Juniors Cheesecake Brooklyn a terrible waste of money!
Last night I took my 13 year old God daughter who lives in Brooklyn to dinner at Juniors Cheesecake in Brooklyn. For starters the place is very dated, and on the dirty side. It needs major renovations. Our waitress could not care less about any thing, she took our orders without writing them down and this would be impressive if she did not have to walk back to our table 3 times to ask us about our order because she forgot. Also while we were waiting for our food there was a situation in the kitchen and they I quote "had to call in the big guns" judging from the look on the 4 or 5 wait staff faces who did not want to go into the kitchen (since we were sitting right next to the kitchen) I would guess it was a rodent situation. I am not exactly sure. My God daughter was the only smart one she got the 20oz steak and it was good. I got brisket with potato pancakes it was NOT GOOD. My boyfriend got a BBQ chicken and ribs dinner it had a red disgusting mystery sauce on it that did not taste good, his entree also came with pea soup it was like a paste and it tasted burned. Needless to say neither he or I ate our meals. We also ordered calamari which was okay, and an order of mozzarella sticks that were generic at best like maybe school lunch. Lastly the only two vegetable choices were broccoli and collard greens. Can you say disgusting? The most audacious part of the evening is that after 9pm they add a 15% gratuity to the bill but I guess when you have service like that it's the only way the wait staff would be able to get a tip. On an ending note I think it's ridiculous that they have a woman in the bath room pumping hand soap and giving out towels as the place is anything but classy and the fact that you can look into the unkempt kitchen as you go up the stairs to the bathroom doesn't help your eating expierence. In all this was a huge waste of driving time from Bayside Queens and a painful waste of $111.00.
Moiselover
Mar 28, 2008 07:38AM
Sorry to hear about your experience, that does sound terrible.
Thirteen-year-olds should not be eating 20 oz. steaks. That's allotta meat. I hope she took most of that home.
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Actually my boyfriend took the rest home and he actually cut it up for her!!!
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Agreed, Junior's is terrible these days. The barbecue used to be really good there, as did the matzoh ball soup. Not anymore. The cheesecake remains pretty good, but the chocolate layer cake, which used to be a light fluffy cake with chocolate buttercream frosting, is a joke now. Thick, syrupy frosting??? No thanks. I'll stick to picking up strawberry cheesecakes at the take out counter.
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This reminds me of when my parents took me to Juniors for my 13th birthday. :)
Besides the embarrassment from the waiters singing "happy birthday" (after we specifically asked them not to), I remember the food being disgusting and overpriced.
I have long since designated Juniors as one of the worst tourist traps in the city.
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I recall an earlier thread on this board. Most of us felt that Junior's not only has sub par food and service, but their "famous" cheesecake is pretty dreadful as well.
It's a shame you didn't post here before spending that kind of money for such a disappointing experience.
BTW... I don't think you should feel obligated to explain to anyone here what your god child did or did not eat. We're not the boss of you :-}
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and for what it's worth...while driving around Maspeth one day, lost, I drove by a giant Junior's warehouse...could it be the "famous brooklyn cheesecake" is actually made in...QUEENS?
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Widmark
I wouldn't be a bit surprised. Wherever it's made, it's now so cloyingly sweet that it's basically inedible. Better cheesecake is to be found at pretty much any neighborhood pastry shop/bakery. I'd recc Angelo's on 86th St and 25th Ave in Bensonhurst/Bath beach, Brooklyn. They make a dynamite American (Cream cheese) cheesecake as well as killer Lobster Tail pastries stuffed with french cream... .
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The very best cheesecake I've ever had (Brooklyn or elsewhere) was at "The New St. Clair Diner" on Smith and Atlantic. Alas, the owners retired, and the new owners do not seem to have that recipe.....
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Last week we had an out of town visitor. She wanted cheesecake, so we picked up a marbled chocolate Junior's cheesecake at Fairway. I have to say it was pretty good, better than the piece I had at Junior's. Go figure...
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It was probably fresher than anything you would be served at Junior's
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It's been a long, long time since I had a slice of Junior's cheesecake, but the one I liked (the only one) was the marble with NO topping. Glad to hear it's still pretty good. Up here in the Bx, it's all about S&S .
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does anyone know the spot where Peter Luger's gets their cheesecake from? I know the key lime pie comes from Steve's in Red Hook, I'm hoping there's another BK bakery that's "worthy" of making the dessert list.
