- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Cosmos Diner
Rating Details »
Neighborhoods: Stuyvesant Town, Gramercy
395 2nd Ave
(between 22nd St & 23rd St)
New York, NY 10010
(212) 679-1290
395 2nd Ave
(between 22nd St & 23rd St)
New York, NY 10010
(212) 679-1290
- Nearest Transit:
-
23rd St-Park Ave S (6)
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
22 reviews for Cosmos Diner
Perfectly reasonable diner food. Good burgers, good soup, huge sodas, fast service. An entire sit-down meal during a 1-hour break.
When I have to come to work hung over, a grilled cheese from Cosmos always helps.
I walk by this place all the time. I ate here twice before it was shut down by the health department in Sept. 2009. One time I had glass shards in my water. The other time wasn't memorable aside from the place seeming grubby and sad. They re-opened after a few weeks, but the Dept. of Health web site shows that they're still running a pretty gross ship: http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=deta il&restaurantId=40673358&inspectionDate=20091022
One night after closing I peeked in and saw A CAT lounging on one of the tables. Sick. Now, a lot of NY delis have cats to keep mice away. A little gross, but whatever, I'm not eating off the deli floor. Cat should not be on table.
Turkey wrap ordered had an old crusty wrap. I notice they don't clean the counters where the pastries sit. Service was OK and accommodating to substitute salad for fries. I bet this place does great just the way they are.
Food is more or less comparable to East Side Cafe a block away. Most run of the mill diners aren't that differentiated in that regard.
However, whereas East SIde Cafe is warm and inviting, tends to be relatively packed, and has the nicest people, Cosmos Diner tends to be emptier, colder, and have surlier, grouchier staff. Although this might be an issue of self-perpetuation, there is no reason to take it over the other.
I think all diners taste the same. I ordered the grouper meal ($10.95) which came with potatoes and soup or salad. I was lucky to get an excellent server, she allowed me to substitute the potatoes for a larger salad and she also gave me a side of steamed broccoli. The grouper was very large and came with three slices of lemon. The broccoli was steamed perfectly and the salad was fresh and crisp. As far as diner food quality and service, I would give it four stars but the booths felt kind of sticky (maybe from dried cleaner products?). I wish I could give it a 3.5 star rating.
Lately, I have had two problems with dinner. It's not that we don't get along, dinner and I. We do. I love dinner. I love breakfast for dinner, snacks for dinner, dinner for dinner, even. But we've hit a rough patch in our relationship.
Problem one: All too often I find myself eating breakfast at 1 pm. This means lunch might not happen until 7 and dinner might not happen at all. This also means that drinking time might come before lunch time. Drinking on an empty stomach requires speed and agility. It's a task navigated only by masters.
Problem two: I am ALWAYS hungry after drinking. It doesn't seem to matter how much I ate before the drinking commenced, when the night's a windin down: I want food. I see it as preventative medicine. The more I eat, the less hungover I feel. This may not seem like a problem per se, but I can't help but think that eating before AND after drinking is a touch..... excessive.
The only way I've managed to deal lately is to skip the pre drinking meal, consume carefully and then hit the late night dinner with reckless abandon. I'm talking eggs, hash, bacon AND a toasted blueberry muffin (Yah, I don't mess around).
Cosmos Diner, with it's massive menu and greasy breakfasts, has more than once been the light at the end of the Hangover Tunnel. The breakfast plates bring me back from the brink of what could have been a very, very nasty hangover. I think Cosmos and I are going to be very, very happy together.
They have GOOD PIE. especially for late night.
