Sidewalk Cafe

(212) 253-8080

94 Ave A
New York, NY 10009 40.7256 -73.9837

Get Map & Directions »

Neighborhoods: Alphabet City, East Village, Downtown

Hours:

Sun-Thu 8am-5am

Sat-Sun 24hrs

Price:

$$$

Last updated 12.06.11

Category:

Restaurants

Payment Methods:

American Express, Diners Club, Visa, MasterCard

Restaurant Special Features:

Breakfast, Romantic Dining, Brunch, Outdoor Dining, Bar Scene

General Info:

Open 24 Hours

Cuisine:

Traditional American

ambiance
100.0% positive
  1. “awesome atmosphere.”
  2. “Overall: great food, excellent prices, pleasant atmosphere.”
  3. “Was there for World Cup Finals and it was a big party and had a lot of fun.”
  4. “The 2 for 1 drink specials are great and the atmosphere is very comfortable come as you are.”
  5. “love this place because the decor is cool (with hanging musical instruments from the ceiling) it's open 24 hours, you can have dinner on one side, then walk through the second half where there is a bar, a darker lounge area where the performers are and ”
drinks
75.0% positive
  1. “The drinks were horrible and the waitstaff was rude and unconcerned with the customer's needs.”
  2. “This is a pleasant little bar.”
  3. “love this place because the decor is cool (with hanging musical instruments from the ceiling) it's open 24 hours, you can have dinner on one side, then walk through the second half where there is a bar, a darker lounge area where the performers are and ”
  4. “The 2 for 1 drink specials are great and the atmosphere is very comfortable come as you are.”
  5. “Friends and I shared a huge appetizer, had dinner, and drinks (pink margaritas!)”
  6. “Great drinks, nice, hot bartenders”
  7. “Good for a casual meal and drinks, but service can be slow.”
  8. “Their menu is varied and the drinks are pretty good.”
food quality
80.0% positive
  1. “ordered a chicken and black bean wrap (added cheddar cheese to it) with a salad (house dressing- lemon soy), my boyfriend got the veggie panini (with pesto added) and fresh cut french fries.”
  2. “But the waiter was very attentive and accomodating (brought extra garlic bread at no charge, etc.), and the food was pretty good and reasonably priced ($8 for ravioli, $5 for a gigantic breakfast sandwich w/ fries).”
  3. “thought the food was good.”
  4. “Burger was cooked as I specified, but the quality of meat was poor.”
  5. “ANOTHER PLUS-- this delicious meal cost us $20 total!”
  6. “Good for a casual meal and drinks, but service can be slow.”
  7. “only had a salad and sandwich, but it was probably one of the best sandwich's I have ever had and my sister who is a very picky eater loved her meal (she had penne alla vodka).”
  8. “Frozen pink margaritas in pint glasses are only 8 bucks, burgers are great (with mushrooms and jack cheese they are AMAZING here), the restaurant has a nice relaxed feel, just a great neighborhood haunt.”
  9. “The food and service is good.”
  10. “Good food @ good prices.”
  11. “awesome food.”
  12. “Service was horrible, rude staff, very sub par food, and it took about an hour for the food to come out.”
  13. “Overall: great food, excellent prices, pleasant atmosphere.”
  14. “Great affordable food, service average for NYC.”
  15. “Interesting menu, lots of really fresh twists, and prices really aren't bad (young people can totally handle the tab.”
  16. “Great if you hate FLAVOR in your food”
  17. “Also great brunch deal-margarita is free with your meal, second one is only a dollar.”
  18. “My chicken wrap was delicious!”
  19. “Great beans, crispy, toasted exterior and succulent chicken breast.”
  20. “The food was delicious with their wraps, salads and wide variety of healthy burgers.”
menu variety
100.0% positive
  1. “Their menu is varied and the drinks are pretty good.”
  2. “They have vegetarian options which is nice as well.”
  3. “Interesting menu, lots of really fresh twists, and prices really aren't bad (young people can totally handle the tab.”
  4. “The food was delicious with their wraps, salads and wide variety of healthy burgers.”
overall
100.0% positive
  1. “great place!”
  2. “Frozen pink margaritas in pint glasses are only 8 bucks, burgers are great (with mushrooms and jack cheese they are AMAZING here), the restaurant has a nice relaxed feel, just a great neighborhood haunt.”
return potential
100.0% positive
  1. “won't be back, my groups eats won't be back, and I won't be recommending this place to the travelers that stay with me.”
  2. “This place is pretty awesome and I will definitely be back again.”
service
42.109999656677246% positive
  1. “The drinks were horrible and the waitstaff was rude and unconcerned with the customer's needs.”
  2. “don't know who the rude bartendar was, but this happened the night of October 29th.”
  3. “The wait staff was quite friendly and speedy.”
  4. “Service was slow but the servers were the friendliest I've had in NY.”
  5. “think it is just bad service when a restaurant REFUSES to fix an order that THEY screwed up, no matter how trivial they feel the error was.”
  6. “do not like to say waitresses are bad, because everyone has off-days and she did seem like she was busy and running around alot.”
  7. “Interesting menu, lots of really fresh twists, and prices really aren't bad (young people can totally handle the tab.”
  8. “The food and service is good.”
  9. “Great drinks, nice, hot bartenders”
  10. “It's true, Sidewalk is has the worst service known to man.”
  11. “use to go hear VERY often, but then realized that I was always complaining about the PAINFULLY slow service and the inept”
  12. “However, the service has always been bad.”
  13. “Great affordable food, service average for NYC.”
  14. “Good for a casual meal and drinks, but service can be slow.”
  15. “Service was horrible, rude staff, very sub par food, and it took about an hour for the food to come out.”
  16. “But the waiter was very attentive and accomodating (brought extra garlic bread at no charge, etc.), and the food was pretty good and reasonably priced ($8 for ravioli, $5 for a gigantic breakfast sandwich w/ fries).”
  17. “Our waiter was super nice and we were seated right away at noon on a Sunday.”
  18. “Yes, this place has the worst service I have ever experienced in NY.”
  19. “kinda friendly wait staff?”
value
100.0% positive
  1. “Interesting menu, lots of really fresh twists, and prices really aren't bad (young people can totally handle the tab.”
  2. “Also great brunch deal-margarita is free with your meal, second one is only a dollar.”
  3. “(Any bruncher will know this is a huge plus in the East Village.)”
  4. “Friends and I shared a huge appetizer, had dinner, and drinks (pink margaritas!)”
  5. “Great affordable food, service average for NYC.”
  6. “Good food @ good prices.”
  7. “Frozen pink margaritas in pint glasses are only 8 bucks, burgers are great (with mushrooms and jack cheese they are AMAZING here), the restaurant has a nice relaxed feel, just a great neighborhood haunt.”
  8. “Overall: great food, excellent prices, pleasant atmosphere.”
wait time
12.5% positive
  1. “Service can be slow, but nice.”
  2. “use to go hear VERY often, but then realized that I was always complaining about the PAINFULLY slow service and the inept”
  3. “Good for a casual meal and drinks, but service can be slow.”
  4. “Service was slow but the servers were the friendliest I've had in NY.”
4 Star Rating: Recommended

