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Categories: Vegetarian, Sandwiches
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - South SideGraham Ave (L)
Metropolitan Ave-Lorimer St (G, L)
"oh HELLS yeah.... even though i think Nick's in the EV is a little better these sandwiches are fugging delicious! and only $5. i never…" read more »
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I'm basically at Phoebe's a few times every week since I moved into the neighborhood. I am a freelancer so I do work there to get out of the house. During weekdays, the place is generally packed with people like me. People on their laptops and cellphones, doing work. It's a very community oriented place and it's typical to see familiar faces.
The coffee is good. I like strong coffee. The prices are a little high, but the food really is delicious. It takes forever, but I never tend to notice since I'm not in a rush. From their amazing veggie burger (I'm not even vegetarian) to their bagels, everything is just really delicious.
I'm not sure how I'd view the place differently if I was a different type of customer, but from a regular's view, it's where you can always find me!
cozy little place, convenient off the L line, the usual coffee sipping white apple laptop bloggers upfront, unshaven hipstarrss in the back patio with their social anxiety disorder flaunting the newest iphones.
kitchen took longer than expected, service could be faster, but the food was very good and made up for it. I had the Tempeh Ruben, which was very delicious, best meal after running 13.5 miles. Everyone with me enjoyed their meal, food portion was right enough where nobody had to box their leftovers.
oh yeah, they do have stuffed grape leaves
ugh.
had some out of town friends in for the weekend and figured phoebe's would be a great spot for brunch and everyone who doesnt eat meat to get a good hungover brunch right near our apartment
there were 6 of us so i'll try to be a little lenient, but even our coffee took at least 10 minutes and our meals had to have taken at least a half hour to get to us (being hungover and hungry, this is an eternity). then it just wasn't that good at all. and ive heard good things about this place from numerous people, including my roommate. who had been here a few times
he got the ruben and couldnt even finish it. i got the dressed eggs and actually enjoyed them, then they forgot an order of the southern potatoes, messed up our one friends order who is lactose intolerant and overall just an unenjoyable brunch. paying for the brunch was pretty painful
we all wanted to go home, go back to bed, get up and do brunch over at harefield or even daniella's diner
maybe i'd go again just for coffee or the granola or something, try and sit outside and listen to good morning music. buuut even though it's super close i doubt i'll be going back
I'm baaacck..after a 2-month hiatus in SF, and Phoebe's serves as my office away from home. They've clearly done some renovations, and the place looks great. There's a whole new flavor in the summertime, with the garden open and the occasional movie screening at night. Yummy vegan sandwiches and salads. Mama's trying to cut down on the sauce a bit, but happy hour from 4-8 means 2 for 1 drinks. I'm just sayin'.
I don't get the bad reviews, because I've had overall positive experiences here. I guess it depends… Read more »
Super delish! I got a tempeh BLT, which had a great smoky flavor, a garlicky spread, and surprisingly good tomatoes for February. My eating friend had the veggie burger, which was served super fresh (I love when you can see the big chunks of veggies in the burger) and on great bread. Top it off with a plate of sweet potato homefries to share, and it's a perfect lunch date. There are at least two more vegetarian sandwiches I'm looking forward to going back and trying.
Great music the whole time, wifi, and no problem finding a seat. Minus one star for waiting a little longer than would be expected for our food, and having to go to the counter to ask for our check.
I guess my mistake is trying to eat here. All the "it's a coffee shop where you can sit with coffee in a shop" reviews are all A++++++, right? I've come here maybe 10-15 times over the past couple years, and I generally leave wondering why I came back again.
Cute patio, decent food, friendly enough waitstaff, blah blah blah, and that all goes into the toilet when your brunch companion has to wait a fucking hour for A WAFFLE. Or 45 minutes for granola. Or you get to watch your order congeal on the counter while people who came in 20 minutes after you are getting served. Or you never get your juice in spite of 10 earnest requests. Or your order is wrong and it takes literally 40 minutes for someone to make a new one. And no one ever EVER apologizes, comps your drink, or does anything beyond giving you a "so what?" shrug for inconveniencing you and providing ridiculously erratic service/starving half the table for no clear reason/spilling a drink in your shoe, because apologizing must be for old people and freemasons or something.
