An Uptown Girl Weekend: Your Weekend on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side According to The Niche Shop

Who doesn’t love a weekend in the city? The streets are quiet, the sun is shining, and New Yorkers are thrilled it’s the weekend! We love to spend our weekends with good vintage shopping, yummy eats, and getting to know the city that we call home. Head uptown to the Upper East Side and Upper West Side of New York for a city escape. Follow along below what the team at The Niche Shop recommends for the perfect weekend.

Saturday on the Upper East Side

• Start your day with a Green Lane iced latte and a matcha loaf or croissant, one of the shop’s favs!
• Spend your morning hitting our favorite vintage and secondhand stores in the neighborhood including The Niche Shop (obviously), Designer Revival, Allegra Vintij, 2nd Street, Margoth Consignment, Upper East Side Thrift Shop, and ThriftNYC. 
• After some shopping, take your vintage finds to brunch at Gracie Mews Diner. We always go for the waffles or a classic breakfast. Make sure you save room, you have to order their Blackout Chocolate Cake, Nichole’s favorite! 
• Get your steps in post brunch and head over to the museum mile. Museums can be a perfect escape from the heat in the summer. Our UES museum musts are the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim, and the Museum of the City of New York.
• Discuss your favorite art pieces you saw over a dirty pickle martini or garden tonic mocktail at Penrose Bar. Bonus points for sitting outside and people watching. 
• Once you’re hydrated, head over to Flex Mussels, Reagan’s favorite. Start with Fish Dip and enjoy Thai Mussel with fries as your main.
• After dinner, head to Melody’s Piano Bar which is walk-in only so if you’re lucky grab a seat at the bar and listen to some tunes. Or if you want to go straight for the night cap, head to Jeremy’s for an espresso martini.

• Start your morning with a coffee from About Coffee and stroll around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in the middle of Central Park. You can see some building highlights that frame the UES, UWS, and even Central Park South.
• Walk down to brunch at Jacob’s Pickles and order one of their legendary biscuit breakfast sandwiches  and some chicken & pancakes. 
• After brunch, head down to Grand Bazaar, New York’s oldest, largest, and most diverse curated weekly market. You’ll find amazing local artists and small businesses. Don’t forget to stop into The Niche Shop :) 
• From Grand Bazaar head down Columbus Ave and enjoy the open streets with fun music, games, and chalks. Columbus Avenue Open Streets is Sunday 11am-7pm, in in the summer and fall on select weekends stretching from 68th to 77th. Window shop, or shop shop, at some of Columbus’s small businesses such as Housing Works, Sunbloom, Poetry of Material Things, and more. 
• After some shopping, head over to our friends at West Side Comedy Club with some of the city’s best comedians and acts. You might even see The Niche Shop friendly face Kendall performing. They have shows almost every night of the week, so check out their schedule here. On Sundays in August, they have a variety of performances so be sure to look at the calendar and see what comedians are performing! 

•  After your show, grab a dinner bite at Momoya for amazing sushi, obviously their spicy tuna crispy rice, or El Mitote for amazing mexican, ask for Tajin on the rim of your margarita. 

We hope you enjoy your The Niche Shop summer weekend. Did we forget something? Let us know your favorite Uptown spots and things to do in the comments!