01/17/12

our new hang out spot

by HeyTina

I'm re-posting my Yelp review here since i use both sites. Tho not sure why this site says it's 3 $s, because its actually really cheap. This place is awesome! Free music and the vibe is what the East Village is supposed to be. The food was lacking in healthy stuff, thus the lack of a star, BUT seriously one of the best veggie burgers i've ever had, really warm and creamy homey mac and cheese, my girlfriend drooled over the Sidewalk Burger (i don't eat meat, but she loved it) and a lot of reviews seem to complain about the service here but we LOOOOOVED our waitress, Mona! Just noticed the review below possibly talks about the same waitress who's name could be Simone of Mona, but maybe they are two different people. I blame the unknowing on the great happy hour. Mona/Simone or whoever, wore sparkly eyeshadow which totally matched her personality and when i asked her where she got it from, she literally went and got the make up for me, and wrote it ddown on a piece of paper for me!! talk about full service! She recommended the spiked milkshakes for dessert and.....cake and cupcakes are no longer necessry after a Smores milkshake. Soooooo good! She was honest about what she liked & brought my GF and i shots simply because we told her how much we loved this place and wanted to come back! thats a damn good way to get repeat customers and we definitely will be! we've already planned a brunch bday celebration for this weekend!

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

12/11/11

Sidewalk is back and it rocks!!! Better then before!!

