Fairway Cafe

Not only are they painfully slow, they manage to get something wrong every time. Three strikes. They're out.

Ordered a dish. Mix of eggs , bacon etc. I ordered eggs scrambled, however they came sunnyside up. So Isent them back to get scrambled instead they scrambled up the sunnyside up. I couldnt believe it. I was offered a breakfast for the next day only. Couldnt make it.

At Fairway, the great food store just isn't translating to a great restaurant. The food is pretty good when it finally arrives, but you kind of need a strategy to eat here. Figure out what you're having quickly, order quickly, expect to wait. Don't change your mind because it seems like the well intentioned waiter, just has a lot of tables and a lot to do.

Although this place is not ideal for nice lunch/dinner appointments, the food here is hands down amazing! A must have is the classic chicken salad sandwich- made of organic chicken it's so delish!

I can't speak for the quality of the lunch or dinner fare since my comments relate to a breakfast I recently had here. I'm typically loathe to order omelettes at NYC establishments because they so often have absolutely no clue how to make them. Thus it was with trepidation that I ordered an omelette, as did my wife. We were wonderfully surprised, as the omelettes were executed to perfection. You won't find the omelettes to be glorified frittas here, nor will the eggs be burnt, browned or singed. The eggs were cooked just so, and the ingredients properly folded into place. To boot, the pancakes we ordered were nothing short of delectable. I daresay it would be hard to find the quality of the breakfast meal I had at Fairway Cafe anywhere else in NYC, the fancy upscale restaurants included.

The greeting was mechanical. We asked for seltzer,they had none,nor any sparkling water. FAIRWAY the biggest,best stocked grocery store in the city? The portions of french fries and broccoli rabe were half what any cheap diner would give. They never came by to check on us once during the whole meal, nor even to pour water...from the tap. It's not cheap. No one said thank you or even seemed to care through out the meal. I will not go back. The burger was OK but you can get that many places with a glass of soda water for half the price.

My wife and I considered the Fairway Cafe a real find a year or so ago. When we heard rumors that it might close we signed the petition to keep it alive. Last night (5/6/2011) we decided to visit for a steak (after all, the Cafe is billed as a Steakhouse). Big mistake, the steak was easily the most unappetizing I've ever been served -- not cooked to my order and about a third of it was pure fat. At about $100 we were billed for one appetizer, two entres, one dessert (uninspired) and two glasses of wine, the Cafe is not exactly cheap and we left thoroughly disappointed. Perhaps the thought of using the Cafe's space to expand Fairway's retail space was not such a bad idea...