Sophie's Bistro — Restaurant in New York

Fantastic food, very reasonable prices, absolutely terrible service.

If you're looking for a place to grab a bite with friends this is the place to go! But if you're celebrating anything or in need of a place that will make you feel comfortable, unfortunately they have a long way to go.

It's really unfortunate I have to give this review, but I've been to this restaurant at least a half dozen times over several years, and although I really, really tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, the problems are constantly repeated and just too much to ever want to come back again.

A few notions I do want to dispel from other reviews: the owners are very genuine, good people. Not only that, but they'll easily go the extra mile on occasions, and when food is improperly cooked will immediately changea it without any issues. The place is always clean. The food is always good.

But... the customer service is just... non-existant. Starting with the owners. They're not mean, or poor spirited, they're just not very good at dealing with customers in a pleasant way. And if they had even half-decent waitstaff, that'd be fine, but the waiters and busboys are absolutely inept at even the simplest tasks.

First off, they barely speak English (or Hebrew). Then if you ask them to repeat himself, he gives a serious attitude. Forget about the waitstaff actually remembering to refill water or clear away dirty dishes, you need to remind them at least 2 - 3x. Not to mention they just don't know basics of what certain dishes are, and when you correct them, instead of apologizing or fixing it, they become indignant and even more rude.

Now, the owners do try to fix it if you mention it to them, but they're just... a bit too cold and distant. Some people are like that, or maybe too many years with annoying customers. It happens, people get jaded... but it's just not okay when you're still in the customer service industry. It's just not a nice experience for a customer to be ordering from someone that looks/acts like they don't want you to be there.

This restaurant is really, really disappointing because they genuinely have the potential to be one of the best kosher dairy spots in Brooklyn, but quite frankly it's just an uncomfortable experience to go there due to the severe service issues.

Owners... please hire a customer service consultant. You guys can really be the best kosher dairy restaurant in brooklyn with even average service. And fire the male Indian (?) waiter asap. I don't know his name because despite multiple visits he's never actually introduced himself, but he's rude, inattentive, and completely disregards what you ask until you...

Oh Sophie, how I really really wanted to give you five stars.

But once again, I walked away so disappointed in what could otherwise be a helluva good restaurant.

The space is fabulous, with great seating arrangements and an outside garden (hard to find in Brooklyn). The decor is fresh and inviting and the restaurant is impeccably clean.

But then came the service and food and everything went downhill from there. The guy at the register did not speak a clear English so it was difficult to communicate. I should add we were the only people in the restaurant at dinner time. We finally finished putting in our order -- took a good 5 minutes or more --- and went to take a seat.

We ordered two chicken noodle soups, shawarma in a laffa, shawarma platter and drinks. This guy came up from the downstairs kitchen with our soups. At first glance it looked like vegetable soup so we hesitated but he assured us it was chicken and the noodles and chicken were at the bottom of the bowl. The soup was very tasty but very overwhelmed with what tasted like MSG and other artificial ingredients.

My husband noticed that they didn't actually have a shawarma on a spit. They basically cut up chicken and put it on the grill and named it shawarma. That's not what shwarma is. My platter came soaked in oil, it was absolutely awful. His sandwich was basically a grilled chicken sandwich.

Why they did this I have no clue. They've barely been open a month. It's truly sad but I have officially written them off....

Haven't seen such a bad owners in such a long time , abusing their power on workers , one time i went there they made a waitress cry - i was shocked , they prolly scream at every worker they have , and one of the owners ( the one thats woman) was arguing with her client/customer ( i don't remember the reason but thats not how it supposed to be) and then when that customer left she was cursing at him in her own language , not to forget how long it takes for food to come or for them to get you a free table and chairs to sit on , now about food i always happen to find some white hairs ( do they own cats or what?) its not like i want to eat hairs , and sometimes some waiter or basboy look so sad or having their salivas leaking out of their mouth when they either serve or bring food ( do they not get enough food in restaurant or what? i mean its kind of funny how they work in a place where is food made but they still hungry ) or is it owner not letting them eat? i wouldn't be surprised if that was true tho because when i tried to tip(give 20 dollars as a tip) a waiter/waitress for good work s/he said that they are not allowed to get tipped - now i have a question wtf is wrong with their employer ?!?! im done with this restaurant, worst restaurant i have ever been and...