by ianmarcus8

Sidewalk closed down for a few months for "renovations" And like most restaurants that "close down for renovation s" usually means it's closed. For good. This saddened me because I always loved Sidewalk, it was the last of the cool, cheap, good food e.village resturants left. It re opened and i am s sick of everyone moaning about how Sidewalk has changed and the world is now ending. Things change people, get used to it. And it changed for the better! it's not like the food got worse or the prices went up or there's shitty waiter attitude as usual with the upgrade of the east village (tho there USED to be awful attitude at Sidewalk, but no more). The food is awesome, ridiculously cheap for the amount of food you get and quality and the service is MILLION times better! I was born and raised in the east village and don't intend to leave (sorry kids, tell mommy and daddy to stick to the Upper east side) And i think the changes in Sidewalk are FOR THE BETTER. the new decor is great, since i used to wonder when the floor would break through and the rats would star dancing before it closed. It is clean, comfortable and homey but also good East Village bar and FREE FREAKING MUSIC EVERY NIGHT! granted sometimes it's not music and rather boring poetry punks BUT this is where the Anti Folk began, people! Regina Spektor, Jeffrey Lewis & more all came from these parts. As for the menu, sure i miss some items but the items they have now are too good to complain about. They are known for their burgers and it is indeed an awesome burger. Big and juicy you get choice of sweet potato fries,cajun fries, cheese fries and vegan coleslaw. i recommend the cajun or sweet potato. and the happy hour is (drum roll) TWO FOR ONE! AND you get a chip for the second free one that you can use AT ANY TIME!! and they're a wide variety of drinks to get free too. AND the food is really good AND cheap!! In fact i heard this chick ask if the food could possibly be any good because it was so cheap and she and her little yuppie boyfriend loved the food. They have sic spiked milkshakes that have basically become my staple for dessert :o) As i mentioned, the staff is TEN TIMES more friendlier than the old staff. and funny! i've had a few different waitresses (all women, which suits me fine) but there are two that in particular i love: Sasha (a gorgeous ethnic mix of something somethin meow!;) and Simone, (she cracks me up AND is actually honest about what she does and doesnt like, amazing!) They all look like they have a fun time together too, playing, downing the occasional shot with customers, making it an all around fun place to be. I go out a lot on my own and don't always like to shove my head in a book and be a wall flower, so that is important. So all you snotty rich kids from Conneticut and old fart east villagers who cant handle change, please stop giving Sidewalk Cafe a bad name. Economy sucks and things close easily, people are put out of work by such selfish comments and then we're stuck with the crappy east village restaurant/bars that are taking the East out of the East Village. Rock the F on Sidewalk!

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

09/15/11

New Sidewalk is Amazing!

by LovelyLiLi

I went to eat with my new wife to celebrate and the food was amazing! We had the mushroom ravioli and beet salad. The wine list was excellent (only exception was that they were out of pinot noir) but the waitress (joanna I believe) recommended another French wine that my girl loved.

The atmosphere is simple and much cleaner that before. We ate inside but the outdoor seating looks the same, which is cool to people watch. We'll definitely be back if we can get a table. And I'm very happy they reopened.

1 Star Rating: Poor

07/28/10

downer grace

by fesoj

There's a waitress called Grace, who is the complete opposite of her name :) Fat Ugly and Disgraceful. You will recognize her immediately with her cold sarcastic (not funny though) 'I don't give a !@#$ about this job' behaviour, and if that doesn't catch you, there's a tattoo behind her left ear. She even tells customer off, so unless you're in a mood for downer, don't go there!

A shame that a nice cafe like this at a great location employs the wrong people for the job.

Blame the OWNER/MANAGER for having no busineess sense

  • Pros: location
  • Cons: everything else
3 Star Rating: Average

05/03/10

Yummy, Affordable Brunch in a Neighborhood with Many Options

by a Tooch , Citysearch Contributor

So many mixed reviews of this place and I'm not sure why! I found it to be a reliable and tasty brunch spot.

The highlight of my experience: the homefries, which came crisp, buttery and delicious. What is the secret recipe for this?! YUM. It's also pretty hard to resist the awesome pink marg, topped with a cherry. Don't let the pretty pink fool you, though. 8 oz. of this marg and I was basically on the floor. A very strong beverage indeed.

Our waiter was super nice and we were seated right away at noon on a Sunday. (Any bruncher will know this is a huge plus in the East Village.)

Next time you are thinking of trying 7A, walk down the block and try here!

  • Pros: Strong margaritas, tasty homefries, friendly staff
  • Cons: Tight Space

The Details on Sidewalk Cafe

Place Categories:

  • slow service
  • good affordable food
  • great place
  • great atmosphere
  • very attentive waiter
  • speedy wait staff
  • great drinks
  • unconcerned waitstaff
  • rude staff
  • stale taste
  • affordable service average
  • loved meal
  • awesome marg
  • loved belly dancer
  • nice hot bartenders
  • delicious chicken wrap
  • really fresh twists
  • great neighborhood spot
  • cool decor
  • fresh cut french fries
  • great beans
  • cool space
  • good prices
  • rude bartendar
  • great greek band
Advertisement

Lists In Manhattan

Recent Reviews In Manhattan

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

Curry Dream

66 W. 39th St, New York, NY

4 Star Rating: Recommended

Libation

137 Ludlow St., New York, NY

4 Star Rating: Recommended

Blackstones Pub & Restaurant

245 E 55th St, New York, NY

1 Star Rating: Poor

Garage Restaurant and Cafe

99 7th Avenue South, New York, NY

Advertisement