Steak Frites

06/18/07

Extremely poor service!

by kphiadivinity at Citysearch

Okay, i agree with the other users that i should've checked the reviews before going to the place but gees, who would've thought that it would be THAT bad. We were a party of 5, there for brunch on a Saturday, and was seated promptly upon arrival - the place was fairly empty, but maybe it was 'cause it was already past lunch time. Things were fine and dandy up until the point that some of us were brought the wrong dish or missing something on their dish. They brought out the wrong omlette dish and one of our plates were missing scrambled eggs. We brought it to the waiters attention immediately and we assumed that they were taking care of it in the kitchen. 20 minutes pass and NO EGGS! For goodness sakes, how long does it take to cook up an omelette and some scrambled eggs?? I was so disappointed at the service and of course, for whatever reason the waiter disappears everytime i'm looking for him. The manager comes over after the omelette and scrambled eggs for the other plate was served (meanwhile half of us are done with our food) and apologizes for the trouble and will take the steak off the bill. Now after all this trouble, i assumed that she meant that she will take one of the brunch plates off the bill (which is like a $16 value). The check comes and of course i'm double checking everything given that the service was so poor, who knows what else they can mess up on - and it didn't look like ANYTHING was taken off. I ask the waiter and he said that the manager adjusted the check to take $3 off. Wow, whoopy doo - i didn't argue with the waiter, and i just took the bill as is. Needless to say, i didn't tip him well - heck with that kind of service i shouldn't have tipped at ALL!

Oh and if anyone is wondering about the food - its nothing to rave about, as a matter of fact my steak was rather tough and the french fries were soggy! So much for the restaurant name huh? Can't even cook that correctly.

Just avoid the restaurant altogether.

• Pros: Fairly large restaurant.
• Cons: Poor service.

06/15/07

the worst service i have ever had

by jrny17 at Citysearch

I should have read the reviews before I went- so I guess it is my own fault. I have never in my entire life had such terrible serivce. I worked in food service for years, dine out very often and consider myself very patient and forgiving.

The food sounded and looked delicious - I just wish that my party was served any food or drinks to try. Even after asking multiple times for someone to take our order we were still left waiting. We noticed a number of other tables in the same situation we were. Ultimately I am glad - we wound up leaving and having a fantastic meal up the street.

06/14/07

WORST SERVICE EVER!

by kcabrio at Citysearch

This place i would not even given a second thought to going, when there are so many better restaurants in the city. We were a party of 4 that had reservations, get there and sit down right away -- however no one comes over to us for 35 minutes, in which we had to ask both the bartender and the hostess for a waiter. Finally one shows up all scatterbrained and anxious and takes our drink orders, in which 10 minutes later he comes back and asks for clarification, after another 10 minutes of not coming back with drinks and just getting water, we get up and leave. the worst experience of my years of city dining. i've never walked out of somewhere ever. we ended up walking a few blocks to angelo maxies and having a nice dinner.

steak frites i will never go again. its not worth spending money to have terrible service and be ignored.

03/06/07

surprised by the bad reviews

by happiness1234 at Citysearch

the food is certainly ok, nothing spectacular but my mussels and frites were quite yummy, the bread was great, the wine was great, cute ambiance... and service was nothing to write home about, but also not bad at all... all in all, an average to good place for yummy fries and a lively atmosphere.

02/19/07

Not bad for brunch......

by lkd at Citysearch

I fully expected to have a bad experience here, but we were actually very surprised. We were in the neighborhood, it was cold and I was hungry. I also really had the craving for a steak or hamburger and this is what the restaurant is known for. So we went for it - it was a Sunday afternoon and brunch was being served. We were seated close to the door, which was a little annoying because you could feel the cold wind every time the door opened. We sat for a few minutes with no one coming over at all and I didn't even see a waiter. I expected the worst, but after a little bit, our waiter showed up and he was absolutely charming and attentive. He took our drink and food orders, and again - I expected not to see him for some time. But within 5 mins, he returned with our Bloody Mary's (which were very good by the way!) and then another 5 mins and our food came. I had the "steak frites" and my husband had the very delicious, juicy Black Angus Burger. The food was tasty and satisfying. We had no complaints. $16 is NOT a lot of money for brunch in NYC people, get with it. You are NOT getting 2 or 3 courses for $16 in Manhattan. My only complaint was the fries. They were hot but too thick, not crispy enough and not fried to a uniform color, some were very dark, others were lighter. For a French brasserie restaurant specializing in "frites", the frites need to be really memorable.

