Queens Hideaway

07/01/08

Are you kidding me?

by VinFris at Citysearch

Ok, First things first. If you're charging me $25 for an uncooked lamb entree and it's not "tavern on the green", it better be something special. I could have gotten boars head cold cuts and slapped it on my plate. It was just OK. We also had hush puppies, which were ok, the hot sauce was pretty tasteless, again $7? I guess that's not too bad for a trendy place. My girlfriend got the warm fish salad. It was again, ok, but would have been tasty for $11 NOT $23!

Something else that ticked me off. There were these $12 pancakes on the menu, which when we asked the waitress if it was enough for an entree she said no... Let me tell you something, I started watching these things being served to other people and you would have to be 300 + pounds not to be filled by them. They also happened to look delicious. I'll be fair on the service, it was slow, but 10 tables sat at once with one waitress. That stuff happens.

Now you're probably asking yourself why did it get all these great writeups? My theory on this is that the people who review these places don't have to worry about price!

Something to know, I never write reviews, but I had to warn people whose mommy and daddy don't pay their rent not to get ripped off by this place. If you have to try it, try the pancakes they were ONLY $12!! Why didn't I get the pancakes? because I stupidly thought that if they're charging that much it's gotta be good. there's an old saying, fool me once... ok i've vented enough!

• Pros: none
• Cons: laughably over priced (like TGIF in Times Square), average food, you're not missing anything

01/19/08

DON'T GO!!!

by mbollocks at Citysearch

really overpriced. food banal and not at all accurately described on the menu. will never go there again. paid 50 bucks per head and left hungry! one of the worst restaurant experiences i've had. a rip off.

• Pros: none
• Cons: overpriced. bad food. small portions.

09/30/07

delicious, locally grown food cooked imginatively

by elisemischief at Citysearch

we visited the queen's hideaway after reading about it in a NYT article on slow food chef alice waters. because they buy all their food from organic local farmers and food producers, it was some of the best food we have eaten in a while. their menu changes based on what's good at the farmer's markets that day. a couple caveats: 1) this place gets crowded pretty quick on a sat night, and if you want to sit outside, it's best to make a reservation. 2) the service and the food are NOT quick, plan to spend at least a couple hours there. SO if you can get over that, read on . . . we sat inside, and the atmosphere/air were just fine. we had the fried zucchini and fried green tomatoes as appetizers, and they were tasty and nicely fried without being at all greasy or overly oily. the fried green tomatoes came with a sweet corn & red pepper hash that was delicious. among the four of us we got a butternut squash soup with scallops, a pork salad, a fried oyster salad and fish tacos. i tried everything except the pork salad. the soup had a sweet, buttery, delicate flavor to it -- so autumn inspired and yummy. the fried oyster salad -- amazing! a delicate creamy dressing, watercress and fresh greens were mixed in with huckleberries and crunchy fried oysters. the fish tacos -- stuffed with veggies and seafood like tomatoes, radishes, avocados, shrimp and a fresh white fish, we ate every last bite of everything we ordered off the plates! we will go back . . . and enjoy a long, relaxing, locally grown dinner again. fyi, the place is no longer byob. they now have a pretty decent selection of reds, whites, roses, champagne and beer. my only complaint -- a restaurant should have enough glasses to accommodate the amount of customers it seats. we saw a couple next to us wait for wine glasses for 10 minutes, then get up and leave. but they were the only dissatisfied customers i saw in the packed restaurant.

• Pros: delicious, locally grown/produced food turned into imaginative southern-inspired food
• Cons: slow service, be prepared to wait for your food!

09/17/07

There's a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll at this quirky, Greenmarket-driven cafe.

by Erin Behan at Citysearch

The Scene
Not much decorates the blue and white walls of this narrow space--in fact, the room is so spare it could easily be mistaken for a low-rent coffeehouse were it not for the open kitchen. Offering up a handwritten menu that changes daily, friendly tattooed servers let diners take their time.

The Food
Chef/owner Liza Queen moved from Portland, Oregon, and that West Coast aesthetic is reflected, albeit with a Southern twang. A bowl of messy but good boiled peanuts tops each table, a stand-in for bread. When available, start with the fried okra or brussel sprouts, coated in cornmeal and lightly fried. Then be prepared for the boldly spiced entrees that grip with big flavor--a leg of lamb rubbed in fennel seed assaults with earthy goodness, and there's not a hint of delicacy about the homemade pasta with cockles, kohlrabi and bacon. Balance it out with the rich salty sweet chocolate pie.

08/15/07

Queens Smokey Hideaway *cough, cough*

by rebeccag74 at Citysearch

Look people, I'm from the south and I know soul food and country cooking...this place is decent. Happy they had fried okra (or okra frittes as they like to call them)...the jerk-chicken is good and the cornbread is actually pretty good as well (not grandma's, but good)...Everyone in our party seemed to enjoy their food, from the seafood gumbo to the chicken pate, so no complaints there...HOWEVER, the service is wayyy slow, and a bit attitudy (is that a word?) and you have to beg for water all the time (hello bring out two carafes if you have a problem refilling)...and you better hope to sit in the garden because the vents in the restaurant are terrible....you walk in and it's hot and smoky and you get a headache just standing there. I would hope they'll fix that soon because once winter comes I don't want to be crammed up in their tiny restaurant sucking in exhaust fumes. And what's with the smoking outside in the garden? Yeah, if you don't want to smell the smoke stay out of the hideaway...just an FYI.

