Claire's Kitchen Cafe — Restaurant in New York

I just waited over 35 minutes for an order of blueberry pancakes and coffee (for me) and a quinoa bowl (for my mother) despite the fact that there were NO people in line before US AND no one came IN throughout THE WHOLE TIME that we waited. After about 25 minutes, I asked the three employees (who were Hispanic like me, we spoke in Spanish the whole time) what was taking so long. The male employee said "Pancakes and quinoa bowl right? Three more minutes." Pancakes do not take very long to make and a quinoa bowl REALLY does not take long to make, so this was shocking. The three of them were just standing behind the counter, talking amongst themselves without a care in the world. When they finally gave me my food about 10 minutes later, I asked what happened and the older female employee told us that they were doing delivery orders first. This doesn't make sense because like I said, NO people came in while we were waiting - not a customer, not a driver to pick up an order; nothing. The white bag you see in the picture by the younger female employee was an egg sandwich that the 3 employees thought belonged to one of the three patrons, but no one claimed it.

I also want to point out numerous other flaws with service: I got my pancakes first, with no silver wear or napkins. I got up to ask for them, noticed that they were on a corner and as I went to grab them, the older female employee told me not to worry, that she had them. So I went back and sat down. And waited. And waited. Then I got up again and she was behind the counter, taking to the cook. So I got the napkins and silver wear myself. Mind you, my mom still hadn't received her quinoa bowl, something that takes 2 minutes to make. When she finally got it and we started eating, I noticed that only 2 of the 3 pancakes had blueberries. And I asked for a side of bacon and only got two skinny, burnt, tasteless bacon strips. And my mom's quinoa bowl was extremely small. And there were three flies roaming around the whole time. Just an overall terrible experience...

I have to admit, Claire's Kitchen Cafe is certainly rather darn cool. I have to admit, Claire's Kitchen Cafe was truly brilliant. I can see the appeal and why so many love Claire's Kitchen Cafe. Menu items are great and the crew is very courteous. Outstanding menu items, pleasant staff, charming ambience - what more could you ask for? Menu items are really good and the staff is really pleasant. Pretty much every item that we purchased was incredibly fresh and tasty. Pretty much every thing that we ordered was very fresh and tasty. Every single thing was fresh and tasted amazing. Staff are extremely welcoming. They're attentive, polite and always on their game. The staff was fabulous and extremely accommodating. The crew is always friendly; willing to go above and beyond for you. So just try Claire's Kitchen Cafe yourself. Overall outstanding experience at Claire's Kitchen Cafe with pleasant and accommodating service, will definitely return. Would absolutely come back again to Claire's...

What a total letdown! I stopped by this cafe expecting a relaxing experience, but boy was I wrong. First off, they had no table service whatsoever. I had to get up and order at the counter like I was at a fast food joint. Not exactly what I had in mind when I thought "cafe". And don't even get me started on the coffee. It was like they just phoned it in. Weak, bland, and completely lacking in flavor. Added way to much vanilla to my drink which made it unpleasant to drink. But the real kicker was the pancakes. They were dense, dry, and tasted like cardboard. I couldn't even finish mine. Overall, I'd say avoid this place at all costs. There are way better cafes out there that actually care about their customers and serve decent food and drinks. Unless they seriously step up their game, I'd never recommend this...