185 Bistro — Restaurant in Worcester

Updated review:

Six months later we decided to come back to 185 Bistro to see if the wait times and service have improved. The wait times did improve some: we received our food about an hour after we were seated. But the service needs to be better. When we arrived, it wasn't clear if we should seat ourselves or wait, and the staff didn't seem to know either. Somebody gestured vaguely at the dining area, so we sat ourselves. Our server gave us hot chocolate instead of chocolate milk and forgot an entire dish ordered. He didn't seem very attentive as we had to repeat ourselves multiple times. We did receive a small discount (10%) on the missing dish and received it quickly.

Original:

We were super excited to try out a new breakfast and lunch spot in town, especially with such great reviews so far about the food. Unfortunately the experience did not live up to the hype.

We arrived around 11:30 and had to wait a little bit to be seated which is fine. The entrance is very cramped: the kitchen is right there and seating is off to the right. The waitress took a little bit to take our drink order, return, and take our food order but nothing wild.

But then we only got silverware at 12:40. Meals at 12:45. We were the only people eating. Our drinks were empty and we were not given water or refills. This isn't an ok wait time for a diner.

We literally ate in 10 minutes paid and left.

The food was great! Good homemade bulkie rolls. Perfect bacon and homefries. Delicious apple crisp waffle. But I think their chef is cooking one table at a time, and not quickly either. It simply wasn't worth the wait, especially since three entrees and two glasses of...

I've been to 185 over 8 times in the last 2 months. This is the place I bring all my friends when we want breakfast. There's so many great things about this place and only a few things that need improvement. First off: A parking lot in the back. No worry about finding parking on Shrewsbury St! Also the atmosphere is so cozy and cute! The coffee is always delicious and fresh. I love how expansive the menu is. Breakfast or lunch, there's a LOT to choose from. The breakfast menu is especially unique. I love the breakfast quesadilla and their homemade quiche. Their fruit cup is banana, blueberries and strawberries, not a cup of cheap cantaloupe like most places. The prices are also very fair for what you get!

The waitress is always incredibly kind but she is overworked! Every time I come it's the same woman, waiting on every table in the place. She does a great job considering, but sometimes I've waited quite a long time to get a coffee refill or more cream etc. The food can also take a long time to come out on busy days because there's often only one person cooking. If you're looking for a FAST breakfast this is not the place, but if you don't mind relaxing with your cup of coffee and waiting for really good food, this is the...

How to begin...? 185 bistro landed upon my recommendations for a nice, quaint breakfast diner. Upon arrival around 11:00, there was a line to be seated, as expected; it took around 15 minutes to be seated. But once seated we were promptly given menus and drink orders were taken. As other patrons, seated after us, had drink orders taken, surprisingly their drinks were promptly served, while our coffees were forgotten. But no big deal--sometimes that happens. After viewing and making a selection off the main plate to order. We did notice that the menu points out that all orders are fresh and made to order, hence diners should be patient with the food coming out of the kitchen. One would expect to wait for 25-40 minutes for an omelette and homefries, +-5mins if the kitchen is busy. But to extend that wait to around 60-75 minutes feels a bit exceptional of a tax on the patience that a diner would typically extend to a business/kitchen. I will be honest, the food was not overwhelmingly out of this world, but good. Was it 60-75 mins good? Ehhh not really. Overall it was a nice small location, I would say don't come hungry or have a short time table, but if you catch up with friends or have a long chat you will eventually build up...