Hen House

A not-so-fast Lebanese counter spot that hits hard when it finally arrives

120 1st Ave. | Manhattan, NY

You can always tell a New York restaurant is going to be delicious and affordable when it’s packed with 20-somethings on a weeknight. There is no shortage of ways to get full on the cheap, so you would do well to notice when a restaurant is slammed on a Wednesday with a bunch of arty baristas or young professionals who look like they just wrapped a day at their entry-level marketing jobs.

Hen House describes itself as a fast casual Lebanese restaurant that is, in fact, not that fast. You can count on a 15-minute wait for your food in the best of times. I imagine they were squeezed into the “fast casual” description by the heavy-handed gods of restaurant categorization.

I am on my way to an event uptown but, knowing the food there will be catering-quality fare, I opt to stop at Hen House first. At 5:30 I’m the only one there. By 5:45 every table is full.