You just shouldn't have weekend brunch or table service if you can't, say, serve tables in any sort of consistent, functional manner. I can make my own goddamn avocado sandwich and then leave it on the counter for the flies for 25 minutes while I play with my iPod and dreamily ignore the world. I can do that in my own house! For FREE!
I tend to find myself here every now and again -- its a great neighborhood hangout that you can mooch free internet from. The sandwiches are good, so is the coffee. Never a complaint. Very friendly vibe in the place.
As for the waitstaff -- come on, its a neighborhood cafe that's frequented by people doing school/work related projects who don't want to sit in their houses. Expect to take some initiative yourself if you need them for anything.
If you are really hugely uptight, this place is not for you.
But
If you're just a little uptight you might like it.
AND
If you're chill like me and want to sit your ass in a coffee-shop-with-food type of place where there's a healthy balance of 25% freelancers on laptops 40% southsiders with a hangover, 15% lesbians with drama, 10% hippies who don't know where else to get such an awesome tempeh rueben, and 10% visiting writers who write poetry only in NY ...then this is the place for you.
This is my favorite stay-in coffee shop in NY. I've literally sat there for 10 hours getting work done and I was left alone, save for the few times that my waitress noticed that I needed a refill or perhaps another meal to keep me alive.
Before today I would have said this place was great and given it at least a 3.5, but now it gets a solid 2. Cute patio, a super tempeh BLT and wireless access cannot make up for being ignored by the waitstaff until they felt like coming over to give me a 15 minutes heads-up that they would be closing at 3pm. 3pm closing??? Well that's original.
Just have to add that I tried this place again on a Saturday for brunch. They served 3 tables that arrived/ordered after us and it was not all that busy. When we complained they did nothing. Not even offer us complimentary drinks, so we dropped down some cash and walked out. Done...and then there was one.
How the hell does this place only have two stars? I love it here. Free live music, friendly workers, tasty coffee of generous portion... it's heaven.
Bonus star for the outdoor patio in the back and some menu items that are really tasty (veggie burger is awesome as is the grilled jack cheese).
However, staff is snobby, patrons are snooty, seats are hard to come by anywhere outside of 3-5pm, they close at 7pm and arbitrarily close the kitchen (much) earlier, you have to usually ask for coffee refills at the counter...etc etc etc.
You can squat your seat all day and read the times with an endless cup of coffee. They don't care. So long as they look busy and you aren't bothering them kinda 'tude.
I've given up on this place.
In the past, many restaurants have brought me to the brink of joining yelp to write a bad review, but I've always held off. Phoebe's was so amazingly terrible though, I finally bit the bullet and signed up.
I was attracted to the place by the exterior and interior decor, had a cute diner/coffee shop vibe and I figured I could get a sandwich marginally better than the lousy deli by my house and enjoy being somewhere new. In retrospect, god do I wish I had eaten a turkey and cheese on 3 day old bread from around the corner.
I walked in and got stared at blankly by the waitstaff, I walked to a table and sat down, nothing, then I got up to go to the counter and was then re-seated at my table with the menu placed at the chair facing the wall?? I turned around, and ordered the cheddar, pesto, and tomato grilled cheese on multigrain without the tomato and a can of coke. I could tell my waitress was having a hard time with my order (I know, it was as complex as I made it sound) so I repeated it back. 10 minutes go by, no can of coke or glass of water, my waitress had stared dumbly at me a couple times but didn't come back, then finally 5 minutes later, brings me a can of coke. Around the sametime, the cook brings me my sandwich with tomatos, which I decided to send back.