I generally come in here for the NY Cheesecake (cherry or strawberry), or the Lemon Meringue pie and coffee. The coffee is good, and if you get the right waiter... he'll make your chocolate thick shake like the old time ones.. (although the ice cream they use isn't of high quality). The breakfast fare is average nothing special... but the greek owner and waiters are friendly and do a good job of making you welcome. The high scale big entrees are not worth it, and not done well. Just come for breakfast at late hours, or the desserts w/ coffee. Or, have one of their juicy burgers! :)
P.S. For 10 bucks you get a decent Eggs Benedict - request extra Hollandaise, and french fries instead of hash browns. Plus all the coffee you can drink. ;)
With the possible exception of amphetamine dealers, there's no business more in service of Americans' love of speed than diners.
OK, there's the fast food industry (whose name even includes the word "fast"). But diners (or, as we call them in California, coffee shops), are just an earlier era's version of fast food restaurants.
When I had dinner at Cosmos Diner last night, my cheeseburger deluxe and fries were brought out *so* fast, I had to scratch my head wondering how they accomplished it. I hadn't taken two sips of my coke and hadn't even opened my book before the food was placed on my table. The implicit message: there are better things to do than wait here for your food...or even sit here and *eat* your food, for that matter.
Does it even matter what the food tasted like? In coffee shops (not just at Cosmos Diner, where the cooks did a reputable job and where the wait staff were friendly, prompt and polite), "taste" doesn't even enter into the equation, really.
In this setting, we're not talking about taste so much as "sensation," a more primitive capacity processed by the reptilian brain. Sensations -- not tastes --are what our amphibian ancestors would understand. The sensations at play here follow along the lines of: is the hamburger bun soft; are the fries crunchy; is the cole slaw creamy...
Sometimes, you *want* to go back a step evolutionarily. That's what this kind of food is for.
There are pleasures to be had, here though. One is observing that in coffee shops, cakes are quite literally placed on a pedestal. Or in tall, upright refrigerated cases, slowly revolving like heavenly bodies in orbit. Or in mirrored cases for our ogling pleasure (views immortalized by Claes Oldenburg and Wayne Thiebaud).
And the architecture and interiors, too. Unfortunately, Cosmos Diner was remodeled sometime after it was first opened (1978). The scheme is a gray/burgundy combination, with the counter made of faux granite.
The double seat booths are here, though, a feature I particularly like and one I've only seen in New York.
Food is average diner food, but thumbs up for their 24x7 delivery !! Ordered a veggie omlette, fried fish sandwich, salad and side of fries (at 12:30am) for $27 with tax (excluding tip). Delivery took about 45 minutes.
Avoid anything fried potatoes (I should have known better), they just ended up soggy/chewy.
I happened upon this little diner while out for a morning walk. I wish the diners we have down here in Atlanta were a little more like this place. Don't get me wrong, I love my Waffle House, but the various little diners around my neck of the woods have never impressed me.
I'd recommend it. I'm glad I stumbled upon it.
I can't believe this place has a five star review. Worst meal we had the entire time we were in New York, and one of the worst I've ever had there, period.
We stopped into this place because it happened to be around the corner from the car rental place and I felt like I was going to pass out if I didn't have breakfast soon. It looked decent enough, and cheap, but it was awful.
I ordered a hot chocolate. The waitress asked twice if I wanted whipped cream. Both times I said yes. It came out half-spilled into the saucer beneath the cup *without* whipped cream. I didn't care too much but since I'd been really clear (both times) about wanting the cream, I figured I should say something. I mentioned it to her and she waved at a bus boy who then asked her a few questions, made various hand gestures, then went back to whatever it was he'd been doing before. I looked at my friend and said, "I guess I'm not getting any whipped cream."
I ordered a combo meal that was supposed to come with a waffle, two eggs, bacon, sausage and a ham slice. My friend ordered two eggs and french toast. He asked for the eggs over hard, I said over medium. Both orders came with eggs over easy, slopped on top of the rest of the food. Under my eggs were hidden a janky looking sausage (that taste okay apart from the super gristly parts), two decent looking pieces of bacon, and (shudder) a warmed up slice of nasty deli meat that I couldn't believe the waitress had served me with a straight face.
