Cafe des Artistes

We had reservations months in advance and they waited till the last minute to tell us they had triple booked (their mistake mind you) and they were unable to accommodate us. Most unprofessional! Pros: none Cons: The worst customer service I have come across to date more

I tell you there are many other choices in this city that are much better. Pros: Our server was cute. Beautiful Art Cons: Food not so good, Service was even worse. more

I went to this restaurant tonight with a group of 5 friends after hearing about a good recommendation (which i am now questioning whether we heard wrong... perhaps they meant that this place was NOT good). Here's a breakdown of the food, service, and ambience. Food: Underwhelming. I ordered cream of mushroom soup, which tasted fine, but then au bon pain could have made the same thing and no one would be able to tell the difference. My salmon was over cooked (waiter didn't pay attention to our medium rare specification), and again, I think I could have gotten this from a midtown deli for lunch rather than a nice supposedly reputable restaurant for dinner as the main course. There was no extraordinary flavor to the fish, and the sauce was essentially melted butter and salt, nothing special or creative. Dessert had a fancy name I can't remember but it was again, not creative or even gourmet, because it was essentially a piece of pound cake with a tiny dab of whipped cream and some sliced oranges as garnish... Really? I cannot understand why people think this is good food. Have they not checked out any of the restaurants on 9th ave in midtown? I think you can walk into the worst restaurant on 9th and get better food for half the price of this place. Service... made it that much worse of a dining experience as our waiter was not only snooty at first, but then became increasingly rude and not only acted like he didn't care, but was smirking at us while doing so. It was absolutely ridiculous. We complained to the manager, who apologized but was also a bit condescending. Come on people, this is not the Ritz. I mean, if you are going to act like you're doing us a favor by serving us, at least check first to see if you have any basis for doing so, i.e. are you The French Laundry in Napa with an 8 month waitlist or something? Because if not, then why treat your patrons in such a condescending manner? Ambience: Two words, FAKE FLOWERS. Oh how tacky. I knew things would not be good when I walked into this jungle of fake flowers... most restaurants like to use real flowers sparingly when it's not budget friendly to do so in abundance. Fake flowers are rarely used, perhaps in the bathrooms have i ever found fake flowers at a restaurant. But I have yet to see an restaurant in NYC claiming to be an upscale restaurant use so much fake flowers for decorations... it's like a cheap Chinese restaurant on Canal Street in there. At least on Canal you get WAY better food for WAY less money. LOL. This place is insane. I consider myself a foodie and have been to a lot of nice places in the city, and this is an absolute JOKE compared to them. Please, for the love and respect of your money (especially now that we're in a recession), go somewhere else... like Bouley (or Bouley Upstairs in Tribeca, Landmarc in Timewarner or Tribeca, Jane on Houston St) instead. There you will find unassuming, alert, polite and competent service, and of course food that makes both your taste buds and stomach happy. Pros: none Cons: Food was sub-par, service was terrible more

Given the inordinate amount of attention this restaurant received following its extensive renovation, I expected, perhaps a bit unrealistically, to be swept up in romance and old NY glamour, garnished by fabulous meals and impeccable service. Cafe Des Artistes, however, is the place where one brings their mother, rather than their lover, for an evening of ok food, stodgy, overdone atmosphere, and service that is, at first glance, passable - just don't look too closely (hint to wait staff: when one orders a new wine mid-dinner, change one's glass before pouring). You will not be blown away by anything at this restaurant, except the bill - and unless Mummy is leaving you a sizeable inheritance, take her to a less ornate place that doesn't over-cook your skate or charge you for an extra bread basket. more

Haven't been to this restaurant in a while but w had brought a guest there for dinner & she loved it.The food is hardly which is what you wo... more

Rating is a reflection of price relative to serving size. Definitely a place to go if you've got money to burn or if dining on an expense account. Also, if you're hungry you will either leave hungry or broke trying to satisfy the hunger as portions aren't particularly generous. I'm not saying the food or service was bad but the appetizers ranged in price from $11-20 ea and mains at least double that.Seating was a bit uncomfortable . I had the squash soup and the grilled steak frites . Both delicious and artfully presented. Restaurant atmosphere was nice. Place was busy . Service was very attentive. more

My wife and I went to Cafe des Artistes for our first wedding anniversary. Big mistake. We were treated like children (we are 30 and were dressed very nicely). Not only were we were seated in a terrible seat (even though there were plenty of seats available), our service was terrible (we were handed off to a second waiter after our 1st waiter was horribly rude to us), and the food was sub-par (I had the braised pork, she the scallops) and over priced. The atmosphere was terribly stuffy - I think the average age of the customer was over 75- and louder than I expected, more like a steakhouse. I honestly believe they did not want us there because they thought we were not going to spend money (we make enough a year to eat out quite often and spend on dinner) - so we didn't. I refused to buy a bottle, got the prix fix dinner, and left immediately after the dessert. I am very disappointed with this place - I would not recommend anyone young to venture there as you will be treated as second class citizens and pushed to the side. Pros: Older diners might enjoy the company. Cons: Louder than expected, stuffy atmosphere, rude staff, expensive, sub par food. more

Might be resting on its laurels a bit, but still a terrific place to come soak in the mural and general atmosphere. There is literally nothi... more

