The Swifties will know this already, but for those who missed it, the Queen of Pop and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, graced us with their first New York City spotting in a month last Friday. The lucky location that got the Taylor Swift treatment this time? Del Frisco’s Grille in Brookfield Place —practically right across the street from Vogue’s headquarters.
We’ll be honest: Del Frisco’s Grille wasn’t an immediately familiar name to us. But after a bit of research—and Slacking the editor of Vogue.com—we learned that it’s a nationwide chain often found in major malls (think Cheesecake Factory, but with more traditional American cuisine). Given its prime location in FiDi, the mecca of finance bros, it’s also something of a happy-hour hotspot—or at least it was when we went for dinner on Tuesday.
Here, a rundown of our visit:
When we walk in at 4:30 p.m., the space is still calm. Only a few Patagonia vests and Béis tote bags can be spotted at the bar, which surprises us, considering Del Frisco’s happy hour ends in only 30 minutes. (According to our friends who work at AmEx, Tuesdays are a big happy-hour day in corporate America.) We approach the suited-out host without a reservation and notice a staircase behind him, which must lead to a more private space—we imagine that’s where Swift and Kelce sat. He doesn’t offer to take us upstairs, though, instead directing us to a normal booth on the first floor, right next to the happy-hour crowd.
The menu takes us back to our high school days, when we frequented places like the Cheesecake Factory, Houston’s (also known as Hillstone outside of New Jersey), or Fresh Corn Grill. The multi-page beverage menu features an assortment of drinks that you probably won’t find at chicer, more mom-and-pop-style restaurants: things like the Cider House Mule, Hazelnut Espresso Martini, and a Passionfruit Martini that comes with a shot of Prosecco.
Our waiter confirms he was working the night the famous couple stopped by and recommends the Passionfruit Martini, which we both get. We notice a drink called The VIP and wonder if Swift might have ordered that for herself—but then decide that, no, that would probably be too on-the-nose.
While conversing with our waiter—who will remain anonymous for privacy reasons—we try to act as low-key as possible, like we aren’t Swift superfans who only came to figure out why she might have picked this classic mall restaurant for date night. Still, it’s likely he senses some fan behavior from the interaction, although we sprinkle in a few white lies to keep our cover, like: “We can’t believe Travis and Tay came to our local after-work spot!” Regardless, he matches our energy and gives us all the juicy details we so crave, while also recommending some popular appetizers.
He confirms that Swift and Kelce did sit in a private space upstairs, and that he had no clue they would be stopping by that night. When the restaurant started buzzing that Taylor Swift was there, he couldn’t believe she was actually at a restaurant that only tends to attract tired bankers. I wonder what kind of customers this will bring to the restaurant now, he says, before walking off to give us a few minutes to ponder the menu. Little does he know, he’s talking to two Swiftie journalists incognito.
After mulling over what the famous couple might have ordered (no doubt Travis got the cheese curds), we decide on a Caesar salad and pretzel bread to start, followed by a cheeseburger and a fried chicken sandwich—both with fries, of course. Our waiter is clearly impressed by our order but offers little indication as to whether our choices mirror Tay and Trav’s. A poker face; we respect it.
The Caesar and bread arrive first, and we’re totally blown away. The salad is chopped so finely that you can use a spoon to eat it (the ideal way to enjoy a salad), and the lettuce is evenly coated in dressing, so every bite is as delicious as the last. Even the finance bros standing next to our table notice, commenting, “Wow, that Caesar looks so good.” The kitchen even serves the salad on separate plates to save us the hassle of dividing it up ourselves; if that’s not celebrity-worthy service, we don’t know what is! And the pretzel bread is the perfect accompaniment, served with a significant heaping of some form of wonderful brown sugar-butter concoction.
As we take photos of our food, the happy-hour bros glance over at us, probably wondering why we’re foodstagramming our Del Frisco’s dinner like we’re at the Corner Store or something.
"After devouring our appetizers, we begin to understand why Taylor and Travis hit up this chain, thanks to the service and the extremely friendly staff (you can’t find this anywhere else in NYC). Our main courses, the burger and fried chicken sandwich, arrive after we’ve had enough time to digest, but haven’t started becoming hangry again. Each sandwich is beautifully placed on a rectangular plate (very chic) with little paper bags of fries (adorable). Another smash hit. The buns are shiny, and the meat is tender. Maybe the fries could have done with an extra minute or two in the fryer, but who knows…it could be that Taylor prefers her fries on the less-crispy side, and who are we to disagree?
At the end of the meal, our plates are cleared, our stomachs are satiated, and our hearts are full with Del Frisco love—and all that, just before the real finance bro rush begins at the end of the workday. While we don’t have room for dessert this time around, next time we’ll make sure we get the full three-course Del Frisco’s treatment—and bring more Vogue colleagues with us. Who knows? It may just replace our current favorite happy-hour spot: Parm.
