Pinky's — Restaurant in Livingston

mediocre experience, but a lot of which is my fault.

we went there after, ironically, seeing the No Reservations episode the day before while we happened to be in town. Anthony Bourdain raved about their patsy's, and even implied that you could get shots of whiskey at the bar in the A.M. wasn't expecting wonders (stewed beef in a pastry crust? cool! but not exactly haute cuisine.) just looking forward to a great greasy spoon.

after a few confusing moments looking over the menu we asked the waitress if pasty's were still being served. she responded "Bourdain's been dead for 14 years, and so has the pasty." which, fine. technically true. but that seems like a pretty callous way to refer to someone who suffered from unbelievable depression and ended up hanging himself. I'm sorry if the question is annoying, but maybe a slight more tact, ya know? in their defense, if I had googled the menu beforehand I would've known better. my bad.

anyway, I ordered the eggs benedict. while I was waiting a waiter offered to refill my (rather bitter) coffee. I also asked for a glass of orange juice, as it was breakfast and that's kind of a thing. what I didn't realize was that a single, small glass was EIGHT DOLLARS. this wasn't off-season. it was the middle of summer, when you can buy a whole bag of oranges for like $2, not even wholesale. when I looked at the menu to verify what I was hoping was a mistake it emphasized that it was "fresh squeezed," which is literally just a single crank on a juicer. I'd rather spend that money buying two dozen fresh oranges. although it was, it must be said, quite good. I just wish I hadn't shared it.

the eggs benedict were... fine. the eggs were actually poached, which I respect. although there was a fair amount of clear, runny whites, I can live with that. the hollandaise sauce tasted like basically nothing, so I ended up adding a fair amount of salt. not terrible, but I've made better at home using packets. some of the plates next to us, however, looked great. maybe I just ordered the wrong thing. the potato side was quite nice.

outside of the aforementioned comment, the service was good. they were all attentive and very friendly, like only old pro's can do. the atmosphere was also good - we were sat outside, but it was well shaded and with plenty of room.

I don't know if I can recommend this place or not. if you're just popping through town and need a place to grab a quick brunch next to your AirB&B, it's a great option. it's easier to get into than other cafes in town who have far more limited seating, and the food is unoffensive. service is fast, friendly, and effective. great location, especially if you sit outside during the right season. really feels like the heart of Livingston. it's a vibrant, fun establishment, and a great piece of local history. if that's worth $20/plate (note I tip 20-25%) is up to you. and considering the sheer low capacity of the other places in town, there are worse places to fall back to.

their coffee could seriously use some work,...

I’ve been coming to Pinky’s for 15 years, but haven’t been for a couple of months and will likely not return for some time. My friend and I made special breakfast plans this morning (just us, without our kiddos which felt like a major victory). We arrived at 8:30am and were directed to one of the tables close(ish) to the door…with an elderly gentleman sitting down afterwards beside us. One of the waitresses opened the door for some reason- it was 40 degrees or less this morning. We tried to catch one of the servers to ask if we could close the door, but of course they’re busy..so my friend hopped up and closed it. The man sitting next to us also said he was cold, so it felt like the right choice. One of the servers proceeded to come back to the door to open it again and we informed her politely that we had actually just closed it because it was quite cold and blowing the cold air in the restaurant..right in our direction. She told us, that the door would remain open because someone had on strong perfume, which was causing her to have a migraine. She was unapologetic and rude as I explained that we were actually all cold. But, she proceeded to prop the door open all the way and said that basically the door was going to stay open. We had just received our coffee, we hadn’t ordered yet and decided we were not going to sit shivering while trying to enjoy our breakfast so we got up and left…super disappointed with how we were treated. I have worked in the service industry and this attitude completely baffled me. I cannot imagine treating and speaking to anyone that way, let alone customers. I can sympathize with having a migraine, or a hard morning but the way this employee handled the situation was uncalled for and I hope that this staff member is made to understand this. My friend and I walked down to Tru North, where we were met with kindness and respect, good food and...

Extremely disappointing. Got seated at the counter and was quickly served coffee. It was warm but not hot, and weak enough to see the inside of the cup. The two people next to me ordered their breakfasts and fresh squeezed OJ. The server took my order (eggs Benedict and a large OJ) right after making and serving their OJ. I finished my coffee and had to ask for a refill. Twice. (I'm sitting AT THE COUNTER.) My OJ was never made. The folks next to me got their food. I again finished my coffee and again had to ask for a refill. (Did I mention I was sitting at the counter?) A different server brought the checks to the other people at the counter. I again finished my coffee and AGAIN had to ask for a refill. The folks next to me finished their meals and I heard a voice from the kitchen ask a 3rd server to take out an order. It was for a table that was seated about 20 minutes after I took my seat at the counter. I've now been here more than half an hour. I left a few bucks on the counter for the weak, not-hot-enough coffee and told the guy who took my order to cancel my breakfast. If I could give less than 1...