Palm Bar & Grille

I travel 80% for business, and JFK is a hub I either connect through, depart, or terminate. I don’t do fast food venues while traveling, and don’t mind paying more at a formidable restaurant. This particular grill, I will never eat at again! The service was horrible, even during non-​peak time. I ate at the bar, where despite not being busy, the bartender was so busy explaining to his coworkers about «getting his son out of jail» he ignored not only myself for over 15 minutes, but a customer who had already dined, who was waiting on her order to go, in order to make her flight. After complaining several times, she finally signed her ticket (I assumed included the takeout she didn’t get) and rushed for her flight. If this guys is the face of your establishment, then I’m quite sure you will get more complaints and low ratings.

I’ve been to The Palm. This is not The Palm. Don’t let the sign fool you.
Say you bought a die-​cast, plastic cosmetic piece of «jewelry» from a place claiming to be Tiffany. You trust them because they’re using the Tiffany logo and they’re charging Tiffany prices… Doesn’t make it Tiffany. This clip joint is undoubtedly operated by the same airport underachievers who sell cellophane wrapped day-​old tuna sandwiches, stale coffee and $ 4 breath mints.
$ 27.43 (without tip). for a chicken sandwich and a club soda. This would be FINE, if it were a chicken sandwich even remotely worthy of being sold at The Palm (or any decent restaurant, for that matter). But, it wasn’t even close. I’ll look past the 45 mins it took to get the food out (pretending time isn’t an issue in an airport). The piece of hormone injected, cold shoe leather they told me was chicken was just nasty. I can’t even describe the texture. It was like something I would Imagine NASA may have experimented with using as a heat shield during the shuttle program. That should be enough disappointment for one overpriced, depressing dinner… But, wait, there’s more… The supermarket burger rolls were topped with wilted lettuce, mealy tomatoes, burned (black) bacon and watered down Ranch dressing.
The cole slaw was a miracle of blandness. They managed to balance the flavor in a way where it was actually impossible to detect any taste at all. Seriously, I’ve never not tasted anything like this. Kudos to cole slaw chef! Next to the sandwich, «bland» was a welcome, refreshing treat. On the plus side, the club soda was kickin’ and my waitress ran the check pretty quickly. So, I don’t feel the one star Unilocal forces you to give is completely unwarranted.
I’d totally go here again. Big fan of The Palm.

I fly out of this terminal almost every week and I should learn not to come here anymore.
The servers are so rude. After deciding that maybe sitting at the bar would provide better service, I waited 10 minutes before the bartender/​server took my order and this was after me asking him if I could please order. When I asked he said ‘its first come first serve so you’ll have to wait’. There were 8 people with me at the bar and they had all put their orders in.
Considering the place is always empty when I come, I’d expect better service.

There are few times in life when you get totally nauseated while you are supposed to be happy. This is one such time. Over an hour to get served. No menus. Lousy service. Hair in food. Cold eggs. Burnt oatmeal, which I was informed of an hour after ordering. Do not eat here!

Worst experience. Walked in and the employees were fighting with customers. Was seated after waiting about 10 minutes, never received a menu or drink after 20 minutes so we left. Don’t waste your time! Over priced & wayyyyyy under staffed.

Not sure why The Palm would allow such a miserably poor operation. The only reason for my single star was my nice and ridiculously busy server. The manager (I guess?) sat at the back of the bar seemingly doing nothing (always consider optics?) while this understaffed restaurant tried to maintain order. Luckily I had time, my order took well over 30 minutes to get out and it was a medium steak and over medium eggs. Food wasn’t awful, but definitely nothing better than a Denny’s…and this is supposed to be The Palm?
I get this is just a franchise, but it’s bad for their brand reputation… not only the food quality… but how poorly run this place is.

GET OUT OF LINE NOW!
This place is horrible. The concept of quick upscale food at a premium price point is great and several JFK restaurants do it well. Not the Palm.
Please take my advice grab some fast food elsewhere and let it go — yes you are in New York and the standards are usually high but here they are not.
Our beer was warm, waiter indifferent, service slow and food quality poor.
Grab a hot dog across the hall and congratulate yourself on saving $ 50 on a better meal!

Was not impressed by this location. Have had better food and service at their location in NYC. First, my main came out before the appetizer, then the bartender asked if I still wanted the app. I said yes, and he just brought it and say it down. Essentially had to try to rush before both plates got cold to eat between each. Finished my water rather quickly and he never bothered to ask if I wanted a refill. Just had to eat partial food from both dishes and split. Had better food and service on my flight into NYC. Food was just ok, service made me not want to go back. Def going elsewhere next pass thru

I know better than to have high expectations with airport food, but this place was terrible.
I ordered the Crab Salad and, while it was a filling portion of food, the crab was gray and tasteless. If you had blindfolded me, I would’ve thought it wasn’t food. The veggies that came with it were gag-​worthy and tasted like they were soaking in murky waters.
The service was decent enough until I got the check and saw that I had also been charged for a cole slaw (which was also bad) when it seemed like it came with the salad by the way the waitress had asked me «Fries or Slaw». They ultimately removed the charge without too much hassle, but the waitress wasn’t too gracious and then brought the menu to show me that I was wrong. Come on now, I’m a weary-​eyed traveler whose flight is delayed — I will take what you say and not think too much of it, but I’m not about to be bait & switched!
Leaving unsatisfied and frazzled, at least I now had an excuse to also indulge in Shake Shack right afterwards… now that didn’t disappoint.

