. Sausages r yum and/​but fatty.
Service is not the worst.

Breakfast menu
stop there for a quick bite, i duno whether i was really hungry or the food was really good but the portion was large enough to staisfy the appetite. the servie was good n the lady was nice to us, will go again

Food is awful. I had the chicken gyro platter and there were 3 strips of dried out chicken in the pita bread.
Service is lazy and border-​line moronic.
I should have listened to my fellow Unilocalers about this place.

FIrst time I came here, it was decent. Good «diner like» selection of food and a pretty extensive menu. Prices are slightly higher than usual which is a negative.
I then came back for lunch on a weekday and was SUPER stoked to see they had breakfast all day! But… then I saw the small print that there is a minimum of $ 10 per table, per person. That is SUPER annoying. I spent more than I wanted to just to make the minimum. That REALLY got to me so I probably won’t go back unless I’m with someone and guaranteed to hit that minimum.
Shame because the fries were great and so was the Philly Cheesesteak…

When nothing is open after 11pm on a Monday night, this place does come in handy. Yes absolutely.
I had the vegetable panini with fries. Sandwich was ok, fries were… those big honking huge fries. Not overly impressed, but certainly edible.
When in doubt plan ahead, or go to a different neighborhood after 11pm!

I love their menu. anything you want, they will make it.
so casual.
food doesn’t taste great but will fill you. prices are good too.
good for people watching.

Awful service and food. Avoid at all costs.

for a diner, the prices are a bit high, but then again, you’re in Manhattan, in the neighborhood of NYU students loaded with money… so expect higher prices.
it’s a bit small. it looked bigger from the outside. whomp whomp. on the plus side, a window view gets you a chance to people-​watch.
the California chicken sandwich was one of the few semi-​original items on the list, so I ordered that. I asked for no avocado, as I don’t really like it, and there was a little bit of it left — I guess the chef realized this a bit too late? whatevs, I’ve killed for less.
sweet potato fries were pretty good — worth paying the extra $ 1.25 for.
wouldn’t go out of my way to come here, but if in the neighborhood and needed a diner, yeah, sign me the hell up.

It was a while since I had perused a diner menu, so when the opportunity presented itself last week — I figured why not.
I used to come here all the time when I was an undergrad, which was weird because I went to school in Queens. Something about the street (with the word University in it no less) inspires hapless college-​aged kids to meander about.
But I digress.
So I went in with a new friend and decided that when in Rome — order a cheeseburger. I got the turkey variety and I was surprised that it wasn’t dry and gross — it was pretty darn tasty! And why wouldn’t you order it deluxe?
Great place to hang out in if you’re tired and not looking for anything fancy. The booths are cozy, the lighting pleasant and the waiters don’t bother you too much.
Of course, I’ll be back.