Zara Cafe Grill — Restaurant in New York

I’m writing this with deep frustration and disappointment after an absolutely unacceptable experience at your establishment—one that has not only wasted my time but also cost me money for services I did not receive.

Despite being a loyal customer who has brought my family here many times, I was treated with blatant disrespect and dishonesty. On my most recent visit, I placed an order totaling $53 and paid with my credit card. Although your staff claimed the transaction didn’t go through, my Capital One app showed the charge had been successfully processed. I even showed them proof on the spot. That should have been the end of it.

Instead, I was charged a second time—on a different card—because your system failed to issue a receipt and your staff insisted the first payment didn’t register. I now have two confirmed charges for one order. When I returned to pick up the second order (which I was willing to accept just to resolve the issue), I was told it wasn’t ready. Then I was offered a refund, which I waited nearly 30 minutes for. After that delay, I was told the refund couldn’t be processed without a receipt—despite the fact that your machine failed to print one and the charge clearly went through.

This is not just poor service—it’s deceptive and unethical. I paid twice and received only one order. Your staff refused to provide the second meal, refused to refund me, and dismissed the clear evidence I presented. That’s theft, plain and simple.

To make matters worse, the food I did receive was subpar. One of my coworkers became ill after eating it. The quality was disgraceful, and based on what I saw, the ingredients looked like they’d been frozen for months. You’re charging premium prices for food that’s barely edible.

I will be reporting this incident to the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Health Department. I will also be sharing my experience publicly—not out of pettiness, but out of principle. People deserve to know how you operate. You’ve lost a loyal customer, and I will make sure others are warned.

This was a shameful display of greed, incompetence, and disrespect. You’ve messed with the wrong person.

Sincerely, Professional , Eslam Abdeldayem, Entrepreneur...

I rarely leave reviews but to be honest, this restaurant should hear my displeasure. 2 friends and I came for lunch and ordered 2 mixed platters at 26.95 each for all of us to share. To my surprise, the food, in its entirety, came out within 10 minutes of ordering. The meat appeared to have been reheated but I didn’t want to cause issues, even though the service was also pretty bad. This was Tuesday and about 2 days later, my friends and I begin feeling a little uneasy. We had the same symptoms and later found out that we had all contracted salmonella! The reviews on this place are great and everybody in Staten Island recommends it, but the service I received to go along with the quality of food and finally the bacterial infection we all are continuing to deal with is not fair. It was an $80 meal that ended up being subpar and also poorly prepared; all of us being diagnosed with salmonella is proof of this. Maybe because we walked in at 2pm which is when the lunch rush begins to end, the staff was tired and didn’t properly care for the food. Either way, that’s not an excuse for a place with 4.5 stars and hundreds of reviews to serve us food contaminated with a fecal-oral transmitted bacteria. For those who have maybe doubted whether or not I may be mistaken with naming Zara as the source, this is a valid point. However, the fact that we all ate it together and the food coming out extremely fast (whether it was precooked and then cooked fully or just reheated after sitting out for a while) and also by the fact that was the only time we ate together that week, I believe I am 100% justified in naming Zara as the culprit for the infection. For those who read...

I have been coming here with my family since the restaurant opened and the past 2 times have been getting worse and worse. Their customer service used to be amazing and now since this automatic service charge placed on the check everything has gone downhill! They don’t seem like they care to work for tips because of a service charge placed. Yesterday I was there with me and my family and it was not a pretty packed night and you had to look to try to find a waiter when you needed something. They were not short staffed whatsoever but just all hiding inside by the kitchen. I’m 39 weeks pregnant and went to the bathroom to find it completely soaked wet, like someone washed their whole body in the bathroom. I almost slipped and fell, and that would have been a lawsuit on your hands. There were at least 10 waiters and waitresses working on a Thursday, that could have spotted it and cleaned up before a customer almost fell on the floor. They were just not attentive at all the whole night. We brought a cake and when they brought it to us, they didn’t even put all the candles on it as my mother asked them too and on top of that they kept the remaining candles for themselves. Then we were not asked if we wanted tea/coffee and when they did bring the tea (that I had to ask for)chase a waiter down for, they didn’t bring any sugar to the table. We had to keep asking for things to come that you would think intuitively a waiter should be asking if you would like. Long story short you lost our business, and I hope you will retrain your waitstaff to be a little more...