Cafe 22

Spinach grits delicious! Coffee is good. Place is cozy. Young waiter, the owners son is sweet. Tip: Khalil when coffee drinkers come in from the frigid streets of NYC n ask for coffee before they can think straight, get it ASAP. Also young people stay off your cell phones at work. No matter how slow things are. Never heard of spinach grits b4 but damn they’re good!

This is why we can’t support eat each other (black owned businesses) due to the lack of customer service. This review is being written on the behalf of a friend who I recommended to go there and was pissed off due to the time it took to prepare a bacon egg and cheese. It took 45 mins to prepare and it was served with some tough beef bacon that was meant for a dog. I thought it was a beef jerky doggie snack. For 17 bucks for 2 salmon cakes and eggs and no grits is ridiculous. The food and wait time is beyond the clock. You take your chances with this place
Don’t go there starving.

Been wanting to go here since I saw it on Black Ink. I get there it was a big disappointment. It was small, no bathrooms for customers and the owner was NASTY. I drove from Virginia and my family from Brooklyn met up there. The prices weren’t correct and he had a child in the front who didn’t know the prices kept running to the back. When there was a discrepancy over $ 2.00 which was the owners fault he became real street and «hood» talking about we don’t call cops in Harlem. He didn’t know how to deal with his customers and I and my family will NEVER return. Food was good; but not worth the prices and the attitude. It’s a home in the wall and should just be a take out restaurant if it stays open that long. Smh! Try to support black owned businesses and it’s always a problem.

This place is disgusting and I am certain they will be out of business soon. I went here to try and grab some lunch last week. Slim pickings in this neighborhood for sure. I was hopeful that a place called «café» would have some fresh panini options or a salad. Wrong! This is your run of the mill hood burgers and fries kind of joint. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries and then sat to wait. (I barely get a 30 minute lunch).
Waiting, I noticed that there is hand sanitizer on every table (a clear nod to the fact that there is no public restroom here). Gross. My food took forever (over 15 minutes) and then when it was ready, the girl behind the counter tried to charge me $ 10 for it. Sorry but lunch in Harlem from a rundown burger joint doesn’t cost $ 10. Looking at the menu, I noted that it clearly said $ 6.50. She explained that their «prices have changed» and pointed to some hand written signs above the counter. I explained to her, that «prices have changed» is not the same as saying everything in the menu is marked up 50% over the listed price. I agreed to pay $ 7 and she took it.
But alas, that was a waste of $ 7 because my «food» consisted of a once frozen burger patty on a soggy white bun and some reheated fries that somehow were not salted in the least. Inedible. I was starving by the time I got to my 6:30 meeting in midtown. Like I said, I have no doubt this place will be out of business soon. Rising prices for frozen food, and you have no bathroom? What’s the opposite of a triple threat? That is what this is. Don’t go here.

My daughter and I went her for a bite on a Wednesday. The food was fresh and the service was very pleasant. It was small clean and only two other people dining in at the counter. Sorry I didn’t take any pic’s. I had the fried shrimp mac & cheese w/​asparagus. The shrimp were seasoned well! and the asparagus was nice and crisp not soggy. My daughter had the salmon cakes (only two) cheese grits & eggs. They could stand to give 3 salmon cakes with the meal but very tasty. We even sampled the candid yams. It was all GOOD! The only complaint is my daughter does love desserts after her meal. An hot apple pie was her desire for the evening. Nope! They had none. Not even the carrot cake I had heard so many good things about. No desserts in the entire place. All in all the price was right and the food was on point!
*Side bar* Was going to put the tip on the bill and pay with a cc. Server informed us he would never get it. A long story. Sounds like one of those «Hell’s Kitchen» episodes were the owner was keeping the workers tips! smh We left a cash tip instead.

Really good spot good food And hand sanitizer always a plus!!!

Okay okay i would give this place five stars bit due to the fact that sometimes the cuatomer service is a bit shady I cannot. Now the food on the other hand is a different story. The shrimp and mac and cheese are to die for. And I love their carrot cake. Im not a huge fan of their grits. Personally i think i can do better but overall I really do love this place and i will remain a loyal customer.

Friend went there and said the food was excellent. Making a trip this weekend.

I went to a party and they ordered halal food from this place. The baked chicken, rice, string beans and mashed potatoes were amazing. So I decided to take the husband here.
Two Stars for:
My husband ordered some bbq fish and I ordered some smothered chicken. It was OK. The sides were pretty good. Mac and Cheese and string beans. I actually rather go to Manna’s down 125^th.
Knock off 3 stars for:
spent almost $ 50 dollars for this place.
Creepy waiter. Keeps staring and listening to our conversations. This is Harlem, you’ve never seen Muslims before?
Dirty place. They don’t look like they clean it everyday. I told my husband that we should leave this place when we first got there, but he wanted to support the Muslim community. I really hope the meat is really halal.
No bathrooms for a sit-​down restaurant?!

I am a firm believer in giving a place a fair shake.
That being said, this place has multiple issues. I do not believe the gentleman behind the counter was an actual employee as he had to run back and forth from the back asking several questions from some unknown source. I was told that Soul Food was the specialty and being from the south was right up my alley. Almost an hour later a plate was delivered to my table. Mac and cheese, collard greens and fried chicken. The Mac and cheese was edible albeit hard as a brick. The collards were vinegary and very bitter and the poor chicken was so burnt it was black. I actually made a comment that it looked overly cooked and the gentleman walked away. $ 13.50 for what amounted to a terrible meal. I stopped and grabbed a slice afterward. I live right around the corner from the place and if I have to walk across town just to get something better I will.

