RedFarm

Is RedFarm worth booking for a late dinner on the Upper West Side?

Yes; RedFarm on Broadway is one of the stronger Chinese restaurant bets on the Upper West Side, it holds up later into the evening when most neighborhood options have shut their kitchens. Chef Joe Ng runs a program that has earned consecutive recognition from Opinionated About Dining's Casual North America list: recommended in 2023, ranked #293 in 2024, #452 in 2025. That slight slide in ranking is worth noting, but a top-500 position on OAD's Casual list still places it well ahead of the vast majority of Chinese restaurants in New York City.

The room on Broadway reads as polished without being precious; this is a sit-down dinner destination, not a quick-service spot. For a date night or a relaxed celebration on the Upper West Side, the setting holds its own. It is not the place for a formal business meal with a private room and tableside theater, but for a special occasion that calls for good food and a comfortable room rather than white-glove formality, RedFarm delivers.

When to go and what to expect

RedFarm is open until 10 pm every night of the week, which makes it a genuine late-dinner option by Manhattan standards, most neighborhood Chinese restaurants close earlier or stop seating at 9:30 pm. On Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays it also runs a lunch service from noon to 3 pm, which is the right call if you want a less pressured experience or are planning around a matinee or weekend afternoon. Weekday access is dinner-only, so plan accordingly.

The temporal context here matters: the current OAD ranking reflects 2025 data, meaning the kitchen's quality signal is recent, not a legacy reputation coasting on old press.

Booking and logistics

Booking difficulty at RedFarm is rated Easy. Same-week reservations are generally available, you are unlikely to be locked out if you plan a few days ahead. The exception is Friday and Saturday dinner, where the combination of a desirable neighborhood and a limited-hour kitchen can push demand, book those slots three to five days out to be safe. Walk-ins may be possible on weekday evenings, but a reservation is always the lower-risk approach.

Practical details at a glance

For other Chinese restaurant options across New York City, see Asian Jewel Seafood Restaurant, Blue Willow, and Chongqing Lao Zao for different style and neighborhood profiles. Our full New York City restaurants guide covers the wider category.

How it fits into the wider NYC picture

If you are staying or spending time on the Upper West Side, RedFarm is the obvious answer for Chinese food at dinner. If you are willing to travel into Chinatown or Queens for a more specialized regional Chinese experience, venues like Big Wong or Alley 41 offer a different register entirely. For Chinese dining at the creative-restaurant level in other cities, Mister Jiu's in San Francisco and Restaurant Tim Raue in Berlin are the points of comparison worth knowing. RedFarm sits between neighborhood convenience and genuine critical credibility, that combination is harder to find than it sounds in a city with as much competition as New York.

For broader planning, Pearl also covers New York City hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences.

For further comparison across the US, Pearl covers venues including Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Smyth in Chicago, Providence in Los Angeles, Emeril's in New Orleans, The French Laundry in Napa, and Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg.