The Grand — Restaurant in New York

I've been here three times now and had a pretty mid experience each time.

The upside: vibes, I guess? This place seems to run on vibes. It's huge, so it can fit the max number of patrons, and has a large outdoor seating area, which is nice in the spring/summer.

The mediocre: food. I had the bananas foster pancakes here once which were pretty good, but otherwise everything has been bland to bad. The chicken and waffles do not qualify as chicken and waffles (I'm sorry, I'm from the South, I get to take away your chicken and waffles card). The macaroni and cheese balls were ok. The omelet was way too cheesy, as in, you could barely cut it cheesy. The chicken and halloumi sandwich was dry dry dry with overcooked chicken and storebought ciabatta. No sauce of any kind. The fruit plate looked like it got served to our table direct from the Marriott's continental breakfast. I kind of expected them to offer me Fruit Loops out of a cereal dispenser next.

The menu is just way too long and untethered. I'm not really sure what The Grand is trying to be. It's like Ken in the Barbie movie. It's job is just "beach" - I mean, "brunch." But there's no cohesion to the menu, like you see at some of the nicer brunch spots in the area. There's no personality or unifying thread. Just...stuff? I guess? Like there's chicken and waffles, but there's also halloumi, but there's also bananas foster pancakes, but there's also oreo milkshakes?

I also noticed something odd with the servers. To be clear, the service was VERY good. No complaints. 10/10. But every time I come here, I get the same vibe I got from Abercrombie in 2005. Like there is a very specific dress code and appearance code that the servers are told to follow.

Even the atmosphere couldn't figure itself out. There was ESPN playing over the bar, but they also had a retro style Italian espresso maker, but the menu of a brunch Cheesecake Factory. Is it a sports bar? A hipster brunch spot with instagram-worthy backdrops? A classy coffee spot? A Hooter's? All of the above?

Grand, please figure out a personality. Until then, I...

Disappointed because I was really excited to bring my family for Mother’s Day but it was a poor experience from start to finish. First we were a party of 3, who got sat and a table for 2 people with an added 3rd seat, it was extremely cramped.. and we wouldn’t have made a fuss until we realized the table was dirty. So we informed the waitress who then moved us to an appropriately sized table. We put in drinks and appetizers.. I ordered the fruit bowl, and I asked what fruit was in it… the waitress said strawberries blueberries oranges and melon. I opted for it. In addition she insisted on taking the food order as well but I mentioned twice I was not yet ready. She said she had to put everything in now .. and She stood there forcing me to make a decision on the spot. I was TURNED OFF by that because it was very uncomfortable being that i do not eat egg and couldn’t substitute anything so I really just wanted a few minutes to figure it out. So whatever I chose the burger… the fruit bowl comes with melon, but had only melon and pineapple. I sent it back and got the Caesar salad instead. Because I don’t care for melon and there were 2-3 pieces on pineapple in it. Then while sitting there, the table next to us was sitting for about 10 mins before getting greeted; the server passed them one too many times times we watched them get up and leave. Then another 3 came and sat at the same table, and they did the same thing again, seating a 3 top at a table for 2, only this time they put the chair in the middle of the walkway.

This restaurant needs to have a team meeting in customer service, servers knowing the menu, hosts need to be a little more sensible with seating people, and maybe think to themselves “would I be comfortable sitting here?” If not then don’t! I’m in the service industry as well and unfortunately I would not recommend or return based on my experience as well as observing other people’s experience. The staff at the Grand operates a little too mechanically and the have lost the hospitality touch which is essential in...

Super cute restaurant but the service was not up to par. If you're into the aesthetic component of dining then this place will not disappoint. it has modern, minimalist feel with great touches of personality throughout. to start, we ordered the grilled cheese and tomato soup and the soup was very good but the sandwich seemed like it was sitting a while before it was served. we were looking for that real grilled cheese cheese pull and unfortunately it didn't happen. nevertheless it was tasty. for drinks we ordered the p*rn star 3/10 and the lychee lady 2/10. both drinks were way too sour. next up we had the creamy mushroom linguini and that was absolutely delightful - jam packed with flavor 10/10. we also ordered the salmon burger and asked for the sauce on the side. when it came out, the sauce was all over it. we sent it back and it came out pretty quick as requested. the salmon burger was very good. nothing out of this world but not bad at all. we then ordered another round of drinks. including a classic marg 1/10 and a matcha martini (not on the menu) 8/10. the margarita tasted like store bought marg mix and cheap tequila. it was also served in a dirty glasses that had multiple unknown particles at the bottom. the matcha martini (which was a special request) was great! it had a really smooth taste, but could've use a hint more vanilla. service here was not great. we were served soup without spoons. our requests for food were not met and when we asked one server to come by he (older big man) looked at us and did not acknowledge us - instead went to find our waiter (who was also bartending for the entire restaurant by herself) instead of just asking what we needed. lack of teamwork was unsettling. nonetheless our waiter did the best she could given the circumstances but she didn't touch the table when food was delivered nor did she check in unless called over - and even that was with hesitancy. but she was sweet. overall I'd skip this restaurant since there's so many more on this block with better food and...