87 Sussex — Restaurant in Jersey City

Came here for a birthday dinner, Christmas Eve. Overall, food was great (better than good but not excellent).

Decor and ambiance excellent.

Having said that, the night was ruined by poor service.

Ordered Duvel, after 37 mins, server came and told me that Satis has it, they are just getting it from their basement. 25 minutes pass, bartender comes with a sample beer and offers a sub. No one came for another 12 minutes to take the substitute drink order, I would imagine if I waited an hour for a drink, you would wait for me to make a decision, but no. Waiter no where… wait no, I know where he is, at the table right next to me, but doesn’t bother to ask if we need anything (this would repeat throughout the night).

At this point, apps are done. Sitting at the table, thumbs twiddling, no one has any water, no drinks, no food and no waiter for about 30 mins. Wondering if we are at a restaurant or at a park at a table?

Meanwhile, empty water glass sat on the table while the server is chatting up a storm at the next table for 15 minutes, while I have my hands up like a kid in an Asian classroom. Maybe he wants to check on me for my beer? Nope, not even on the radar. At this point, better to sing Mr. cellophane from the musical Chicago.

Manager comes by and offers an apology and promises more attentive service because she agreed that this was not acceptable (that a drink should not take more than an hour). Ok, good, mistakes can happen. Willing to let it go. But boy, was I wrong.

Another 40 minutes pass and we ask our waiter if he can check on the entree, he responded, “we have the state of the art POS system to get you the freshest and hottest entry, we got you”. Another 20 minutes passes, we track someone else down, will check on it.

The rest of the restaurant has been served at this point. Takes another 10 minutes to get our entrees and my salmon was lukewarm (as if it’s been sitting in the window for a while), at this point no longer in the mood to eat. Night ruined purely because I am now disturbed by how bad the service is.

Manager came by after and offered a gift card and an apology but at this point, can’t make up for the ruined night. Everyone at the table now just looking at me (yes it was my birthday) and can’t say anything because they see that I’m visibly upset, all because of the bad service.

Clueless waiter asks if we want dessert, and of course, immediately after saying that, he goes missing. We ask another waiter to explain the desserts, he says, “cookie is a cookie, cake is a cake” and leaves annoyed.

Oh ok… I’m sorry for bothering you and ruining your night?!?! Capping probably one of the worst service experience in my life, definitely hit the worst customer service trifecta. I wasn’t expecting it from a reputable establishment.

Again, to be fair, food was great and excellent ambiance. But service, definitely needs a complete overhaul if what I experienced is the norm and I am hoping it isn’t, contemplated for a long time on whether to leave a tip or not, but left 18% since it was the holiday.

Am I willing to give it another try? Not sure. This really was an epitome of service ruining what would have been otherwise an excellent dining experience.

Ps. The staff that came to us with a beanie that was left, thank you, that was the lone positive from service...

Brunched in my old neighborhood with friends… 27 year old memories of Paulus Hook in the 1980s flooded back, so I have a rooting interest in the success of new restaurant, 87 Sussex in Jersey City.

It was cool that they featured a homemade pop tart appetizer. Pop tarts have a pie crust/almost shortbread consistency. Unfortunately, 87 Sussex’s “pop tarts” had a flaky turnover-like consistency. It’s like going to a Bob Dylan concert expecting the radio songs, but getting a different and less appealing arrangement… and while I’m being the old man shouting on the lawn, message to 87 Sussex and other upscale restaurants, “don’t offer cinnamon buns if they’re not as good as the ones at Cinnabon at the mall.”

Conversely, the cornflake encrusted french toast was terrific! With fresh fruit and whipped cream on top, they were better than the French toast at Raymond‘s IMO (although Raymond‘s original recipe might be just as good).

Our friends liked their lobster eggs Benedict with its presentation on a biscuit, though it was hard crusted and on the verge of being stale. 

The corned beef hash and hen egg casserole was ok, but as opposed to the cubed Hormel meat you remember from childhood, this version used shredded corn beef that was drier and slightly chewier…and although I typically prefer quality over quantity, 1 egg on top is not enough, especially if you’re sharing with your spouse.

87 Sussex features a beautiful interior and a nicely attentive waiter. If they make a few tweaks to the menu, I can then recommend putting up with the lack of parking to get a great...

Disappointing experience at 87 Sussex for our anniversary. While things started off strong with a customized anniversary greeting on the menu (so nice!!), they started to go downhill fairly quickly.

My husband has celiac's disease, and I called in advance to check if the restaurant would have options for him. I was assured by the staff that both the kitchen and waitstaff were very familiar with gluten allergies and that they'd be able to modify any number of dishes easily. Our server wound up not really knowing anything about celiac's and kept recommending things that contained gluten components, were prepared in a shared fryer, etc. Not a huge deal - it happens - and she was kind enough to bring out the chef to speak to us directly. Unfortunately, the chef also repeatedly suggested dishes that contained gluten or were made in shared fryers. Super nice guy, though.

We finally got to a place with the chef where we all agreed that we ordered safely, and our server assured us that the chef knew to look out for our table's order in the kitchen and to prepare everything carefully and in line with our needs. Cut to - my husband got violently ill the next day and we had to cancel our weekend plans.

On my end, the food was alright, but definitely fell well below expectations for the price point, and the service was quite spotty as well. I would not go back anytime soon and would not recommend to anyone with food allergies. But I did like the bada...