Ficus | Restaurant, Cafe & Gallery — Restaurant in Princeton

It doesn't seem like they care about their patrons.

I came with a group of friends. A couple went to the bathroom first while I sat around. After they came back they noted that the automatic pump was out of soap and they had to ask an employee for help. Apparently they were given a manual pump to use. I also went to the restroom a few minutes later and after using the toilet tried to use the automatic pump. It was not working and there was no other manual pump to use. The door was locked, my hands were dirty, so I couldn't ask leave to ask for help. Desperate I had to take apart the pump and squeeze the bag to get it to work.

My friends confirmed that there should have been the manual pump an employee provided when they asked. Our trips were about 5 min apart and I confirmed with them that it wasn't in the bathroom anymore. They literally took away the manual pump and didn't replace the automatic. What was the point in removing the soap?

The ironic part - the bathroom had a sign requesting all employees wash their hands after the toilet.

Aside from the bathroom the food was underwhelming and not worth the prices. It seems that they are selling a brand more than delicious food. The buratta skimped on the titled component of the dish - the buratta.

It seems they are trying to save on everything they can - high priced ingredients, soap, planters (the plants aren't even potted) and even extra tip. When we got the receipt they included the recommended tip amounts based on the percentages. When we calculated it ourselves it didn't match what the restaurant had listed. They had increased their recommended amounts in an attempt to get more. This is what is really shady in my opinion.

On a small note I don't think this is the fault of individual workers. This seems to go further up the food chain with attempts to save money and get more...

I stopped by around 1:10pm during lunch and was pleasantly surprised to find a parking lot behind the building, which it a lot easier, it's not typical to find this luxury in Princeton. Ficus was busier than I expected, with a steady flow of people coming in and grabbing their drinks to go. A lot of customers placed their orders ahead of time for pickup, which is probably what I'll do next time I stop by. The first floor of the restaurant could use some tiding.

The person at the register was kind and helpful. After asking what they normally recommend, I told them I that was not a fan of tapioca or milk-based drinks, and they recommended the Mango Hibiscus Tea. I went with that, asking for less mango jelly to cut down on the sweetness. It ended up being really refreshing and light. I liked that the mango jelly had a texture close to real fruit, which I enjoyed. It had me wishing that I ordered the regular amount of mango jelly.

I ordered the Ficus Beef Burger with a side of waffle fries. The burger was delicious, the patty was nicely seasoned, the brioche bun was soft and nicely toasted, it had the perfect amount of secret sauce, and the cheddar cheese was nicely aged. The waffle fries were lightly seasoned and nicely crispy. I would definitely order the burger again, I am so happy that I mistakenly said burger when I repeated my order out loud to the person taking my order.

The food was packaged nicely, with two rubber bands to secure the lid to the food. The only downside with that I waited a total of 31 minutes for my order. I waited 16 minutes for my drink order, and another 15 minutes for my food order. It's not convenient when you want to just run in and at least quickly grab a drink.

I would definitely visit again, and order the mango hibiscus drink and ficus beef burger again, along with trying...

Unsanitary conditions and cheap.

Starting with unsanitary conditions, we found plastic packaging in our food (photos attached). The bathroom was out of soap and we alerted staff and asked for a refill of the soap container. He put out a new soap dispenser for us. But when the next person at our table went to the bathroom, the soap was removed. Either employees don't need to wash their hands before returning to work or they are saving money on soap.

The spicy chicken sandwich wasn't spicy and there was very little meat. It was a thin layer of meat between two layers of fried crust. So it was a little bitter from eating mostly oil.

The same chicken was also in the chicken and waffles dish. Obviously trying to cut costs on the price of meat, but for the price of the sandwich it felt like a scam. You'll get more chicken in a McDonald's sandwich.

The burrata was sliced very thinly and I'm sure there wasn't a full burrata on the plate they served us.

The food didn't come out at the same time (not a big deal but some people in our group were bothered). One entree came out before the rest. Then 10 minutes later the other entrees came out. And when we were halfway done with our food, the appetizers finally arrived.

Lastly the check came and the calculated tips on the receipt were a scam. If you don't do the math yourself, you'll lose money. Our bill came to $63.98 but the restaurant suggested that an 18% tip was $15.48 instead of $11.52. If you're not careful, you won't tip what you actually want to. It feels petty but no one wants to be tricked. You'll leave a good tip if you have a...