The weather is perfect for eating outdoors and all of a sudden, there seems to be an abundance of cafes to choose from uptown. Check out the full Harlem gallery on our facebook site and "like" us if you have not done so already: LINK
I finally got to visit Harlem's latest eatery, it was an interesting experience and as usual I have decided to post a review on one of Harlem's most popular blogs:
1) Wait time: The Tavern does not take reservations and when you get there you will find no wait list so we were directed to stand on line which we did; the "doorman" was very friendly and kept decent control of the line. The wait was not bad 20 minutes for a group of two. ***
2) Service: Saying the service was uneven would be too much of a compliment; the service was poor. This seems to be endemic to Harlem eateries and for the life of me I do not know why. Every eatery in Harlem has very poor service when they start out it is almost as though they either do not think that residents of Harlem will care or they have not taken the time to properly train their staff either way it leads to frustration and a less then optimum experience. After we sat down it took 15 minutes before our original waitress came to our table, instead of taking our order or bringing even water she apologized and said that she was swamped and would be right back (lmao) can you imagine. She did take the payment of the couple next to us before she zoomed off; 10 minutes later still no waitress and the couple next to us still had not gotten their change, as a result we struck up a conversation and found out that like us that pair had been patient but they had seen 3 other tables sit and leave without being served....is this how you make an eatery a success...letting clients who are willing to pay leave without even getting a beer? As we were talking the time went by and finally we hailed a bus boy who found the waitress and she brought the change back....please note still no water or order taken for us. A different waitress came over finally and said that the original waitress had a "huge" table and so she would take over and "take care" of us.
This "huge" table was only of such importance because it was a third rate celebrity Ed Lover and his group they had 15 people maybe at the table and the original waitress was so busy socializing that she was too "swamped" to pay attention to her other tables, I ask again is this how you make money? Alienating the neighbourhood folks?
Our second waitress was far superior and was extremely helpful, she took our order got us drinks and water in short order. Our appetizers came followed by our mains, I mean almost all at once, so we were eating them both at the same time; shocking service!!!!
As we were there we saw many other tables sitting in frustration as well, I think this is a training issue as there seemed to me to be more than enough staff. I truly hope they get this right. *
3) Food: Here is the surprising thing, the food was actually quite good; I had a lamb burger which was a bit bland for my taste but it was juicy and well cooked. The Cesar salad was good crunchy lettuce (not soggy), well toasted croutons (again not soggy as can be the case), it was missing the anchovies however. My wife had the pulled pork sandwich which she said was tasty. My wife had a craft beer and she liked it, I had a cocktail called a Harlem Sunset, my question is where is the alcohol??? It had 2 drops if it had any. Other than that the food as I said was quite good. ***
Overall the first experience was not great but I will give them a chance because the food was very decent. I hope the owners of this place grab this by the reins fast because based on the crowd they could truly have a gold mine here.
Star system is out of *****
I know this is long but I wanted to be complete with the review.
Harlem BBC, decent review. We went last week and I must admit, we had didn't have any of the service problems that you highlighted. Then again, it was a weekday, early evening visit, and the place wasn't overly busy. I have heard that the service is erratic at best, so hopefully they will get that taken care of in the next couple of weeks. Food was decent for me, but not excellent like at Lido. Then again, as a 'Tavern' maybe the expectations should not quite be the same, since the main focus is on beer! Really liked the place though, and looking forward to frequenting both the Tavern and Bier International.
Consistent with our experience as well. Couple of additional thoughts. They seem to be conscious of the service issues and do seem to be working on it. On Sunday, biggest issue was simply that the food was slow, but the wait staff was fairly attentive. They brought us (and most of the tables around us) free pastries while we waited.
The wait was long (maybe 35 minutes), especially considering we only ordered burgers, but the food was surprisingly tasty. These type of issues seem par for the course with new restaurants. Bier International had similar kinks, especially when they first opened the kitchen, but they worked through them pretty quickly. The 5 and Diamond had even more issues and it took them some time to really get their feet under them, but they worked really hard to eventually sort through it.
Harlem Tavern: Really wanted to be impressed - wasn't. Went last Wed evening - no wait - service was abominable - mixed up order (two of this/none of that) - food was cold - double charged for several dishes - not a word of apology from the waitress who would disappear for inordinate amounts of time. Was hoping this would be my "go to" place in the neighborhood - still looking. Will wait a couple months and give it one more shot.
