Vynl

I was looking for a really good thai restaurant the day I went to Vynl and was saddened by there selection since they were not strictly thai. I did enjoy the red cur

This was an awesome place on the Upper West Side. Vynl was 1 of 4 different Vynls in the city. All owned by the same company. I suppose they sold this location off as it probably was performing the worst out of the other restaurants. This place is now a different restaurant. It called Akai Lounge. I’m looking forward to going back again and checking that place out.

Picture yourself walking into an American traditional diner that has been smashed into a disco. I walked in, and I immediately felt like I was at Lime back in SF, only dimmer, louder, and with more glitter. My friend said it reminded him of Hamburger Mary in West Hollywood.
The host was really nice. He didn’t take our name, but said that we would probably be seated in about 5 minutes. When our table was ready, he came over and took us to it.
The service was mediocre, but fine by NY standards. If you don’t know what the means, it means they come only when they have something to do to interact with you unless you call them over. There isn’t the usually casual check in to see how things are.
I had the veggie burger with avocado, and it tasted fine by my standards. It certainly has nothing on The Counter back home in the Bay, but it was good.
I would come back here, but it probably wouldn’t be my first choice, although the atmosphere was appealing, if you’re into 70s retro. ;-)

The Upper East Side location, on 2^nd at 78^th, is as wonderful & adorable as the Upper West Side sounds. The rock & roll theme is cute & fun without being too annoying or gimmicky (a la Big Daddy’s). The service was friendly, prompt, & attentive, the décor was eye-​catching but not distracting, & the food was delicious. I went for brunch & seriously considered just staying for lunch. I haven’t been able to go back yet, but I pine for that Vynl Scramble every Sunday.

I’m a big fan of the East side Vynl and was curious to see how the West side would measure up. Like in most other arenas, East side wins! :)
The UWS Vynl is similar in a lot of ways — rock n’ roll themed everything from the bathrooms (Rolling Stones, Diana Ross… and I forget the other one), to the menus, to the general décor. One plus to this location is that the décor isn’t as over the top as the one across the park. However, there is nowhere near the amount of variety on this menu. You’ll see options for burgers, salads, sandwiches, and wraps… and that’s about it.
I had a REALLY great Asian chicken salad — perhaps a bit too much dressing. My friend had the burger… pretty standard. We were so excited about the happy hour drink specials (which I think actually are all the time prices) — $ 4 frozen margaritas and frozen mai tai’s. The mango margarita is ridiculously sweet — too much to be enjoyable. And I have a wicked sweet tooth so that is really saying something!
Service wasn’t as great as I had hoped. I ordered tea and the waitress had to be reminded twice to bring it out, and then forgot the honey. The place wasn’t busy (around 6 on a weekday), which I appreciated.
If you’re choosing between this one and the other, go to the east side.

Continuing on in our quest to eat at all New York theme restaurants, my friend and I decided to come here for a late lunch/​early dinner. This place did not disappoint. It’s not as theme-​y as, say, Ninja or Mars 2112, but it keeps up its theme and does it well with menus made from album covers and table tops with mosaics of band logos. The bathrooms are FANTASTIC. Being a huge huge huge Stones fan, I immediately made a beeline for the Rolling Stones one. I danced the entire time I was in there as well — yes, even while peeing. The Elton John one was occupied so I didn’t get to see it, but Miss Ross’s restroom did not disappoint either. Most fun trip to the bathroom ever!
As for the food, it was really good. I had the tofu and vegetable steamed dumplings, very tasty, and I had the grilled chicken sandwich, which was extremely good. I tried their homemade potato chips with my sandwich, and those were also very delicious. Great service, decent prices, and a cute theme? I will definitely come back here.

sit at the bar if a blonde girl with a killer smile is working. happened to drift in for a beer and a burger and got the pleasure of rubbing elbows with new york’s finest, jacky the bartender. well traveled, well read, well spoken. not only able to debrief about my day at work (family members in the finance industry keep her up to speed on my wall street journal headlines) this girl had her ipod blaring with sounds from beastie boys, common, beck, arcade fire and aphex twin. don’t bring up music though; she’ll break your heart in two when she tells you her boyfriend was just playing on her mix as well. we might hate this recession but god bless america for the gift of blonde hispanics. i recommend jackys suggestion of a blue moon with lime (sub out the orange) and my own concoction of blue cheese melted on the mid rare burger
not the place for a new guy like myself to meet new people, but definitely that kind of place you can become a regular at and read without being interrupted.

I am usually here for brunch on Sundays and I love them so much I forgive them for slow service.
The music is great — I don’t know any other place that can make me feel like I am in a club at 1:30 PM on Sunday. Granted, some people may not appreciate that vibe that early but I think it’s really entertaining.
The food is really good — they make accommodations and will make you things that aren’t on the menu if you ask.

I like Vynl because its close to my apartment, never a wait (at least for inside) and the service is fast. As for the food, its pretty tasty ! I haven’t eaten a lot of the Thai dishes except the Thai salad which was ok. I like the Cobb Salad the best so far. The rock theme is fun. A solid neighborhood spot. I don’t walk into this place expecting gourmet dishes, and neither should you! They have some outdoor seating also…

I absolutely love this place for the ambiance — hand crafted and very un-​hard-​rock and yet music lover friendly!
The food (esp. for veggies) is awesome — the fries and veg burger were quite well done and the service was fairly quick too.
Overall, really good choice and Beatles menus? wohoo

I really love a good veggie burger with fries. I don’t crave it often, but when I did this one particular night, I was not disappointed. Vynl has all sorts of food from Italian, Southern, to Thai. It is really different, has a nice cool theme going on, and the food (besides the dumplings) don’t disappoint you. I’d definitely come back again for that delicious veg burger.

