Dag’s Patio Cafe

Post screening at the Japan Society
Nice spot to hang out
Good music & atmosphere

This place doesn’t hold itself out to be much more than a location café offering average food at midtown prices. Its about location. Its in a nice plaza and only has outdoor seating. So, if you are passing by on a nice day, its tempting. So too, though, is any nearby bench with a better and cheaper sandwhich from anywhere, even home.
The problem is the buulding is not suitable for food service. The bathroom is a portable latrine situated adjacent to the outdoor space. Its used by many, including some who take up residence in the park during warmer months. Gets a wee bit ripe and a protable toilet is never a great solution — — that’s why they are temporary.
Garbage is stored in and around the space and dragged accross the plaza to be stacked for collection while it too oozes and ripens in the sun. Spent fry oil is stored in a drum nearby. The local rat population loves it during the quiet morning hours but clear out before most people come around.
Food waste is routinely dumped in the storm drain that sits in the middle of the plaza adjacent to their outside seating. Not only have I seen them pour waste content from their ice cream machine but other food waste that saturates the area with oil. All sorts of vermine love this goo. Goodness knows what its feeding in the storm drain. (BTW storm drains are for rain water. Its not a sewer where water gets treated)
As for service, I I suggested to the manager that they shouldn’t dump waste in the storm drain, he denied it and then said it was just dish water and then grunted a F-​ck You! and ordered me out of the public park. I declined both requests.

The Pancakes here remind me of those my mother made for me when I was a child. God forbid you have their bacon on the side and finish it with a Strawberry shake! Love this place.

On my way there for a small breakfast, I saw it passing one day & thought wow it’s pretty to sit outside & watch people while I drink a coffee. Birds flying in the air.

Why are there only 3 stars? I have been to this place several days in a row (and plan to come tomorrow). It’s just a divine and semi-​hidden gem. Frozen margaritas for 5 $ and you can enjoy them sitting in a nice, serene park space. They have live music on Wednesday evenings. The burgers are fantastic and there are lots of other food options but you will never feel obligated to purchase anything. You will never feel rushed here and I think the prices are very reasonable for the area. I love you Dag’s. I’m sorry it took me so long to find you but I’ll make it up to you.

Close to UN. Outdoor seating only. Food was good. Tgey have groupons. Got a veggie burger. Tasty. They also serve booze.

Kody the bartender is terrific. He’s very personable, funny and entertaining. He makes for a fun evening!

Kody is awesome! He’s a great bartender that they just added. They should definitely move the bar around front or to the side so people can grab awesome drinks from him! Rock on Kody!

Right across from the UN, it’s a nice respite if you work in Midtown East like I do. I had the fries while my friend had a grilled caesar salad (and complained that it was dry).
Fries were a-​ok compared to our first attempted option of Shake Shack. We ended up at Dag’s because it was closer to the office, plus we ended up spotting some coworkers. It’s a solid choice if you want to stay outside as they do have patio seating, but beware of the pigeons! And pesky smokers.
Service was very friendly, with their coworkers going out of their way to make sure I received everything okay.

This is such a shame because the environment is great, but the food is terrible and service is even worse! 30 minute wait for a bacon egg and cheese for my buzzer to off, and be told they were out of bread and wanted to use a hoagie instead. Fine! 10 minutes later, it’s ready. It wasn’t even busy. The hoagie was stale, bacon was burnt, and the sandwich was ½ bread… Also, the owner/​manager was yelling at the staff in a condescending way to hurry up over again, which was uncomfortable. Needless to say: Will never go back!

Overpriced and poor service. Had to wait over 30 minutes for a simple burger and fries because they kept forgetting my order. It wasn’t even busy at the time, which only frustrated me further. But the icing on the cake was the utter lack of concern from staff who couldn’t so much as offer a simple apology for the 35 minute wait. Shame, too, because the environment and location are beautiful.

The food here is pretty good. The burgers can be comparable to some of the more popular places in the city although it might be a wee-​bit pricier. But luckily for me, I had a Groupon deal which made it much more affordable. The deal was for burgers, fries, and milkshake.
Upon coming here, I found out the milkshake machine was «not working.» I call the place a month later and it’s still not working… so I’m not sure what the deal is with that. If they would just «fix the machine» or «turn it on», then I can get my groupon deal and be on my way.
With minor changes, this place can easily get 4-​star ratings. Hopefully they can work hard to fix some of those things.
In other words, if you’re looking for a cheap place to eat, look elsewhere. But if you’re looking for an alternative to Shakeshack, give this place a go and decide for yourself!

They claim have Italian Beef Sandwiches but they don’t. When they do I will return. Every day if I can.

I really liked this place! Huge outdoor patio in the park. Cheap happy hour and the strongest (and actually great tasting) punch ever! Soft serve ice cream was delicious, too. Free jazz/​music on Wed. evenings. Loved it!

I never had a good experience here. There door says opens at 8 am every day, but I came here a few times on the weekend after 8am and told they were not open. Other problems include: exceptionally weak coffee, over cooked fries, and everything else I tried just average.

live bands on Wednesday nights and discounted beer/​drinks. great park for relaxing

I’ve been to this place several times. The food is decent but overpriced. The reason for the low rating is b/​c of the consistently poor, rude customer service.
I’ve eaten at Dag’s about 9 times and the ONLY time I’ve received good customer service is when the manager was present. The girl who usually works the front counter is named Kenya. She would rather play on her cell phone or blatantly ignore customers that are waiting to be serviced; she always forgets (or chooses not) to give the chef special requests, i.e. no onions on burger; she give you attitude when you ask for a receipt; and she never says «thank you» or any other pleasantry after ringing you up.
Kenia’s not the only rude clerk. There’s a girl who woks during the summer. She literally just stood behind the counter and stared directly at me, never once asking «how may I help» or some other greeting. So, I sarcastically told her that she’s very pleasant. In retaliation, she double-​billed my credit card. Thankfully, the manager was nice enough to refund the extra charge.

Unfortunately the sandwich I ordered was so bad and was not worth over $ 8. I ordered a grilled veggie on a baguette. To my shock, they took a pre-​made one out of the fridge! I had assumed that everything was made fresh since I saw the grill going. But that was for burgers only. There were legitimately one piece of eggplant and 2 small pieces of squash. The rest was just mixed greens and onion. Really people?!

Shake Shack BEWARE the burgers at Dag’s are much much better and the shakes are too! No long wait at Dag’s and the staff is extra friendly. Run to Dag’s for the best burger in New York!