Prepaid Friday night dinner at kosher restaurant in NYC

January 28, 2020 10:46 AM

Do you know of any kosher restaurants that offer a pre-paid Friday night (Shabbat) dinner in NYC? The pre-paid is important because my guests do not use money on the Sabbath. The only place I'm aware of that offers such meals is Talia's, but unfortunately it's too far from where my guests are staying. Thank you!
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell to Food & Drink (16 answers total)

Perhaps call Talia's and see what they suggest? (Also it would help to know where your guests are staying.)
posted by madcaptenor at 10:50 AM on January 28, 2020

Depending on your guests' needs and the availability of other options, Hillel at a university might work. I'd guess Columbia and NYU will have something like this. In my experience schools' kosher dining plan will have Shabbat dinner at whatever the Jewish Life center is called at their campus, not in the regular dining hall, and won't collect money (either it will be prepaid or free.) During my undergrad experience (not NYC) there were sometimes community members that joined for Shabbat meals for various reasons.
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:19 AM on January 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: They are staying in Midtown.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 11:59 AM on January 28, 2020

Can they drop into the restaurant earlier in the day to "start a tab" and then their waiter can actually close them out that night when they're done with dinner? The family can start the tab with the day manager earlier on Friday, and then that manager can transfer the tab over to their actual waiter when that waiter comes on shift or when the family gets there that night. The family can also request that the tip be given via autogratuity, like restaurants normally do with large parties. At the end of the night, the family doesn't have to sign the slip once they're closed out -- obviously it's better to sign the slip in theory, but in this case it's not doable and it's also not actually essential for the waiter if there's an autograt and no additional tip added (the manager might also initial/notate the slip if the waiter is worried). If the restaurant agrees to do things this way, the family won't have to handle money or credit cards on the sabbath, because starting the tab will put their credit card information on file in the computer system and their credit card will be long back in their wallet by the time they arrive for dinner. Sorry for not having specific restaurant recommendations, this just is how I would have wanted to handle this situation back when I was a front of house restaurant manager.
posted by rue72 at 12:00 PM on January 28, 2020 [3 favorites]

Would they use a gift certificate? I know some observant people will not consider this an actual transfer of funds as the gift certificate was purchased before Shabbat. If your guests would accept this it's an elegant solution.
posted by epanalepsis at 1:19 PM on January 28, 2020

Response by poster: An interesting thought, but I don't think that a restaurant that would accept gift cards would be acceptable to them, because presumably such an establishment would also be accepting cash, and that would be insufficiently strict. At Talia's, it appears they only accept prepayment.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 1:29 PM on January 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

So to clarify, it's not just your guests who need to adhere to this, but the restaurant for all patrons? I'm not clear from your question.
posted by fiercecupcake at 2:03 PM on January 28, 2020

fiercecupcake, people who don't handle money on Shabbat are 99% likely to be pretty strictly kosher, and because of various aspects of kosher laws/kosher supervision requirements, kosher restaurants generally aren't open on Shabbat. The "pre-pay for a Shabbat meal" is a workaround (and is pretty unusual.) Any regular restaurant that is open and taking regular orders on a Friday night is vanishingly unlikely to meet these people's criteria for kashrut.
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:07 PM on January 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I believe the Midtown Lubavitchers (around 5th & 42nd) do prepaid Shabbat dinners. I don't know whether your guests would consider that atmosphere congenial or otherwise.
posted by praemunire at 4:13 PM on January 28, 2020 [1 favorite]

How about you pay, and they reimburse you when permitted such a transaction?
posted by GeeEmm at 4:29 PM on January 28, 2020

Most strict kosher restaurants close early Friday afternoon and don't reopen until after sundown on Saturday. (There are a few more places in NYC that offer a prepaid Shabbat brunch, though.)
posted by praemunire at 4:35 PM on January 28, 2020

Seconding Chabad of Midtown.
posted by 8603 at 5:33 PM on January 28, 2020

You say they are staying in Midtown but Tahlia's is too far. Do you need a place within walking distance, because your guests will not ride the subway on the sabbath?

Also, the page you linked at Tahlia's mentions lighting candles. Are you looking for a place that will celebrate the sabbath, or just serve a sufficiently kosher meal without requiring you to handle money right then?

Anyway, if they will ride the subway (or walk multiple miles) and just want a meal, Buddha Bodai in Chinatown serves kosher vegetarian Chinese food. It is supervised by CupK. Knowing what I do about Chinese restauranteurs, I feel confident that they will take payment in advance.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 9:36 PM on January 28, 2020

A little digging turned up Eighteen on the UES. It's not clear to me whether they offer seatings for Shabbat dinner or just delivery, but they could be worth a call. (It'd be a hike from Midtown, and not that much closer than Talia's, but, depending on the ages and abilities of your guests, somewhat reasonable--my dad walks up to the Met from Midtown when visiting, but my dad likes to walk--but depending on where they're staying.)
posted by hoyland at 3:27 AM on January 29, 2020

Response by poster: Needs more cowbell has explained it accurately. The only restaurants that might work for these folks are going to be strictly Sabbath observant (and kosher), which means that such establishments will not transact money with any patrons on the Sabbath and will only serve guests who have pre-paid.

Talia's would be perfect, but it's too far away from Midtown as these guests will not ride the subway or use other forms of transit on the Sabbath except for walking.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 11:12 AM on January 29, 2020

Response by poster: Etrog and Chabad both look like plausible options. Thank you!
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 11:19 AM on January 29, 2020