08/25/09

HOPE THAT THE COMPANY PAYS

by CMike

I TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE RESTAURANT WEEK OFFER. THE APPETIZER WAS GOOD, BUT THE ENTREE CONSISTS OF A PIECE OF MEAT, 1 SMALL SHORT RIB. THE DESSERT WAS A 1 INCH SQUARE PC OF CAKE. IF YOU WANT A FULL MEAL, THE MINIMUM IS ANOTHER $20. THE $35 DEAL DOUBLED TO $70 BY THE TIME I GOT OUT OF THERE.

THE GROUP OF 3 MEN AT THE NEXT TABLE CAME FOR BEERS, BUT WANTED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE EXPENSE ACCOUNT. SO DID THE WAITER. ONE ORDERED A 2.5 LB LOBSTER, BUT THE WAITER CAME BACK STATING HE ONLY HAD A 3.5 LB LOBSTER. THE FOOL ORDERED IT AND THE WAITER CATERED TO THE MEN, OFFERING REFILLS ON THE DRINKS BEFORE THEY WERE FINISHED.

THE LAST MEAL I HAD WAS IN TIMES SQUARE, IN A RATTY OLD UPSTAIRS LOCATION FOR MY BIRTHDAY. THE WAITER WAS EXTREMELY RUDE. IT WAS LATE, SO THE SPINACH & MASHED POTATOES WERE COLD. I GUESS THEY STARTED TO SHUT THE KITCHEN DOWN. THE TOTAL COST FOR 2 PEOPLE, $170 BEFORE THE TIP.

THE FOOL THAT WROTE A GOOD REVIEW STATING HE SPENT $350 FOR 2 PEOPLE COULD HAVE HAD A MUCH BETTER MEAL AT DEL FRISCOS.

• Pros: NICE ATMOSPHERE
• Cons: MONEY HUNGRY WAITSTAFF-EXPENSIVE!!

01/30/09

Not worth the price

by dnl1219

After reading several reviews my friend and I decided to go to Frankie and Johnny's for restaurant week. We were greated at the door and sat upstairs next to the fireplace which has a nice atmosphere. The waiter promptly took our drink order and returned with the wine. He then disappeared for quite some time. He finally returned and I ordered a shrimp cocktail and my choices off of the price fix menu. Now I have to tell you that the entree comes with absolutely nothing. I had ordered the petit filet mignon, a baked potato and a side of broccoli with the holondaise sauce. My friend ordered the same thing but got mashed potatoes and creamed spinach. My shrimp cocktail arrived a few minutes later with only four shrimp. At $18 you would expect to get more. They were however very large and tasty. We then got our salads, nothing to write home about but hey it's salad. Some time later our entrees were brought out. The steak was a little on the small side but I expected that. The broccoli and the sauce were ice cold, and the steak was on the cold side as well. Now as anybody knows you can't heat up steak because you change the the wellness of it. Our waiter never came back to check on us and actually after our entrees were served we had different server take our dessert order. So who knows what was going on there. I am a former waitress and I know that service can make or break a restaurant. My assumption is that these servers figure oh great cheap restaurant week diners and don't think that we will be back on a regular basis once the event is over. I work for a very large firm and set up a lot of lunch and dinner events with clients. When I tell you this is one restaurant I will not be setting up any events at. If you want a great steak dinner and great service take it from, go to Del Frisco's.

09/16/08

ok, no more than that

by debbie157

I had a dinner with my family a few nights ago. In general I don't go to fancy restaurants too often - but when I do, I really don't mind paying a lot for quality. This was paying a lot for an ok- food, and ok- anything else. I think it's hightime these guys got their stuff together. The quality of the meat was average. I tasted better for less. Service could do better as well. In general - I don't think they'll be seeing me anytime soon.

• Pros: overall ok
• Cons: over-priced for what you are ultimately getting

08/17/08

Fooled by internet reviews....well below average food.

by Yank5723

Well, my experience failed to live up to even modest expectations. I recently (8/16/08) dined with my brothers at the 37th street location. We stayed very close to Capital Grille, but were looking for a New York steakhouse. Peter Luger seemed a bit over-the-top from what I read online and in my continued search I came across Frankie and Johnnies. I read reviews and looked at the website and it seemed to be pretty great. The disappointment began immediately. It's a pretty ugly location. I'm not sure why the owners decided on this particular spot, but it doesnt' do much to make the diner feel like throwing down massive $$$ for dinner. The staff was ok, not what I would call friendly, but not rude either. We ordered an appetizer which turned out to cost $110...absolutely not worth it. It was good enough (4 shrimp, a few oysters, crab meat, 2 lobster tails and 2 lobster claws), but definitely not worth the $110 it cost. My brother got the tbone and it was FAR from being cooked properly. He ordered it medium-well and large portions of it were rare, and it tasted "old" (I tasted it to verify what he said, and I can't explain it but it did just taste old). My other brother and I ordered the sirloin. Both of our steaks were cooked ok (for the most part) and had pretty good flavor, but had a lot of fat running through them. None of the steaks were anywhere near worth the prices (sirloins were $41 and the tbone was $46). My nephew got the shrimp scampi, which I tasted, and that was the best thing at the table. We had the broccoli with garlic and garlic mashed potatoes, and both of those were ok, though the potatoes definitely tasted like the instant variety. Sad to say that shrimp scampi was the best thing in a steakhouse. Dinner was so disappointing we didn't hang around for dessert. We definitely should have saved time and $$$ and gone to Capital Grille. I've eaten at Capital Grille numerous times and Frankie and Johnnies isn't even close on quality.

