19 Cleveland — Restaurant in New York

two words: TREAT YOURSELF!

מקום מדהים. כל הכבוד לבעלים. סוף סוף מקום שאנחנו יכולים לאכול בו ולהרגיש כמו בבית!!!!

I have been trying to come here for months and usually never manage to snag a table. This time I got smart and made a rez (warning- 20$ no show/cancellation fee for rezos). As a prior reviewer said- many MANY places have popped up over the years claiming to be middle eastern/israeli and have shuttered. Why? Because the food, ambiance and service did not live up to the expectations of a truel tel aviv local hang. 19 Cleveland blows all the competition WAY out of the water, by a long shot. The staff- Chelsea and Chris showed us a real warm welcome and were fantastic from start to finish. I wish more places in NY were like this and reminiscent of the NYC i grew up in the 90s where every cafe and bar felt like home. 5 stars... truly.

Food/ambiance:

We dined outside for lunch. Our dishes came out to tempurature and were all perfectly plated and on time. Beet salad on bed of labneh and zataar- unreal. Burratta- perfection. Eggplant- so stunning. Shawarma w/ chicken- epic and tasty. And surprisingly, the papardelle w/ lemon and fried egg was a star. The salads are served with crispy breads and fresh pita in a basket JUST LIKE IN ISRAEL (the way it should be!!!). Take it from a former Tel Aviv chef- and treat yourself to a meal here. You will not regret it. Cannot wait to get back and delight in the dinner menu...

I’m giving this 5 stars with the below review, because I don’t want it to close, I simply would like to provide constructive criticism. Used to be one of my favorite restaurants in NYC. Since inflation and supply chain issues plaguing the world, it’s understandable that restaurants are forced to cut corners and raise prices these days. It really shows here though. So I kept quiet and ate the dishes without complaint despite tiny portions, high prices and low quality. Until one dish (tartar) came out that I couldn’t ignore. So I sent it back and tried to go out of my way to be kind about it and sympathize with the difficulty of the times we live in. The waitress and especially the female GM were dramatically and unnecessarily rude, passive aggressive, major attitude. Their reaction was if I had insulted their own mothers. I tried to hard to be as nice and sensitive as possible about it. I’m sorry and what can I do to make your experience better should have been the only response in my opinion. It was embarrassing. I have no problem with trying to rush the customers out because they need to make as much money as possible these days a night to stay afloat. But for those prices and those portions at that quality along with the terrible staff behavior I experienced…. I was sad that my once favorite establishment left me feeling like I never...

Absolutely horrible experience—even without dining here.

I arrived a bit late, and the host informed me the restaurant was closed. No problem. I acknowledged it and left. But what followed was completely unacceptable.

It was freezing—5°F and insanely windy. My boyfriend and I stood for maybe 30–50 seconds in the covered area just outside the restaurant but inside the main door, simply putting on gloves and checking our map for another spot. Suddenly, the host came out and shoved us out the door that you can’t stand here. Not a polite request. Not an explanation. Just straight-up rudeness.

Let’s be clear: the restaurant was already closed, meaning the kitchen was closed but people were still eating and wrapping up. We weren’t blocking customers, causing a scene, or doing anything remotely disruptive. Yet, this host took it upon himself to treat paying (or in this case, potential) customers like nothing.

After reading countless reviews about their pathetic service, it’s clear this isn’t a one-off. This place can’t survive in NYC’s cutthroat restaurant scene. With competition everywhere, restaurants that treat people this poorly won’t last.

Avoid this place at all costs—I sure will. And I’ll make sure everyone I...