Schnipper's — Restaurant in New York

Tour Groups be aware: If I could leave a negative star, I would. Long post warning! I have several things to say but let's start with the food first. I ordered the "famous" chicken fingers with sweet potato fries off a group menu.They were aware that our group was coming and should have been prepared. We were on time and were told the group infront was not finished yet, so we waited outside. We were seated at tables that were dirty from the group that reserved before us. As we were waiting for our pre-ordered food to arrive, the fire alarm went off and kept going off. It was not a fire but was caused from cooking food at a high heat. That thick burnt smell and smoke permeated the dining area. When my order of chicken fingers arrived at my table, they were dark brown and very skimpy. It was over cooked and appeared as if they were cutting cost by halfing the tenders. The texture of the batter was gritty like shake and bake. Not wanting to make an issue on my daughter's school trip, I went and purchased a sauce to help choke them down. That is when I grabbed a picture of the firemen coming to save the day. Great response NYC Fire! Extra sauce cost almost a Washington. We were not served drinks until after our food arrived and we had to ask for them.Try eating a burnt chicken finger with no drink and no sauce! The sweet potato fries were ok but were not filling as a meal.

Bathroom reviews. There are 3 individual bathrooms for all genders. Coded doors. You must ask for the code for we didn't have reciepts or catch the door of whomever comes out first. I entered after a gentleman. The toilet was not flushed. There was a receipt in the toilet as well as his urine sample. I shrugged it off and tried to flush the toilet and realized real quick that it wasn't the forgetfulness of a customer, the toilet was not flushing! So I backed out and told those behind that it was out of order. The next bathroom was not clean.

You will be charged a group rate per person that isalmost triple what a meal cost if you walk in from the street.

Schnippers were aware that we were a school tour with kids and that they would be paying individually. There was a huge misunderstanding concerning the group fee. The tour leader offered to pay the reservation fee beforehand in an email. Schnippers stated that it would be handled on location and in another email stating it wasn't required. It was not clear it would be per person. If known, we would have eaten elsewhere. Not aware of an individual fee, our kids did not budget for that extra expense and had to miss a meal.

The manager would not budge. Our reciept stated non contracted group. We paid the fee and left very unhappy.

As my first trip to NYC and as a travel advisor, I am always looking for restaurants to pass along to fellow agents. I am a parent on this trip but be assured my travel agency we be informed who not to use in the future.

Poor service, poor food, unclean dining and a shady business practice to children under 16! Why would any one want to promote...

We were directed to this restaurant by an app that suggests allegedly gluten-free/ Celiac-friendly restaurants. Two members of our 10-person group have very serious Celiac disease and cannot eat gluten or even have any contact with it. Cross-contamination can be just as problematic for them, so we were very careful to select a restaurant that claims to be gluten-free, or at least have gluten-free options.

2 other members of our group are vegetarian. They also advertised having vegetarian options.

So, between the 2 concerns, we thought and hoped this would be a good option for our group. We were sorely mistaken.

First, the food was WAY overpriced, even for New York City. Each persons meal cost about $25 per person for a (lousy) cafeteria-style meal.

Second, almost all our orders were wrong. The first set of our group to order never got their food at all until we complained after everyone else got theirs. It wasn’t even cooked until something was said.

Then, everyone else’s meal had food missing or mistakes (eg bacon cheeseburger with no bacon), missing orders of fries, none of the ordered toppings on another sandwich, etc.

Third, the food was terrible. It had no flavor, the quality was poor and the portions were mediocre. The chicken sandwich was so bad it was inedible. The only saving grace were the fries. Both the regular and sweet potato fries were good. They claim they’re gluten-free and cooked separately, but I absolutely would not trust that. See below.

Finally, and most importantly, there seemed to be no understanding by the staff about medical concerns with cross-contamination of the food, despite advertising itself as having gluten-free items. Even after being questioned before ordering and assured the food was kept and cooked separately, it was accidentally (and fortunately for our group members) observed not to be the case. They caught it in time to not eat the food and risk a potentially serious medical incident.

Despite all the errors and issues, no discounts or refunds were offered. So basically, it was a $300+ meal that was indelible or unenjoyable for the entire 10-person group. Several left hungry or had to buy more food elsewhere.

We cannot recommend strongly enough not to waste your time, money or health...

My third time. Sooooo convenient being directly across the street from the 41st (not 42nd) Street Port Authority building. Very friendly prices and a cute and clean atmosphere. My friend and I both had Fresh Beet and Goat Cheese salad $13 (dried cranberries, scallions, toasted walnuts, ciabatta croutons, vinaigrette). My friend loved it and ate the whole thing. I didn't like it because I despise cranberries in salad. Dried fruit in a savory salad is not my thing. There were TONS of cranberries and only a few pieces of beets, which are the same color. It's right on the menu, with cranberries being the first item, so Schnipper's still gets a 5. So many other things to order. House fries $5 were great. I took most of it home and ate it minus the cranberries at midnight! Fries in toaster oven were great. Next time I could get any one of these: 1: Schnipper's Slaw Kale and cabbage $5.50 2: Charred Broccoli With lemon and chiles $5.50 (minus the chiles) 3: Baby Arugula With grape tomatoes, Grana Padano, and house vinaigrette $5.50 4: Grilled Fresh Corn Esquites (Mexican street corn off the cob) $5.50 or BINGO: 5: The Veggie Boy (Vegetable patty with guacamole, plum tomato, red onion, and spicy radish sprouts on an Orwasher’s whole wheat roll) $12.50 vegan

Delightful menu and equally delightful...