Fanelli Café — Restaurant in New York

报吃，没味，还歧视

Walked in randomly just to get something to eat & sit down to chat. Starting with the host, he already sounded like he doesn’t like his job. Like you don’t have to be super enthusiastic, but at least you don’t need to sound so drained.

The waitress with curly hair came to ask us to order like 5min after sitting down, but we weren’t ready so we asked for water first. She came back after another 5min and we were still trying to find out what to get from the very limited menu they have. I was confirming with my friend which drink she wanted in a language the waitress didn’t understand, and she got annoyed and said “you’re still not ready yet??” and rolled her eyes. I was taken aback by it and said “no sorry give us another minute” and she never came back since. No actually she did come back to our area, just never cared to check our direction.

15min have passed and NO ONE came to get our orders, I had to go up to the front to get someone else to take our order. Their menu wasn’t specified so I asked the other waitress to repeat what my options were for a certain dish I was getting, she got annoyed also as if I didn’t understand her, I just have a very short term memory that I forgot what my first few options were. They ended up giving my friend’s drink to the couple next to us. The waitress came with the ticket thinking something was wrong, but she didn’t care to actually come check, just glanced at the couples table and left with the drink still on their table. I had to ask for our drink to be sent to us. Btw it was so hard to get their attention because they don’t look around to see if anyone needs them. Being a waitress myself that just didn’t make any sense to me.

The food was so bland, my friend’s steak was absolutely flavorless. And the steak itself was falling apart as soon as the knife touches it, before even cutting it. Bland steak for $46 was just not it. It was the same as the $3 piece steak I saw at local supermarket. I knew something wasn’t right when they brought A1 sauce out. No steak at $46 should come with A1 sauce.

We still tipped 20% even though we had a bad experience and feeling discriminated against, because the waitress was staring at me when I got to the tipping part of paying (you NEVER stare when a customer is tipping you) and I didn’t want to leave another reason for them to discriminate people of my kind (as I already see someone else of the same race as me saying they were treated in the same way, I should’ve just left but I decided to give them a chance anyways which I now regret)

Also the size of the restroom was like the ones on an airplane, with flies flying around (and throughout the restaurant while you eat)

I really didn’t expect any restaurant in soho to be bad, because it’s Soho. But, I guess they have enough customers and tourists to not worry about quality/ having...

My Friends and I just finished lunch 30 minutes ago and it has got to be the most shocking experience, I’m not sure we will ever return.

I’ve been coming to Fanelli Cafe in Soho for years with my family and friends, and it’s always been one of my favourite spots. The food is incredible, the atmosphere is unmatched, and the gentleman at the front is consistently lovely and accommodating.

We were a group of three young girls stopping by for a light lunch. At first, we were helped by a woman who wasn’t very welcoming but still polite. Later, another waitress served our food and put the plates onto the table without a word and walked away. We tried to get her attention to order more food and drinks, but she completely ignored us. We waited for nearly an hour, hoping someone would come by, but no one did. We didn’t mind too much because we love the place and atmosphere, but the lack of service was shocking.

When it came time to pay, we still couldn’t get her attention. Eventually, we managed to settle the bill and left a 20% tip, even though the service was the worst I’ve ever experienced. What happened next was unbelievable. The waitress came over and told us the service fee wasn’t included, which confused me because I’d already tipped generously. Despite being close to not tipping at all, I stayed polite.

As we got up to leave, she followed us with the card machine, demanding to know what was wrong with her service. I told her the truth—that there wasn’t much service at all. Instead of resolving things, she escalated the situation, accusing us of being rude for not paying a service fee. We even offered to pay whatever fee she was referring to, but she refused and continued to berate us in front of the other customers. She stood close us, and several diners around us commented on how rude and inappropriate she was being.

What’s most disappointing is that I’ve since heard we’re not the first to have this experience with this particular waitress. It’s deeply upsetting that such behavior is tolerated in a place that otherwise has so much going for it. I truly hope management addresses this issue because I can’t imagine returning while this kind of service is allowed...

In all my years of dining out, this was by far the worst experience. Mostly because of the service.

We were seated outside and when the waitress girl with longer brown wavy hair pulled into a braid in back, came to take our order, she didn’t write anything down. She just walked up to the table and stared at us with an irritated look. Then she said, “what do you guys want?” She didn’t ask if we wanted a salad or fries with our order (I realized later that we had a choice) and she got one of the orders wrong.

One of our party had to get up and go ask at the front for some ketchup (because the bottle we were given had very little ketchup) and more water. The water glasses were tiny. She didn’t check on us to see if we needed anything.

The BLT was okay but the steak sandwiches and cheeseburger, which was supposed to be only a burger were mediocre, according to the rest of our party.

The waitress was cold and inattentive and acted as if we were putting her out.

While we were still eating after we got our food (which was about 20 minutes) the cold waitress came up and started taking our plates. I wasn’t finished with my food and she started taking my plate and I had to grab my sandwich off the plate. She didn’t offer any take out bags/boxes and just walked away.

Then she brought the card machine for payment and stood there looking at me and was watching what I was putting in for a tip. It was very intimidating and her service did not warrant a tip. We did not leave a tip and she went over and started talking to the owner and was pointing at us.

We left and I would not return to this place. It really surprises me that based on others reviews of what sounds like the same waitress, that she is still there and her behavior condoned by management. I hope that some day she will find the right job for her...