Reviews & Ratings for Sylvia's Restaurant

09/15/11

GREAT FOOD, OUTDOOR SEATING :)

by skruppa1

We were going to Red Rooster but when we got to the place they said they had a leak in the basement and were shut down for the day.. wondering why it was so empty when we heard all the hype!

We saw Sylvia's down the block and decided to try it out. I got Chicken Waffles and they were delicious.. This seems to be the less-commercialized and more historical soul food spot in the area.. food was great and we sat outside :)

03/08/10

Not good but GREAT!

by DavidLucil

I took my wife and kids here and thought it was absolutely delightful! I got to meet Sylvia Woods and even members of the family. This is a family owned establishment which made it an even better experience. Somebody told me to go to Mannas..and that is owned by a Korean women ? Why wouldn't I go to a southern style restaurant owned and operated by people from the South instead. I LOVED IT!! Kids LOVED IT As Well. And Sylvia Woods was a sweetheart. Food was delectable!!

• Pros: Best Soul Food and Environment in Town
• Cons: Slow Service on Occasion

08/08/09

Good food, bad service

by mishoopo

The hostess will tell you the wait is just 10 minutes but if the waiting area is mildly crowded you'll be waiting for an hour. Don't agree for being seated close to the entrance. It is like a train stop. It is too tight and too much back and forth. Remember to ask for everything at once because your waitress, although nice and friendly, might disappear for 20 minutes during your meal. The food is delicious and nutritious and the prices are reasonable but the overall dining experience is sub-par. I wish they will get it together and get more organized. I guess this will not happen soon since they don’t have to do that… customer will be still come there anyway.

• Pros: Big portions, good prices
• Cons: Uncomfortable, long wait, bad service

07/28/09

Best Soul Food in NYC BY FAR

by lizzyred

Visited Sylvia's this past Sunday for their soul food bruch - unreal! Our waitress (Lee?) was so sweet, chatting with us and just being extremely friendly. The fried chicken and waffles were to die for - the waffles were so delicious, no syrup necessary. The fresh fruitpunch went perfectly with the meal. For dessert we ordered sweet potato pie, pineapple coconut cake and banana pudding - the banana pudding should be illegal. Everything was wonderful, and so was the live music. Can't wait to go back!

• Pros: chicken & waffles, desserts
• Cons: none!

05/10/09

Poor customer service, decent soul food

by rabbi2000

Cons: We (my wife and I) when to Sylvia's for Mother's day. The first thing we noticed was that the staff seemed like they were mad at the world. Our waiter focused on one table (anglo) and ignored ours (african american (AA)) totally. At the end of dinning he even told me to get my own toothpick instead of him providing the correct level of customer service. As far as the food, the banana pudding contained hard banana chunks and seemed thrown together. The mac & cheese was very dry and lacked cheese.

Pros: The braised rib was off the chain, as well as the candy yams and green beans.

Overall: I support purchasing and dining in AA establishments to help the AA communities prosper, but not at the sake of good customer service. Sylvia needs to really evaluate her staff. Its time for a upgrade!!

• Pros: Good candy yams, string beans, braised rib
• Cons: Poor service, i.e. bad attitude, dry banana pudding, mac

04/26/09

Great food, some faults

by MissD

The meal I had was very good, smothered pork chops, garlic mashed potatoes & collard greens. However, the wait time was a little long and I was by myself. But when I was finally seated, Sylvia did apologize for the wait, she was very pleasant. They need a bigger waiting area and it was extremely hot in there. The bus boy was more attentive than my waiter. My waiter never asked if I wanted desert, although I was full from my meal, I wanted to take a piece of cake home with me, I got distracted while waiting for the bill so I never asked, but he should have asked me. Also, I was given a container by the busboy to put my own leftovers in. The products they sell were enclosed in a glass case, but most of the items they had listed weren't available, and when I asked about availability of an item, the person was abrupt like I was bothering him. Also, they were setting up for a big party and the busboy was sweeping the floor close to where I was eating, I did notice that the carpet could have been cleaner, it didn't look as though it had been recently vacumned or swept. It could be quieter, and probably would be if they piped in some soft jazz loud enough to sooth the patrons, thus a lot quieter. Overall, I would return again and plan to ask my sisters if they would like to attend the Sunday brunch that I hear is very good. If not, I plan to return again by myself since I love breakfast food!

• Pros: The food was great
• Cons: Too hot, very noisy, wait time too long, floor not vacumned

04/22/09

I'd go again

by JJ010182

It was a good experience! for a first timer i ate mac and cheese, fried chicken, and yams! It was really good!

we went on a saturday night and there was no wait!

the wait staff moved people in and out quickly.

only gripe is it was hot as hell in there!

• Pros: great food
• Cons: hot!!!

03/29/09

Rip-off tourist trap

by coreyguia

RIP off!, Tourist trap

We were a small group of people, had everything prepaid by our agency - gave the waitress the voucher and thought we were trouble free.

The spare ribs tasted fetid, the fried fish soggy in oil, the rice and cornbread decent, the best was the collar greens - the experience far from the promoted "OH SO UNIQUE". The music was jazz from the loudspeaker, one singer came around for 10 Minutes - this was the total experience - no not entirely - we were about to be ripped off .

Our NYC tour guide was not sitting at our table, therefore we where probably eyed as a good "rip off" group. The Manager of the restaurant came around and presented us with a $60.00 bill, saying that there was some "open difference" to be paid. We were about to pay it, when one of the group informed our tour guide who was waiting for us at the bar. The tour guide confronted the "surprised" Manager, (who had not expected us to be with a local representative) gave him some well deserved "no way Jose", called immediately the local agency (on a Sunday!!) - who reconfirmed, that we - the guest - were not to pay anything. After leaving the restaurant we left for the airport to fly back home to Amsterdam, with a bitter taste in our mouth after an otherwise wonderful 3 days in ol' NYC

Thanks to our tough NYC tour guide we were saved from a perfect rip off.

Our suggestion: There are 14'000 wonderful restaurants in NYC, any Deli or Diner in the city serves better food then this tourist trap called Sylvia's!"

03/09/09

Great Experience

by eugenek

Fried chicken and garlic mashed potatoes were to die for. Mac&cheese and banana bread pudding were a little too dry but enjoyable nevertheless. House special cocktails were superb. Highly recommended.

• Pros: great food
• Cons: long wait

03/05/09

Awesome.....

Contributor

Yes if your ready for some home cookn this is the spot. The mac n cheese n fried chicken off da chain....!