Oriens Café — Restaurant in Town of Greece

I had lunch today with 3 other women, 3 of us ordered at pretty much the same time, one joined later. Two ordered chicken salad sandwiches, I ordered the meat ball sandwich which arrived about 10 or 15 minutes before the 2 cold sandwiches. It arrived on extremely dry bread and was room temperature. The menu said the meatballs were home made. The consistency was almost paste like with a spoonful of sauce on each side of the bread and nearly non existent mozzarella. Most importantly, they tasted as if the ingredients were plant base. I really wanted to like them but the were awful. I ate one and a half and the other ladies split one, agreeing that they were awful. They all commented that their bread was also too dry but the chicken salad was good. One had gone to ask for silverware and was given one knife and two forks after being told they do not provide flatware for sandwiches. They do not have salt and pepper handy, you need to ask for if it is available I asked another customer if he knew they had it and he showed me where to find it as the cashier was busy on the phone. My dining mates told me I really should say something about the 15.00 inedible sandwich, so I took the plate up to the counter and explained my dilemma and she asked me what I wanted her to do. I asked her what she suggested and her response was " nothing since you ate half of it. I did not eat the dry bread after one bite and shared one meat ball with two of the woman. I then walked away and she told me to take my plate to "the area where the picture frames are". No apology for the poor quality room temp food or an offer of a dessert on them. The plates are china and this is not McDonalds. The only service beyond order taking is the young lady who delivers the food. If you order a take home item, expect to be bellowed at to pick it up at the counter, as it will not be taken to you. Then they expect tips because they took your order at the counter and one person wanders around like a lost soul., trying to find your order number on the...

We stopped at Oriens Café on a Sunday afternoon for gelato based on a friend's glowing recommendation. Although there was no line, we waited several minutes for two employees in a back room to finish their conversation before they begrudgingly acknowledged us. We each ordered a gelato to eat at the café and a pastry to take home. The server seemed impatient and annoyed when we asked a couple of questions about the gelato flavors and the pastries. We appreciated the shaded tables outdoors, where we enjoyed our gelato without feeling rushed. We each had two scoops of gelato: cannoli (meh), magic candy bar (or cookie bar, maybe? -- it was okay), strawberry cheesecake (it tasted like fake strawberries and red food dye) and peanut butter chocolate (which was excellent!). Three things surprised us about our visit: 1 - The employees were not at all courteous. Despite the friendly banter we attempted, they made it clear they were annoyed at the inconvenience of having customers. 2 - The small gelato cups -- and they're SMALL -- were only half-filled. They would be more than plenty if the gelato was flush with the top of the cup, but for a half-filled cup, they were quite overpriced. 3 - The café desperately needs a good cleaning. Despite no customers in the café, there was trash on nearly every table and everything -- tables, counters, trash cans, menus, pastry cases -- looks as if it hasn't had a thorough wipe-down with hot, soapy water in quite a long time. There's just a visible layer of dusty grime everywhere.

Based on this experience, I can't think of a good reason to visit Oriens a...

Very disappointed with my last visit, and actually several previous visits. I ordered the cheese flatbread, which usually takes 15 minutes to prepare (and I have no problem waiting for it). However, it was out in less than 5 minutes and I could see why. The flatbread itself was smaller than normal (although the price did not get reduced), and they dumped a LOT of sauce on it (I don't know if they were trying to cover the fact that it hadn't been cooked properly), and just a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese. I could tell it had not been cooked as usual, because it was barely crispy. I understand that due to lack of help, they have not been up to par in anything in the past year or so, but I did not want to make a fuss right then and there. However, they were once the place to go for my family and I, and it will probably be a long time before we return. The pastries and ice cream are still great though, but the food has suffered. Also, the service was terrible. My sister and I were standing at the counter to place our order for 5 minutes or longer, and no one every came out. Finally, someone did come out to clean tables and did not even glance at the counter, so we had to go over to get her attention. It is sad that places all over Rochester are going down in quality and service due to lack of help, but I hope that changes soon...