EJ's Luncheonette — Restaurant in New York

Be wary about eating brunch at EJ's Luncheonette. In my short visit, I experienced issues in quality, price, and service.

When I sat down, I noticed that there were more than three different menus. The catalog lists a decent variety of dishes, yet inconsistent prices meant I had to confirm whether the syrup I wanted alongside my french toast was free like every other restaurant or an extra $4.50 as one menu indicated.

A more concerning issue occurred after giving my order. My party was seated close to the cash register, which was being occupied by what appeared to be a manager. Without any regard for the other customers, an argument occurred between him and two employees. One employee was trying to get a rise out of him by complaining of being hungry. The manager sarcastically told them to order from the staff menu like they never do, because he knows they order from the dinner specials. A back and fourth ensued from there.

Then came our food. Four undercooked, doughy, and way too cinnamony breads of french toasts; complete with an extra $4 worth of what appeared to be a sliced banana half and small mound of strawberries.

As warned by another reviewer, the $12 Mac n cheese appetizer was the most insulting. It was pretentiously titled something along the lines of "golden brown Mac n cheese" yet came with no breading at all. Just a small bowl piled with putrid yellow, cold, flavorless, and soggy elbow pasta. Not at all worth the price considering bargain brand Kraft's Mac n' Cheese beats the price threefold, and even beats the flavor.

There were a small amount of highlights in my visit. The side of fries came with a nice portion size fit for two people. They also had a homemade taste; perfectly cooked to a soft texture and no overbearing salt flavor that is typical of poorly made side dishes. Additionally, simple drinks like their Arnold Palmer tasted great, came in a unique jug, and I suspect any alcoholic cocktails would have had similar fine quality.

Yet, no one came up to check on our food or refill our water - just quickly jotting our orders, returning the food, and waiting around 8 minutes for someone to notice we were ready for the check. Additionally, only half of the staff seemed to be wearing masks - a feat surprising for a restaurant in the upper east side.

Overall I would not recommend a location where their menus mean rolling the dice. Furthermore, I cannot recommend a restaurant where a staff outburst in the middle of brunch time was...

I was excited to eat at thus luncheonette. When I first arrived I was met with a typical Sunday line. The hostess took my name, asked my seating preference, and told me that it would be a 30 minute wait. I ended up waiting about 45 minutes and realized that non POC, whites with parties of 4 and 5 that came after my party of 4 were seated first. The hostess affirmed that when she stated that there was a 5 top available and that she was going to sit the other party there. The party that she referred were white and a party of 4 similar to mine. At last a table became available which was outside and placed right by the door. As we sat a table adjacent to ours sat two minutes later and had already received water, utensils, menus, and was greeted by the server. The server took their orders and then came to our table and said that they would be back. The rest of the service was minimal. The food was great but the experience was awkward and very uncomfortable as I had to put on face so that my children did not see my disappointment and the racism that they were receiving. The bill came and the server was surprised to see that I left a 22% tip ($20). The stereotypes still exist that people of color still leave $5 tips. Concluded this review readers may ask themselves why would I stay? Why endure the mistreatment?

It's best to start the wave of showing POC so that place like EJ's and their employees (even their one affirmative action employee that they hired) make it a norm to treat people of color hispanic, black, indigenous, etc with dignity and respect and not assume because a woman walks in with three kids that she is less than or that all stereotypes that pertain to women that look like...

TLDR Staff: 5/5 (friendly AND helpful) Taste: 3.5/5 (see below, important!) Establishment: 5/5 (as expected and clean) Selection: 4/5 (misleading menu!) Value: N/A (not from NYC, so can’t compare)

FULL REVIEW The establishment is clean and is exactly as it’s advertised: a diner. The menu selection is about the same however they advertise breakfast items at all times but I was mislead as a breakfast item I wanted was not available at dinner. I came for biscuits and gravy and didn’t get it, but was offered an alternative.

This goes to the food. I ordered the wings and biscuits and gravy. They had to make the biscuits but they came out burned on the bottom and those halves were inedible for me. They only had brown gravy and B+G just doesn’t work with that. However, a miracle happened. The wings, were the BEST buffalo wings I’ve ever had. Very smooth chicken texture, medium buffalo sauce spicy enough to stimulate the senses but not make me have to pound twenty cups of fluid. The hot chocolate is also good and above average (doesn’t taste like the Swiss Miss in water that most restaurants serve).

The service was great too and always kind. They tried to help me where they could. I initially ordered six wings but later wanted six more after the B+G failure. I asked if it could be counted as one 12 piece order to save me money and they allowed it! If you’re a fan of wings, come here...