181 Cabrini

It was a cold day, so I walked in and asked for a hot chocolate to go. The barista literally heated up some milk, squeezed in some Nestle chocolate syrup, and charged me $ 4 for something I could have made much better at home.

I’ve been coming here, usually for breakfast, for almost 7 years. The vibe is always low-​key, and I’ve made many of my best friends in NYC here, in my version of Cheers. The menu is consistently good, if not great — though they make excellent omelets.. .the Spanish is a favorite of mine. I usually get the breakfast special, and customize it several different ways with no issues. The few times I go in the evenings for happy hour, I recommend the nachos with pulled pork or steak added, the brussel sprouts (yum!) and the soft tacos. The sangria is not for sissies.. .one of those can put me under the table on an empty stomach.

This is probably the worst bar to go to if you’re a person of color. Nicely tucked on the corner of 181 and cabrini in Washington heights, when you walk in here you can feel the tension– everyone is wondering what are you doing here? How did you find out about this place?
We sit down at the bar and the white hipster, middle of america transplant named Peter ask, «can I see your ID? «I assume it’s because I look young however he then proceeds to ask, «how did you get here because you live in the Bronx?» Which isn’t true. The wonderful conversation continues by him calling me honey and sweetie at the end of every statement. When my boyfriend politely reminds him that I have a name, he states that he has a girlfriend. Clearly I’m not his type?! The feeling is mutual, Peter! This was my first experience at 181 Cabrini but it wouldn’t be my last.
Fast forward to today. I walk in and fortunately for me Peter isn’t here. Its a Hispanic guy who looks like he’s apart of the neighborhood. So I’m hopeful for a more pleasant experience. However every drink I ask about is followed by him loudly stating the price. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if I actually was worried about the cost. Everyone else in this place seems to enjoy it. It’s like if cheers was located in the most redneck town. They all no each other’s name, drinks, babies names. The interesting thing is I don’t believe they’ve lived here long.
Well 181 Cabrini I’ve given you a try, twice. Thank you for reminding me that there are community bars that aren’t really for the community. Oh and your Brunch sucks– my poached egg was over cooked. But that’s what happens when people with no flavor make food.
181 Cabrini, the heart of gentrification! A place where everyone knows your name except if you don’t belong there.

food was excellent, and Kristel the waitress, was phenomenal

Excellent breakfast. My second time here. You should definitely try Chilly Veggie omelette and the Frittata for a brunch. People are friendly. Music makes you feel like in an American diner from the early 60’s.

I can’t speak for the rest of the food but the «French toast» I just had was terrible. The menu said «oven baked challah» French toast. Which I’d had before at another place. I expected bread that had been soaked in batter, and then baked, so the I inside is soft tender and puddingy, and the outside is crispy. NOPE NOPE NOPE.
I am not sure why this is called «French toast.» The bread was warned and crusty, but I detected no egg batter. The bread was dry. I ate it because I was starving.

So when I first moved into the neighborhood I passed by this place pretty regularly and thought «ok that looks like a neat little bar… thing…place.» But since I’m not a big drinker I passed by.
That said since then I have found its excellent secret… BREAKFAST!
These guys do an amazing breakfast. You go up to the bar to order (which I don’t mind at) and seat yourself but truly this has become me and my fiancé’s favorite place to do breakfast or brunch.
Must try!

When I finally saw 181 Cabrini on Seamless I was so excited since American restaurants are limited uptown.
I have ordered twice now. Delivery time was as expected and the food is good, but really only average for the price. It is expensive. It was $ 14 for the burger and fries, $ 9 for the brussel sprouts and the steak sandwich, I can’t remember. The best thing was the brussel sprouts. Yum. The burger was not proportionate to the bun and the tomato and onion weren’t close to being freshly sliced. The burger itself was so thick and small it actually made me laugh when I first saw it. It would be so much better if they flattened the thing out, not to mention easier to eat.
While I’ll probably order the sprouts again, I’ll pass on the rest because the price just doesn’t add up.