15 minutes go by. New sandwich, no tomato, and now no pesto. 2 pieces of bread, some cheddar cheese, and for some reason, two pieces of wilted lettuce on the side with a banana section sitting on top?? Now, the cheese was melted, I'll give them that, but I think they must have put it in a microwave because the bread was soggy and not grilled. I got up to grab my own ketchup, forced down the sandwich. And then as my plate was getting picked up, the bus person dropped the couple plates she was carrying all over the table. I honestly expected a film crew to jump out and say surprise at this point, but nope. 15 more minutes after I'm done, no check, get up ask for it, my waitress didn't even know how much the sandwich and a soda was, and its a one page menu.
This place needs to be in the hands of some vastly better people than it currently is. Because right now, it is absolutely one of the worst restaurants I've ever set foot in.
Good lord. Like a few others, I have tried Phoebe's several times, just to make sure it really is as awful as I think it is. It is. It's so maddening because it's one block from my apt., and the food sounds so promising. But it is just mediocre, and the coffee is terrible and the service is totally nonexistent. Literally, I had to get my own menu, actively try to put in my order with the kitchen, and get my own milk, water, etc. Took me 2 hours to get through a breakfast. And it's like this every time I go.
So 3rd time's a charm, and I am not going back. I'll happily take my appetite and my desires for good coffee and service down Graham Ave and into the Oak Cafe.
The guacamole is OUT OF THIS WORLD, and the garden is lovely. I like the vibe- very low-key and relaxed. The service could be faster. I've heard music there and they have a nice lineup. I also recommend the oven roasted potatoes and the salads (especially with the house dressing).
Phoebe's is the kind of coffee shop that would be unremarkable, if only the world were a better place. 3 1/2 stars.
This place makes you want to like it: pescatarian menu, funky, outfitted-at-a-thrift-store motif, reasonable prices, good food and coffee. This could easily be a four-star spot if the service just got it together a bit--our waiter was forgetting orders, seemed unfamiliar with the menu, and generally acted like a space cadet.
Tuna sandwich was without mayonnaise, which gave it a lighter, Mediterranean pleasantness, and the tempeh BLT with avocado (the first acceptable preparation of tempeh I've ever had) was a pleasing bite as well; the fruit salad was good but lacked any creative punch that would make you say, "whoa, I've never thought of that" (see: Perch in Park Slope).
I'd go back here for another low-key breakfast or lunch sometime--it would get 3.5 stars if such a rating were possible.
Cute. Good veggie options. I sat here for a while doing work and the staff was really nice. No outlets though and I had to steal some very spotty wifi from one of their poor neighbors. Also the food is a bit overpriced, but I would come back. There aren't many good cafe options on Graham and it was too cold to walk very far.
Updated: I'm taking away one star Phoebe's because ever since you changed a considerable number of your staff, the food has gone WAY down. I used to come here for the steamed eggs which were light and fluffy with veggies, a little bit of cheese, toast, and a little salad with a couple of pieces of fruit. The last two times I had the steamed eggs, they were awful. The most recent time, I got two pieces of over-buttered BURNT toast, and a mush of cheese with some egg and tiny specks of veggies. You keep two stars because you still have free refills on coffee and that lovely outdoor patio. But please hire back your old cook!
i love going here and writing after work (7-9pm). great music. free!
*NEW OWNERSHIP*** - worth noting, as the new owner is a friendly french musician who's trying to… Read more »
i'm shocked that phoebe's is still around. i have been there about 4 times in the past 6 years and it's still exactly the same. the service is insanely bad not because they are rude in any way, just completely clueless and understaffed. they have served food to the wrong table twice when i was there, the people touched it, and then they served it to another table. ew.
i went here the other day with 5 people and our food came out at different times which happens and isn't the biggest deal except that mine was 25 minutes later (and we had to go get it from the counter) and all i ordered was a bagel. i mean, come on. try just a little.
the food is also bland and unexceptional and the eggs are cooked with a cappuccino steamer. gross. skip this place for sure.
