gertrude’s — Restaurant in New York

What a waste of an evening. Had a reservation for 7:45, showed up in their cramped heated patio (where our table was open when we arrived) at 7:42. Several wait staff walked past the unmanned maitre d' station empty-handed and stared through us while we awkwardly shuffled here and there to avoid people entering and leaving the place. We were finally told the hostess would be with us shortly, (which was a relief, because we'd assumed she had died) and she was, several minutes later, and in a further 5 or 6 minutes after that we were seated at the empty table we had been looking at since we arrived. (Apparently getting to sit down and take off our coats in this tiny space before silverware was placed would have ended the world.) Which all would have been fine if anyone had acknowledged that we'd been there awhile and there was nowhere to stand.

They sat us at a table next to the patio's saran wrap wall, which leaked cold air on us through the meal. The table was slanted so the water glasses would have slid right off had they not been stopped by the saran wrap. We were wedged uncomfortably between a table of too-close fellow diners and a large fake plant that I couldn't get outta my hair. It was extremely dark and the candles on the table had scalloped containers that made their light useless for reading. I briefly considered using one to set fire to the drinks menu, so I could use its burning brilliance to read the unimaginative dinner menu. Finally my girlfriend turned on her iphone flashlight so we could look like proper middle-aged idiots.

Our waitress was nice and should not be lumped in with this. May she get a job somewhere cooler.

The drinks took their time and were fine. The pickle plate was nothing special for what it cost. The latkes were nice. The salad was bitter as hell, not surprising given its ingredients, and I enjoyed it fine, but my girlfriend couldn't handle it and would have appreciated a 'bitter as hell' disclaimer on the menu. The burger we split contained un-advertised horseradish in its special sauce that also bothered her. Fries were good, but did not come out super-hot, and were mostly eaten by the time someone went back to the kitchen and (I assume) squeezed the tomatoes and farmed the CLOVE to make the ketchup they brought us for them.

Overall the food was just ok and felt overpriced. This whole Jewish deli food but in a dark sit-down Brooklyn restaurant with bad too-loud Spotify playlist disco music that no one is dancing to going the whole time is a shaky concept at best, and I didn't taste anything that felt original or challenging or remarkable, except maybe the gold-medal bitter salad. Maybe I could have enjoyed it anyway if the wait staff (our actual server aside!) and the crappy table in a crappy patio hadn't been telling us to go to hell from the moment we arrived. I mean I know we read reviews mainly for the food, but good service and atmosphere is what helps you enjoy spending $110 on $19 worth of...

We live right near the restaurant so we were really excited when the space opened to replace The James, which was kind of pricey and lackluster.

The Good: EVERYONE was so incredibly friendly and hospitable, usually the hardest thing to get right. Space is cute and they have a lot of capacity between indoors and out. Food was good, not great. We tried the eggplant schnitzel, spaetzle (beetroot option), salmon nicoise salad, and the half chicken. Drinks were all good, but also not great. The Dirty Gerdie is VERY briney, so I don't think I'd have it again, but enjoyed the new experience.

The not so good: The space has almost exclusively hard surfaces and is incredibly loud - everyone in our party commented on it organically right away. One of us even received a notification warning on their smartwatch for decibels. They should really consider adding some acoustic paneling, possibly hanging from the ceiling to absorb the sound. It would be a fairly simple and inexpensive fix. Of the food I tried it seemed a bit basic, underseasoned, or not too exciting. The beet spaetzle supposedly had crispy sauerkraut, but they must have put it between the noodles and the dollop of sour cream rendering it all very one texture (mushy). Salad was on, but didn't wow me in any way or feel special. Chicken was very well cooked, assuming sous vide? Fries that came with it were shoestring and very tasty. I did not try the schnitzel. Table they sat us at inside is barely big enough for 2, we were 3. We did not have a reservation, so that's kind of on us, but for the sake of guests and servers, I would recommend not seating people in the already very small aisle.

Overall: Price for the experience was a bit mismatched for me, but I'd give them another try - especially if we sat outside and tried some other dishes. Will update review / rating when we go back.

UPDATED Review: Went back for brunch and they've installed some sound absorbing panels which has completely resolved the noise!

Service again was wonderful, they have a really great staff that is welcoming, helpful, and fun.

We tried a few items from the brunch menu and shared what we had. The food was solid, but again I found it to be good, not great. Just might not be my style, there was nothing that felt like a new experience or wowed me, and the flavors overall were subtle if not muted.

They seem to be doing very well, so I don't think they'll be missing my...

This was my 2nd time dining here, and honestly might be my last. The food is great but the service is inconsistent and overall really disappointing. I understand that a Sunday brunch on a holiday can be super busy, but our server did not ask us how we wanted our food (friend ordered a Ruben burger and it was basically raw, also did not ask her if she wanted a side salad or fries. Just gave her a salad). We never got share plates for our appetizer or any water once we ran out. It took forever for our orders to come out, and then our server finally re-appeared to tell us that what I had ordered (Simple Child) was not available, as he’s telling me this a server runs up behind him with my order. Great, whatever- but still no drink order to be found. We’ve been here about an hour at this point. I mention this to the other server, she apologizes, gives us the drinks on the house. After that our original server made no effort to stop by our table again until we were able to flag him down for the check, and then he disappeared again. Another server catches us looking for him, walks up to us and very flatly asks “what’s up?” We tell her we’d like to cash out and leave- whole experience was just odd and kind of frustrating and not sure it was worth the price you pay...