• Pros: Nothing jumps to mind
• Cons: Food

05/21/08

Best way to celebrate a Raise!

by kemist

after a long day at work and then needing to go and deal with moving arrangements and signing a new apt lease..my boss calls me back into work but to my surprise it was for a private dinner meeting to congrat me on a well deserved raise and promotion...entree's were incredible and service was great!!! hey a $350 plus bill and two people is well worth it... Steak was ammmmmazing(and i have tasted some great steaks) bartender was great the entire expierence was Great!

04/20/08

Great dinner with atmosphere

by slvpv

Our interest in historic places and great steak took us to Frankie and Johnnie's over on 37th Street for an early dinner. Housed in John Barrymore's former brownstone, J & F's offers some fine food, albeit for a price. Started with one of the day's specials, a tomato arugula and fresh mozzarella salad that was expertly done. We really wanted to try the risotto w/porcini mushroom and asparagus, but didn't want to fill up on oversized servings of pasta . Our waiter graciously offered to have the dish split between the two of us as an appetizer - it was just the right size and delicious. We both opted for the surf (HUGE lobster tail) and turf (filet mignon) with a few sides. The steak was done exactly right, just melted in your mouth. Couldn't get over the size of that lobster tail - sweet and firm and oh so tasty. Waitstaff was attentive without being overbearing or making us feel we needed to hurry; they were extremely professional and accommodating. It's a typical steakhouse atmosphere - low lighting, dark woods, but not so dim you can't see the food on your plate. We really enjoyed our time there.

The only two negatives I can offer are: 1. The restaurant was a bit too warm. Seemed the a/c wasn't working. 2. The hostess seemed a bit too preoccuppied with her cell phone. She didn't ignore us, but I'm not too fond of people in service industriies who multitask.

As a special treat, J & F's on 37th didn't disappoint. We look forward to returning on our next junket into the city.

• Pros: Food, service, decor/lighting, history of site
• Cons: Temperature a bit too warm, hostess distracted

04/06/08

HORRIBLE MANAGEMENT!

by thankucomeagain

Because of the horrible management I will never dine here again. One time I took a client to lunch here an older gentleman with thick accent in a suit took us upstairs. He tried to put us in a tightly squeezed table. I politely asked him for another table. He became very annoyed with us rolled his eyes gave us a booth and rudely asked, "This one's good, right?". Had an average lunch and when we departed we thanked the same older man he replies "Yeah, ok." Who says this to a gracious guest? The only time I ever went for dinner was for my girlfriend's birthday who wanted to go here. As soon as we sat down we had a horrible night. It took a waiter 10 minutes to come over and greet us who was rude and didn't want to answer any of our questions, our dishes after each course were only cleared when we got the busboy's attention, there was a hair in my beer on my second round. I lost it when my girlfriend was in the restroom and asked my waiter to bring a candle in her dessert. When it was delivered to her, surprise, no candle. Furious I asked for the manager. Some cocky tall young guy in suit walks over and asks us what's wrong. I told him everything that happened and he apologized without seeming too concerned with anything I just said and offered for us to take their limo anywhere. My girlfriend and I decided to accept when he asked where we were going I told him back home to Queens. He then gets this look on his face and says, "Oh sorry it can't go that far." Didn't he just say anywhere? I was so disgusted said never mind I didn't need his services and continued with my dessert. He then tried to kiss up and say he would get another car for me. I said no thank you and asked for the check. The cocky manager gave us our check without thanking us and the whole rest of time I watched him sit down and eat his dinner with some girl who obvisously was more important than the other guests there. Terrible management that doesn't deserve my money!

• Pros: average food
• Cons: HORRIBLE MANAGERS

04/03/08

HORROR OF SERVICE

by adiedus

I took my BF for dinner on his B day I had the whole thing planed out. When we walked into the place we thought that it was nice and cozy. The hostes was friendly we got a nice seat. The server came and we oderd with food one bottle of wine 250 dollars- the wine was good-and that is wehre it stops....the server came out with our food, he had a horrible accent i noticed that my filet mignon was weirdly shaped and I asked him what it was ...rudely he told me well "its the way we do well done filet , did you get that" besides that they messed up my BF order the server insisted that that is what he orderd... in your food before they bring it back--the food was OK nothing spectacular 500 dollars basically the only memory I have of it is the RUDE service - I would never go there again rather spend my money elswhere

• Pros: Nice hostes - palce looks nice
• Cons: BAD SERVICE-HORRIBLE SERVICE

02/27/08

Best Romantic Steak House

by jjcatalano

My husband and I go every year to a new top rated steak house to celebrate Valentine's Day and this year I was more than impressed by Frankie & Johnnie?s on 32 W 37th St. We requested a table right by the fire place which filled the room with warmth and light-very cozy. Service was great and everything we ordered was perfect. The Fried Calamari was cooked just right and not chewy and the Porterhouse for 2 melted in your mouth. Not to mention the creamed spinach and garlic mashed potatoes were great as well. Even the bread was great especially the onion rolls. Overall, you get the entire package with this restaurant and I would highly recommend it.

• Pros: Everything
• Cons: Expensive

02/15/08

worst place in the city

by chelseacco

everything was horrible. sooooooooo disappointed..... super lazy service.........we never come again.