A New 200-Seat Boat Bar Anchors in Hudson Yards
Sailor’s Choice from the Grand Banks duo channels a New England seafood shack
Sailor’s Choice, a breezy seafood bar from Alex and Miles Pincus, opens today at 350 11th Avenue, at 30th Street. It joins a wave of new restaurants in Hudson Yards — a second location of Locanda Verde and Papa San, the Nikkei-style izakaya — following a fleet of post-pandemic failed ventures, including Thomas Keller’s TAK Room. Built around a vintage fishing boat-turned-centerpiece bar, the seasonal Sailor’s Choice is among the more chill options for drinking and snacking in one of Manhattan’s most corporate neighborhoods, where offices like Time Warner and Meta reside.
Sailor’s Choice is one of a handful of mostly nautical-themed restaurants from the brothers’ hospitality group, Crew, which includes New York boat bar Grand Banks near Tribeca, West Village waterfront Drift In, boat bar Pilot near Brooklyn Bridge, Island Oyster at Governors Island, and land-based Holywater. There’s also High Tide in Dumbo and Fairweather in the High Line Hotel. This new project also features a boat — albeit one that’s docked on land.
The concept came together quickly after Alex Pincus gave a speech at a Hudson River Park gala and was approached by a Hudson Yards executive.
“At first,” Pincus says, “it didn’t feel like my scene,” he said of Hudson Yards. But a Monday morning visit changed his mind. “It was packed. I hadn’t been there since before COVID. It felt so alive — and I thought, how cool would it be to drop a proper New England seafood shack right in the middle of all this?”
The name Sailor’s Choice comes from the brothers’ post-sailing ritual: a cold beer poured over ice. That unfussy vibe is what the Pincus brothers are going for in a restaurant that can seat around 200 people. As far as the scene, the vintage fishing boat (made by Hinckley, loaned to the brothers by the fancy mariners’ club, Barton & Gray) is surrounded by counter seating and a large deck with yellow-and-white striped umbrellas and nautical-looking chairs. A second bar, built into a retro Airstream, handles cocktail service.
Sailor’s Choice
The menu leans into New England seafood shack offerings, with a lobster BLT ($27), oysters ($23 to $29 for six; $43 to $55 a dozen), caviar tater tots ($27), fish and chips ($29), and a surf club sandwich ($21). Drinks range from a Tropicalia with watermelon and vodka to spritzes. They include “yacht club” offerings like gin and tonics and martinis ($18 to $21); wines by the glass or bottles, and beers — including any frosty brew over-ice with lime for $7.
Sailor’s Choice