I went on a brunch date with a good friend I hadn’t seen in a while, we thought we’d support this Harlem venue many had raved about. YUCK!!! The look of the spot is quite homely but, sometimes «you can’t judge a book by its cover»; when dealing with a restaurant/​food spot that may not be the correct strategy. The staff was engaging and walked in and out of the restaurant handling personal business often. The staff had no gloves or hair coverings. The food was not appealing either. How can you mess up breakfast, granted wheat toast doesn’t make the same frenchtoast but, where was the «french». The fruit they use as topping is from frozen packages and the did not add the whip cream that I paid for as stated on the menu. If they can jack up «easy» meals I dare not try any other foods. I am disappointed in this venue that could be a Harlem Gem. Don’t eat there!!!

Unfortunately I’m forced to give this place at least one star, otherwise, I’d give them zero! I dined at Café 22 for Sunday brunch twice during the Spring. My first experience was pretty OK; the menu was ridiculously overpriced but I was willing to look past that. There was a significant wait time receiving my food, but overall, my meal was good.
During my second visit, I ordered the same meal I had when I was initially there approximately two weeks prior. The wait time was consistent, LONG, but the food portions and prices had drastically changed. I asked the young lady at the register about a possible menu/​price change since my previous visit. I had a side order of 7 jumbo shrimp for 9.99 during my first visit, but was given a side order of 2 jumbo shrimp for 9.99 during my second visit. The young lady, who was very nice, went to the back to ask for confirmation on menu/​price modifications.
A skinny young kid (regardless of his age, I refuse to refer to him as a man, since his behavior was the antithesis of how a man should ever conduct himself in a service oriented environment) emerges from the kitchen and begins questioning my grievances. About 30 seconds into explaining what was happening, the kid gets irate and defensive, declaring that there’s no possible way I received a bigger portion, etc., and proceeds to storm off back into the kitchen. Restaurant management 101 Café 22 owners: don’t designate a child to be the voice/​face of your restaurant, and argue with your customers. That incident was a clear sign that my money was not needed or wanted at your establishment. Believe me, I heard the message loud and clear, and have been content with taking my business elsewhere. My hat goes off to the young lady at the register who remained professional, and even apologized for the actions of the boy posing as a man.

The salmon cakes eggs and grits are top notch. But be very patient when waiting on food.

Grace and Peace! I needed a friendly «HARLEM» neighborhood place to quickly get a quality and reasonable meal and do my real estate business with clients. It’s perfect. It has character, entertaining locals and pleasant staff.
Didn’t want to impress anyone just wanted the basics tastefully. Also, he has the BEST salmon cakes on the planet! Pan Pan and MG’s are gone, but they were greasy spoons this one is not. Also, if I want to quickly look at a newspaper there are papers on the tables and there is a TV for quick news. No Loud music, loud unruly kids, just a nice place to do business. I highly recommend it!
Last vestage of the“good old Harlem with a younger owner!“
If you want anything else go across the street to IHOP!

I believe I’ve found a good «Diamond in the Rough» with this one… Good for takeout. A little pricey, but good food.

Service is poor. Food is between nothing to write home about and just plain bad. Recommend finding another place to spend your money.

Just spent forty minutes with my girlfriend and brother. The place is dirty the staff was wearing sandals. We waited and waited I asked for coffee and water three times it never came. On the third request for water our waiter asked us what we were having after having taken our order thirty minutes before. We walked out!!!

Me and my two little ladies (10 and 3 years old) had lunch here just because I liked to give «off the beaten path» businesses a try. It’s not the most visually appealing place I have to say but it kinda gives off that «Old Harlem» vibe… just a little. I ordered Pancakes & Fish for my finicky 10 year old and Fish and Chips for me and the baby. My 10 yr old was very happy with the flavor of her food and that told me from the start we may have found something in this small place. My 3 yr old couldn’t stop eating the fish and wanted nothing to do with the Chips. Not that they didn’t taste good just that the fish was better. Personal I enjoy the Fish and Chips as well. I’m not a Pancake guy (prefer Waffles). The only issues I had with the place was the plastic cups for serving drinks. I really dislike that, give me glass please. Secondly, although not horrible, some interior updating and cleaning would do wonders for business. Also, the counter should be a spot I want to sit at to eat not just a resting place for newspapers, cleaning towels and empty cake holders. Lastly, if the fridge holding the bottled drinks is going to be visible keep it full and whip it down. Overall, I say give it a try. It’s better than spending the same money at the local Chinese spot knowing 90% of that food isn’t good for you anyway. This is a good food spot.

Hello Everyone,
Here goes. I think that Café 22 has so much potential. I will tell you this have the salmon cakes! Have the salmon cakes. Yes the mac and cheese is a bit oily but not so bad. The yams were too sweet for me, personally.
My friend had the grilled salmon with sauteed spinach and mac and cheese. She gives the spinach a hi 5!
I think the owner and customers were very friendly!!! I think there could be some improvements but they have been there for 9 years. So, I think they are doing something right!

We decided to order from here after seeing good reviews on MenuPages — huge mistake. After calling for delivery, we were informed that there wasn’t delivery after 6pm. We decided to order anyways and get takeout, but we should have just left things well enough alone. From the rude glares that we faced as we walked into the place, to the sub-​standard quality of the food, it was a complete waste of money and tastebuds. The fried chicken pieces were miniscule and cooked to a burnt mess. The greens were lackluster and the macaroni and cheese was an oily mess. You’d be better off cooking for yourself than ordering take-​out from here.