TriBeCa

Visited here at the weekend with my girlfriend. Seating arrangements were not the best, we felt like we had been sat a table that had just been separated from another table and could practically hear the other couple beside us conversation. We were going to ask if we could move as there was spare seats, but we never bothered.
We had a groupon voucher and I ordered a hot dog and my girlfriend got a burger food arrived quickly and I was happy with the food and portion size and so was my girlfriend .
We both decided to order desserts. My dessert arrived with no spoon. Also we never got any napkins for our desserts .
I would visit again but think a a couple of things can be improved upon.

I tend to be suspicious of trendy places but the burger here was great. A strong 4 stars with good meat and bun but I wish I tasted more cheese than pickles.
Will probably come back to try the DIY burger on the evening menu.

I was here on an ITISON voucher for 2 burgers for £10.
The first problem I encountered was trying to call to book a table. I was on hold on an automated service at queue position 3,2,1 etc for 17 minutes before I gave up and booked online for the following day (you can’t book online for the same day.
The email I received advised that they had received my booking request and would be in touch by email or phone to confirm the booking, no confirmation was received, I rocked up the following day and explained and about this and they found us a seat downstairs which is ok but not as nice as upstairs. The girl who seated us said that they had been ignoring the phone which had been ringing off the hook to serve customers. So me holding on the phone for 17 minutes was a total waste of time and money (premium number) as they weren’t even answering their phone!
The voucher advised a veggie option was available and I was discussing this with the waiting staff. I asked how the chips were cooked and they advised that they were cooked all in with the meat and chicken etc so I advised that as a vegetarian I couldn’t eat those and agreed on a side salad with my falafel burger which I thought was fine, until it arrived and was breadcrumbed and deep fried! I asked the waiting staff if this was then cooked in with the meat too and they said yes. I was somewhat hacked off at this, given that we had just had the conversation about the chips not being suitable if they were cooked with chicken etc, the guy was apologetic and took the plate away. I went through everything on the menu to see what would be suitable and agreed on fajitas as they are on a separate grill, this was good although they didn’t have any guacamole for it which is pretty basic.
So I sat whilst my husband ate his burger (he’s not veggie) and he was finished well before my food arrived. The 2 star rating is based on my husband saying his burger was nice. As a vegetarian I really could never come back here when they give no thought to how their food is prepared. Please pull up your socks as this place could be great.

Nice addition to the Bruntsfield scene, with big picture windows and booth style seating (although they are a bit snug when trying to accommodate 4 people). Service was good. Went not long after opening and, as I’m originally from the West Coast, I felt Tribeca’s Glasgow roots shone through in the waiting staff’s relaxed style and it made me homesick. Menu wise was looking for a bit more of a true New York edge. However I’ve not been to try their Brunch menu yet and I did enjoy my chicken and waffles and their take on poutine, but not much else on their dinner menu grabbed my attention. Would however give it a second go to see if their strength lies is their Brunch fixings.

An American dining experience in Bruntsfield. From their origins on the West Coast of Scotland this is their 4^th restaurant and they have opened only a couple of months back.
Even though they’ve had quite a bad start, reflected in many reviews being quite awful. We were undeterred and wanted to give it a go.
The setup is indeed meant to be American Diner /​ice-​cream parlour kind of set up. However they compromised on actual space and it feels quite smallish and crammed. It is easy to spot the bottle necks where passing areas are only 1 person wide.
Also their entrance is quite badly executed. It opens inwards and at least 3 seating arrangements are affected by the coming and going of customers.
If I can give it a more accurate description I’d call it a pleasant Truck Stop.
It felt like being on the losing team of the apprentice and sent to «The Caf» to overthink your mistakes
The food itself is more substance than taste, or style.
Burgers, nachos, hot dogs and American pancakes.
It is difficult to describe the taste as it was all rather bland.
As they had yet (still) to get their alcohol license it was all BYOB, which took some diners by surprise.
Although they have other restaurants, this one incarnation doesn’t seem to be organised or well presented.
Perhaps the standards for a dining experience on the West Coast are different from Edinburgh?
Having lived in Greenock for a while I can attest that a place like this would actually be an improvement for that area. But in Edinburgh no so much.
I cannot recommend this if you are looking for nice atmosphere and a tasty meal.
If you are just looking for a lot of food to fill yer belly — go ahead.

