Metropolitan Diary: Barney Greengrass

Sarah Gruen quiets down on her first pilgrimage to a New York institution.

Dear Diary:

One Saturday this past summer, three friends and I decided to make our first-ever pilgrimage to Barney Greengrass.

We had just begun to discuss our ordering strategy excitedly when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

It was the woman at the table next to us, and she was visibly irritated.

“Will you girls please quiet down?” she grumbled. “Your voices are so loud I can hardly hear myself think.”