Snaps American Bistro — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

For more see liwinedad.blogspot.com A good three stars with interesting entrees but still needs a bit of refinement to move into the 5-star range. Snaps American Bistro has expanded but remains located on Wantagh Avenue just south of Sunrise Highway in a small group of stores on the west side. Parking spots are limited and small, both in the front and back. The greeting was prompt, and we were quickly seated at a small table for two. The room was packed, vivacious with several large tables and a bit noisy. Our cocktails arrived quickly, with the Cosmopolitan being fine and the Woodford reserve a bit over iced. As this was the beginning of restaurant week, we ordered from the restaurant week menu, and to my disappointment, they did not have the Lobster bisque. I ordered the soup of the day Chicken tortilla, which arrived table-side beautifully plated, full of flavor, and just enough spice to remind me of the soup's traditional heritage. Jo's Caesar salad promptly and was a generous portion but was lacking overall. The croutons were small non-descript commercial toasted bread cubes, the romaine crisp, the dressing a bit bland, and the shaved cheese mild and undistinguished. After clearing the starter plates, sometime later were asked if we wanted anything else before closing out the check, and we asked for our entrées. Our water glasses ran dry, nor were we ask if we wanted additional drinks. The mains took an exceedingly long time to arrive but well worth the wait. Jo had the Skirt Steak, which was grilled just to the right temperature, and plated with BBQ dusted Fingerling Potatoes, Corn Salsa, and Grilled Asparagus. The sides, as well as the steak, were outstanding. I had the Salmon, lightly dusted with seasoning and grilled to perfection. The Salmon sat atop a bed of Arugula, Quinoa, Feta, Tomato, Chickpeas, Olives, and just the right amount of Green Goddess Dressing. In short, a delicious and well-balanced entree. We took home the included deserts of cheesecake (missing the Blueberry Compote) and the Chocolate Cake; both were proforma desserts. One note on the checkout process, Snaps adds on a 4% for the use of all charge or debit cards. We firmly believe that restaurants should charge a fair price for their service, but the bill at the end of the night should not read like my cell phone bill with lots of added charges at the end of the bill. A 4% surcharge for charge cards is a bit high and only reduces the tip by 4%. Overall, if as much effort and quality went into the starters, service, and desserts as were into the mains, this could easily be a great place. As we exit COVID and reopen, we will revisit Snaps in a few months giving time for them to polish up their service...

So I went out last night for my best friends birthday celebration to Snaps as I have been there before and the food is incredible. However this time around was anything but incredible. We went on a Wed. Evening and yes it was packed like a normal night. We ordered 2 drinks, and 2 appz... then the waitress came over again and we added on another app (truffle fries which were amazing) and then ordered an entree to share. So low and behold... The Fries come out 1st, then the drinks and then our Entree! We told them and they just took back the entree and didn't even apologize. Then after we had to wait again and finally the apps came out as we ordered. The octopus was great however do not order the chicken wontons. they only give you 4 of them and its inside of a chinese rice container filled with noodles and mostly salad. So we had about 3 drinks each... then after waiting a VERY long time our entree came out... luke warm at best and didn't look cooked as it was the wellington dish. To make a long story short... Waitress never came over to us.. drinks took forever to get (as mentioned they came out after our 1st app), At the end the waitress said I know you probably don't want dessert but here is the menu in any case... well of course we wanted dessert because we didn't eat dinner!!! So we got 2 desserts. Then finally when the check came they only took off the main Entree which was about $29. We spoke to the "manager" and she told us what else do you want us to do? I said we would like to have something else taken off as we couldn't eat dinner. So she took off the most cheapest item which were the truffle fries. Thanks $6.... Our entire meal was ruined because they couldn't figure out how to serve food... Also when we told the manager you went to see how every table was doing and NEVER came to us... it was very known that we had issues from the beginning as well as we mentioned to her "maybe you are understaffed today and this is why it's like this".. The manager then said "we are perfectly fine and there are no issues"... Even though we all saw the chefs and bus boys serving food... What really got us in an uproar was when they were all chatting about our check and what we wanted off.. they all started laughing like it was a joke. Yes this is the manager who was working. I have never seen su much unprofessional-ism in my life. The only reason they get 2 stars is because from what we had food wise was very good. I really hope the owner sees this so they can work on getting better staff and attitudes as I actually really enjoyed...

11/11/17. Went here on a Saturday night around 8pm and the place was packed. We were told it would be over an hour wait for a table in the dining room, but we could sit at the bar or a high top at the bar when something opened up. We decided that we would sit in the bar area and have a drink at the bar while we waited. I ordered a bacon old fashioned and I have to say, the combination of two of my favorite B's: bacon and bourbon, combined in a cocktail, made me very happy. While having a drink at the bar a high top table for two opened up pretty quickly. We sat down and realized that the tables in the bar area are so close to each other, that my girlfriend was back to back with the person sitting at the table behind us, and my chair was half in a walkway that separated the bar from the dining room. Needless to say, every time a server or guest passed by me, they bumped into me and my chair. This did not make me happy. Being a chef, foodie and someone who has worked almost every position in the FOH and BOH of restaurants most of my life, I was not happy with the situation. I realize the bar area is small and they want to maximize the space and get as many tables in there as possible, but the table I was sitting at shouldn't have been there. Anyway, my girlfriend ordered a burger, don't recall which one, but I remember that it had Gouda cheese on it because I kept on saying "that's so Gouda!" She really enjoyed it and I thought it was very good, and the truffle fries were good too. I ordered the short rib wellington. I'm kind of a short rib junkie so if I see it on a menu, there's a pretty good chance that I'm going to order it. I'm glad that I did here. It was really good. The short rib was juicy and tender and the puff pastry was cooked perfectly. It sat atop a portion of delicious mashed potato purée and asparagus and was finished with a mushroom wine sauce. My compliments to the chef because the food was excellent. And aside from being bumped into all night, the cocktails and food made it a memorable dining experience. Looking forward to going back...