Cafe Sabarsky

Wonderful décor, excellent service, but the prices have gone up significantly over the past year. Although the menu is authentic, $30.00 for a tiny piece of wienerschnitzel and a few potatoes is simply overpriced, even for New York City's Upper East side. It's a shame, because I used to frequent this café quite often for lunch, but now I will simply have coffee there. They should seriously re-think their prices. I noticed that it was empty today, which is odd for a Sunday.

Overpriced / poor value. The Bavarian goulash was reminiscent of a mediocre pot roast with a hint of curry. The bratwurst was seemingly of high quality but unremarkable. I left thinking "what did I expect from German cuisine" except that 60 dollars for lunch could have been spent better somewhere else.

Never made it inside. The door staff, on the day (Saturday 10.24) are horrid people. My business associates and I approached to ask about the Cafe, and the militia style doorman yelled at us to get back. He then ignored us for a minute and eventually told us to get in line. I do hope the managers will read this comment and talk to their staff.

With a similar experience quite some time ago, I was reluctant to try again, and only did so because our first choice was, unexpectedly not open for business. I did make it inside, one other time, before and found the facility very pleasant. The appearance of the food was more appealing than the flavors, and the price was least appealing.

I will not try again and advise similar.

Prices have skyrocketed recently. It used to be expensive but now it has become overpriced. We love the atmosphere, the Wienerschnitzel and the apple strudel but the slow service and the long line to get in make it less appealing and hard to justify the price.

Cafe Sabarsky is a wonderful cafe in New York, especially if you crave a return to MittelEuropa, newspapers in wooden holders, a piano, high ceilings, gorgeous chandelier, a view onto the park and the best cakes in the city, usually mit Schlag, served on a small silver tray with excellent Viennese coffee & a glass of water. All the food is first rate, but coffee-and-cake are perfection.