New Restaurant: Abigail's

Do they plan on replacing the acid etched graffiti stained window anytime?

I am not trying to be mean but what is so exciting about abigail's. I have read so many reviews and some not so good and others are ok. The only problem i have with them is the traffic they bring i have lived across the street from that building 20 years and it upsets me somenights there customers are extremely loud and granted it is a saturday night and i am all for the parting but i think they should tell there customer yes we are a restaurant/bar but please be courtesy to our neighbors and try to keep the noise level down when not in the restaurant.

Subject: Abigail Cafe

Hello all,
My name is Jason and my wife and I own Abigail Cafe & Wine Bar as well as Camaje Bistro in the Village. I wanted to let everyone know that your voices have been heard concerning our Brunch Service issues. We have, over the past month or so put on more staff and have fine tuned the way Weekends run. We are still new, but now I feel we are hitting our stride and service has been much better, more attentive, and timely.
Also wanted to thank you all for the constructive criticisms that have helped us get better and better and be a positive addition to the community.
Thank you,
Jason

MOD NOTE: merged from separate topic
-C

Thanks for the post, Jason. It's more than most local business owners have done or would do. Now that you've taken the time to respond to readers' critiques and made some positive changes, I'll surely give your restaurant another try.

Best,
Jack

I've had dinner there twice in the last three weeks and the experiences have been very positive. Great service -- and nice wine specials on Thursdays.

I ate here today, brunch. I loved the atmosphere and thought that the food was pretty good, but the service was (unfortunately) laughable. We ordered bread that never arrived, it took them over 20 minutes (and three reminders) to bring jam for my then-cold bagel. [I thought about asking for a re-toast, but then I figured that I would never see it again.] The waitress refilled our teacups with coffee, and then chewed us out for saying something about it.

From what I could see there were at least 3 people working the not-full dining room. Seemed to me that it should have been enough, but our waitress was complaining about having "half" the normal staff.

I think that it's a great addition to the neighborhood, and like I said the food was pretty good, but, I wanted to like it so much better than I did. Apparently they haven't ironed out the service problems yet, and it's been almost a year.

We were going steadily for a while- but then I got tired of the menu and the things that I liked and re-ordered would be different- so the consistency was really lacking.

I'm really saddened by the stories, but not surprised and have experienced the things you've all mentioned (they've given us the "we're only half staff today").

But- what I really think it comes down to is the fact that Abigail herself is NEVER in the kitchen. If she is there, she's busying herself on her computer, promoting her cooking classes or the events at their other location. I for one, am quite offended that the lady herself doesn't seem to care enough to actually COOK for those of us that come to support her. Yes, she writes the menu- yet she's not even there to provide quality control over anything that comes out of her own kitchen.

Bottom line- she's not a celebrity chef- she needs to get behind her stove and make us love her. We all need to prove ourselves in our professions- why should she be any different?

Update: the food is still not good, the portions are extremely tiny, and the prices exorbitant for the quality of food. honestly i think the people who like the food aren't very knowledgeable of the restaurant scene. there are too many great restaurants in BK to waste your money here.

I really enjoy their food. I like the atmosphere. Prices are a BIT high, but nothing bad. The reason why we rarely go is because we could sit there for FOREVER before an order is taken, then wait another hour for the food, have no one come by to take drink refill orders, etc. We once were seated and then sat there for half an hour before someone even came over to take our drink order. It's frustrating that things that this long, and I don't blame (completely) the waiters either -- last time we went dinner was open but they also had a 35-person private party in the dining room -- and still only 2 people on the floor. it was ridiculous.

Whatchuwant wrote: [quote=xlizellx]We once were seated and then sat there for half an hour before someone even came over to take our drink order.

Peh- I would NEVER. I don't care if it was the best food in the world.

normally i wouldn't either, but my husband and i were betting the over/under on how long it would take since the time before was weirdly quick which was super unexpected. i bet the under of 45 minutes and won. but ridiculous.

This is a shame, because the owner of the place has posted here before and vowed to improve things. I haven't been there in well over a year and have no plans to return, based on what I've read here. I love to support local businesses, but not if it means tolerating substandard service.

I went to that place a couple of weeks ago with a friend. Service was somewhat slow, and when I went it was almost empty. Either way, the food was great and the atmosphere is great as well. The place is always packed in the evenings around 10pm, so it's pretty popular around here.

looks like it -- except that it says it's near the 1 and 6 trains...

I had had a bad brunch experience at Abigails a few years ago but gave it another try last week. It was really nice! The space is nice and big - unlike many New York restaurants. The servers were very friendly. I am glad the place is still around.

TheBurgerking wrote: Never ate here before... Was going to bring party of nine for dinner. Not one vegetarian entree option. Come on get it together!!

They have some vegetarian pasta dishes and a veggie burger (and maybe some other options too).