Winners Circle Restaurant

I have never been to Winners Circle Restaurant, but I appreciate the audacity of the name. It aligns all too well with the persona of the wondrous, nonpareil city that it resides in. Although there are many eyes on The City That Never Sleeps, most of the spectators are just that, and never get to fully experience the true life that is New York City.
With that being said, if I ever find myself back in The Big Apple, I’ll trust no other than the great Unilocal to guide my way through the smörgåsbord of restaurants, nay, experiences that The City has to offer.
P. s. I would love to work for Unilocal and if I am generously hired, a lot of tips are coming to Winner Circles way!

So this guy I know had a birthday party here once on a Friday or Saturday night… to this day, none of us know whether or not he was joking.
By nature, OTB’s are depressing places. The drunk in the corner is weeping into his brown paper bag because he flip-​flopped his Trifecta in the 5^th; the drunk in the opposite corner is ranting because Capt. Nemo had to be put down and if you look closely, you can almost make out the people behind the glass wishing for a quick painless death.
Now imagine that… in a restaurant! Seriously, why? Who’s demented brainchild was this? Who wakes up and says, «I’m going to combine weepy drunks, the occasional displaced family, stale beer and cold food in a restaurant»?
I suppose for the sheer comedic value, its worth a visit to the Winners Circle. But if you’re not into pointing and laughing at people, then you might want to just keep walking. By the way, I didn’t point and laugh. My buddy and I left and did our laughing on the street.

The Winners Circle is an excellent place to spend an afternoon having some drinks, enjoying some very good food, and betting on any racetracks that have action going on that day. the parlor area is old school cocktail lounge, it also has a great streetscape view of the traffic outside on 7^th avenue… if you are a cigar or cigarette smoker then its down1 flight and outside to smoke, which his not a bad opportunity to people watch (or visit the hotdog car located on 38^th and 7^th)
…on my most recent visit, (²⁄₂₇) i had a great meal consisting of baked clams and a steak sandwich, my friend had the salmon and considered it excellent and perfectly prepared, we went through various apps like wings, shrimp, and mozz stix. the food was the best its ever been at «the circle»! I have been going here for at least 10 years, the recent cook + kitchen staff is the best they have had here.
there is a very genial old school irish bartender who poured us heavy drinks and encouraged us to not be slow with ordering new rounds! i love it, a bartender who actually is happy to see the patrons enjoying a few cocktails and horse race wagering…
as the «flat» (thoroughbred) tracks across the usa ended and the action turned to the harness racing i was already looking forward to the next time i visit this fantastic midtown oasis of old school style…

I don’t see any other OTB reviews so I will write a few, this being the first.
The Winner’s Circle deserves one star but because you can bet at the OTB window, drink and the overall novelty factor I give it three stars.
This is a good place to go if you’ve never experienced OTB or if you’re a woman and can’t handle the OTB vibe. The best OTB venue is The Irish Circle in the Rockaways but for most of us midtown is a lot easier to get to. I can only imagine what it must be like to be a woman in an OTB. Its probably less welcoming than being a man trying to skip in line at the women’s room in Penn Station on the Friday evening of a three day weekend.
You pay a $ 5 cover here but you get a program and that is worthwhile. The cover is kind of a bummer because it cuts out layers of the OTB riff raff that I really enjoy but there is a whole other class of riff-​raff.
My suggestion is to sit at the bar and order a burger, a shot and a beer. Get the burger medium well to start killing the e-​coli and do the shot first to preemptively approach the bacterial onslaught.
Program in hand, you can start betting the ponies. Find the upcoming race. Figure out who you think will come in first and second place. Suppose you pick horses 3 and 7 in the 7^th race at Aqueduct to come in first and second or vice-​versa. Take out $ 2 and go to the betting window and say the following with confidence: «Aqueduct, race 7, I’ll have a dollar exacta box 3, 7»
Take your ticket, go back to the bar, pound your shot, eat your burger and swill your beer. When the race comes up, root for your horses to win and place! 3 – 7 or 7 – 3 and you are a winner.