Reviews & Ratings for Community Food & Juice

05/07/09

The Best!

by jvanschaar at Citysearch

This is our favorite place. A "new diner," this lovely restaurant was put together very thoughtfully, breakfast through late-night bar service. All dishes are like home-made food, with fresh, organic, excellent ingredients, never over-cooked. Everything is just delicious. The service is usually excellent, and the menu different enough from other restaurants to warrant at least one visit. We take all our out-of-town guests here to see how the New New Yorkers eats.

• Pros: Best home-cooked meal in New York

12/10/08

Worst Manager

by grido at Citysearch

I went there last week to eat. The place was not organized. I waited 1 hour for my steak that tasted awful and the portions were very small. When I complained, a manager named Matt told me that this is what we serve and was very rude to me and my party. He said that if we were not happy to just leave. I was very embarassed. We were all in aw and were spoken to in a demeaning manner. We proceeded to leave and were yelled at to go next door by Matt. I will never return. We should have been treated better and I was flabbergasted. To all, I ill spend my money elsewhere. We asked for the owners number and we where also told by Matt that he did not have it and he is the boss.

• Pros: nice decor
• Cons: Food late,poor management

09/11/08

Solid Brunch

by fairydust at Citysearch

I went there for Sunday brunch. It was pretty crowded since the Columbia students are back in school. Even so, I was able to get a table for two after just 15-20 minutes during prime brunch time (little before 1 pm). It was nice that in the mean time, waiters circled through those of us waiting for a table with samples of their chocolate pancakes. I had the french toast, which I loved since it wasn't too egg-y, overly gooped and soggy, or too sweet. The coffee was on the stronger side (think Starbucks). We probably only saw our waitress when she took our order and when she brought us our check, but she was friendly enough.

• Pros: healthy-tasting food
• Cons: crowded, busy waitstaff

06/18/08

Exremely salty salad - beware!

by ganak at Citysearch

This was my first visit to the restaurant, at my friend's recommendation. She really likes the place so I was very disappointed with my experience. I ordered a Hunan Chicken salad. The entire dish- chicken, noodles, and all - was drenched in what tasted like straight soy sauce with additional salt. It was so unpalatable I asked for a side order of brown rice to allay the havok wreaked on my taste buds. At my request the rice order was taken off the bill. Service seemed average. My friend's burger and fries looked like the better bet. Not too enthusiastic about coming back but maybe other items on the menu are worth another try.

• Pros: Great environmentally friendly vision
• Cons: Food isn't great

05/22/08

Not worth the wait

by ColumbiaLibrarian at Citysearch

Imagine having to work on Mother's Day, but consoling yourself that you have a fabuous dinner out with your 18-month-old daughter and husband to look forward to. (We take our daughter everywhere and she is not a fusser or finicky eater.)

We were among the first to be seated after the restaurant opened for dinner service, and we place our orders relatively soon thereafter. I didn't like our table - stuck behind reservations near the door - but we had a window and I wasn't going to complain.

IT TOOK AN HOUR to be served our entrees!

My husband's dish arrived cold and both our dishes were under cooked (rare beef and salmon), meaning that we could not share any of our meals with our baby. The maple carrots we ordered specifically for our daughter were so oily and sweet that she would not eat them. Thank God my daughter did not get frustrated or make a scene. She was an angel. The same cannot be said for the customers waiting to be seated, however, who were getting vocally annoyed at the slowness of service.

When we complained about the lateness of our entrees and our undercooked dishes, we were offerd "free dessert." AS IF! As if we wanted to sit at the cramped little table any longer than we all ready had, while other patrons were having fits about not being seating.

To sum it up: Inefficiently and idiotically managed, food not cooked as ordered, overall, an unpleasant experience.

Not worth the wait.

04/13/08

Nice, memorable dinner

by johnsoap at Citysearch

My husband and I had been looking forward to trying this place after it was recommended to us by a server at the new Blossom on the UWS. We arrived at 6 on a Fri night and were promptly seated. We got an end spot at a communal table - would've rather had a private table, but those are rare. The food was wonderful. We had the whole wheat baguette with chicken pate to start. I enjoyed the Salmon rice bowl (perfect reasonable portion, healthy but flavorful), and my husband devoured his pork tenderloin. Loved the plate of warm cookies at the end of the night! This seems like a perfect place for vegetarians and carnivores alike! Our server was a little ditsy and didn't notice that we'd already finished our dinner when he came to check on us for the first time, but he was friendly and prompt with our orders. The menu is so appealing that we will be back to try more!

• Pros: Great food, nice wine list, desserts!
• Cons: ditsy service, communal tables

04/06/08

Excellent Food, Extreme Disorganization

by answerman at Citysearch

Quality comfort food with a through-and-through philosophy. Great for breakfast or lunch/brunch (3 times) but fiasco (3 times) for dinner. Enjoy weekend dinner here if you are an avowed masochist and have 3 hrs to burn over fried chicken or Berkshire pork. Bartenders Tuesday and Jared are standouts. They know their business and eating at the bar is one's best strategy. Host(esse)s and managers are inconsistent, from okay to highly inept. Saturday night hostess tells us 20-25 mins, we (3) sit at bar luckily, have two bottles of wine and appetizers for 1hr20min. Tables open (a 2 and a 4), hostess seats recently arrived party of 2 at a table for 4. Blatant error pointed out to manager Tom, who agrees but won't correct situation when asked to, even though the 2-some have not put their butts into the seats yet. Turns out he knows these folks, chatting them up in earnest. Food takes 25 mins to arrive when seated finally. Never again on a Fri or Sat night.

• Pros: Excellent attempt to bring quality to food
• Cons: Awful seating staff, out of sync kitchen.

02/05/08

The Clinton St. Baking Company crew brings its seasonal all-day eats to dining-deficient Morningside Heights.

by Joshua M Bernstein at Citysearch

The Scene
The owners of Clinton St. Baking Company attempt to transplant downtown cool to a staid, stroller-pushing neighborhood. With its white brick, wood galore and a trendy open kitchen, the space hits all the hipster notes, but the apple-cheeked, aproned waiters and wholesome crowd of Columbia students, professors and families cooing over kids make the scene as edgy as a spoon.

The Food
It's not hard to top the nabe's middling eating options with seasonal American dishes like fork-soft, grass-fed steaks or a shellfish stew swimming in tomato-and-garlic-butter broth. The rest of the dinnertime fare, however, is a roller-coaster affair. Crispy buffalo tofu sticks will appease both carnivores and veggies, and the beets topped with whipped goat cheese are tender and pungent, but the meatless kick goes overboard with hippie-friendly brown-rice bowls. And $15 for bread with three spreads? Still, the custardy butterscotch pudding is a sweet finish to any meal.

Hits: You'll find many of the same belly-busting brunch dishes that made Clinton St. Baking Company a morning hit.

Misses: The harried waitstaff doesn't always pace meals well.

01/27/08

Worst French toast I ever had. They served grilled challa. Otherwise...very nice.

by dan109 at Citysearch

Worst French toast I ever had. They served grilled challa. Otherwise...very nice. Wait sataff is very professional.

• Pros: staff
• Cons: french toast

06/02/07

bad service

by halimlee at Citysearch

i ordered take out and they lost our order! when i called an hour later the server didn't even apologize, he matter of factly said they lost the ticket. what kind of service is that? not even a sorry....

i would never recommend this place to anyone!

• Cons: BAD service and attitude