As I say, it's not often that I'm in Brooklyn, but I had a meeting here and managed to spend the rest of the afternoon getting some work done. It's definitely got that Williamsburg feel. A little dirty, a little grungy - mismatched furniture and diner counter with a vegetarian menu. My sandwich was good and didn't cost me much (I think it was $6 for it + a diet coke - yay Brooklyn). But the real gem here is the outdoor patio. I was feeling a strong 3 star until the patio materialized. It's nice out there. I can't say I'll be back anytime soon, but I know a nice experience awaits me on Graham Avenue should I find myself in Williamsburg again.
I had the granny smith and brie sandwich the ingredients were fresh and they were generous w/ the brie. Sat outside--pretty nice garden. Food came promptly, the coffee was good and strong, and the waitress was as sweet as could be. First time eating at Phoebe's but I'll definitely be back.
Wow, is this place awful. Went there twice, just to make sure it really was that bad and they weren't just having a bad day. Ok, so the place is relatively cute, and they have good seating and a nice backyard, but so does everyone else on this strip. The service was slow, repeated my order back to me twice just to make sure it was right, and then forgot my order anyway. Nice. Perhaps a few too many sips from the Kool-Aid. Anyway, barring the service the food was just meh, and the coffee was horrible. In general, coffee should usually be made with coffee beans or grounds. I'm not sure what they made it with, but whatever I was drinking probably legally couldn't be classified as coffee, and my girlfriends chai was just hot water. Never going back.
Jeeze... the restaurant patrons in Williamsburg sure are grouchy. I find the service at Phoebe's to be slow, but friendly. And while I can't address sitting in the same seat all day in a coffee shop on Graham, I can say that the tofu sandwich is a keeper.
It's definitely a standout amongst the neighborhood, so I would frequent it if I lived closeby. The only thing is-I feel consistently underwhelmed by the lack of service the sullen hipster staff offers. Most recently the food took a very long time. The table next to us received their orders first although they came in 15 minutes later. Several flies swarming around were not a nice acoutrement either.
Otherwise, the portion sizes won't disappoint. I know my tums was satiated and completely overwhelmed!
Fresh ingredients are the emphasis. Brunch offerings are typical. Nothing too outlandish. Try the Juevos Rancheros or the Steamed Eggs plate.
For lunch, I would reccomend the Grilled Tempeh Reuben. A thick slab of black bread is topped with sauerkraut, swiss cheese, a rosey dressing, and slices of tempeh. Not to mention a fresh mesclun salad is on the side.
In general, a quaint little very vegetarian-friendly joint with a decent backyard patio.
boring hippy food. they have these weird "steamed" eggs because i guess frying eggs is for old republicans. Their OJ is pretty good, but c'mon, how can you screw up fresh squeeze OJ?
I've had few experiences with Phoebe's and none of them positive. I'm not sure which is worse: obnoxious patrons or bland, over-priced food. Avoid.
i really dislike this place. on the whole i would avoid avoid avoid...
only reason it gets two stars, that fucking grilled cheese with cheddar, plum tomatoes and pesto on 8 grain bread. it's good. but that's it.
This is a good place to hang. 3 stops on the L train to the outskirts of Williamsburg (Graham Street), and just down the street. It's vegan and a good cafe, very loooose and friendly and simple. Had a grilled cheese that was pretty decent. There are 4 kinds, and eggs waffles, bagels, and so forth. Coffees teas and the like. Very East Village like. In the course of the hang I interacted with about 5 of the waitstaff and they were all warm. There's a little concrete garden - a patio? - in the back if it's warm enough the air is good. If you're in that neighborhood, go. Then walk around and check out the little Italian pork shops and such.
coffee is pretty good, something of a cinnamon feel. menu is not. staff has always been friendly to me, so middle of the road for you guys.
it's as simple as this: i found a hair in my food.
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