City Island Diner — Restaurant in New York

TLDR in terms of Covid-19 safety and general dining experience this was about as bad as it gets. I'll break it down piece by piece trying to be accurate.

Food- My girlfriend ordered two eggs with potatoes and whole wheat toast. It took about an hour from order to delivery which was harder to be O.K with as a group ordered after us ate and then left. The eggs and potatoes were brought alone and without the toast. I was going to speak up but my girlfriend said they will remember. After 5 minutes I asked and the waitress came by, she seemed overwhelmed because she was always focused on something else and never made eye contact. It made her hard to hear and meant she often misheard us. It took 4 tries for her to hear my girlfriend say whole wheat. My girlfriend always finishes her food and did not finish this which was partly due to the fact we ended up leaving but also she said the food was pretty average and the eggs were cooling off by the time the toast came.

I ordered a BLT with a side of fries and a coffee. The coffee was quick and good. I had to turn down about 5 offers for a refill which was very well done and a high point. My food took over 75 minutes. The man at the front repeatedly asked around for my food. (I heard because we were seated next to the kitchen) about 15 minutes after my girlfriend got her toast my food came out of the kitchen and was brought outside. She came back in and was redirected to me and I immediately noticed it had mayo on it. I do not eat egg yolk or vinegar so I alerted the waitress. Her response was to tell me to let her know next time because they would never leave it on had I let them know. This is not a very good response in terms of hospitality and is only made worse by the fact they don't list it on their menu. When I told her that she said I'll let ownership know as that's on them, once again a reasonable response but not delivered with any hospitality or more importantly acknowledgement of the fact I was just accused of mis-ordering. That for me was the final straw and I declined the offer to have it re-done. I went to pay immediately so I could leave and the man at the front decided to comp us for the wait, delays, and mix ups which felt fair and right.

Waitress- Didn't make eye contact when talking to us or handing me the menus or food. It's small but it would have prevented us from having to repeat as many things or feel like we are "catching" things instead of being handed them.

Covid Safety- The outdoor dining was full so they said we could eat indoors but we would have to have our temps taken and give a phone number, for contact tracing I assume. It was empty, the extra precaution at the door felt comforting, and we we very hungry so we went in. Immediately my girlfriend looked uncomfortable and when I remarked that half the staff seemed to have their masks hanging below the nose, (Which is the ok in some areas I think? Who know with all the levels of contradicting ordinances) she said look at the chef. One of the two chefs we could see had his mask under his chin the whole hour and a half we were in there. All staff, but ESPECIALLY the chef, should wear masks correctly if not for health at least for optics seeing as the kitchen is visible from the dining area.

It was overall just sad to bring my girlfriend to a diner me and my family have loved for years operating in this state. To sit for an hour for food that didn't come out right as we could see staff maskless and...

It's like walking into a time capsule. Not much has changed here and that's the beauty of it. City Island Diner has a long and narrow dining area, with the classic diner counter dominating a good part of the space. While the surroundings are clean, it's plain and unpretentious. That's not to suggest it's drab; more like it's so outdated that's it back in style again. The place has character and it's got a homey feel with really nice, friendly staff.

There's a ton of expensive restaurants in City Island, so it's nice to know that when you're in the mood for no frills and cheap, you can come here for a solid cup of coffee and usual diner grub. Meeting a friend for lunch, I ordered the Mayflower, a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce and stuffing on rye bread. Although a bit dry, it hit the spot.

A great go-to when you want cheap, quick and adequate. And true to its time capsule feel, they still don't take...

This diner needs to keep longer hours. Closing at 3PM for a diner is a joke and bad for business. Diners want a place they can go to that fits their needs, circumstances and schedules. The drink prices are absurdly high here. Two decaf cappuccinos should not cost $16! Worst yet, they weren't that large and tasted terribly flat. They were also out of caffeinated cappuccinos which I wanted! The brownie my friend ordered was hard, old and dry tasting. When I wanted a regular caffeinated coffee after drinking the lousy decaf cappuccino I was refused service because they told me the restaurant was closing. How to ruin my afternoon out with my partner! After all this I then asked for the bill and then needed to contest the outrageous prices of the decaf cappuccinos. The waitress was not willing to compromise on the price at all. We will never be returning. This is no way to treat the public or...