Halfsteak - Half Portions, Twice the Fun

I have been waiting for the right time to share with you one of my favorite Manhattan dining specials, and today, the timing seemed right. First, I received an e-mail from blog reader Michael because he wanted to know where he could find the food that you see behind the title of my blog. And second, I stopped by this restaurant over the weekend for a little outside gawking, but I will tell you about that later.

The restaurant deal - Halfsteak. Where to find this deal - Craftsteak on 10th avenue at 15th street. As you may know, the Craft restaurants belong to Tom Colicchio, Head Judge on Top Chef. He has four restaurants in NYC - from highest to lowest in price - Craftsteak, Craft, Craftbar, Wichcraft (which has several locations). I have been to Wichcraft for a sandwich. Craftbar is a little out of my price range, but I had brunch there and got a $12 entree, which was excellent. Craft - still working on it. But Craftsteak has always been the unattainable. It is gorgeous, and it is expensive like you cannot imagine. $20 appetizers, $50 entrees, it is a lot.

This summer, as I browsed food blogs, I stumbled upon Halfsteak. This is what I learned: Craftsteak restaurant converted the front half of their restaurant into Halfsteak. Well, no actual converting happened per se, but the front half of the restaurant would offer a different menu, and you would not be able to make a reservation. A bar splits the front half and the back half of this establishment.

Is this deal called Halfsteak because it is in the front half of the restaurant? Not really. It is called Halfsteak because the menu items are all half portions. Please keep reading, even though I said half portion. I have not blown your mind yet, and I will.

Everything on the menu is under $15. This deal sounds great to me so far. I talked about going all summer, but never got around to making plans. As September rolled around and I feared that the deal would abruptly end, I knew I needed to seize the day, and what better day to do that then on my birthday.

We arrived around 6:30 on a Thursday. There were only 2 other people at Halfsteak. The hostess sat us near the window. We glanced at the drink menu, and how cute, they also have half drinks. You can order a half pint of beer for $3.50. That is a good deal because a full pint would be $7.00, and that is not too uncommon for the city.

The menu is divided into categories, and not your typical appetizers, entrees, and desserts. The categories are (it is like I am Alex Trebek) - Snacks, Leafy, Small Plates, Sandwiches, One Pots, and Dessert. Well right off the bat, I eliminate leafy. I am here for some great food, and although the salads may be delicious, I want something crazy original.

The waiter comes back. He tells us that this restaurant is Tapas style and we can order as we go. This is my ideal way of eating. I started pouring over this menu trying to figure out how to get the most amount of food out of this deal, and there are so many items on the menu that were not listed on menupages.com! This threw me for a loop, and also, assuming there would only be a few choices, I did not think I would have such difficult decisions to make.

We got to start somewhere. 1 order of hush puppies please!


There were five small hush puppies. They were delicious, delicate, and a small portion. I was starting to understand the half portion concept, and trying to figure how much else to order.

Next up - Fried Mac and Cheese. Picture look familiar (scroll up)?


It does not look like Fried Mac and Cheese, right? But when you put your fork into it, cheesy goodness awaits. This portion seemed reasonable. I would say it was more like a 3/4 portion, not a half portion. So far, so good!

Now it was decision-making time. We ate these two dishes, and we felt we could squeeze in one more before deciding on a few entrees. The quesadillas sounded good. The sliders were also on our list, but I was considering ordering a burger as my entree. We went for the chicken wings. I had read they were good.


Well, 6 chicken wings is really not a half portion in my mind! I could not believe there were 6 chicken wings. I went into this half portion concept imagining small, like really small, dishes. And so far, these dishes were really just the same size as every fancy restaurant serves on a regular basis. And the fact that they tell you that they are half portions only leaves you more excited when you get more food! So the chicken wings were really good. Fried Mac and Cheese and Hush Puppies beat out the wings so far, but it is not a bad choice.

And then.... well, hold up. Halfsteak. Half portions. Front half of the restaurant. Well then. I think it is only appropriate for me to give you a half review.

Not to worry, this blog post is one to be continued. Second half tomorrow!

Have a delicious day!
NYCMenuGirl