Ugh. The food is unseasoned, and the prices are a ripoff. The service was meh, and when you add a screaming kid whose parents are too busy on their phones to actually parent, well you know what that adds up too.
I ordered the cream of broccoli soup, along with the 3 cheese potatoes. Both were unbelievably bland. The soup tasted mostly like water, when I added salt, it bumped up to salty water. The potatoes were disgusting, I took 2 spoonfuls snd pushed it away.
My server was ok, but she is clearly unhappy with life. There was a woman I’m assuming was the manager since everyone kept going up to her who was being *ridiculously* loud. She sat at the bar talking about taking a girls trip & how her husband is unhappy being a «house husband».
TL;DR: Underwhelming and not worth it.

I don’t understand the bad reviews. I ate here twice and both times I left happy. The first time I came in with a group of 6. I remember having a burger and fries. The second time I was by myself, and I was happy they were willing to give me a table instead of placing me at the bar. This time, I had a chicken ceasar salad.
Staff was friendly on both occasions, and food came out promptly. I don’t mind eating here when in terminal 4 of JFK airport.

The steak is defiantly a decent steakhouse steak. I had the filet.
The cream spinach is amazing definite pass though.

Expensive drinks but if you get the right bartender, she’ll hook it up the right way!

Horrible! Don’t waste your time. The service was very slow. The waitress acted as if she couldn’t/or didn’t want to split the check. Had to wait forever on her.
The food was below average.

No, just no! Looks classy, but so bad, both the food quality and the prices are stupid. Had the eggs benny, and it was horrible, the hollandaise tasted of vinegar, the eggs were poached hard, which is crazy given how easy poaching an egg is, and then the rest of the plate covered in fries. Now with that as background, I notice they deem this to be a $ 17 meal. Coffee is 2.75; add taxes and tip and you’re done for 25!
From what I read my experience is pretty much what everyone else says about this branch of the franchise. Maybe time Palm removed their name from this place.
Go somewhere else, many better cheaper options in the airport.

Despite reading a number of bad reviews, I decided to try it anyway and was pleasantly surprised.
First off, this is not the place for a 5-​star dining experience in Manhattan — it is a nice airport restaurant so lower your expectations. Maybe that was my secret. It also is not fast food from the food court so relax and enjoy. I had a generous and tasty chicken Cobb salad with changes exactly as ordered. I also enjoyed a refreshing cocktail in a clean, quiet and comfortable environment. Prices were as expected for JFK — service was acceptable.
I will eat here again when I have the chance.

Got violently sick after eating the crab cake. Was my last meal before a red eye to London. I was so sick, I missed my connection once I landed because I was in the bathroom sweating and being sick. This lasted almost 24hrs — not a great experience. I can only conclude to food poisoning.
Also, while I was dining there, I overheard the manager being a jerk to a costumer who was concerned about their bill. He felt the bartender was overcharging for a house shot, and the manager’s reply, «Well sir, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but this isn’t a street bar.»

The Palm Bar & Grille at JFK airport met all of my champagne and caviar needs.
We were flying to Milan, Italy and had several hours to kill at the airport so we decided to grab dinner at The Palm Bar. Flying internationally can be exhausting so we didn’t mind splurging on an expensive meal since we would be eating airplane food for the next twelve hours.
Our waitress at the Palm was so friendly and attentive. She noticed my husband was draining his tiny water glass quicker than she could pour the water so she left a pitcher at our table. When we ordered a bottle of Prosecco she asked if we were taking a special trip or celebrating anything. I think she may have been just as excited as we were about flying to Italy! Since she knew we had a lengthy layover she let us linger at the table after our meal so we could charge our electronics and check our email.
I admit that I prefer the Palm restaurant location over the airport location, but this is not a bad dining option in comparison to other dining options at JFK.

Located in terminal 4, I was pleased to find the illustrious Palms here at JFK. I waddled up to the bar (because my stomach was slushing and stirring from two prior alcohol establishments).
It may be a slimmed down version, but welcomed. The expected comic faces on the walls, the bar is front and center, and tables to the right and left. The menu has tons of hot plated foods, not of the typical sandwich and salad variety. I like.
Chicken Parm «to go» and eat on the place may have been rude, even obnoxious. But did I care? NO! Large, crispy, right amount of marinara, and topped with cheese. Excellent. (4.5 stars)
Service was minimal, but I would go again in this terminal.

I am shocked that The Palm hasn’t removed their name from this restaurant.
Visit 4, annotated:
9:12 PM: sat down. made eye contact with bartender. She left to eat her shift meal. 15 minutes before I could order. Manager looks on, clearly orchestrating this arrangement.
9:34 PM: whiskey on rocks delivered in the bottom of a pint glass. «Sorry, we’re out of lowballs.» Noted.
9:44 PM: bartender has called me beautiful. Still paid $ 15 for a shot in a pint glass. Elapsed time: 32 minutes.
Original review…
Good service at an airport consists of simply delivering decent food in time to make your flight. This place cannot make that happen, ever.
Twice I’ve nearly missed boarding because the bartender tends to disappear.
Good luck ordering, even. Routinely takes 10 – 15 minutes to get anyone to acknowledge your presence. Avoid it.