Hamilton’s Soda Fountain & Luncheonette

So many people have complained about the one gulp shot sized glass of water they serve that you would think that would have been corrected many, many months ago, but, nope — that’s how much consideration they give their customers.
Service is BEYOND slow. Food generally horrible.
We are heading into Spring and some warm weather so they will get some ice cream customers but that’s about it.

This was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. We got there and received no attention for about 15 minutes until we were finally brought shot glass sized glasses of water which were never refilled. We finally ordered and after one hour nothing had come. Finally one dish was brought to the table and it wasn’t even something that anyone had ordered. Their excuse for all this was that it was «crazy today» despite there being ~15 people there total. At this point we walked out and went to Bonbonnierre, a far superior restaurant. I sincerely look forward to Hamilton’s going out of business so a well run restaurant can take over its great location.
I’ve never written a Unilocal review before. I made an account just so I could post this.

Hands down the worst dining experience I’ve ever had, and I’ve had bad dining experiences before. If I could give it zero stars I would. We waited over an hour and a half, no water, no ordered drinks. We ended up wanting to leave and when we told them to not bother with our food order we realized that they hadn’t even started cooking yet. Do not come here. #MakeAmericaGreatAgain

Nice ice cream shop in a beautiful section of the west village. Well worth a stop. Coffee malt was outstanding. Soda jerk was very personable and welcoming. More of a retro vibe than true old school. If you haven’t already, give Brooklyn Farmacy a try.

The space is trendier than a dinner. Really nice interior with marble tables and a nice bar area. The food is alright. Not the best diner food and breakfast food I’ve had but still pretty good nonetheless. Service was pretty good.

This was our 2^nd stop after an expensive brunch. Woo to 2^nd brunch! We grabbed a few bites here– nothing special. This place caught our eye because it looks like a cool soda shop. Food was just okay.
I also would suggest not going here in the winter. Doesn’t seem like they have good insulation since the place was FREEZING. Not too many people dropped by this place, but we did come on the cold weekend… Meh.

What a cute little dump! Looked forward to getting milkshakes with my family for a week only to arrive to find one person tasked with taking orders, bussing and making milkshakes. WHY? the place was pretty much full so why not at lease get a busser? So disappointed that this place only looks good. Sorry, but I doubt we’ll try again.

My friends and I came across this place one fall weekend. We were just walking around the neighborhood and looking for a place to grab a snack. It’s a cute little spot. We stopped by for some ice cream floats, don’t remember the name of the ice cream soda I got but it was ginger ale with a scoop of vanilla. That and some fries split between a couple of friends and it was a perfect afternoon snack.

I loved this cute little place! I went by myself since I had some work to get done on a Wednesday afternoon and I am usually more focused outside of my apartment. I went around 11:30 and I wasn’t sure if they were open because it looked empty. Turns out they were and there was one other gentleman, doing the same thing as I inside. I am a Diet Coke addict so I loved getting a diet cola from the soda fountain. I also got a grilled cheese which was only $ 5. It was by no means a gourmet grilled cheese, but like I said it was only $ 5! I enjoyed the soda and atmosphere of this place more than the food (not that I am saying the food is bad at all, it was fine!). I will definitely be back, I live in the village and I can’t wait to come back with some friends to enjoy a milkshake. I really couldn’t get over how charming this place was. Thank you Hamiltons, keep up the good work y

I love this place! you feel like you stepped back in time plus they have a great banana split.
like you are in an edward hopper painting

Writing a negative review is not something I do lightly. I want to start by saying that our server was really polite, had a beautiful smile and was very warm and welcoming. This is not a review about our server or staff.
I wandered past this place with a work colleague and thought we’d give it a shot. Sat down to read the menu, turkey burger $ 9 no sides. No problem. Got a side of potato salad to go with it… The first warning sign was the glass of water we were provided with. This glass was basically a shot glass. One gulp and the glass was empty, poor girl had to come over every 2 minutes to refill the glass because I had freakin sip. Why would you scrimp on water…
Now, when the food was finally ready, what exited the kitchen was beyond a joke. This «burger» was a sorry state of affairs. Turkey burger? Nah, not even close. This was a just thawed frozen patty that was smaller than the standard McDonalds cheeseburger. It arrived on a plain basic roll, with no ketchup, no sauce, nothing. Just dry. A pickle on the side and a slice of tomato with some fresh pepper ground over it (that was a really nice touch). That’s it. I actually felt embarrassed for our server as it was so ridiculously small, plain and crappy.
I didn’t say anything as it was my lunch break and she was so sweet, I didn’t want to create grief for her… But to the owner, or the chef, or whoever decides these things. SORT. IT. OUT. I could have had 9 x $ 1 burgers from McDonalds or wherever for the price I paid for your one, and theirs would have at least come with some cheese or sauce. Turkey burger this was not. Burger this was not. Slice of dry, chewy flavorless meat on a plain piece of bread it was. Write that on the menu, at least I wouldn’t feel like I got robbed.
Jokers.