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I don't know where PL's gets theirs, but there are numerous Brooklyn bakeries making praise worthy cheesecake.
I like Angelo's on 86th St and 25th Ave. Just ask for the "American style" cream cheese kind as opposed to the Italian, ricotta based type.
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I agree completely, this place is living on its old reputation. Do not GO !!!!
I went for a quick lunch there last year, it took 90 minutes to be served a bad DRY cardboard like-brisket sandwich and dreadful mushroom barley soup, minus the mushrooms only one or 2 bits to be found, came out a bowl of gluey lukewarm barley.
It was so bad and the service so dreadful that the manager ended up buying my lunch.
NEVER AGAIN!!!!
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I am at a loss as to how it is still in business. It's not as though it's a tourist destination. I can only assume that they have managed to get maximum milage from their past reputation, and/or, they have a steady stream of shoppers who are so tired and hungry that they will settle for anything.
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I've been there four times in the past two years for lunch and dinner. The service is poor, the food is adequate, not great, and the cost is high, relative to the quality; about $15 for dinner, without desert. The cheesecake was good.
Health slaw, pickles, pickled beets, and pickled peppers are brought free to your table in Brooklyn when you order a sandwich or dinner, but only if you ask. In Manhattan, pickled peppers aren't provided.
Juniors in Times Square has much better service and higher quality. It's just about the only place I can order Tongue and receive it steamed -- not microwaved -- upon toasted rye for just $10.95 plus tax. At Second Avenue Deli, that's $20.95.
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When we want deli: skip Juniors and hit Adelman's on King's Highway. It's a block or two from the Q line. No cheesecake, but good pastrami, divine matzoh balls and home made knish. For dessert there are other options in the neighborhood...
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Having had many platters of Adelman's sub par deli delivered to the office for meetings, I'd skip Adelman's as well and head for Jay and Lloyd's. Much fresher, better quality food and the nicest people imaginable.
Jay & Lloyd's Kosher Deli 2718 Avenue U
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I went to Junior's last year for the first time with a friend and we were both mildly satisfied. We had calamari and something else, I don't remember, and lastly we had cheesecake for dessert. Long story short, I didn't finish the cake.
For cheesecake, has anyone tried Eileen's? I heard it was very good. My friend was obsessed with the idea of having one sent to her in the mail on her birthday.
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I've never tried/heard of Eileen's cheesecake but if your friend can handle the high shipping costs associated with shipping perishables, she might want to try cheesecake from the following site. I received one as a gift and it was very, very good..
http://www.newskete.com/shopping/shop...
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Sorry to hear about your experience. I haven't been there in a while but my method for going there was always to get a soup and enjoy the free pickles and rolls (if you insist they will also bring you pickled tomatoes but you have to say you saw them or they'll claim they don't have them. This happened to me twice!). Then have some cheesecake! (the whole reason for any Junior's visit) Also their sweet potato fries are good. Otherwise you'll pay too much and be over-full.
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city
We've been pointing out that Junior's cheesecake is dreadful. Unless their soup is incredibly delicious (Which I tend to doubt) there really is no good reason to ever dine at Junior's. Any decent diner will give you free rolls/pickles with your order.
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Sorry to hear your about what happened to you.I am a native New Yorker,I live in Florida now and have not been to Juniors in awhile.But are'nt you for getting they are not famouse for the food.Theu are famouse for the cheesecake. Some places you suffer have what they specialize in.They still have great cheesecake....
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msgordon,
RE: "They still have great cheesecake".
I don't know how long it's been since you had any but unfortunately, they definitely no longer have great, or even good cheesecake.
They may have become famous for their cheesecake, but now its more like infamous
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Had a business lunch at JUNIOR'S last week and the food was pretty good. The Cheesecake was outstanding. Many of the people attending stopped at the Bakery on the way out to pick up a Cheesecake to take home.
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Fleur,
I'm glad to hear someone has had a good dining experience there. Unfortunately, I believe those are few and far between. As for the cheesecake, it had become unbearably sweet and had a gummy, almost paste like texture. If it's improved I'm happy to hear so.
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Junior's cheesecake has been lousy as long as I've been in Brooklyn (15 years). I ordered a cheesecake from Carnegie Deli in Manhattan for an office meeting one day and it was the creamiest, most delicious I've ever tasted. You should give it a try.
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S & S Cheesecake in The Bronx is the best cheesecake in the world. Located on 238th st, one block east, off of Broadway.
http://www.sscheesecake.com/
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