Garden City Bistro — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

I drove my sister-in-law to Long Island for a doctors appointment. She was told not to eat before so afterwards it was clear that we should grab a bite. She Googled restaurants nearby and chose Bistro because she was feeling like having a salad. We entered and she was a bit discouraged because of the line of patrons. I told her that the line may be a good thing and because it was a bit after 12pm, it could be a lunch rush. She immediately tuned into the smell in the restaurant and asked me to take it in. Mmmmmmm... Chicken and Steak being grilled on the other side of the counter by professionally looking employees impressed us. We grabbed some menus and began to read through the salads. The line actually moved pretty quick. We were able to order our salads and watch our cook masterfully chop, mix and toss them. After paying we decided to eat in. The vibe was really nice and the food was fresh and savory. We both enjoyed our visit and are looking forward to return...

I ordered a salad today for ~$18, only to find a small green inch worm in it after I had already eaten 90% of it. After becoming extremely nauseous and vomiting, I went back inside to complain to the woman behind the counter, who proceeded to tell another woman about the situation. She acknowledged that it was from the lettuce but assured me that they “wash it and wash it”. After this poor excuse, they both stood there and looked at me as if I had two heads. One of them finally said, “so what do you want, a refund?” Not sure why this would even be a question being that I paid almost $20 for a salad with a bug in it. They even had the audacity to ask if I had a receipt and neither of them apologized. I understand that this can happen but I would have appreciated an apology at the very least. I will never be...

Getting food at this establishment is far too time consuming. Is the food good? Yes, absolutely. But the investment of time and patience is far too much, to make it worthwhile.. I wish I could feel differently but I know it is a problem that this eatery has had for the longest time, so I understand that they just don't feel the need to address it, since they remain popular despite this problem. Today my wife went there to see if she could get us lunch in a reasonable amount of time. She ended up getting us something from the nearby, Food for Thought, in a fraction of the time. And the Guac Shop is close by too. Sometimes I really want something from their menu, but more times than not ,I do not want to spend the inordinate amount of time necessary in order to satisfy that desire. Sorry, but I felt this...