My husband and I came across this place when walking around the neighborhood. We liked the diner style and décor of the place, so we decided to stop by for brunch.
I had the vegetable omelette and my husband had poached eggs. Portions were smaller than your usual sizes, but the food tasted really good and we were pleasantly surprised. The only problem we had was that we asked for wholewheat & rye bread and were both given white bread, which wasn’t of the best quality/​standard, but it wasn’t a big problem.
Staff were nice and friendly, but water wasn’t topped up like it would normally in a restaurant. I think it is a place more aimed as shakes and ice cream etc, but it was still a decent brunch and I really enjoyed my omelette.

This old fashioned soda shop has been on my list of places to try for some time. Unfortunately it wasn’t at all as good as I expected. It was completely dead when we arrived, meaning we were the only table to be seated. We sat ourselves at the bar at first and realized that it was not that comfy to sit on the stools and moved to a table. We ordered a sandwich each and a milk shake. The food came out fast but it took the server making the milkshake forever to get it to us! We also were not given any napkins or water and had to get up and go to the bar every time we needed a water refill, which was quite often given the cups were about 3inches high. The food was nothing to write home about, a basic BLT with nothing exciting and some other appetizers that were just bland and blah. I really wished this place had some more pizzaz as the location and décor are right on target. It’s really a shame!

I don’t know what happened– the place started out fun and cool, and turned flat and bland. In addition to that, I walk in, it’s completely empty on a weekend morning, and they raised their prices! The service which previously was enthusiastic seems to have changed over making me feel I was in a hospital or something. The décor somehow fell flat amidst all of this. Some quick suggestions:
1-​Add some color to the place
2-​Get rid of the Johnny Rocket 1950s music– the soda fountain concept is cool but forget the retro music
3– Roll your pricing back until you’re a success
From the look of it, the place isn’t gonna last too long unless Minerva is covering the losses!

I love how airy the space is– very bright with lots of natural light. The ambiance made me feel nostalgic for a time before my own.
I had an orange cream float. I’m not normally a huge orange soda fan but both the vanilla ice cream and soda were both fabulous; more creamy than sweet.
They also have rare vintage products like phosphate sodas– didn’t try it because they were out but love how different that is!
The drinks are good– but the ambiance makes this place. I’m a fan.

Slow service. No napkins. No water. No utensils. No condiments.
Waited an hour and a half for a burger and fries. The burger was undercooked and the fries were cold and rubbery. When the food finally came there was no silverware, no condiments, and NO napkins. I will never go back to this terrible place. (Oh, but the busgirl was pleasant)

The place is a cute corner café with a vintage décor. It is not meant for full meals, just a little something. The portions of food are tiny and the taste isn’t anything spectacular, it’s average. However, I do believe it would be cute to get a milkshake with the kids or on a date. The staff is nothing special, just your average servers. No outstanding qualities. It’s more about the appearance than the food. It Is also NEVER crowded.

Awful service, which is reflective of poor management and ownership.
Why are water glasses as small as shot glasses?
Why isn’t salt, pepper and condiments left on the table? Why are they not brought at ANY time during the meal?
No butter with toast? No butter with pancakes?
Why does it take 20 minutes for someone to stroll over and ask if we are ready to order?
Why is silverware brought after the food arrives?
Why does your menu say that sausages come w eggs and bacon, yet no sausages came with the eggs and bacon?
Menu says grilled cheese comes with lettuce and tomato– yet it wasn’t on the plate.
Menu says eggs, bacon and sausage are $ 7.50.yet why was there no sausage on the plate?
You burned the toast of an older lady sitting beside me. Not even an apology, an offer to get her new toast. Just tossed on her plate and left for her to eat I guess.
This place is a bad copy of a copy.
I

Food is okay. Place is cute tho and milkshakes are yummy. Plates are simple but definitely work is you are looking for a quick bite.
French fries have been a disappointed every time I’ve ordered them (about 3 times) and what is mostly disappoint is that the service is very bad. Friendly staff but extremely slow and inattentive which is surprising as the place is quite small and they have been open for a while now.

This disappointing wannabe old timey soda shoppe is a real letdown and a major missed opportunity for what could’ve been a perfectly-​located ice cream destination in the West Village.
Trying to do what Brooklyn Farmacy copied somewhat well (
), and what Eddie’s Sweet Shop (
) does for real and the best of anywhere, this is old fashioned style luncheonette that serves unappetizing-​looking food and soda shop type fare.
We came for the ice cream, which was pretty good for the most part. The All American Banana Split ($ 8) was a soupy mess, and a major misstep, but the plain ice cream was quite good. We tried a double scoop ($ 5), with Cookies & Cream and Peanut Butter Fudge, which were both excellent. We also got a Peanut Butter & Jelly Shake ($ 5), which was a little too frothy and not cold enough for me, but of course tasted kind of amazing since it was pure peanut butter.
The major problem here is that the entire waitstaff was a mess. The place has been open for a few weeks, but it felt like everybody was there for their first day on the job. As an example, there are a number of sundaes listed on the menu, with no descriptions. I take my ice cream very seriously, so I wanted to know what was in each one. After each one I inquired about, our waitress ran to the back to ask someone, and then ran back and tried to recite the ingredients as fast as she could before forgetting. This happened 3 times.
It wasn’t particularly crowded, but we had to fight to get someone’s attention each time we wanted some water or napkins. It’s a real shame this place doesn’t seem worth returning to.