City Bistro
“They have good specials all week from the food to drinks to happy hours and is just an overall great restaurant.”
“Haven't checked out their rooftop yet but I heard it's a hit in the summer time.”
“I like the short rib grilled cheese and for brunch definitely huevos rancheros.”
City Bistro
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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A friend and I swung over for dinner one night and we enjoyed ourselves.
Decor: It is a more upscale place but it seems as if it is still trying to exude a slightly hipster vibe (as that is the style these days). The ambiance is nice and relaxing and the crowd is prime Hoboken (young professionals with some older folks sprinkled in). The lighting is low, which is fine as it helps set a more intimate mood. They do have an upstairs (and a rooftop!) but both were not an option when we arrived (upstairs was a ghost town, way too cold for the roof).
Bathroom: I did not use it during the visit.
Staff: Our waiter was very nice and willing to bend over backwards for us. He double checked with the bar when he couldn't remember the bourbons they had and he was constantly keeping an eye on us to see if we needed anything.
Food/Drink: We started with a couple of bourbons and then had a couple more (well, there was an old fashioned mixed in there but it was VERY sweet). For food we started with the pretzel bites (tasty) and then had the Grilled Salmon (very tasty) and the Pork Chops (a bit fatty, and on the bone, but enjoyable).
Value: Like I said, this is a more upscale place so you can imagine the prices to be a bit higher. However, they are not terrible. In fact, they are right in line with other, similar, upscale restaurants in Hoboken. The food is good, the surroundings are nice, and the service is great; you get your money's worth here.
I'm glad we gave this place a try because I will certainly remember it next time we are looking for a dinner spot – it's so close to home that it will easily always be in the running.
The real reason for the 4 star review is the fact that they have $3 bloody marys, mimosas, and bellinis… a very rare but well appreciated perk. And not only are they cheap, they are actually good! The brunch food is subpar (though I think it has since improved since my last review 2.5 years ago).
Not bad and not over the top amazing. They have some great dishes and some not so great, or more disappointing. We have been a a bunch of times and we are giving it a bit of a break after our last trek.
Now, service is usually pretty good. Sometimes it has been so-so. Last time we sat outside and were basically forgotten. No water refills, no check in, food took absolutely forever and the order was slightly wrong. It took around an hour and a half to eat. So that wasn't great.
The grilled cheese with short rib is great and a pretty tasty sandwich. The burger is average, good and definitely an option but definitely not the best burger in the world. The open face steak "sandwich" is pretty pitiful. It is a few pieces of probably hanger steak on a tiny piece of baguette. I think open faced I still think 2 pieces of bread and a big hunk of meat, onions and cheese negating the ability to pick it up and eat. For what it costs I would avoid this all together. Last time I ordered it it was missing the onions. The fries are basic McDonald's style fries.
Mondays are half off the entire menu (most alcohol included too) which is always a good option. They do add tip which I think is a good idea because people won't tip on the pre-discounted amount.
At night it's a weird crowd and an eclectic mix of people. There is an upstairs bar and a line to get to the rooftop. The rooftop is surrounded by buildings, not like it's amazing, it just happens to be outside. As a general rule of thumb I don't wait in lines in Hoboken (or really any place really), it's silly. There are plenty of places without lines. Sometimes there is a line out of the front door. Nope, homie don't play that. Especially when the downstairs bar is pretty empty and easy to get a drink at.
Overall A OK and some place worth a visit, especially on a Monday.
Stopped by two weeks ago for some family brunch times and I would honestly give this location about a 3.5. Would I jump to come back, probably not but wouldnt say no if someone else asked to go here.
I ordered the egg platter which was actually quite yummy. The bacon had the percise amount of crispyness, the hashbrowns were delicious and full of flavor, and the scrambled eggs were cooked perfectly. My sister ordered the buttermilk pancakes with strawberries and bananas. Those were the thinnest pancakes I have ever seen. To me, they were just okay something I would never order, I mean aren't pancakes supposed to be fluffy? My mother order the bistro burger that apparently was excellent. It was so good that she was still raving about it in our most recent food adventure.
Our service was just okay which is the reason I wouldn't give this place more than a 3. I guess getting older I really do appreciate some great service. You take care of me, I take care of you. Its the little things that count for me. Our waitress seemed more annoyed than anything else. I mean I get it, you dont have to be a ray of sunshine but gurl give me some personality.
With so many places in Hoboken this definitely wouldnt be my first choice..
Absolutely love City Bistro! I wish I could take this place with me down to St Petersburg! We had my sister-in-laws baby shower here in April and we went back this month when we were up visiting my new niece. The drinks are great, food is tasty and everything is very reasonably priced. The rooftop bar is awesome and the owners have put a lot of money into improving the place. We can't wait to come back in August when we are back up north.
I've been here twice for Brunch because $3 mimosas, and a couple of times at night on the weekends. There is ample space indoors + rooftop + patio, which are all pluses, especially in Hoboken.
The first time I came for brunch, I was with 2 other ladies and we had a really good time. The food was alright (Huevos Rancheros) and the drinks were a little better. During my most recent experience, I was with a group of 8 and while the owners and waitress were very accommodating we ended up having a slightly different experience than we planned. We chose to come here over Brass Rail for brunch because unfortunately there aren't too many other options for an unlimited-esque setting in Hoboken.
We had a round of solid drinks at the bar downstairs while we waited for our whole group to arrive… good start. Since we were rather large, we were seated upstairs where it was still quiet and more spacious… still going strong. The waitress took some time to find us I think, so when she was ready we all ordered 2 drinks so as to keep the momentum going. This is when things started to go downhill. Lets just say there were ZERO bubbles in my glass and we felt ripped off to say the least. The group immediately decided to just buy bottles of champagne ($33 a pop) to keep the flow going instead of giving the bartenders a hard time. To eat, there was a breakfast pizza (full size pie and probably the most worth-while thing on the menu), classic & crabcake eggs benedicts, omlettes, steak and eggs, and french toast. I had the crabcake benedict, which was mediocre. The crabcakes were super small and the hollandaise was kind of bland. After polishing off the champagne, the bill came out to a little less than $40 a person, which everyone was pretty content with. Had the mimosa situation gone a little smoother, I think everyone would have left a bit happier.
The bar scene is definitely more fun so I'll be back here for a night out.
Great atmosphere for a night out with friends. The music was surprisingly really good. The restaurant is spacious. It has two floors and a rooftop.
Our waitress was super friendly and attentive. She knew her stuff for sure. No complaints on the food. The braced short rib chili nachos and crab cake sandwich were delish!!! Drinks are def overpriced.
This place is cute and they have Angry Orchard on tap which of course makes me happy being a cider girl. We ordered the Calamari and a pizza to share. The calamari was good but it seemed like we had more of the fried peppers than the actual calamari. We got the veggie pizza and it was good. There was nothing that stood out that would make me HAVE to go back there.
The bathroom needs some work though. One bathroom for men and women and it was not exactly clean…
The service was just ok. It started off good, and then went way downhill from there. After we had our order taken, our server was non existent. Someone from the kitchen brought out our food which was great so we didn't have to wait for her. But it took entirely too long to get our check. We waited longer for our check than our food and we had people waiting for a table giving us the stare down because we were obviously done and still sitting there.