Cafe Champignon

Stumbled upon this place by chance on Sunday afternoon. We were a party of 8 — 4 adults and 4 kids. We were seated by the window which was nice. The menu is pretty simple but diverse — pastas, salads, sandwiches, soups and a few appetizers. The service was not super fast but we weren’t in a hurry. You should know that the portion size is very generous here. I ordered fired calamari appetizer but the amount was way more than the usual appetizer plate. Kids enjoyed it too. Juice is poured in tall glasses (and not the small glasses that are often given to kids in other places but nevertheless charging $ 5 a glass). The average plate price was about $ 15. Everybody in our party liked it.

Came here with a party of 5 on a Sunday. It was the day of the NYC Pride March, right on the heels of the news of nationwide marriage equality. I understand they were overwhelmed because of the extra business, but the service was SO SLOW. And the place wasn’t packed to capacity. First, we ordered an appetizer of guacamole and they gave a portion barely enough for one person. I think they could have been more generous considering 5 people were sharing it and all ordering individual meals and drinks so spending a decent amount of money. I understand there is a set portion and you need to order multiple to feed a big party, but again, the portion size was barely fair for one person! And the guacamole was sub-​par, guess that’s what you get for ordering it in a French café. The portion sizes in general were too small and the food didn’t taste particularly amazing; definitely not worth the high prices they charge. After the appetizer, it took another 20 minutes to half hour for the entrees to be served, and then, THEY FORGOT AN ENTREE. They didn’t say whether it was going to be coming out in a minute or what, just completely disregarded it. I had to give the waitress a dirty look several times to get her attention. She then went to the kitchen to check on it and found out they don’t have certain ingredients to make that particular entrée. I was fuming. How could you not notify the patron immediately after they order about this? Instead she made us wait the lengthy amount of time for the other entrees to be served and then an additional 10 minutes til she investigated it, only to find out they couldn’t even make that dish. They made an alternative dish and I demanded compensation for our time and inconvenience, which was granted by the owner and manager, who both came to our table. The dish that was delayed was not charged for, which was only fair. But they DID charge a 15−16% service charge and it was not mentioned anywhere on the menu that this was their policy. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.

Good food enjoyed the bisque. Service is not their strong point. I’d hate to be here if they were busy.