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I've been going to Kate's for years--my roomies and I love it...we travel from Washington Heights to come here because it's a unique, relaxed place with great food. I am not a vegetarian, but I find many things that I love at Kate's and love coming here with my vegetarian friends, who really appreciate a menu with more than ONE choice for them. The Southern Fried un-Chicken is amazing--really believable! I also like the Popcorn Shrimp and all of the salads are tasty. We come here every year for my vegetarian roomie's birthday and I always look forward to it.

The food was okay. The service was a little too relaxed. The corner location of Kate's was under construction so i can't give the atmosphere a fair review - but it less quaint and more worn down. And finally I expected better value - larger servings etc for the lack of ambience and LES location.

It's pretty affordable, yummy vegetarian comfort food in a "whole in the wall" sort of atmosphere. Love the mock fried chicken dinner with potatoes and gravy.

I've been wanting to try kate's for while and finally made it in for brunch a couple of weeks ago. The food in general was good. We had the benedict, pancakes and the healthy plate with rice, beans, steamed veggies and hijiki. The benedict was fine, the pancakes were great (love the big glass of juice!) and the healthy plate (I forget the name) was wonderful...until the bill came. The healthy plate was $9.95 on the menu, but $11.95 on the bill!!! When we asked about it, we were told that the new prices were on the new menus under the counter, but the brunch menus had the old prices and that was how it was. The price did NOT get reduced to the price that was on the menus we were given. Ruined our whole experience- I feel like I have been taken to the cleaners by our local veggie restaurant. What a shame!

The fake steak was delicious. Some kind of sage and peppercorn sauce with Portabello shrooms over a nicely cooked tofu. Its not a steak, but man is it tasty, spicey, and good! I love the laid back atmosphere of Kate's.

Overall the food at this restaurant is a big disappointment. It was not organic. It was not homemade. It was not healthy. The veggie cheese contains casein. It was not presented well. It was slow and unorganized. The wait staff seems unhappy and was not excited or helpful. I have been traveling around New York City, Manhattan and the five boroughs searching for the best vegan and vegetarian restaurants. I have tried and loved many. This was not one of them. I ate the “famous” chili and had fries with gravy along side of a McKate’s burger. The chili was mostly made of very dry and very tough textured, processed, isolated soy protein. The chili was so thick and chewy that I could not finish it. It tasted like it was probably in the same pot sitting there for a few days. The veggie patties that came on the in the McKate’s burger were thin, flavorless, and obviously not home- made. They were like two pieces of cardboard. I am used to vegetarian restaurants that take pride in presenting healthy, conscious, fresh, organic, and tasty food. This place did none of those things. The root beer and lemonade that we ordered obviously came from a soda gun and were a blend of unfiltered water and syrup. This was not a very big step up. Recommendations: Try using ingredients other than textured isolated soy protein; everything ends up tasting the same—it all just looks different.

My meal was great. Kate's features more comforting vegetarian fare as opposed to many other vegetarian places. Service is so-so, but not unacceptable. Give Kate's a try.