GCC Bar & Grill (Garden City Cafe) — Restaurant in Garden City

Had not been to garden city cafe in around 15 years, so I was delighted that when in the neighborhood I saw it was still open. Its became clear quickly that it was under a different ownership. The inside was clean and designed as a sports bar which confused me as they are riding the coat tails of the original garden city cafe name. Bars are not cafes. This new garden city "bar and grill" had a bit of a pricey menu for the area but I was excited to get the new experience. Our waitress was polite and efficient. I ordered the pulled pork mac and cheese, my mother whom was with me ordered the pulled pork nachos. Being one of the only tables seated our food came in a good time frame, I just wish it had been edible. The mac and cheese was a little more than al dente and the cheese was a simple nacho cheese, the same nacho cheese used on the pulled pork nachos. I had mystery hard white bits in the mac part of my dish. And while that was incredibly unappetizing it was really the bbq part of the pulled pork that was the main issue. I'm not sure pure sugar isnt sweeter that the bbq sauce they completely drenched the pork in. It was so sickening sweet it made me wonder if they were trying to hide spoiled meat underneath. Now clearly as my mother ordered the pulled pork nachos we ran into the same issues with her food. I played polite as we all do when the waitress did her initial check on our table, told her we were fine and we continued to just try and make it through the dish to not waste the 30$ we spent for these two plates. I made it almost half was through and my mother made it about half as well and we gave up. It just could not be eaten. This was the one and only time in my life I actually asked for a manager in Hope's of discount off the bill. I explained I was aware we ate almost half and that I wasnt expecting the whole bill to be written off but when you have food that is so inedible, it's clear the chef who made this must have made an error in ingredients. At first the manager seemed that she understood, checked our plate to see if we really hadn't finished the food and walked away only to come back 30 seconds later explaining that the owner wasnt In and so she could not discount the food. I just want to say that if she had said " well I think maybe you guys ate to much already " or " if you had said something the first time the waitress came to the table " I would have understood. I've been a waitress before at a few different restaurants. But it's the lying for me. You cant expect me to believe that a manager has no authority to manage. I find it more likely that for those 30 seconds she walked away, the owner was there and that the owner did not authorize it. Needless to say I walked away with one to go box. A box with 20$ worth of garbage food for my dog and I will never go back. I recommend you never go...

Garden City Cafe? More Like Garden City Pub

I walked into Garden City Café, expecting a cozy little diner experience, maybe some homestyle comfort food, and instead, I was transported into the chaotic, dimly lit core of a local watering hole masquerading as a restaurant.

Yes, I came on a Friday night. Yes, it was 8 p.m. But nothing—nothing—could have prepared me for the wall of noise that hit me upon entry. No music, no ambient charm, just a relentless tidal wave of voices echoing off every hard surface in the room. It’s like they scientifically engineered the acoustics to amplify every single person talking at once. The space? Tight. Every possible inch crammed with tables, ensuring that you and the stranger next to you become best friends against your will.

And let’s talk about the lighting. Or, rather, the lack thereof. The menus were so hard to read between the cave-like ambiance and the thick, glossy plastic covers that reflected what little light was available that I gave up and just pulled it up on my phone. Nothing says “fine dining” like reading the menu off a backlit screen like I'm decoding ancient scrolls.

Now, onto the food. My daughter and I ordered a burger meal and chicken fingers meal—classic, simple, can't-mess-it-up type stuff. And yet…somehow, they made me wait until nearly 9:30 p.m. for what was clearly frozen, out-of-the-bag food. If I’m waiting that long, I expect Gordon Ramsay himself to emerge from the kitchen with a flourish. Instead, I got adequate but forgettable food that took an absurd amount of time to reach my table.

Service? Our waitress greeted us with the enthusiasm of someone serving a life sentence in a customer service prison. Immediate annoyance, minimal interaction, and a general air of "Why are you here?"

Look, maybe breakfast here is great. Maybe it thrives in the morning when the crowd is more “coffee and eggs” and less "everyone in a five-mile radius shouting into the void." But if you’re expecting a classic café or a cozy diner, adjust your expectations immediately. This is a bar that happens to serve food, not the other way around. They should’ve updated the name to reflect the very clear identity shift.

Final thoughts? If you're looking for a pub with loud vibes, a locals-only feel, and you don’t mind slow service, this might be your place. If you're looking for a relaxing meal where you can hear the person across from you, get your food in a reasonable amount of time, and maybe—just maybe—have a waitress who acts like she doesn’t resent your existence?...

So disappointed by our $62 🤑for 3 people Brunch experience!

We had heard for years how beloved this restaurant is and decided to try it today for brunch with some dear friends.

The food was subpar at best (we all requested rye toast that was neither rye, nor toasted), the biscuits were unappetizingly dense, and the omelettes lacked flavor (the only thing saving the corned beef one was the corned beef itself, the California one was bland and flavorless).

Our server was both inattentive and clearly uninterested in providing anything remotely close to friendly service - never offering even the hint of a smile let alone any kind of welcoming or warm words (I was a server for years, so I know how hard the job is and typically tip above and beyond what is standard. Even when it isn't great, I try to give room for it being an off day, but this one was beyond that). Not only were our meals brought out separately many minutes apart and almost 40-mins after ordering, but she clearly did not know who got which omelette between 2 people despite their potato choices being different, and she forgot my husband's potatoes entirely. He was halfway through his omelette before she returned so we could remind her

The restaurant itself is poorly managed. It appears that their sole interest is recouping their remodeling costs, as we learned when our bill arrived. We all discovered an additional $2 charge per egg dish (undisclosed by our server - apparently the small rectangle sign taped to the corner on top of the hostess sign was deemed sufficient notice), but for the first time ever, I was charged for a glass of plain club soda - also undisclosed. Additionally, the restaurant passes their merchant processing fee to customers who do not pay cash - again, undisclosed.

If the food and service had been good, not even great, I might have overlooked the extra charges and not felt inclined to leave such a scathing review.

Needless to say, the first thing I did when I saw some of my other friends later was tell them how awful our experience was.

Perhaps their afternoon/evening cooks and meals are better, perhaps they have better servers - I will never know because me, my family, and the friends with us will never go back to GCC!

If you go, ask about all their hidden fees before you order and hope your server has more pride in themselves and their job...