When this place first opened it was okay and I gave them a fair amount of visit but the experiences just kept getting worse. It went from «okay» to «no way». The only thing that is good about this place is the coffee. Speaking of coffee, the last time I was there (my last time ever) I ordered a ice coffee. When I got the check from the bartender/​waiter/​busboy I noticed a charge for ice. ICE! I said what the hell is this, he said «that’s how everybody does it, even Starbucks». WTF. So the food is meh and the service compares to that of McDonald’s and Duane Reade.

I tried to take my mother there for a late lunch today. After asking to be seated, we were rudely handed menus from over the bar by the bartender who rudely ‘told’ my mother that we had to get up from our table and place our lunch order with him. NOT ‘explain’ why there wasn’t a waiter service available to do so instead (as staff members sat at the end of the bar eating their meals.)
Rude and nasty service from the bartender overshadowed the nice waiter or host that tried to give us better service, but was dismissed by the bartender.
Weird rude service that made an already dark, dank environment even dimmer.

A local neighborhood favorite of mine, I’ve been here quite a bit and my last experience was great as usual.
Kimberly served us and hit a home-​run, as usual. She recommended the Kimchi tacos and they were spot on! Everyone in my party loved their food as well.
The manager came over at some point to ask how we were doing, amazing, almost a forgotten art in this city of horrible service. His name was Peter and after finding out my lady and I were recently engaged, he sent over two proseccos on him!
Overall a great spot. Prefer the bar area but dining is nice, as well. Do stop by!

Took my sweety pie here for brunch on a lazy Sunday morning and was greeted warmly at the door by a lovely fleet of waitresses with cute accents.
Our drink order was promptly taken and the server returned with a delicious mochachino and muffins with a unique jam. The muffins were so delightful we ordered extra.
The waffles had good flavor but lacked the fluff my sweety pie has come to expect. The bacon was sumptuous and the home fries came with plump cherry tomatoes.
The highlight of the meal was the eggs Benedict my girl tried for the first time; they were an excellent representation of the dish and we left pleased with the quality of the service, food and bill

Ahhhh, 181 Cabrini… my new little date spot! Why have I lived near Washington Heights all my life and never thought of passing Fort Washington Ave?! Shame on meeee… wow!
Back to the review for this amazing eatery… So I decided to bring my boyfriend here for his little birthday lunch since I had to go to work and could not go out to dinner at night… We got there around 11 AM, and were greeted with big smiles, given menus, and told we could sit anywhere. Even though there was only one other person there, being told we could sit anywhere we wanted was pretty cool; I say this because we have been to some empty places and told where to sit!
Now to the amazing food! I had a Coca Cola, and my boyfriend decided to have a Cabrini Punch since he was the birthday boy! He said it was really good… I had the grass fed burger with cheddar cheese and bacon, on a brioche bun!!! Brioche buns are my favorite buns! I asked for the burger very well done, and thats what i got. A juicy… juicy burger… juice drippin… well done… burger wow! One of the best I’ve had!
My boyfriend had the chicken zanny, which he got on a toasted italian ciabatta bread, with sun dried tomatoes, pesto, black olives and substituted the mozzarella for swiss and added bacon. One of theeeeeeee best sandwiches we have ever had… wow, simply amazing with so much flavor. He said he would want to try other items on the menu, but not ordering the chicken zanny every time would be pretty difficult, LOL.
Def. Will be back, amazing service… amazing food and amazing staff! Thank you for such a memorable experience!

Peter is an awesome bartender very attentive. Makes good drinks. Also Kimberly was my server and was great service.

I like this place a lot and go here for happy hour or brunch at least once or twice a month. It’s unpretentious and consistent. Delicious bloodies and margaritas. Decently priced and I’m always very happy with the dinner specials and desserts. I’m casually vegan — if a place doesn’t offer much of a vegan menu, I don’t make a fuss about it and will occasionally eat seafood or eggs if need be but I do wish they had a few more eggless, dairy-​free options here. The veggie tacos are my go-​to and I tried one of the muscle dishes the last time I was here and thought it was wonderful. I’ve always had a good experience with the staff, too. Very friendly and attentive.

I’d rather give this place a 3.5, but as it stands, it is closer to an «A-​OK». I’ve been twice for breakfast and once for dinner. The food is too expensive for dinner, in my opinion. However, its a nice spot to grab a casual breakfast and some good coffee. I wish they had a pancakes/​waffle option though, because the french toast is not great.
Generally speaking, it’s just okay, but given the lack of spots in Washington Heights, I’m glad its here.