• Pros: Decent food
• Cons: Terrible exhaust problem, poor service, and pricey

03/14/07

A

by yousuckwilliamsburg at Citysearch

My girlfriend, Pearl (a Chicano) and I (a mulatto) were interested in checking out Greenpoint this past weekend. We looked up restaurants here on this website, Citysearch, and were delighted to see Greenpoint has its very own "Soul Food" restaurant. Instead of relying on Citysearch's "editorial" information, I should have relied upon other user's recommendations (or lack thereof).

Turns out we'd never have the chance to review the food, the service, or anything else. When we walked in, everyone looked at us. Sure, we're a good-looking couple and used to people turning their heads, but this felt more like being Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben stumbling upon a Klan rally. Everyone stopped eating, briefly, to take us in.

Yes, the impossible happened...WE WERE THE ONLY PEOPLE OF COLOR in a "SOUL FOOD? RESTAURANT!"

There was one empty table. We waited a few minutes, but no help seemed to be around. I went to use the bathroom while we waited, and on my way back, one of the diners asked me if I could get her some more water.

A mulatress waitress finally came out and talked to us. "Do you have a reservation?" she asked with the mighty air of a house Negro.

"Errr...no."

"We're not taking anymore 'walk-ins'" she replied with disdain, before turning back to wait on the white people like Prissy fawning over Miss Scarlett. Meanwhile, the table continued to sit empty.

My girlfriend and I tried to back out quietly, but everyone was starting at us. We walked, and soon it started raining, and we got drenched. Fortunately, we found the Shangra Le, where our colored money was welcome.

It wasn?t until we got home that realized that Citysearch says the Queen's Hideaway doesn't TAKE reservations.

09/23/06

RUDE owner, too expensive, snobby attitude

by w0lfie22 at Citysearch

I was looking forward to trying a cool restaurant in our new neighborhood as we love to eat out and appreciate many types of food. What a miserable experience. We will NEVER go back. The owner had the attitude as if she could care less if people were happy, unless they were her friends. She spent the night on people's laps, smoking cigarettes. Everything online said it was BYOB and $5 corkage. When we got there we found out they served wine but they waiter said $5 corkage for our bottle. So since we had brought it we drank it. When the bill came it was a $10 corkage fee. We ordered two appetizers and two entrees so we didn't feel bad asking about the fee. We were subsequently shamed and embarassed by the owner saying she didn't "make deals" and was proud of her wine list, and where had we been for the last year. Well, we are new to the neighborhood by a week! So, she instantly lost a possible great customer. Oh well, the food wasn't that great anyway.

• Pros: nearby
• Cons: rude staff, price, attitude

08/03/06

Awful experience. Everything has gone downhill!

by katia at Citysearch

Something has gone terribly wrong with The Queen's Hideaway. We went there a few times last summer and fall and the food was great. We ate there recently and our table was covered with dog hair!

The staff all but ignored us and spent most of their time smoking and drinking in the garden. The food was mediocre and the portions much smaller than last year and the prices have increased from $11 an entree last year to $17 or $18 on average. All you get for this huge price hike is attitude, smaller portions, a smoky garden and having to pull dog hair out of your mouth. What a shame because the chefs are talented.

• Cons: Dirty, staff has attitude and are resting on their laurels. Prices too high, food not what it used to be.

07/12/06

Worst Dining Experience EVER. (Small portions, big attitude.)

by cindycindy123 at Citysearch

SAVE YOURSELVES. RUN AWAY!

Our dining expereince was SO BAD that it inspired me to write my first ever review. Let me preface by saying that I dont mind slow, casual restaurants (in fact I love them), generally Im pretty patient with disdainful hipster service, and I am used to small plate dining (if the food is excellent I will always forgive small portions). With all that in mind, I have to say that even for me, THIS was the WORST dining experience of my life.

1. SLOW SLOW- 20 minutes before our server even came over. 2 HOURS before we saw any food. My boyfriend and I finished a whole bottle of wine before we saw anything to eat. THEN, even after that it still took the waitress 25 minutes to bring our check after we'd eaten. No apologies, no comps, no explanation.

2. SMALL PORTIONS. So after waiting two hours for our food, it arrives and though tasty (nothing amazing, but good) it was the most insulting amount of food ever. My "salad" consisted of 4 leaves of greens. I am not kidding. 4. Now, I love small plate dining, but this was ridiculous. They brought the soup in a small tumbler glass, and it was like 1/4 full, but you can get they still charged 6 dollars, for 5 spoonfuls (maybe) of soup. Come on. I have never felt so ripped off.

3. HUGE ATTITUDE. and as if that isn't all enough -- the place had a weird very negative vibe. Im a server at a place in soho, and I sympathize with servers always, but this was unforgivable. Chefs were cursing about the customers, employees were smoking after telling people they'd smoke outside. Even the cutest place is awful when filled with a bunch of jerks.

Only Positive: Great music, but I can listen to my records at home, without spending $80 on the worst dining expereince ever. Close this place down, please.

• Pros: Good music, cute atmosphere, tasty creative food (but you don't get very much)
• Cons: Slowest service ever, Small portions, overrated

01/23/06

so good!

by monkeyslut at Citysearch

Chef Liza is a sweetheart, and so are her helpers. We wandered in around 8 and luckily were seated right away. Those who came later were told it was a long wait and sent to nearby bars to hang out until their tables were ready. The food is unusual, rich, fresh, and tasty. Try everything. And there IS a liquor license now.