The eggs and gross meat nearly put us off the decent portions of our meals (the toast and waffle) and the mediocre (nearly awful) service that accompanied them is what earns Cosmos this one (should be zero) star review. I haven't been so unimpressed in years.
Renee - I think you miss the entire point. First, you probably went when it was light out, right? Big mistake. This is THE perfect place to go to after a night of heavy drinking.
Exhibit A - the first time I came here the waiter with the sort of weird hair gave me the best high five of my life. Then he brought me a delicious chili cheese burger. I can't imagine a better way to end a night.
The food also comes out ridiculously fast. I recommend the cheese fries (literally just american cheese slices melted on french fries). It's the perfect item for soaking up drinks.
The only downside is that while you might be there eating delicious lasagna and ice cream (like I had last night), you also have deal with the twenty other people who have all been out all night too. Some times its pretty obnoxious.
Bottom line though, if you live in the area you really have to try it
As much as I love being Greek, that much more do I love it when I walk into Greek diners like this one.
Last night, I stopped in here for a Sunday night snack and a few beers with my friends. We ordered gyros, french fries, and calamari--and about three rounds of Buds. The food was wonderful and plentiful, as is common in diners.
The waiter, Isidoros, was really nice, especially after I started talking to him in Greek. We joked around and then he brought us a free piece of Baklava. Also, in the end he charged us for only half the things we got, and when he saw that we were taking a while to give him our money, he said in his thick greek accent, "Don't worry, guys; if you don't have the money now, just come back and give it to me tomorrow?"
It made me feel like I was back in a lovely llittle greek island, where human trust is always valued more than money--and we gave him extra tip and left. Will definitely be rerurning, if not tomorrow, then some other time soon.
This has to be one of the best places to get your late night/early morning grub on. When you walk in on the weekends you are greeted by the most memorable waiter ever, who not only with lightning speed gets your order but participates in all the antics the slightly less sober clientele dishes out. I usually get greeted much like norm from cheers, when the staff calls out my name, to alert everyone I have arrived.. lol.
Anything on the menu rocks, and the waiter Isidor aka Malaka makes the it taste better with his great company.
Typical neighborhood diner - however, in the area, they get my vote for best due to their fresh squeezed OJ, which is always delicious. Also very fast on delivery - which is a definite plus. Have tried breakfast, lunch and dinner items and they were all good. Greasy (literally) spoon ambiance (if you want to call it that) with the service to boot.......so I prefer delivery over "dining" in.
i've been here a few times late at night with a group of friends. it's always been pretty decent. nothing incredible, but no complaints really. i think my parents used to go here 20+ years ago when they lived nearby which is pretty crazy. i guess if its survived this long they have to be doing something right, eh?
i'll stop in if i'm hungry and nearby but i don't think i'd travel to eat here
In terms of delivery these guys can be sketchy. I called to order food one night and the guy said he couldn't do it when the place of delivery was only 2 blocks away. Granted they sounded busy, but his excuse was its raining outside. I told them I would not do business with them again.
Their food is average, but not memorable. The fact the delivery is shotty makes other options seem more favorable.
my local diner. didn't think it was anything special but i had to note that the service is awesome. the server surprise swung by and refilled of my buddy's milkshake just as he slurped the last of its vanilla-y deliciousness. yea true, sometimes they just give you the metal container thingy, but i dunno, somehow it's better when it's a surprise.
Actually, this is the worst food I've ever had in the city. I don't care how good the service is.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
11/15/2008
Service at this place is top-notch. I have been there a couple of times and they are always very… Read more »
friendly waiter, prompt service, i only had fries and cake but how can you screw up that? good selection. bring cash!
this is solid manhattan diner food. really quick delivery, very large selection, and if you feel like going into the diner (rather than ordering in), the space is clean and spacious. and if you live in the neighborhood, this diner is SO MUCH BETTER than Lyric Diner (on 22nd and 3rd Avenue)!
