Sylvia's Restaurant — Restaurant in New York

We visited this black owned establishment on Wednesday, August 10, 2022. I did make a reservation prior to for 4:30 PM. Upon arrival we were warmly greeted by the hostess and were seated immediately. We were seated at a lovely table in the main dining room. Our server Jay came over about seven minutes after we were seated and greeted us warmly. We decided to order the following menu items: the Tuesday/Wednesday meatloaf special, macaroni and cheese, traditional greens, lemonade, the uptown drink, and banana pudding. The drinks came out right after we ordered them and were very flavorful. They had a perfect balance of sweetness and were quite refreshing. The dining service does come with three pieces of corn bread muffins, which were served to us warm and fresh. They were delicious and slightly less sweet than Jiffy cornbread. The business was clean, spacious, and had a Southern hospitality feel. All of the employees were nice, professional, and efficient. The walls were covered with photos of the owner, her family, and famous figures who have patronized the business throughout the years. Sylvia’s is an establishment in Harlem and a must do for everyone who visits New York City. This restaurant is still family owned to this day by Sylvia‘s children. Five minutes after we received our cornbread muffins, we received our main entrées. They were fresh, hot, and delicious which was everything we hoped they’d be. The meatloaf was some of the most tender I’ve ever had. This is including in comparison to the homemade meatloaf our grandmothers have prepared. The meatloaf was seasoned well and came with a really nice tomato-based sauce on top. The macaroni and cheese was a step down from my mother’s own homemade version! This macaroni and cheese was gooey and had a casserole like consistency. It was the best macaroni and cheese that we’ve ever had at any restaurant we’ve been to. It is a must have on the menu out of all of the items. It was interesting that this establishment also serves chitterlings, which we’ve never seen before. This means it is definitely a true Southern soul food establishment. It’s amazing that this business is in the north here in New York City. The turnip greens were also very moist, seasoned well, and had nice bits of meat mixed in them. We could tell that they used vinegar and probably sugar to cut the bitterness. It was a perfect combination for a turnip green dish. Also the portion sizes are pretty good for the price that you get. We were glad we decided to visit on Wednesday for the meatloaf. I did use the restroom at this establishment without any issue which was clean. We did try the banana pudding dessert, but I didn’t care for the consistency. It was moist, but it lacked a lot of Nilla wafers which I prefer in banana pudding. Otherwise the flavor was good since it was sweetly balanced. The banana pudding definitely had bits of banana and crumbles of Nilla wafer. Once we were done with our meal, we did get some lemonade and an uptown drink to go. We also took the rest of our food home because it was so much. Sylvia’s also has a very nice patio area for seating and dining that is perfect for summertime brunch, lunch, or early dinner. We decided to sit indoors due to the heat and other bugs that come with summertime. It does appear that in the front of the Sylvia‘s restaurant they do sell various items. This includes cookbooks, hot sauce, cornbread mix, and other seasonings. You can always purchase these items to mimic Sylvia’s soul food at home. We did also take some cornbread to go because it was so delicious. The cornbread is $2 for two muffins, so we did purchase four. There is a Sylvia’s Also building right next-door to the restaurant. I believe that they do catering for patrons and businesses who would like to receive their food services. They also do to go orders as well for customers who prefer to take their food and leave rather dining in. I do recommend this establishment to everyone in New York City. It is a must try when you come to New York and a don’t...

So disturbed by the experience, I needed to share. Given the rave reviews this establishment has received as evidenced by the stars, it didn’t dawn on me to read the negatives. Even so, had I done so, I’d probably brush it off given the many 5 stars this restaurant received. HOWEVER, the negative reviews were SPOT on.

I don’t know which was worst, the food, the room or the service.