I’m so sad to give this establishment 2 stars but the experience plummeted due to the behavior of the wait staff, specifically.
The good:
The ambiance is great. The décor and the pictures were so lovely. We sat on a couch in a window reminiscent of the «Clarissa explains it all» set.
The food, brunch, was decent. My dish, the eggs Benedict with Canadian bacon, wasn’t as flavorful as I would have liked but I enjoyed it none the less.
The bus boys were the actual highlight of the entire experience. They were kind and attentive — refilling our water glasses and asking if all was well unlike…
THE BAD:
Our waitress was awful. She looked Mexican but could have easily been dominican because of the area. This isn’t the problematic part. The bad part is the assumption that a group of minorities entering the establishment couldn’t possibly be taken seriously as patrons. We mistakenly told her 4 when it was 5. When we caught the error literally 4 seconds later, she couldn’t even open her mouth to say it’s okay. She instead decided to put the stank face on as if she was holding soiled diapers and motioned to us in an obvious annoying manner to keep coming to the back. Once all was settled she proceeded to take our drink orders and since there was no apparent order two of us blurted out, by mistake, what we would have liked. Instead of saying «okay so you want» she says «hold on hold on hold on I have to get this».
Uh what.
This was the first and last time we saw her through the entire stay. Oh wait. That’s a lie. The one friend who was with us who only ordered a mimosa had gone to the rest room. She came over to tell us, in the most confusing way, the mimosa isn’t 4 $ without a brunch entrée to go with it. It’s 8 so hopefully that’s okay for him. EXCUSE ME?
We ate. We waited 20 minutes for our bill because apparently our group of 5 wasn’t important enough to grab the attention of three servers who were instead busy laughing, literally 10 feet from us at a video. Another waitress eventually came to us even though the original waitress was obviously waiting around to collect the tip with her jacket and hat on before she went about her day.
The cherry on top was that there was an included 15% gratuity when, honestly, wasn’t deserved. I would give 20% if I knew it was going to the cooks and the bus boys.
In short, I don’t recommend this place for a group of minorities look to satiate their hunger.

They give a lot of food and it tastes okay. If I was Gordon Ramsey, I would say it’s a 2.5÷5 stars. If I was Guy Fieri, I would say it’s a ⁵⁄₅.
They have the worst taste in music. It sounds like ska without being ska.

181 Cabrini is actually a sister establishment to Buddha Beer Bar (
) where you will find a strikingly similar menu for a slightly cheaper price. The main difference between the two is that BBB is a little bit more friendly toward non-​regulars than 181.
In full disclosure, I was invited here by a friend who happened to work here. It was cool to see that everyone knew his name and vice-​versa (how cliquey). What wasn’t cool was the awkward stares from the other folks by the bar. «I wonder who that guy is???» «I don’t think he’s from around here.» Wow, kids, if I wanted to be judged, I would’ve gone down to a drag queen bar.
Fortunately, this attitude changed a bit when they realized I knew someone — yes, now I was vetted! The drinks were okay. The food was… better at BBB. The service was more miss than hit. If it were not for my friend, I don’t know when we would’ve received our order of sliders and fries. (He had to fetch them fro the kitchen himself). I was so hungry that the fries tasted amazing. The sliders were… okay; Nothing too noteworthy. The bar staff (of two) was so overwhelmed that there was no way they could be expected to take care of the 40+ people constantly trying to get their attention.
Moving on.

I came here for a brunch on Saturday morning. We were seated right away and there was absolutely no wait. The bar area was a little busy but it was only because there was a soccer game on TV.
Once we sat at the table we were given the complementary muffins along with the strawberry butter. The muffins were very fresh and soft and the butter was amazing also. I could easily make that my meal they were so good.
The brunch menu had lots of choices all of which came with coffee or tea and a Bloody Mary or mimosa.
For my meal I ordered the double cured Lox with eggs Benedict on an English muffin. I almost ordered the huevos rancheros instead but decided to go with the Benedict.
Food came out quick and was excellent.
Service was excellent also. Our waitress was constantly available and checking up on us to see if we needed anything.
I’ll definitely be back here.