Penn Station favorite Tracks Raw Bar & Grill opening a spot at Grand Central Madison

Nolan Hicks
·2 min read
Renderings for the new Tracks at Grand Central Madison
Renderings for the new Tracks at Grand Central Madison

It’s a ‘shore’ thing!

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has reeled a former Penn Station eatery, and long-time favorite of commuters, into the Long Island Rail Road’s new terminal beneath Grand Central — convincing the oyster bar Tracks to open a second branch on the East Side.

Agency officials celebrated the deal as a major win in their efforts to recruit businesses to fill Grand Central Madison’s massive concourse, an effort that’s beenslowed by the headwinds brick-and-mortar stores face competing against online retailers.

Renderings for the new Tracks at Grand Central Madison. MTA
Renderings for the new Tracks at Grand Central Madison. MTA

“It’s kind of kismet that the bar-restaurant that is most beloved and fondly remembered is going to be showing up in the new Long Island Rail Road station,” said MTA chairman Janno Lieber.

“It’s going to be another shot in the arm for Grand Central Madison.”

Tracks Raw Bar & Grill won the lease through a competitive bid, Lieber said.

Terms of the deal, including how much Tracks will shell out for the retail space, will be released over the weekend when the agency files the paperwork with its Board of Directors, which is expected to approve the agreement next week.

Agency officials celebrated the deal as a major win in their efforts to recruit businesses to fill Grand Central Madison’s massive concourse, an effort that’s been slowed by the brick-and-mortar stores face competing against online retailers. MTA
Agency officials celebrated the deal as a major win in their efforts to recruit businesses to fill Grand Central Madison’s massive concourse, an effort that’s been slowed by the brick-and-mortar stores face competing against online retailers. MTA

Construction will begin shortly afterward, though the expected opening date for the second Tracks location was not immediately available.

The arrival of dining options at Grand Central Madison means commuters will no longer have to trek down the blocks-long passage and then up the escalators to get to the dining level of the original Grand Central Terminal for food and drink.

That part of the complex is run by the MTA’s other commuter railroad, Metro-North, and is home to the historic Oyster Bar, which is a destination in its own right.

“It’s kind of kismet that the bar-restaurant that is most beloved and fondly remembered is going to be showing up in the new Long Island Rail Road station,” said MTA chairman Janno Lieber. MTA
“It’s kind of kismet that the bar-restaurant that is most beloved and fondly remembered is going to be showing up in the new Long Island Rail Road station,” said MTA chairman Janno Lieber. MTA

The original Tracks became a cult favorite of commuters over two decades at Penn Station.

Travelers often bemoaned the station with its warrens and low-slung ceilings, but loved the raw bar that was tucked inside between Tracks 18 and 19.

Tracks was forced to relocate across 31st Street from Penn Station in 2019 amid the reconstruction of the Long Island Rail Road concourse and other ongoing construction projects that have sought to make the hated transit hub more tolerable to the estimated 600,000 people who pass through it daily.