Like previous seasons, Eater will be tracking where the gang is eating across New York City, from brunch sessions to romantic dinners to cocktail dates. This guide will be updated weekly when each episode airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m., leading up to the finale. And we’re saying it now: there will be spoilers ahead.
Episode 1, “Outlook Good”
Goodbye, Carrie’s brownstone that’s actually in the West Village but masquerades as the Upper East Side; hello, new Gramercy Park townhouse. Last season, Carrie sold her iconic studio to buy and move into a large building along the park for herself and her cute kitty Shoe. Carrie and Aidan are in an ambiguous not-being-together-for-now situation as he lives in Virginia. Miranda’s now back in New York and single.
Motel No Tell
210 Avenue A, at East 13th Street, East Village
Of course a queer bar decked out with neon and a disco ball would be blasting Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!” This East Village bar is standing in for a “lady bar,” as Miranda describes to Carrie and Charlotte, thanking them for accompanying her on a night out of trying to score a date. Now, she’s a non-alcoholic drinker, but laments her $37 mocktail tabs, and later orders a Phony Negroni.
A couple of scenes later, we’re back at the bar: it’s closing time and Miranda is alone. But she meets Mary (played by Rosie O’Donnell), a Canadian visiting the city. They end up going to her hotel room together.
(In real life, Motel No Tell is celebrating its television appearance by offering a cocktail special for the summer: the Lady Pond is made with vodka, orange, vermouth, cranberry, lime, and apple shrub, for $12.)
West 67th Street and Central Park West, Upper West Side
Okay, the iconic Central Park restaurant isn’t actually seen on the show, but it’s the butt of a joke. Miranda recaps her hookup to Carrie, explaining that she turned out to be a nun who really wanted to take her to Tavern on the Green, saying “she doesn’t know, it’s her first trip to New York.” Carrie is aghast: “I don’t know which is worse: that you slept with a nun or a tourist.”
Jean-Georges
1 Central Park West, between Columbus Circle and West 61st Street, Lincoln Square
Another talked-about but never seen restaurant. Seema’s Marvel director boyfriend Ravis is back from filming in Egypt and tells her he booked lunch at the French tasting menu restaurant. But before that, his film crew has to scout locations in Red Hook, which makes him late for their 1 p.m. reservation. He pushes it back to dinner, and the group eats cooler sandwiches on the pier. But of course, they miss their dinner, and Seema breaks it off. “I don’t do vans or Cool Ranch potato chips, but I did try,” she says.
Red Rooster
310 Lenox Avenue, at West 126th Street, Harlem
Lisa is tasked with throwing a last-minute cocktail reception for her husband Herbert to make him look cool for his political campaign running for city comptroller. So what’s cooler than the celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson’s comfort food flagship? The dining room is full — Lisa tells the girls that they should “eat everything” and that “the fritters are no joke.” The tables are laden with fried chicken and sandwiches, and the event ends with Carrie and Miranda eating some sort of pudding-like dessert out of little mugs.
And with that, stay tuned for next week’s episode.
