Madison Square Garden – Dining

Delicious food isn’t hard to come by in or around New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Inside the arena you’ll discover a seemingly endless array of concession stands. These stands serve everything from conventional eats like hot dogs and popcorn to more out-of-the-box offerings like chicken teriyaki rice bowls, so you’re bound to find something you’d like.

Madison Square Garden also features three exclusive spaces, the Delta Sky360° Club, Club Bar & Grill, and J.P. Morgan Club, accessible only to select ticketholders. All three offer buffet dining along with premium amenities like a coat check and in-seat service for food and beverage concession purchases.

There are even more places to eat just steps from Madison Square Garden. Penn Station, one of New York City’s most bustling transportation hubs, is home to a variety of restaurants, including familiar chains like Shake Shack and Starbucks. More eclectic dining options can be found in The Pennsy, a high-end food hall located above Penn Station that opened in 2016.

Are all these choices making your head spin? If so, don’t worry! Just check out the list below where we provide some more info about the many dining options available to you during your visit to Madison Square Garden.

 

Concessions

There are concessions galore at Madison Square Garden, and when we say “galore,” we mean it. It’s not like the world-famous Madison Square Garden is anything like your average, everyday arena, after all.

The SAP Madison Concourse located on Level 6 of Madison Square Garden features the biggest selection of concession stands in the entire venue. There are more than 35 in all, ranging from a run-of-the-mill Dunkin’ Donuts to Big Apple institutions like the fried chicken-forward Fuku and legendary Carnegie Deli.

Two floors up on Level 8 of Madison Square Garden is the Garden Concourse. This area of the arena boasts more than 20 concession stands, putting it just behind the SAP Madison Concourse in terms of variety.

Some notable stands on the Garden Concourse include the restauranteur-driven Sausage Boss and Daily Burger, fronted by Andrew Carmellini and Drew Nieporent, respectively. There’s also an Arancini Bros. stand based on the popular rice ball-centric restaurant located on the Lower East Side as well as an additional Carnegie Deli outpost.

Levels 9, 10, and 11 feature a handful of concession stands too, but nowhere near as much as what’s offered on the SAP Madison and Garden Concourses. Most are just generic Garden Market and Garden Bar stands, but some more unique ones worth stopping by for a bite include Big Mozz and Casa Nonna, both of which are located on Level 10 in an area known as the Chase Bridge.

 

Delta Sky360° Club, Club Bar & Grill, and J.P. Morgan Club

The Delta Sky360° Club, Club Bar & Grill, and J.P. Morgan Club are three of Madison Square Garden’s swankiest spaces. The Delta Sky360° Club is accessible to ticketholders with premium courtside or rinkside seating, whereas ticketholders with seats in the lower bowl of the arena have access to the Club Bar & Grill.

The J.P. Morgan Club is the most exclusive of the three. It’s open only to those with a season membership of Knicks floor seats or Rangers glass seats. This exclusivity is reflected by the many amenities offered at the club, including access to a VIP entrance, private restrooms, and a coat check.

Make no mistake; the Delta Sky360° Club and Club Bar & Grill are just as lavish as the J.P. Morgan Club in terms of appearance. All of these spaces feature comfortable seating, modern décor, and unbeatable views of the action taking place in the center of the area.

The only difference between the more exclusive J.P. Morgan Club and the less exclusive Delta Sky360° Club and Club Bar & Grill are the amount of amenities offered. The Delta Sky360° Club and Club Bar & Grill still offer plenty of first-class amenities though, such as a fully stocked bar and buffet dining.

 

Penn Station

Don’t let Penn Station’s looks fool you; it offers a surprisingly varied selection of eateries, which actually makes sense given that approximately 630,000 people pass through the station every day. Those hungry travelers have to grab a bite to eat somewhere after their train inevitably gets delayed, right?

The restaurants in Penn Station do tend to come and go, but there are some mainstays you can likely count on being there. These places include popular grab-and-go breakfast spots like Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, and Pret A Manger along with fast food favorites like Shake Shack and Charleys Philly Steaks.

If you’re in the mood for food that’s a bit more authentic than what can be found at any old chain restaurant, stop by Rose’s Pizza & Pasta. This humble pizza joint, located on the Long Island Rail Road, or LIRR, level of Penn Station, serves up what many locals consider to be a good example of real-deal New York-style pizza. They’ve got plenty of kinds to choose from too, ranging from your everyday cheese pizza to Hawaiian, meat lover’s, Buffalo chicken, and more.

Aside from not having to deal with crowds of people flocking to concession stands, one of the best parts about getting food from a place in Penn Station is that you can be back at Madison Square Garden in a matter of minutes. In case you didn’t already know, Penn Station is located directly beneath Madison Square Garden, so the time it takes to walk from one to the other is practically nonexistent.

 

The Pennsy

If you’d rather dine somewhere with a little more ambiance than Penn Station, we totally get it. The thought of eating in a windowless, subterranean train station located beneath the streets of Midtown Manhattan doesn’t exactly make our mouths water and stomachs rumble either.

Billed as a “high-end food hall,” The Pennsy is certainly more foodie-friendly than the station it’s located above and named after. It features six vendors specializing in foods ranging from pizza to sushi as well as a bar with a sizeable selection of beers, wines, cocktails, and more.

Choosing where to get food from at The Pennsy isn’t an easy decision because everything just looks so gosh-darned tasty. You can’t go wrong with Pat LaFrieda though. Their scrumptious sandwiches have become one of The Pennsy’s biggest sellers for good reason.

Try Pat LaFrieda’s slow-roasted pork shoulder sandwich if you’re in the mood for something hearty. You won’t be feeling hungry for a long while after diving into this filling sandwich. Want one that’s on the lighter side instead? Go with the house-roasted turkey sandwich, topped with Monterey Jack cheese, arugula, and cranberry aioli.

Those with an insatiable sweet tooth will definitely want to give a donut or pastry from The Cinnamon Snail a try. In addition to being mind-blowingly delicious, they’re also vegan. They have a selection of about 30 sweet treats that changes daily, so you never know what you’ll find.