Harlem Tavern:
ReplyDeleteI finally got to visit Harlem's latest eatery, it was an interesting experience and as usual I have decided to post a review on one of Harlem's most popular blogs:
1) Wait time:
The Tavern does not take reservations and when you get there you will find no wait list so we were directed to stand on line which we did; the "doorman" was very friendly and kept decent control of the line. The wait was not bad 20 minutes for a group of two. ***
2) Service:
Saying the service was uneven would be too much of a compliment; the service was poor. This seems to be endemic to Harlem eateries and for the life of me I do not know why. Every eatery in Harlem has very poor service when they start out it is almost as though they either do not think that residents of Harlem will care or they have not taken the time to properly train their staff either way it leads to frustration and a less then optimum experience. After we sat down it took 15 minutes before our original waitress came to our table, instead of taking our order or bringing even water she apologized and said that she was swamped and would be right back (lmao) can you imagine. She did take the payment of the couple next to us before she zoomed off; 10 minutes later still no waitress and the couple next to us still had not gotten their change, as a result we struck up a conversation and found out that like us that pair had been patient but they had seen 3 other tables sit and leave without being served....is this how you make an eatery a success...letting clients who are willing to pay leave without even getting a beer? As we were talking the time went by and finally we hailed a bus boy who found the waitress and she brought the change back....please note still no water or order taken for us. A different waitress came over finally and said that the original waitress had a "huge" table and so she would take over and "take care" of us.
This "huge" table was only of such importance because it was a third rate celebrity Ed Lover and his group they had 15 people maybe at the table and the original waitress was so busy socializing that she was too "swamped" to pay attention to her other tables, I ask again is this how you make money? Alienating the neighbourhood folks?
Our second waitress was far superior and was extremely helpful, she took our order got us drinks and water in short order. Our appetizers came followed by our mains, I mean almost all at once, so we were eating them both at the same time; shocking service!!!!
As we were there we saw many other tables sitting in frustration as well, I think this is a training issue as there seemed to me to be more than enough staff. I truly hope they get this right. *
3) Food:
Here is the surprising thing, the food was actually quite good; I had a lamb burger which was a bit bland for my taste but it was juicy and well cooked. The Cesar salad was good crunchy lettuce (not soggy), well toasted croutons (again not soggy as can be the case), it was missing the anchovies however. My wife had the pulled pork sandwich which she said was tasty. My wife had a craft beer and she liked it, I had a cocktail called a Harlem Sunset, my question is where is the alcohol??? It had 2 drops if it had any. Other than that the food as I said was quite good. ***
Overall the first experience was not great but I will give them a chance because the food was very decent. I hope the owners of this place grab this by the reins fast because based on the crowd they could truly have a gold mine here.
Star system is out of *****
I know this is long but I wanted to be complete with the review.
Harlem BBC, decent review. We went last week and I must admit, we had didn't have any of the service problems that you highlighted. Then again, it was a weekday, early evening visit, and the place wasn't overly busy. I have heard that the service is erratic at best, so hopefully they will get that taken care of in the next couple of weeks. Food was decent for me, but not excellent like at Lido. Then again, as a 'Tavern' maybe the expectations should not quite be the same, since the main focus is on beer! Really liked the place though, and looking forward to frequenting both the Tavern and Bier International.
ReplyDeleteAny idea if the Tavern is doing a happy hour?
thanks, BBC
ReplyDeleteNo idea on the Happy hour as yet, hopefully they will!!
ReplyDeleteConsistent with our experience as well. Couple of additional thoughts. They seem to be conscious of the service issues and do seem to be working on it. On Sunday, biggest issue was simply that the food was slow, but the wait staff was fairly attentive. They brought us (and most of the tables around us) free pastries while we waited.
ReplyDeleteThe wait was long (maybe 35 minutes), especially considering we only ordered burgers, but the food was surprisingly tasty. These type of issues seem par for the course with new restaurants. Bier International had similar kinks, especially when they first opened the kitchen, but they worked through them pretty quickly. The 5 and Diamond had even more issues and it took them some time to really get their feet under them, but they worked really hard to eventually sort through it.
Ed Lover?! That's pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteChristopher I thought so too, I'm getting crap service for a d class celebrity.
ReplyDeleteHarlem Tavern: Really wanted to be impressed - wasn't. Went last Wed evening - no wait - service was abominable - mixed up order (two of this/none of that) - food was cold - double charged for several dishes - not a word of apology from the waitress who would disappear for inordinate amounts of time. Was hoping this would be my "go to" place in the neighborhood - still looking. Will wait a couple months and give it one more shot.
ReplyDelete