12 Chairs Cafe — Restaurant in New York

I used to love 12 Chairs—great food, fun atmosphere, and excellent service when I visited a couple years ago. So when my sister’s wedding weekend came around, I thought it would be the perfect place to bring our family for a celebratory breakfast. Sadly, the experience was a total disaster.

We needed a reservation for 11 people. Resy only allows up to 8, so I called the restaurant multiple times over a full month—left at least six voicemails explaining our situation, asking if they could help us coordinate. No one ever called back. Not once. For a NYC restaurant that considers itself “popular,” that’s unacceptable.

Out of caution, I booked a table for 8 under my name so we’d at least have something. My husband and others also made reservations for 2 and 3, hoping we could at least be seated next to each other. When we arrived, I explained everything to the hostess—brown hair, denim dress, smug and dismissive attitude—and she immediately said, “We’re not our answering service.” No apology, no empathy, just a rude and condescending tone.

Then she refused to let any of us sit near each other. I’m not exaggerating—there was a large open row of tables that could have easily seated our group or at least allowed us to be side-by-side. She said another “large party” was being seated next to us—but instead, a group of THREE sat there. Exactly what we were trying to do. We weren’t asking for favors—we were asking to sit next to the people we already had confirmed reservations with.

She refused. Flat out. Even though the space was available and our entire party had booked valid reservations. Her only solution? We could pay $85 per person for a prix fixe breakfast to be seated together. Ridiculous.

We were instead scattered around the restaurant—some of us squeezed into uncomfortable tables meant for one person. The whole thing was unnecessarily stressful and set a horrible tone for what was supposed to be a joyful morning.

And the food? Sadly, that’s gone downhill too. What was once flavorful and fresh was now basic and bland. Definitely not worth the price—and definitely not worth the hassle.

Restaurants that don’t care about customers eventually fade—and 12 Chairs seems well on its way there. Rude, unaccommodating staff, no follow-up or customer support, and food that no longer lives up to the hype.

Do yourself a favor and go anywhere else. SoHo has plenty of great brunch options—this isn’t one of...

I truly wanted to love 12 Chairs, the menu looked great, the atmosphere seemed promising — but unfortunately, the experience was deeply disappointing from the start.

We arrived at 9:12 PM for a 9:00 PM reservation, well within the stated 15-minute grace period. The hostess acknowledged that we were fine, and we expected a short wait since the restaurant looked busy. What we didn’t expect was to wait until 10 PM to be seated, nearly an hour of standing around, starving, with zero communication.

Even more frustrating was that we couldn’t locate the hostess for about 25 minutes. We asked the bar staff, busboys, and even the manager where she was. Everyone just told us to wait at the front, but no one was helpful. Eventually, my sister spotted the hostess (in a white cardigan) lingering near the bar and finally got us checked in. Still, no urgency or apology — just more vague promises that we’d be seated “soon.”

During our wait, multiple large parties were seated ahead of us — even ones who arrived after we did. Most notably, they were all white, while we are a Hispanic group. I don’t want to assume the worst, but the pattern was impossible to ignore. It felt racially motivated, or at the very least, incredibly biased and unprofessional.

Once seated, we were too hungry to leave, but the damage had been done. The energy was off. We tried to salvage the night, but it was hard to enjoy anything after being treated so dismissively. One kind waitress admitted that the restaurant had overbooked — but based on other reviews I’ve now read, this isn’t an isolated incident. Overbooking and disregarding reservation times seems to be a regular issue here.

The food wasn’t terrible — and that’s the only reason this isn’t a one-star review. But let me be clear: honoring reservations is a basic standard. If you’re looking for a place that respects your time and your dignity, this is not it. If you don’t mind wasting an hour standing around hungry and ignored, be my guest. Otherwise, go somewhere that values your presence — and doesn’t make you feel invisible. I will never...

MacDougal is my favorite street in NYC to take a stroll down as it has such a rich history in just a 0.38 mile stretch. At the end of my 0.38 mile excursion, I always find myself running into a sidewalk FULL of people. So full to the point where I have to walk to the other side of the street or move like a prime Barry Sanders in traffic to get passed.

This Coachella-like gathering of human beings is waiting to get into 12 Chairs. I whipped out my cracked Iphone 13 Pro Max and did a quick google search and realized it was an Israeli spot. After being to Israel a few times, I developed an arguably unhealthy love affair with the cuisine. Israeli couscous is literally CRACK. Anyways, all this to say I knew I had to get to 12 Chairs.

3 of us came late on a Friday evening, praying to Cthulhu that we would get a seat. Much to my surprise, we were seated almost immediately. Thank you Cthulhu.

We sat on the heated outdoor patio and started with 4 small plates: Babaganoush, Falafel & Tahini, Matbucha, and the Beets Salad. All was served with warm pita bread that was to die for.

The Babaganoush ended up being a bit of a let down, but that Beets Salad came out of NOWHERE to save the day. It was oddly reminiscent of when Carmelo Anthony went down in 2012 and Jeremy Lin came out of the shadows and put the Knicks on his back for 2 straight months. "BeetsSaladSanity." Easily the best Beets Salad I've ever had.

I went with the Areyas for my main, which is pita filled with minced lamb. It was sensational, but was a little light on the portion size. The lamb is so juicy it kinda like squirts in your mouth on every bite. ahahahaha damn that was crazy phrasing but I really aint lyin.

Overall the quality of food here is to die for, but I find the portion sizes to be a little light for the price point. I wish I could give 4.5 stars, but will give 5 here and 4 on Yelp.

THANK YOU CTHULHU!

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