This place is NOT Michelin rated, so you need to keep that in mind. We had a perfectly pleasant experience here.

• Pros: Tasty steaks and burgers
• Cons: Ambience could be improved

02/14/07

Take out a few tables, please!

by kll205 at Citysearch

I had never been to Steak Frites, and frankly, didn't expect much. My major complaints are not about the food, but about the service and layout of the dining room. We were seated at a two-top in the back, where all of the tables are jammed together, and not in a charming European way. There were literally 2 inches between our table and the next, and the people in the corner table needed to ask other diners to get up when they needed to get out of their booth. It was really bizarre, and could be remedied by just removing one or 2 small tables! It would have made the whole experience so much better. The food wasn't terrible, but our waiter was pretty inattentive. We waited nearly 5 minutes for steak knives after our steak had arrived at the table, and I never was asked if I wanted another glass of wine, even though I had finished the first glass with our first course. All in all, I suppose it's a decent neighborhood joint, but some attention should be paid to the dining experience - I'm not talking about 4 star service, but I don't want to be jammed in like sardines, either!

• Pros: Reasonable prices, good wine list
• Cons: No space in dining roon, inattentive service

01/25/07

Avoid Avoid

by xfoodie at Citysearch

I hate to slam a restaurant but this has got to be one of the worst dining experience I have had in a very long time. Do not go there. I went there during restaurant week and yeah, I know, they dont put their best foot forward but really, shouldnt they? The steak was unrecognizable, the pepper sauce was way too peppery, the fries were dry, and the oyster appetizers were....lets see, there are no nice words to desrcibe it so I will just leave it at that!

01/17/07

Can I just get my food please?

by yummyny at Citysearch

The food is decent, in fact I love the French Onion soup, but I always leave feeling a little irritated and wondering why I picked this place again. On my last visit, a friend and I ordered soup, salad and fries. . . pretty simple. After finishing our soup, we sat with empty bowls and empty drinks trying to flag down our waiter who almost seemed to be purposely avoiding our efforts. We eventually got his attention and asked him to cancel the rest of the order and just bring the check. His response was rude and entirely unapologetic. He brought over a woman who I assume was a manager. She informed us that it would be fine to cancel our order "this time" because the food still had not been prepared. Really? A salad and french fries? She was equally unapologetic and asked if we wanted to cancel our order because we had to wait, as if it was not good enough a reason. Where I normally just feel ignored, this time I felt offended. I don't think that I will go back.

• Cons: Unattentive Service

01/14/07

Don't go there for brunch.

by daihwa at Citysearch

We walked out after the water arrived, so we can't speak about the food. We stopped in for the prix fixe brunch after taking a look at the menu outside, but we were told after being seated that the $16 prix fix was for ONE (1) course. With Prix fixe menus, you usually get 2 or 3 courses and the menu they posted outside made it seem like this was the case. To be fair, maybe prix fixe menus only consist of one course when it's brunch and not dinner, and we were just unaware of this custom, but one of the dishes on this menu was yogurt and granola. $16 for yogurt and granola??? I was really turned off by this.

• Pros: It's pretty inside.
• Cons: Brunch, price.

11/17/06

Not so great

by annpala at Citysearch

We dined here during restaurant week and were not impressed, even though Susan Sarandon was sitting at the next table. Servings were miniscule and so so. Meat was dry and stringy. Mussels were pretty good but there were just too many of them without something else to go along. They would have been great with a side of pasta or a vegetable. The place looks dirty too