This restaurant was recommended to me by my brother who had been there many years ago and heard recently good things about it. Cafe Des Artistes surpassed any of our expectations. The feeling inside was rich with color and art, there was an elegance that NY used to have that so many miss. It was my brother and sister in laws 25th. wedding anniversary and I wanted it to be special and it was. The food was amazing and we are not easy to please our group of four often dines out in NY and the surrounding areas as well as comes from families of very good cooks. Everything we had from our appetizers, entrees and deserts we amazing. We complimented the waiter on the food and soon after the chef appeared at our table. He is young, warm and very talented ,we had not expected such a young chef could put together a meal so rich and historic in flavor. His name is Kevin Hernandez and perhaps he is NYC's best kept secret. I have no doubt about his future. Overall Cafe Des Artistes was an experience that was so special I almost want to keep it a secret, but that would not be fair to all who seek that elegant evening, with great food in a special place where art covers the walls and you remember when there was a time that old world NY still reigned. To add to this special location we walked across the street into Central Park and took a Horse and Buggy ride. What a perfect evening! more

i love to try all the restaurant around manhattan since i moved from LA and this restaurant with out a doubt is one the best restaurants that ever being in !!!!!!!!! congratulations!!!!!!!! Pros: romantic Cons: nothing more

I am usually not a fan of flavored champagne, but we tried the restaurant's The Fountain of Youth, it was great and we all loved it. The fish dishes we ordered were perfectly done and presented. I was totally impressed by the assortment of desserts served in this restaurant. The Napoleon was delicious and it looked beautiful (Would go back just for another taste of it and very soon! ) The best of it all: the friendly staff members & patrons. more

small place...horrible service....food was sub par more

small place...horrible service....food was sub par more

An Australian living in New York I have visited 20 leading restaurants in NY in the past month. Cafe des Artistes is an 'experience' not to be missed. Intimate, sophisticated (romantic) dining with very good service. Competent but not uplifting food is a disappointing aspect and the restaurant manager/owner needs to take stock of their current team in the kitchen. Having said that the escargot was excellent but something as simple as a New York sirloin was inferior meat and/or overcooked...ordered rare and best described as medium. If you cannot get the simple dishes 'right' there must be concerns...our table of 4 all had similar views of their meals. OK but not good enough for the prices charged. Wine list was good and service attentive. Please...I want to go back...tell me when the chefs are on their game! Pros: Wonderful ambience and 'buzz' Cons: Mediocre food more

mediocre food. old & drabby & shabby decor. not worth the time or money. more

mediocre food. old & drabby & shabby decor. not worth the time or money. more

We went there for restaurant week. The table they gave us was all the way in the corner, a bit cramped and nothing too scenic but we didn't mind. The waitress was pleasant, friendly, and professional. The menu offered had decent choices, nothing special but good solid cooking. Desserts were nice and tasty. Overall the ambience is lacking, it's a bit stale and seems designed for an older crowd. But we had a drink at the (very small) bar after dinner and the bartender was very nice and mixed up fabulous cocktails. I wouldn't go at full price but the restaurant week menu was agreat bargain. Pros: Restaurant week menu a good value, friendly service, prompt seating Cons: Needs a bit of a makeover, a little depressing and dated ambience more

I've never felt compelled to write a review for anything until now. Cafe des Artistes has been on my bf's shortlist for a while so I decided to surprise him this past Friday with a romantic evening there. I'm a total foodie and quite honestly, wasn't expecting much aside from nice ambiance (if anything, i figured there was nice artwork to talk about). Boy did I underestimate this place. When making my reservation online through Opentable, I mentioned it was our anniversary and his birthday and requested a quiet little booth. The place is very charming and they seated us promptly into a booth with beautiful fresh flowers. Since it was a sweltering 94 degree day, we started with the Watermelon and Prosciutto Salad w/goat cheese, frisee and pistachios. The flavors all blended together nicely and was very refreshing for such a hot day. I had the Slow Baked Cod and my bf had the Pot-Au-Feu. The fish simply melted in my mouth and the corn added a nice texture to the dish. My bf couldn't stop raving about the tenderness of his duck. We were debating on whether we wanted to go see "Once" and decided to pass on dessert. Little did we know, our waiter had other plans for us. Instead of bringing us the bill, he brought out a plate with "Happy Birthday" written on it in chocolate sauce, in the center was a huge creme brulee in a heart-shaped ramekin with a lit candle in the middle. It was on the house. This was a delightful surprise. We couldn't have asked for a better anniversary and my bf couldn't have asked for a better birthday. The food, the romantic setting, the service - a perfect trifecta. Pros: surprise birthday dessert, delicious food, old-fashioned romantic setting Cons: drinks are typical more

Looking from the website and reading what they say the place seemed amazing.. It is a cheap american reproduction of French cuisine that is overpriced. The quality of food is very low, the atmosphere is very depressing, and most of the people are above 50s. The decorations are cheap and there is nothing at all artistic about the place.. I guess we should have realized that the most obvious titles are the ones that are Disneyland equivalent.. Situated on the upper west side of central park you could expect much higher service and quality. However, we found nothing like this.. The wait staff was very rude and completely not knowledgable about the food. And all of this for extremely high price... Strongly recommend not going.. more

Went with high expectations... and weren't too fulfilled at the end. I spent a lot of money on overcooked salty lamb and felt that with a smaller portion i would have gotten better quality. The dessert was extremely overpriced - I could have put it together myself for a third of the cost. The walls were distracting and loud and I left feeling like I got ripped off. Skip it. more