The Sweet Sap — Restaurant in New York

Update 2023

Came back for dinner with friends. We sat in the outdoor enclosed area with cute lighting and charming vibe. Thankfully it had a space heater to counter the early chill that night. It was an early Sunday night and aside from another couple that ate and left we were the only ones there. Service was ok given that most of the people sat inside and we were the only ones outside. They should have a way to call for service. We ordered way too much but everything sounded great. Arugula and prosciutto flatbread (pretty decent - bread was good consistency), roasted Brussels sprouts (very well done and plenty), fried calamari (per standard but with a more heavy crust if you like that), maple matchstick fries (sweet and tasty with a good crunchy bite), wings (half soy garlic and half salt & pepper - really huge wings! Sauce was really good - a little sweet), and the surprising breakout - spicy fried rice cake with cheese - their take on ttoppoki. Basically they fry (roast?) their rice cake before covering it in sauce and cheese rather than just cooking the rice cake in sauce. So the result is a crispy outside with chewy inside rice cake. The only drawback was that it seemed portioned smaller than the other dishes so we ended up ordering another one. Definitely a unique and tasty take on a classic.

2019 Lunch report. There were 4 of us at around 2 so it wasn't busy. The decor is modern and clean. There's an outdoor seating area that looks like it would be super cute at night. We ended up getting seated at a table near another table with a person with an extremely loud voice. The manager came over and discreetly asked if we'd like to be moved. Bonus customer service points! The lunch menu is one of those things where everything sounds good. We got the fried cauliflower, sweet potato fries, katsu with curry, garlic marinated chicken sandwich, and the Thai flat bread. The food came out as they were ready (we didn't ask - they just did). This was probably because they just brought stuff out as it was made so everything was super freshly made. Fried cauliflower and sweet potato fries were good but kind of just plain. Then again, good sized portions! The katsu was ok but the curry was kind of plain with only carrots and potatoes. The curry sauce was mild, kind of bland. The Thai flatbread was probably the best of the lot. It's basically a pizza with some Thai flavored vegetable toppings. All in all, pretty decent ambiance and tasty food. I want to come back at night - I bet it's...

My family, friends, and I decided to have lunch at the Sweet Sap today around 1:30 pm on Sunday, August 29. It took some convincing because they had read several reviews about poor service from the wait staff.

Let me be clear, this is my second time at the Sweet Sap, I ate there about one month ago. The food was decent the price point was fair but the service was very slow. We hardly saw our server but I enjoyed the company and the outdoor dining experience. Perhaps they had an off day or were understaffed, so I decided to give the restaurant another chance. NEVER AGAIN... FAIL!

When our party of five immaculately dressed people of color arrived at the restaurant, we were asked to present proof of vaccination before being seated. No problem! Only one member of our party did not have proof available on an app or had a photo taken. We wanted to be “good patrons” and follow their in-door dining policy, so my friend remembered that she had received a confirmation email of her vaccination. She presented the email as proof of vaccination to the waiter and was told that the email was not sufficient proof for entry. In the meantime, we observed three Asian customers who had newly arrived join their seated party without being asked to provide proof of vaccination.

When I brought this to the attention of the waiter his response was “I have no control over who enters the dining area when I am not at the door. I will check on them later to confirm their vaccination status.... REALLY, how exactly were you doing to find them?

This was when we insisted on speaking with a manager. The email clearly confirmed that my friend was FULLY VACCINATED. The manager never came to the front to speak with us (poor management) but instead approved seating. By this time all the outdoor seating was taken and we were directed to take a seat in the smaller, cramped indoor seating area.

After meeting face to face with the “manager” (surprise, surprise he was completely unsympathetic) about our experience and what we had observed we decided to leave for another restaurant where we felt would appreciate...

The food was pretty decent, we got the tteok-galbi burger and the buns were crispy and sweet. The meat was well done and well seasoned. Though the tomato slices were huge and the lettuce was clumped together. For the fettuccine carbonara, it felt like the noodles were a bit on the harder side and the chicken was thin slices? But other than that it was pretty good. I was hoping they’d ask if I wanted extra cheese on top but they don’t do that. For the truffle fries it was okay, nothing special.

As for the service, when we first sat down, a guy with glasses took our order and told us he was about to clock out. He got our order and then somehow forgot to put in it? Which is a bit interesting to me. My friend and I sat there for 30-40 minutes and no body really checked up on us and I just figured the food was just taking long. I only realized after the tables who sat down after us had gotten their food but we didn’t. We then had to ask if our food was ready and they had asked us “did you guys order?”. We waited quite some time after we ordered but the staff after the first guy were really nice. They made the experience way better and even gave a discount for messing up. I appreciate them understanding the mistake and making up for it.

The atmosphere is really pretty and they have a little bar area inside the restaurant along with a lot of outdoor seating as well. The place has some street parking but you might have to drive around...