Friedman's — Restaurant in New York

My friends and I went to Friedman's on a Sunday for brunch. We had a great time! We got there around noon. They said it was about a 20-25 minute wait, but it was more like 35-40 minutes. Thankfully, it wasn't freezing, so we didn't mind waiting outside.

Once we sat down, the server quickly came over to bring water and take our drink order. We ordered two coffees and a hot chocolate. The coffee was strong, and hot and came with free refills (always a win)! They also had oat milk as a milk alternative.

FOOD: My one friend ordered the BERRY FRENCH TOAST (gluten-free) with homemade strawberry compote, topped w/ fresh berries, and Vermont maple syrup. She enjoyed it!

My gluten-free friend ordered the GRILLED CHEESE (gluten-free) with aged cheddar, American, and herb fries with a side of TURKEY CHILI. She said everything was good!

As for the vegan (me), I ordered the HOMEMADE FALAFEL with tahini, Israeli salad, hummus, and pita. I substituted the herb fries with a SIDE SALAD. I am not a big salad gal, but the simplicity of this salad with the delicious dressing made this one of the bests I've had in a long time! The salad dressing was light, yet refreshing. You could barely see it, but it had so much flavor! There was a hint of citrus and vinegar. I'm going to try and recreate this at home.

For the Homemade Falafel, it was tasty! The pita was fresh and super fluffy! You can tell that the falafels were fried to order. They had a nice crunch to them. However, they did tend to eat a little salty. The Israeli salad, hummus, and tahini were great additions. Good balances of flavor, and textures. I would definitely order this again.

SERVICE: As good as the food was, the service felt unstructured and frankly all over the place. It also felt a little mechanical and not as friendly as it could be. Maybe because of the handheld devices they used to take orders? Also, they had a glitch with our order. It didn't go through the first time, but we realized it about 10-15 minutes later.

OVERALL: Friedman's is also a little on the pricey side, but with good quality food, I found it worth the price. The space has a modern style with bright features. They played good, upbeat music. It's great for a group that has vegans and people with gluten intolerances.

I would come back to Friedman's! It's also conveniently located down the street from Penn Station, making it a perfect meeting place coming in...

Oh, dear Friedman’s, where shall I begin? I fear I may have already begun upon my first visit to your restaurant of culinary miracles, and a long and fruitful relationship was borne out of that visit.

I will begin with the negatives: it was a bit loud in there.

With that out of the way, I can now begin listing the myriad wonders.

The server was quick, attentive and knowledgeable. And when I say quick- we were barely finished ordering the coffee and Diet Coke when it was arriving at the table, prepared to exactly as ordered.

We had ordered several items as gluten free, and the server had the wherewithal to check the rest of the items, and without prompting from us, let us know that the entirety of the order was indeed gluten free, and she even made a few suggestions when we asked about other dishes.

Ultimately, the food came out quickly as well.

The decor of the place was clean, modern, interesting and aesthetically pleasing.

But the main event: the food.

The Mac and cheese was not “good for gluten free” it was one of the best Mac and Cheese I have ever had in my life. Served in a hot bowl with stringy cheese below a crust of crisped cheese across the top. And the fried chicken was unmistakably incredible. The breading did not fall off. If you have eaten gluten free fried chicken before, you must know this is a foregone conclusion for the breading. Not here. This was among the best I’ve ever had. The meat was juicy and not dried out and the breading was crisped and complete in its consistency and constitution.

There were other items, Brussels sprouts, sweet fries, the Nova Benny. All great. Truly. But good lord the Mac and cheese and fried chicken were absolutely...

This was the first time for both of us dining here, chosen after hearing good reviews from other people. We planned on coming another day for brunch but both of us wanted to catch up and hang out so we decided to do a trial night. The wings were delicious, very flavorful and filling The mac and cheese was good The fries were good The lemonades were delicious

The service was pretty uncomfortable She really took the glass out of my friend’s hand while the straw was right in her mouth Were asked multiple times if we were done with our food.. I feel like most people make eye contact with the waitstaff and let them know we were ready for the check.. they were standing right next to us so we clearly would be capable of informing them we were done. There was no line of people waiting, there were other seats available. Clearly didn’t feel like valued customers There was a charge discrepancy from the menu vs the bill we got ($7 per lemonade instead of $6) It was explained as an error because the prices changed but they didn’t change the Physical menu bc that costs money.. i get that but it’s ridiculous to expect customers to know that whole reasoning bc when u look at a menu, u look at the price and u choose the item. They offered a refill when I was done with my beverage which I agreed to because it was delicious. But refills are not free (totally fine with me but just letting others know). Anyway, I do recommend those wings. but will find another brunch spot for...