The NYC Eatery Where Bobby Flay Earned His First Glowing Restaurant Review

When the words "Bobby Flay" and "restaurant" are mentioned together, maybe you think about Flay's former Mesa Grill in New York — his first restaurant, where he became known for his distinctively Southwestern cuisine. Or perhaps one of Flay's various present-day restaurants come to mind, which range from a flashy Las Vegas seafood spot to a casual burger chain. But lesser known is where Flay actually got his start as a chef. After all, chefs don't typically go straight from culinary school straight to opening their own place.

For Flay, this happened at an eatery called Miracle Grill in New York City's East Village, which at the time was rough; far from the upscale dining hub it is today. This wasn't Flay's first food industry job. Earlier on, he worked at a pizza place and ice cream parlor, and after culinary school, he worked under prominent New York chef Jonathan Waxman. But Flay has described his stint at Miracle Grill from 1988 to 1990 as a formative period. He credits the Grill as a place where he developed his signature Southwestern style and had the freedom to play around creatively. That said, Miracle Grill was a decidedly affordable place, so he was still required to work within limits. "I couldn't have an entrée over $9," he told Food & Wine in 2024. But apparently, this was a situation where tight restrictions bred ingenuity, as his work caught the eye of a critic and truly got his culinary career rolling.

The critic who gave Bobby Flay that all-important 1988 review was Jane Freiman, who worked for New York Magazine's The Underground Gourmet column in the late '80s. Freiman's beat was affordable dining (at the time, that meant a meal for less than $25 per person), and with a review titled "Miracle on First," she blew Miracle Grill up as a dining destination.

That review suggests that Flay had nailed down a particularly Southwestern point of view, with his menu laden with staples like cilantro, black beans, and jalapeños (a fiery black bean-jalapeño soup was one of her favorites). Freiman found no shortage of dishes to praise: Flay's two-cheese quesadillas with corn, zucchini, and chili, as well as his grilled chicken with papaya-tomatillo relish stood out as appetizers. Among the mains, a shrimp and black bean burrito with tomatillo salsa and the New York strip steak with chipotle butter were highlights for the critic. She also had particular praise for the cayenne-cilantro shoestring potatoes that came with the entrees. It wasn't all perfect — Freiman wasn't a big fan of a too-sweet pork adobo dish, but it's only a slight dent in an otherwise glowing review.

Unfortunately, if you want to taste these kinds of fledgling Flay dishes nowadays, it's tough to do so. His two Las Vegas restaurants are more focused on French and Italian food, though his burger chain features hints of his Miracle Grill days with chipotle sauce on the menu — one of Flay's favorite ingredients. However, the chef has shared many Southwestern recipes over the years, including his classic black bean soup and his not-so-classic guacamole, so you can always replicate them yourself at home.