On a Sunday night in New York, Jean’s co-owner Ashwin Deshmukh finds himself at the bar of Hillstone on Park Avenue, surveying the bustling dining room. “There’s dates, there’s solo diners, there’s families, there’s corporate accounts,” he says. Hillstone, nearly booked solid through the next day, still manages to attract a crowd that includes everyone from regulars to sports team owners. “How many restaurants near 29th and Park can say that?” he asks.
Hillstone Restaurant Group began in Nashville nearly 50 years ago and now operates 40 restaurants across the U.S. Its outlets carry different names—Houston’s, Honor Bar, and Rutherford Grill—a strategic move that distances the brand from the usual stigma surrounding chain restaurants.
New York’s sole Hillstone thrives with this approach. “They’re a better bar than most bars,” Deshmukh says. “They’re a better value proposition than most value places. And they’re a better fine-dining place than most fine-dining places.”
Mood Board Inspiration for the Industry
Chefs across the city agree. Kyle Hotchkiss Carone, owner of American Bar, says Hillstone helped shape his restaurant’s concept. “Anyone who doesn’t admit that Hillstone was on their mood board is lying,” he says. While American Bar doesn’t replicate Hillstone’s signature dishes directly, it serves Asian salads and a classic hot fudge dessert that echo Hillstone’s menu. “We are 100 percent inspired by them,” Hotchkiss Carone adds.
When chef Alex Stupak opened Empellón in Midtown in 2017, he quickly became a Hillstone regular. He admired the eclectic mix on the menu: colcannon, sushi, French dips. “They’re taking everyone’s favorite stuff and putting it together,” he says.
Though Empellón and his follow-up restaurant Mischa have both since closed, Stupak remains committed to Hillstone’s inclusive spirit: “I am going to do an American restaurant again.”
Reliable, Consistent, and Cool Again
Chef Jeremiah Stone, known for trendy spots like Wildair and Bar Contra, recalls his first job at a Houston’s in Maryland. “It was the nicest place that I have ever eaten or worked,” he says. Now at his Day June Luncheonette, he draws inspiration from Hillstone’s vegetarian burger and lemon garnishes, even using them at other ventures like Ray’s and Brass. “You have to be impressed with the volume and the consistency,” Stone says.
Moe Aljaff, co-owner of the East Village cocktail bar Schmuck, unknowingly adopted a classic Hillstone move. Though unfamiliar with the brand, he chills martini glasses mid-service—a signature Hillstone touch. “That’s probably how it got to us,” Aljaff concedes. “The bar industry is so tiny.”
Comfort Food for the Post-COVID Era
Hillstone’s return to popularity mirrors a broader post-COVID dining trend. “You’ve seen a return to comfort be one of the defining themes,” says Halley Chambers, co-owner of Margot in Fort Greene. Value, similarity, and full-plate dining now dominate over small-plate experimentation. Chambers celebrated her birthday at Hillstone this winter. “You can be from Kansas City and get treated exactly the same as if you were anyone else,” she says. “That anonymity and sameness is comforting.”
In a city known for culinary ambition, Hillstone’s steady reliability has become an unexpected gold standard; a high-low hybrid embraced by New York’s best.
