Rue La Rue Cafe
| Address: | 4394 Broadway, New York, NY 10040, USA |
| Phone: | +1 917-521-0820 |
| Site: | m.facebook.com |
| Rating: | 4.7 |
| Working: | Closed 9AM–9PM 9AM–9PM 9AM–9PM 9AM–9PM 8AM–10PM 8AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
PA
Paul Travels247
The new Golden Girl’s café and restaurant, Rue la Rue, has opened for a soft open in Uptown Manhattan. This place is the real deal homage to the late great Rue MacClanahan who played Blanche Devereaux and the cast of the Golden Girls. If you saw the show during its or in reruns, it is a classic American sitcom which is a cultural touchstone for generations of people around the world. Rue la Rue has a museum quality to it as you see all of Rue’s personal collection of picture, clothing, an Emmy award and the original phone from the Golden Girl’s set. Owner, Michael LaRue, has really done an amazing work to make this café to have the true spirit of Rue McClanahan. Michael was a close friend of Rue and received her personal collection after Rue’s passing. As local neighborhood residents, we have been patiently waiting for the official opening. Luckily, we spotted an open sign today and made a visit. Sadly, we had a light appetite so we shared coffee and desserts. For the food, the desserts were very nicely flavored. I had the lemon meringue pie for $4.50 which had an extremely fluffy meringue. The size of the slice was great and very zesty. The chocolate cake for $4.50 was thick and very filling too. We ordered Sophia’s Sicilian small coffee for $2.25 and Rose’s St. Olaf Blend small coffee for $2.25. As I observed the other patrons, there were a lot of people getting bread bowl soup which looked very tasty. The coffee and the cheesecake have four different types and flavors. The four cheesecakes are named after a different Golden Girl as well with the coffee roasts. You can buy the coffee as a gift as well. Over the years, I have heard friends ask about visiting fake New York City cafes such as Central Perk from Friends but it is really impressive that Michael LaRue has obtained permission to have a license café with the Golden Girl brand. I hope that there are lot of people who come and enjoy this new café. For New York, there is often hype of rainbow bagels or other instagram worthy items but I am very happy to find a very unique spot which honors a great show. I am looking forward to go back to try some cheesecake soon. Thanks Michael.
FO
Foodlover Girl
I have been patiently waiting for this café to open up since last Fall. Today, I finally got to visit them during their Soft Opening period. I am still not sure when the hard opening would be, but for as long as I got to go in, who cares when the hard opening is, right? It is a Golden Girls themed café, and for a fan or anyone who has watched the show, it is such a fun place to visit. The name of the café comes from the infamous Rue McClanahan, who played Blanche on Golden Girls, and the owner of the café, Michael LaRue, who was a best friend of Rue MacClanahan. The owner has been putting in his heart and soul into this place, every piece was selected with utmost care, love, and detail. He has so much of her artifacts and personal belongings, every item has a (great) story behind it. It is such a wonderful place, it is so much more than just a café, but more like a museum! The inside is not that big, but with tall ceiling and minimum furniture, it felt larger than it is. It was bright with natural light, thanks to a huge window which can be opened out to the street during the warm months. It had a TV on the wall, playing Golden Girls episodes, which is really fun to watch! The line for ordering was not that long, but it took a while since the staffs are still in their “training” periods. I am sure it will get faster and more smooth as they get used to it. The owner was there, helping out with everything as well; bringing food, cleaning up tables, greeting customers, etc. Making sure everything was good, and everyone was happy. We had Sophias Coffee, Roses Coffee, Chocolate Cake and Lemon Meringue Pie. It was all very good and at great price. The atmosphere is great, fun and the space just makes you smile. The staffs were friendly and efficient. It is easy to say this is now one of our favorite Café in NYC. We will be going there again and again… I am so happy they are finally open! Until the hard opening, their temporary hours are Tuesday – Sunday, from 7:30am – 3:30pm. I can’t wait to go back for more awesome desserts or food, and fun coffee! Read my full review of this cafe and food on my food blog, foodlovergirl.
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Edward Maddalena
"Picture it; Manhattan 2017. A new restaurant opens in the Upper West Side catering to a nostalgic TV show from the 80s." While the Golden Girls may have been off the air for over 3 decades now, it has developed a cult following in my family. Having heard that Rue La Rue opened way uptown, we made the trip up into Hudson Heights to celebrate a belated mothers day. Although Rue La Rue is tiny, it is covered wall to wall with memorabilia from the shows multi-season run, notably including Blanches bedroom jungle print wallpaper, the phone from the kitchen and Rue McLanahans Emmy from the show. Having spent a few minutes geeking out at all of the memories, we sat down to eat. Given the very small footprint the cafe has, orders were placed at the counter and then brought to the table. We split a grilled cheese, which was very tasty and then split a piece of (what else?) Cheesecake. Sadly, the Golden Girls wouldnt be too impressed with this desert, as it was just a run of the mill slice from a bakery nearby. Though the desert did end the meal on a bit of a down note, I have to thank the wait staff for being a friend and making sure that everything was going well throughout our meal.
JA
Jacquelyn Massaro
Everything would have been fine, except for the fact that I witnessed how horribly some of the staff is treated. I was in 2 weeks ago for some coffee and saw another employee (or manager, Im not really sure of his position) berate another employee who was clearly in training as well as some guests that came in. I had simply wrote it off as him having a bad day. However, this past Thursday I witnessed the owner yelling at an employee in front of guests and then fired her. There seemed to be no apparent reason for any of this and I even heard another employee remark that she had no idea why he would fire her. The general manager actually quit shortly after because of how terrible the owner is. The fact that this was all done in front of guests was extremely off-putting and unfortunately, because of this behavior exhibited by those in higher positions, I will not be visiting this cafe anymore.
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Belinda H
Im a huge Golden Girls fan, and the food was decent info... but it was the owner who was incredibly rude and made the experience terrible. I took the train for an hour and a half from Brooklyn to make it here on a Saturday morning. It was very crowded, and so when I saw some seats open up I sat down to save them for my friend and myself. Two minutes later, the owner tells me I need to get up because he is seating from the front of the line. Mind you- there are no signs when you enter the cafe that you are not allowed to seat yourself. My friend and I try to sit down again when we receive our food number and again the owner orders us to get up and seats us at a cramped table by the door. He made no eye contact with me, and never apologized for his behavior. Very upsetting. I do not recommend making the trip!
