FOOD: Social Kitchen [NYC]

[caption id="attachment_89933" align="alignnone" width="449"] photo from Yelp[/caption]
A friend of mine recommended Social Kitchen when I told her I was having some trouble coming up with a place to have dinner with my dad who was coming in.  He wanted somewhere with "funky craft beers" (his words, not mine) and decently healthy food.  He scoffed at all the options I could think of because basically everything on each menu was fried.  Enter Social Kitchen and dinner was saved!
The first good thing about this spot was the location, seeing as he could walk to Grand Central after to catch the train home or take a very quick cab.  Secondly, it was quiet.  There are so many restaurants in Manhattan that are bustling and you can barely get a word in without having to repeat yourself as you shout over a crowd--not to mention you're more than likely to end up feeling as if you're sitting with the table next to you.  Third of all, the beer selection was on point and the food menu had plenty of healthier options or amazing looking burgers if you wanted to cheat a little.
My dad and I do love to find good burgers around the city, but tonight we felt like eating a little better.  I had an amazing, but perhaps slight expensive $20 salad but it was filling and amazing.  It was the Mediterranean salad with shrimp and it was delicious.  His girlfriend had the beet salad with chicken, which I almost got and would love to try, and my boyfriend was bold, and perhaps smart, to order one of the burgers.  I couldn't help stealing some fries.
All in all, this was exactly what we were looking for.  We had a leisurely, but not too leisurely dinner sipping on wine and funky beers and had a really good meal to top it all off.  I would 100% recommend Social Kitchen for family in town or if you have a bigger group and want to meet in a central location.  It may not be the hippest place I've ever been to, but sometimes you just want a quiet place to eat good food and not so much of a scene.  And it was perfect.
[caption id="attachment_89934" align="alignnone" width="258"] The back room would be great for a large party. Photo from Yelp.[/caption]
Social Kitchen
358 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10016