Melba’s opens location in Grand Central Terminal
Credit: Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr
Southern comfort food favorite Melba’s is now serving a taste of Harlem in Grand Central Terminal. The 500-square-foot outpost will offer the Harlem restaurant’s signature Southern comfort food from Chef Melba Wilson, including her renowned Chicken and Eggnog Waffles and Low Country Collard Greens.
Founded in 2005 by Wilson, the original Melba’s location opened at 300 West 114th Street in Harlem. The expansion into Grand Central marks the restaurant’s third location, following a fast-casual concession stand in Newark’s Prudential Center and an outpost at Central Park’s Wollman Rink.
The restaurant was put on the map following Wilson’s appearance on Food Network’s “Throwdown” in 2008 when she defeated Bobby Flay. The eatery has also hosted numerous famous diners, including Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, Meagan Good, Jesse Jackson, and others.
While Melba’s Harlem location will remain the flagship restaurant, Wilson hopes the Grand Central spot will attract a larger audience due to the constant flow of commuters and tourists passing through the transit hub, giving them a taste of Harlem’s culinary soul.
“The interest for me was the melting pot. This is iconic, this is Grand Central Terminal. There’s no other place like it in the world,” Wilson said. “There’s 750,000 people that go through this space on a daily basis. I’m born, bred and buttered, like I said, in Harlem. Everybody can not and will not come up to Harlem. But 750,000 come through Grand Central.”Â
The restaurant’s new location will also retain Melba’s signature “small town charm,” with a focus on hospitality that makes it a prime destination “for New Yorkers who have migrated from the South,” as reported by Eater.
Melba’s joins several other dining options that opened within the past few years at Grand Central, including Ukrainian favorite Veselka, which opened in September 2023, Playa Bowls, and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.
News of the restaurant’s expansion to Grand Central was announced in February 2024, with an initial opening date scheduled for June of last year.
Melba’s Grand Central is open Mondays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The menu can be found here.
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