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Grand Central Madison is getting its first restaurant.
Tracks Raw Bar and Grill opened its doors to Long Island Railroad commuters on Monday, marking the first major retail operator in the 150-feet-deep subterranean station. The restaurant is a commuter classic for Long Islanders, which ran a popular location at Penn Station for nearly two decades and closed in 2019.
The restaurant is located on the concourse level of the station, beside the ticketing and waiting areas near the 47th and 48th streets entrance and adjacent to an art installation by Yayoi Kusama.
“Tracks is iconic, Tracks is what people talk about when they talk about 30 years of commuting,” MTA Chair Janno Lieber said in front of the new restaurant as customers ate and drank. “Tracks is inaugurating the era where there is an exciting retail and food option at Grand Central Madison.”
According to the MTA, the station attracts 70,000 riders daily.
Most of the retail and restaurant spaces in the new terminal have remained empty since it first opened to the public in January 2023. The station faced more than a decade of delays to open. The MTA then struggled to secure tenants for retail space in the station.
The MTA said it’s negotiating five leases for new retailers to join Grand Central Madison. The terminal also has a handful of kiosks selling various snacks and other convenience items.
The transit agency originally said the restaurant would be set to open in the fall of 2024, but it took another year for patrons to enter in for a bite to eat.
According to documents published by the MTA last year, Tracks received a 10-year lease, with rent for the first year priced at $216,000 plus 12% of all its gross sales that exceed $2.5 million. The documents also said Tracks would be required to build the restaurant at a roughly $1 million cost.
The restaurant features a bar-style layout with beige stools and a silver exterior, matching the aesthetic design of the surrounding station.
Tracks will be open from noon to midnight every day, serving food from 3 to 10 p.m. According to its website, the Grand Central Madison branch will feature chilled martinis and craft cocktails and food, including a locally sourced raw bar, chowder and Cajun chicken sandwich.
“Track’s hospitality is more than just a principle, it’s a practice. We treat our guests like family. It’s a place to decompress. To be recognized. To feel like a local, even if you’re just passing through,” the website states.
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Ramsey Khalifeh
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