Sonny's Canal House — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

We sat outside and were accommodated by the friendly hostesses. Our waiter was very friendly. The band that entertained indoors was good. But that's it. I was disappointed by by view. We were staring at the backs of houses across the canal. The canal was about the width of a side street so you could see inside the houses. It was a weird place for a restaurant. Imagine your nextdoor neighbor opening up a restaurant. Next, soup is supposed to be brought out first before the main course. Instead, someone other than our waiter brought the 2 lobster/seafood bisques along with my husband's dinner, the surf and turf. I sent the surf and turf back and said that we wanted to enjoy the bisque first. I also stated to make sure we did not receive the same surf and turf back and that we wanted another one. Our waiter did come to our table to apologize when he heard. I had to get up and ask the hostess for silverware and napkins because that was not on the table when the bisque arrived. When it was time for our meal, the steak from my husband's surf and turf was burnt. It was not medium rare and I suspect it was the same steak brought out earlier and thrown on the fire again. Food was nothing to brag about. I had the salmon with the pasta. Two bites into our meal, a woman in her 70's fell into our table and grabbed hold of me to break her fall. We sat next to the the two steps leading to the lower deck level. My husband who works in construction noticed that the steps were not to code. The second step was two feet deep rather than 8 inches so the woman did not realize there was another step down to get to ground level. Also, the outlet near the step was not GFI and was wrapped with duct tape. If there was a puddle near it, someone could get zapped. We skipped on desert because we thought we could do better with what we had at home judging from the meal we just ate. During our meal, I observed the big blue bench of customers next to us as they were served regular coke rather than diet. The same kid dropped their chicken all over the table, etc. We ventured inside to see the band. It's summer. Why was the band indoors? Also, there were tables in front of the stage with no customers, so you could not dance if you wanted to. You need to hire more experienced staff rather than mostly inexperienced college students and fix all of the above. Needless to say, we will not...

My Parent's house is down the block to this place, so I've been here quite a few times with my family. When you want to have a quick drink with your neighbors and enjoy the old-timey night out, I think this is a great place to just walk to and hang out with some relaxing music. If you're rushed to grab a quick bite to eat - go somewhere else.

I'm not saying that the service is bad, but I felt like I was in Grand Cayman where everything runs on a different, more relaxed time. Things will slowly come out as needed and the only thing that's slightly faster is the beer refills. I assume that the kitchen is not used that frequently, so if you want your food faster, try not to order anything too complicated because they need to make it all on order. As you would cook your own food and 30 others, it would take some time.

No worries about the time, though. I really like the open outdoor seating and those bouncy chairs. The view is decent and the food is good. I really like the interior where they show the different heights of water from floods over the years. Flood insurance must be...

Sonny's is your local go to place in Baldwin Harbor. It's great because the food is good, whether you order a burger or a steak dinner, it is always on the money. I am personally a big fan of the tacos and fajitas. I regularly watch football there and play quick draw. They have it all. The bartenders and waitresses are locals and really enjoy being there which is nice. After 3 years of patronage, everyone knows my name and greets me with a smile, way better then a place with a high rate of employee turn over. We decided to have them host a party for my daughter's Christening. They knocked it out of the park. All of the food was delicious, Sharon was awesome, attentive and never stopped making sure everyone was totally happy. We received many compliments on the day. Stop in for a beer, dinner or have a party. The whole place and crew...