Garden Cafe and Bistro — Restaurant in Union City

As a regular customer, I'm happy to share my experience at this wonderful restaurant.

The food here is consistently high quality and absolutely delicious. They offer an excellent variety of breakfast and lunch options that never disappoint - there's truly something for everyone on the menu. Each dish is prepared with care and bursting with flavor.

What really sets this place apart is the superb service. The staff is attentive, friendly, and always goes above and beyond to ensure a great dining experience. They make you feel welcomed from the moment you walk in.

The restaurant maintains exceptional cleanliness standards, and the atmosphere is fantastic - it's the perfect balance of comfortable and inviting. Whether you're meeting friends for breakfast or having a business lunch, the environment is just right.

I do have to be honest about one thing: the coffee is about a 2.7 out of 5 for me. It's not their strongest offering, but honestly, everything else is so outstanding that it doesn't take away from the overall experience.

I keep coming back because this place delivers on all the important aspects of great dining. I highly recommend giving it a try - you won't be disappointed!

NOTE For one of the reviews. Yes they charge a gratuity charge and No they don't tell you about it. In New Jersey, restaurants can charge a mandatory service charge, often called a gratuity, but it's not considered a tip under the law. Tips are voluntary and the customer chooses the amount. Restaurants can add a service charge, especially for large parties (over 6) but it belongs to the restaurant, not the server, even if distributed to staff. (Which hopefully some it is...

Definitely a BAD EXPERIENCE!

Good points: We got a table immediately (but of course, the place was not busy—only 3 tables with customers). Our server came quickly to take the order, and we got our drinks within 5 minutes. Drinks were good (guanabana smoothie and watermelon lemonade).

Bad points: The server took our order but never came back—we wanted to ask about the long wait for food. We got our food after 32 minutes, and it was just 2 omelets. The first dish came, and the second one arrived 5 minutes later. Both omelets were not warm when served. The restaurant had music playing, but there were technical problems—the music kept stopping, leaving long periods of silence. The server brought the check, but we had to go to the bar to pay. There were several staff working at the bar/cashier area, but nobody paid attention to the dine-in customers. We know about tipping, but due to the bad service and experience, we decided to leave only 15%. However, the cashier charged 18% automatically without asking. When we complained, she said that they always charge that amount, and she was not friendly at all. When we arrived, only 3 tables were occupied, and just one was waiting for food before us. Still, we waited 32 minutes for omelets. The cashier’s excuse was that they had many online orders, but there was no notice about this, so customers could decide whether to stay or leave.

Definitely bad service—it doesn’t make sense to come back to...

I came here with a friend to have a quick bite to eat. I ordered a Greek salad and a blackberry smoothie, and he got a passion fruit smoothie and a sandwich.

Although the server was kind, the blackberry smoothie tasted slightly of onions - almost as if the same appliance was used to chop vegetables before chopping the blackberries. The passionfruit was passable. When I let them know about my issue with the blackberry, the manager told me it would be a two dollar charge for a new smoothie (for ingredients, which is understandable), or I could get an iced tea. I asked for an iced tea with lemon, and when she brought it out, it was actually nearly undrinkable due to how much lemon juice was put in.

The salad and sandwich were fine, but I worry that my salad was also tampered with based on the reaction and retaliation in the iced tea. When I went to pay, an auto gratuity of 18.75% was applied that was not mentioned on the menu - please be aware that based on other reviews, this on all checks. I was heading on a flight and didn’t have the energy to argue about it, so we left. Also, they charged for the smoothie + $2 instead of changing to the slightly less expensive (~$0.50) iced tea plus the $2 for the fruit wasted. The bill total was $58.81 with the included gratuity.

Overall, it was a really awful experience. I’m sure that if you have no issues, it would be fine. However, I’d be careful if you have any trouble with your food and just not mention it - or...