I thought I give Tribeca a try after having read all the not so charming reviews. Well yes, people seem not very pleased with the food nor service and still I rather make my own experience :-)
I booked a table the night before for 5pm and had no problem queuing. I arrived just in time to be seated and whilst I waited for my friends I had ordered a strawberry and banana smoothie that was just right and refreshing after a good walk. As they have quite some choice on smoothies I asked a bit of advise from this charming blond glaswegian waitress. She was such a delight.
For my main I ordered beef nachos with cheese and all the side sauces came with it, like salsa, guacamole and sour cream. Yum yum. My friend also ordered nachos but with chicken, which was a bit disappointing. Having said this, we mentioned that we did not like this food and the manager was very understanding and took our feedback with the offer to take the dish off the bill. I personally think this was a very nice gesture. May I just say that there was nothing wrong with the chicken nor the nachos. We just did not like the flavour not the texture it was served.
Anyway, I came there specifically for the pancakes, but because the nachos starter portion was already so large I felt really full and was not able to order any more solid food. I went for a good old Americano instead and was not disappointed!
Well, I still had a little nibble of my friends pancakes, which were served with whipped cream and berries and the additional amazing tasting vanilla ice cream. I really loved the ice-​cream whilst the pancakes were a bit too thick for me and too floury.
It is true that the service is still a bit on the slow side and that sometimes not all waitresses are very attentive and some questions come several times, but personally I thought it very nice that they asked twice than not at all, if we have everything and all was ok. The Tribeca staff was very attentive and friendly.
Also, in the beginning they tell you that it’s a BYOB and that they don’t have an alcohol license yet. This is perfectly ok. If you need alcohol I am sure there is a grocers around the corner :-). But for the softies amongst us, I can say they do some amazing smoothies and shakes!
I like the interior of this place. It’s funky and bright. The American diner style is definitely presented.
Toilets are downstairs and near the kitchen. We can only hope that the health standards are kept top notch!
Other than that, for me, it was a nice experience and I will definitely be back to try the pancakes with maple syrup :-)

I’m willing to give TriBeCa another, erm, try. I came here with friends for a birthday brunch and had a good time, but that was more to do with the company than the eatery.
Food took a really long time to come, but once it did arrive it was a good feed. I ordered the full breakfast, which covered pretty much all the breakfast bases and was tasty.
I didn’t like the tea very much, can’t place a finger on it but it just wasn’t that great. The service was ok, like I say we had to wait a long time until the food arrived. Waitress was pleasant and helped us back upstairs with my friend’s baby and buggy, so definitely a thumbs up for helping out with that.
Budget-​wise, it’s not too expensive but hardly a bargain. I think my breakfast was just shy of a tenner. Add in tea and it was around the £12 mark. Atmosphere was lively and as they don’t book tables you kind of just have to wait at the front door until they get you a spot. So if it’s a busy weekend morning, expect to wait.

I have been here 5 times since they have opened! Partly, I’m American and have been missing large portions in restaurants (often enough to take home half!) and partly I’ve wanted an enormous milkshake or a build-​your-​own burger (there are about 40 different toppings to choose from), and partly I’ve just wanted to see what all the excitement was about.
So here is my mixed bag review. Overall, good, with one negative (large group, being seated downstairs, and one timid waitress).
So, brunch is a great meal: breakfast, lunch, what’s not to love. They do a good job of giving you the enormous American pancakes and the huge brioche French toasts and gigantic omlettes (I couldn’t finish mine and took half home). If you are seated upstairs, I think you’ll be lucky because that’s where the most attentive service is. As is evident from the queues to eat on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30am-2pm, this is one popular brunch spot and you may be out off by having to put your name down and wait anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 between those hours. I highly recommend getting up just a teeny bit earlier to beat that rush to get a table straight away at 11am. In the evenings, you can book a table which I think is absolutely necessary with a large group and optional with pairs.
Now to some details. I LOVE their sautéed greens side. Completely Southern and very tasty. Another amazing side is the macaroni & cheese. People love their sweet potato fries, too. I enjoyed their side nachos and personally think you could make them a meal with the generous helping of ground beef. Also amazing are their crayfish tostadas. If you are very hungry, it’s possible the crayfish tostadas won’t fill you up, but they are amazing. Highly recommended. The omlette was a bit dry/​slightly slightly overlooked. Nothing terrible, just what I noticed (it is eggs, afterall and the version I ordered had a lot of meat in it that also needed to be well-​cooked). The full breakfasts are what you would expect only much larger portions than at a place like Bruno’s or Loudon’s or Montpelier’s (which all do brunch but in more normal sized portions). The pancakes are a bit floury for my taste, but they are that kind of hearty American pancake breakfast and the maple syrup is real. (Thumbs up for that) They also have root beer… yummm. American expats, this is your spot for a rootbeer float (it was good, although I don’t know why it looked pink). They do build your own burgers with almost any topping under the sun including things like pulled pork and fried eggs and various kinda of cheese and guacamole. The bean burger, which my friend had one of the times looked especially awesome for those vegetarians out there. I have yet to try the build-​your-​own-​donut, but it’s only a matter of time. The milkshakes look like your classic American diner milkshakes and are so filling you’ll need a separate trip to enjoy one. For a memorable main, I had a tempura sea bass pasta dish where the pasta noodles were deliciously spicy and the fish was good. Another friend had the now classic waffles and chicken fingers which looked good. Someone else had the chicken Ceasar salad which was fairly decently large for a salad although I don’t know if you’d want to eat that if you’re hungry. I wish I had photos of all the dishes, but I’ll upload the ones I do have.
If you are a student, you are going to love their discounted Tuesday night dinners. The steaks on the menu aren’t included in the discount, but almost everything else is and it is a whopping 50% off! Honestly, it is a fantastic deal. One of the Tuesday nights I are there (I’ve been twice), I paid a total of £7 for a side, a main, and a dessert. It is hard to cook for one person for less than that! So I recommend the Tuesday night deal.
And for the one negative aspect. They are very very busy with the opening. They’re still waiting on their liquor license to sell, their inventory can sometimes have off-​days (no truffle oil), and their new staff are trying to keep up. I had a great experience with service on all but one occasion when one of the shy waitresses misinterpreted how I spoke to her and, I think, took offense and when I asked her to turn down the music, bring another menu, and to return after everyone had made their decisions to order. In fairness to her, I basically shouted at her to ask the music to be turned down and bring another menu. It was unintentional, but that’s what happened. However, after that she didn’t have the courage to come back to our table to take our orders and as we were a large group, it was going to take some time. So, it was disappointing to have our table avoided while she served other groups. Eventually the manager stepped in and looked after us, but this all did take some time and, all told, from the time we walked in the door until we finally placed our orders it was about an hour. Not a stellar moment.
All in all, a good new spot with generous food portions. Just book ahead!

