New York Deli — Restaurant in Richmond

Me and a group of friends were looking for a place to eat in Carytown. We land on this location, walk in and flip through the menu. The first thing I notice is that the menu is incredibly expensive for sandwiches - the cheapest next to a simple grilled cheese being 13 dollar (2 extra dollars for cheese and fries). my group, however, has been walking around, is tired, would like to eat, so despite the lack of reasonable menu items we land on sharing a platter (29 dollars) and a tray a fries) amongst the 4 of us. My girlfriend has a slight shellfish allergy, and as I’ve done a million times through our relationship I relay it to the waiter (the platter has a mix of things and can and can’t eat). The waiter comes back and says “they cook everything on the same flat top so there’s not anything they can do” my response was “oh, she’s not deathly allergic we’re just asking they clean the flat top between uses.” The waiter is now seemly frustrated and goes to the back once again. my intention was not to be difficult, but there was no point in eating there if my girlfriend could not eat. After this, the lead cook herself comes out of the kitchen to confront me. Without introducing herself she goes “so clean the flat top before cooking huh? well you expect us to cook (platter item) and clean it, cook (platter item) then clean it, cook (etc etc.”) I said I expected you to cook the shellfish clean the flat top and cook the rest? Then she goes “no disrespect, but where have YOU worked that would change for cooking oil in the middle of the day??” I said “for freshness or for an allergy, plenty of places!” And as I started to list as PER her question she put her hand in my face and said “well we don’t do that here! We don’t do that! Oh, there’s the owner! “ she pulls the owner to our table, and then to my astonishment instead of correcting her affect toward a customer who had been completely calm and civil, both her and him start talking over each other together at me about how they can’t do it. after the lead cook and the owner causing a scene of their own accord over an allergy restriction, I took some cash out of my wallet for the drinks and we left to eat at lucky chopsticks, which had excellent service. I’ve never been confronted in an argumentative manner by the head chef of a restaurant, nor had the head chef of a restaurant put her hands in my face, nor had the owner join in instead of correcting. I’ve never worked in a restaurant that was not prepared for human beings to have allergies. We’ve dined at literal seafood restaurants that had no issue with my girls shellfish allergy. Even if there was no feasible way to do it, the way me and my group were outwardly confronted in a tone that was already aggressive before I even spoke to her was unacceptable. so here’s my very first one star review! thanks for the cranberry...

I wouldn't give them 1 star at this point!!! My family and I have been patrons of this New York Deli for at least 3 years; we have gone there numerous times and have always been greeted by the staff there in a friendly manner. However, this past Sunday (Mother’s Day) we did not experience the same friendly atmosphere at all. We were seated when we arrived outside on the patio, after being there for approximately 10 mins we were asked to move because there was a larger group of 6 coming in and they wanted to use that table. We agreed and moved without hesitation. This is when the issues started…the group that came in slowly was served before us this is after being there approximately 30 mins at this point…we finally got some ones attention to come and take our drink orders (Ryan) after he took those another 15 mins went by before the kids drinks came out (milk and lemonade) at that point he stated to my husband “I just want you to know the drink you ordered is a pretty expensive drink” HE KNOWS WHAT HE ORDERED and I still did not have my mimosa or water or anything. Keep in mind the table that we moved for has thier drinks and the people that are not even there yet have water waiting on them. We finally got our drinks after being there for over an hour at this point. At this point he asked if we were ready to order and I was personally frustrated this was my Mother’s Day brunch and it was personally ruined by their customer service. So after we said we were not ordering without saying excuse me or asking someone to pass the menus he reached completely over my head and took the menus off the table…THIS HAS BEEN THE WORST EXPERIENCE EVER.. We paid and left and ate elsewhere (there are tons of other establishments to eat in Carytown). I have to tell you that we were totally insulted by how we were treated on Mother’s Day! Unfortunately we will no longer go to New York Deli (at least not the one in Carytown). And we absolutely loved the food and atmosphere...

Absolutely Disgusting — Worst Meal I’ve Ever Had

This was hands down one of the worst meals I’ve ever had. Absolutely disgusting. I never knew chicken — such a great ingredient — could be made to taste so awful. Even the next day, my family was still complaining about how nauseous they felt. Honestly, I suspect the real chef wasn’t on duty. Maybe there was a stand-in, because this food was so bad even a dog would turn its nose up at it.

The jasmine rice? Dry, flavorless, not fluffy at all. The wrap fell apart instantly — maybe not entirely the kitchen’s fault, but the execution was a mess. The sandwich had no vegetables, the chicken inside was partially burnt, and one piece looked like charcoal. And yet, that sandwich was still the best thing we got — which says everything.

Two stars — one goes to the appetizer. I personally didn’t like it much, but my family praised it highly. It’s hard to believe it came from the same kitchen. That dish made us hopeful and excited for the main course, which made the eventual disappointment all the more painful.

The other star goes to the server, who was kind and professional — thank you for that. But I have to say: the bathroom was horrifying. When I turned on the faucet, the water blasted out so hard it soaked me. I’ve never seen water pressure that aggressive — it was like the sink was ready for a water gun fight. Honestly, it had more pressure than an overachieving Asian high school student.

Overall? Never...