I wish they would bring back the frozen cosmo. Either way I love this place. Great drink prices and good food.
The service needs some help… a little slow. But if you have nowhere to go then this place is a MUST. The upper west location is the best.

People seem divided over giving Vynl 3 or 4 stars. But I will throw down the three simply because I just can’t find something particularly Special to push it over that threshhold to qualify four stars.
The music motif is everywhere you look here, from the décor to the spiral architecture to the superstar bathrooms. (a restroom dedicated to Diana Ross complete with DR Barbie doll watching you pee is certainly weird, not necessarily special) The food is legit: eating here for brunch, the eggs resemble actual eggs (as opposed to a nondistinct yellowish substance) and bacon is the real deal. Little sides of hash browns, though, leave an after taste only selectively to be desired.
Decent service, good food, awesome prices. The baby stroller barracading me into my window seat definitely left me deterred from returning to this Vynl location though.

OK so there’s two things I’m considering here as it’s a place with something of a gimmick. First is the look /​feel /​ambiance and secondly is the food (most important to me). Overall I think it comes out at 3 ½ stars.
I liked the overall feel of the place, sort of a less tacky version of Hard Rock /​Planet Hollywood. Tables are all decorated differently as as the menus and it’s a fun place to eat. They have a good selection of veggie options and they also have a kids menu. I went in the middle of the week at lunch time and the place was pretty empty and as you’d hope when it’s not too busy the staff were helpful and service in general were good. So first part is pretty good.
Second is the food which I found just OK. I had a burger which was decent but uninspiring (I’m becoming something of a burger snob so I have pretty high standards) and my wife had a goats cheese wrap which she enjoyed.
Overall the place is OK, I’d go more for the look and feel, decent veggie options and kids menu rather than the food in general. Would like to go back one evening when it’s busier to see what it’s like then.

It has a casual, diner feel but the food is extremely yummy! The portions are huge and the wait staff is friendly and attentive. Also, the décor is very fun and over-​the-​top (in a cute way). I wouldn’t necessarily go here on a date, but I will definitely continue to bring friends here for a casual, yummy meal.

So so glad that I found out there was one of these by us! Wooohooo! Obviously the bathrooms and the whole decoration rocks out hard, but the food and drinks ought not to be overlooked! I love the asian chicken salad, and the burger Karen’s folks got was huge! The drinks were a;lso rockin, much love for the Pearis Hilton (it’s true, you really don’t need Nicole!).

This place is totally rad, dude!
The installed «barbie legends» are hella cool. I dig the Donnie & Marie tribute the most-​ist.
They have a bar, so if you’re young and you find yourself in the Upper West Side (or «Canada» as the downtown kiddies and some of my friends call it) this is a great place to hang without going to a stinky old regular bar.
The food is okay, but the staff is very pleasant, the music is fun and the décor is freakin’ awe-​some.
Did I mention they have a bar?

The kitsch is a bit overwhelming here but it works for a lower-​key food and drinks spot. Feels like a hipper variation of a diner.
The Chicken Sandwiches — served on a Foccacia bread — are very good. I ordered what I thought was the Vynl Grilled Chicken Sandwich (but now I suspect was the Chicken Club given the bacon…) and was very pleased. Great chips and radishy cole slaw.
I’ve had the Chicken Pad Thai and found it better than I thought for a place with Mac & Cheese and Meatloaf options. But this place is just 3 stars for Thai.
Tried a girly vodka/​lemonade/​watermelon mixed drink off the menu that was quite good. My friend ordered one with blue curacao that wasn’t good at all.
Good spot for groups as well.

Have some time to kill before a show in Times Square? Exactly the case with my brother, friend and I today… and we made our way to Vynl. I was instantly a fan when the menu they gave me had a picture of Sandy and Danny from Grease on the cover. I’m a big Grease dork who was probably one of 5 people who enjoyed the «You’re the one that I want» Grease reality TV show earlier this year.
My brother enjoyed his omelet, my friend seemed to like her portabella mushroom burger, and the homemade granola I ordered totally hit the spot. Not the best diner I’ve ever been to in my life, but if you’re in the area check it out.
And I’m almost tempted to give Vynl an extra star for the very cool bathroom. I walked into the Nelly bathroom and while my friend later pointed out that as a girl I was probably to have walked into the Cher bathroom (whoops) I was pretty impressed with Nelly decorations.

As Eric P. mentioned the restrooms are rather unusual (is it bad that when I think of this place that’s what I think of first? there are three– diana ross, elton john and the rolling stones) Anyway I have eaten here twice and I enjoyed my food. Both times I got the TLT (tofu lettuce tomato). It was a very decent size and came with a very good amount of potato chips. I don’t usually care for potato chips but these were really good. And the sandwich was quite good too. I am not a vegetarian but I love tofu. The bread was great– warm and chewy!
I do like the décor here– it is very fun. I was surprised that both times I ate here it was pretty empty, but I ate here for lunch during the workweek and my co-​workers told me it gets crowded at night. I would recommend this place.