Today was a bad day for TriBeCa, that’s for sure.
Unfortunately the premises did not have a gas supply, as a result there was only two options available on the menu, pancakes or waffles.
My chum and I ordered burnt/​bitter coffee as we waited in anticipation for our microwaved/​car bonnet heated pre made pancakes. I’m not sure what was more disappointing, the cremated coffee beans or the poor strawberry to pancake/​play doh frisbee ratio? Either way it
wasn’t pleasant!
The staff were certainly friendly however the phrase farts in phones boxes come to mind. The restaurant wasn’t very busy at 11am so waiting 25 minutes for a glass of water in my opinion was a bit much (particularly when you have two meals in the menu, not even toast.)
To top it all off I paid £26 for 2 portions of play doh shaped discus and 2 stewed plimsoll coffees. The waiter didn’t even wear a mask when he took my money!
Perhaps they were just having a bad day, but I very much doubt that.
Rotten.

On a different review site a lot is mentioned of the lack of cleanliness here, and it’s clear why. You can instantly see total chaos, unorganised back bar, stuff everywhere, cramming deliveries anywhere possible, just a mess. A bad sign in any eatery with pride. Especially a brand new one!
Anyway, in short, our full brekkie at £10 and ‘huevos rancheros’ for £8, were poooooor. Toast too thick and stale to eat. You’re offered crispy or reg bacon, we asked for crispy, the bacon was barely cooked and all stuck together. Locally sourced sausages my bum. They were cheap and nasty. I put our other dish in inverted commas because it was nowhere near to being Mexican. I got a square metal skillet thing containing half a tin of chopped toms, 2 slivers of red pepper and 3 pieces of chorizo, topped with 2 barely poached eggs. Horrible and pathetic.
Don’t do Mexican if you really really canny, and don’t NY specials if you can’t either. This place is all front in every respect. Customers deserve better.

We were seated downstairs, which is not ideal, but not awful either. There were 8 of us, and we all had different dishes. My main complaints were that, even though the restaurant does not yet have its liquor license, they also did not have tomato juice for a Virgin Bloody Mary. They also were out of the ingredients for the peach smoothie, but that might be because they have just opened and have not worked out the inventory yet. The eggs Royale were tasty, but the truffle fries were very skinny with some I melted cheese thrown on top.
Also, my boyfriend had The Brooklyn, which is WAY overpriced. We may go back after the restaurant has been open a little longer.

I’m giving three stars because I hope today was teething, but based on the number of other restaurants they seem to have, I’m not so sure…
I came here for brunch today (Monday) and it was busy. Loads of mums and prams. Child friendly for sure but the prams made for pretty cramped walkways.
The good:
The setting is attractive and staff are friendly. The bathroom and baby changing area were spotless. Food came quickly.
The bad:
We were seated about ten minutes before even getting menus, which was weird. Once we ordered, the food came quickly but it was pretty abysmal. We both ordered waffles which were tough and gritty, as though they had been pre cooked and reheated, and made with un-​disolved granulated sugar. £7.50 got me a sad looking plate with two not nice waffles. I also ordered a topping of strawberries, which arrived completely whole, under ripe and straight from the fridge.
People around us were waiting for ages for drinks and complaints resulting in comped food and drinks all over the place.
Despite the bad breakfast, I would come back to try what I hear are very nice nachos and milkshakes. Hopefully by then the kinks will be worked out.