Looks are deceiving. Ive never been so UNDERWHELMED with a soul food restaurant that people have raved about. I ordered an Uptown, got sweet tea instead. Ordered catfish, candied yams and garlic mash, needless to say, I never received my garlic mash. Based upon the previous reviews, I dodged a bullet. My leftovers are still on my counter. My children who usually devour my leftovers, tasted it and left it right on my counter. It’s going in the trash. My friends ribs had no flavor. She said it tasted boiled and they doused bbq sauce on it. They found themselves being creative, my other friend ordered the grilled bbq salmon and shrimp, both were disgusting. The cheese in the Mac and cheese was very mild; barely noticed it had cheese.

But that’s not the worst, the service was horrendous. The only redeeming feature was our server who having been on the job for two weeks did the best she could serving a party of THIRTY ONE by herself. She was very kind and gracious. As an establishment, how do you assign a newbie to tend to 31 people by herself???!!!! This is not the way or the time to assess whether she can work under pressure! Given that she’s new, and needed to take care of the needs of 31 people, of course she was going to miss a few things.

When they finally sent servers out, the servers didn’t know whose food belonged to whom. Considering many of us ordered similar proteins, we had to guess which meals were ours based upon the sides which were brought out separately. Started eating cornbread which they brought out at 647pm. We didn’t get our dinners until 730pm. While my drink order was taken first, I had to request my drink 3 times. For dinner, they brought everyone’s dinner out at different times. Some tables were already finished with their meals before we got ours. Like my drink, they forgot my meal and my niece’s meal who ordered the MOST easiest and quickest dish on the menu, chicken and waffles. Given that they forgot hers, and needed to make it, they offered her banana pudding. It looked like a bowl of vomit. They mixed the ingredients together. Despite its presentation, I tasted it and again was not impressed. As a person with a sweet tooth and will ALWAYS make room for dessert, I was so disappointed at what they served that I wasn’t even interested.

We had a reservation at 5pm for a repast. We were seated at 6pm in a dingy room that reeked. The menu was disgusting. They laminated it in a cheap plastic and it was so dark we couldn’t really see the selections. The menu itself was hard to follow. They know WELL in advance that they were expecting a large party and failed to prepare. This was my first and last time frequenting...

Where do I begin, my first attempt to get this food was through GrubHub. On GrubHub it stated that the restaurant was closed. I called them about this, and explained that I couldn't order the food from the app. The lady that was on the call said "Well I'm still receiving a lot of orders on my end, so". I didn't like that at all because I had the same problem with another restaurant and they figured out that GrubHub was closed on their end and did something to where I was able to order since you can't order through their phone just like you can't here.

Since I couldn't order from their lack of initiative to solve the problem, I had to drive all the way there just to try to get something to eat. When I went there the doors were open, and I wanted to order, but was told that it was close by 8, so I was four minutes too late.

So, on another day I ordered for delivery from a different app and got the food. I got one piece of leg quarters (which was 11 dollars by the way), collard greens, Mac and cheese, cornbread, shrimp and grits, oxtails with rice and gravy, potato salad, banana pudding, and peach cobbler.

The leg quarters were ok, but underwhelming because of the seasoning, not enough seasoning as with everything else. The shrimp n grits, again underwhelming, no flavor, no seasoning. The Oxtails with rice and gravy (30+ dollars), again, no flavor, no seasoning. It just tasted like a beef gravy mix. Beef is a horrible flavor without seasoning. The Oxtails were a little dry and sour. The greens were ok. The Mac and Cheese was poorly done, not enough cheese or the right cheese, mostly pasta in the middle. The potato was a little too mushy, it's almost like baby food, but good tho. The cornbread, drier than a desert, needed a Joe's Tea just to swallow it. The banana pudding was delicious. The peach cobbler was ok, but not great.

The sides were tolerable, but the main dishes were the problem. Overall, after spending over $120+ for the food and delivery, then tipping the driver $20, thinking I was gonna eat some good soul food from the most famous soul food restaurant in Harlem, watching the show and the YouTube videos just to get this, I will absolutely not order...