Cedric French Bistro and Bar

Pains me to say this, but the restaurant only gets 1 stars because of the chefs hard work. Food is good. However, the SERVICE is sooooooooo bad. Hosts and waitresses and bartenders look like they need more work to do. I’d say, that Cedric’s has the worst service in Harlems restaurant row area. Need to chat with the owner about it, because the service is really lackluster.
You ask for salt and pepper, you get mustard.
You get your entrée, and no one asks how your food is and if you need anything else… why? Because staff are on their cell phones talking to each other or bored.
Waitress holds audible conversations about someone else while cleaning up your table.
Another hosts gets a text message and eagerly looks for her host friend to share the details.
Three to four nonbartenders hang out in the bar area, and the bartender is overwhelmed with the traffic — appears disorganized.
Smh. Cedric please alert your staff as I’m sure some folks don’t dine in because their expectations are never met. Just a local trying to help out a local business.
Please bring in a more personable, engaging and knowledgable bartender as well for evenings. A bartender sometimes makes the restaurant big money, in addition to the food.

Bill Murray once said, «Don’t think about your errors or failures, otherwise you’ll never do a thing.» I understand that to mean that you should keep powering through and not dwell on you mistakes.
I think that if you showed that quote to the owner and employees of Cedric’s they’d say, «We don’t have Red Snapper,» but they would wait until thirty minutes after you ordered it. Then when you smiled and ordered the salmon instead, all the while thinking how strange it was that they were out of something on a Friday night, they’d come out and say, «We don’t have Salmon either.»
«But it’s Friday night,» you’d say, «you didn’t have two of the appetizers I ordered either!»
«Well at least we brought that guy a beer that he didn’t order,» they’d say pointing at your brother-​in-​law accusingly.
After that you’d probably just order the fish-​n-​chips because who cares anymore. Then another server would probably get pissed after he asked, «Who’s is this?» and you couldn’t somehow see under the plate cover and guess what was on the mystery plate.
So if you like fish-​n-​chips and Bill Murray or if you’d like to try anything on the Cedric menu, you should probably go to a different restaurant because they’re more likely to have it.

I’ve been to Cedric a number of times for their weekend brunch. The food is decent, and the space is cute, but the service does leave much to be desired. Many times, my glass sat empty for a long duration while I try in vain to flag down a server… who seem to have a lot to say to each other in the back, but not very much to do with their customers. Twice on two separate occassions, I’ve had to get up, walk over to the servers hovered by the hostess station, studiously avoiding eye contact, to ask for service. I hope management will address this issue asap, because otherwise, Cedric is a decent place to grab a lazy meal with a friend.

The service was dreadful & and food was just as bad. We were there on a Saturday night and the Service was the worst we’ve ever encountered. The staff was dressed like it was their day off on the weekend with denim short shorts, ripped T-​shirt on the server, the manager had her stomach exposed– not the best look when trying to sell food at a French bistro– tres unappetizing. The burger did not come out as we requested (plain– how hard is that?), my mushroom risotto had no flavor and tasted like plain white rice. At 8 PM the noise was deafening as if we were in a nightclub. This was the second time trying this restaurant and both times were epic failures.
We’ve learned our lesson and will never return.

This is an AMAZING restaurant If you are in Harlem you must visit this place! Great food and you feel like you are home

Phenomenal duck breast, perfectly seared on the outside and pink and tender on the inside. Delicious tuna tar tar and seafood pasta. But their desserts are a miss, the chocolate mousse had the wrong consistency, I think they forgot to whip it? The texture was closer to brownie batter instead. The profiteroles were stale, instead of light or crisp.
Great service, particularly the waiter from the south of France. The vibe of the restaurant is great, even on random weekday night. But don’t go on Monday night, they’ll be out of ingredients for many of their appetizers and entrees.

I’ve been to Cedric Bistro for Saturday/​Sunday Brunch — COUNTLESS TIME! My friends and I usually do Weekend Brunches every weekend during the Summer and my friend decided to Kick Off our Summer Brunches at Cedric Bistro.
The Sangria is absolutely Fantastic as are their Mimosas. If you want to get drunk during brunch, drink the Sangria from the start — if you want to take your time, drink the Mimosa; either way, you’ll be WELL OFF.
The food is fantastic — my favorite is the Burger A Cheval, which is a burger with an egg on top. Many of my friends have had various things from the menu such as the Grilled Hangar Steak, Sauteed Curry Chicken, French Toast with Bacon, and they’ve all loved it.
I’m sure I’ll be back to Cedric Bistro throughout the summer and not to mention it’s near other bars as well. So after brunch, you can hang out at their bar or you can take the party elsewhere but Cedric Bistro is definitely a great start to a great afternoon.
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Magnificent meal! Tuna tartare was freshly delicious and the curry was authentic. Overall it’s a nice environment with friendly engaging staff. It’s refreshing to see that NYC still has a decent dining experience though often rare. Cocktails were also good and flowing.
Will definitely return to try another few fares.

Food was awesome. Perfect location, this spot was one of the first to start these little trendy restaurants/​bars up in Harlem so I have to support. Great service and food!

Unfortunately, I have to update this review. I went for brunch today and had a terrible experience with the hostess. She refused to seat my party at a table, even though there were 10 (I counted) empty tables for the first 90 minutes that we were there. My small party of 3 (African Americans) arrived at 11:45 am – well before the NYC brunch crowd rush. We didn’t have a reservation and were told that there were «no tables» because people had 12:00 reservations. So, we sat at the bar and ordered drinks for 30 minutes, during which time, the place was still mostly empty. At 12:15, we asked her if we could sit at a table. She adamantly refused. Hmm, how long is the grace period for this place?!
Then, around 12:20, I watched a couple walk in, ask for a table, and tell a server that they did NOT have reservations. The hostess ran out and immediately sat them. After I saw this, I went up to her and asked why they were seated when we were not, she then proceeded to LIE to me and tell me that they had reservations. I informed her that I knew that they did not have reservations. She then changed her story and said that they were a party of 2 and not 3, so that was why. Hmmmm.
At this point, I was entertaining out of town visitors, so we just ordered from the bar (by the way, the bartender was very attentive). Around 12:45 – an hour after us being there – I noticed the place still had MANY empty tables. Then, the hostess comes up to my group and tells us we can sit at a table – obviously because her manager saw our encounter. We had already ordered our food so we didn’t move.
Before going this morning, I read an article online that gave me pause about this place: Councilwoman Inez DIckens called for a boycott because white patrons were given preferential treatment with seating over black patrons. I dismissed this, as the article was from 2012, and I had a good experience here in 2014. However, unfortunately, my experience with the hostess this morning confirms everything I read in that article.
Plus, It’s never a good sign to look around a Harlem restaurant and notice nearly everyone sitting at the bar is black, and nearly everyone at a table is not.

Order the bacon! France is in the building! No need to know the language but everyone on staff does! Lol. We had a birthday Brunch and had the whole place to ourselves. Marvelous! Had such a great intimate experience with family and friends.
The service was incredible. The food was French American fusion. If you want impress, reserve at Cedric!

The location and atmosphere was nice and the food was OK, HOWEVER we were subjected to rude behavior by the owner’s guests. The owner’s «girlfriend» and her loud and obnoxious friends were seated to our left. How did we know that she was the owner’s «girlfriend»? The story begins…
The owner was seated to our right, it appeared as if he were having a business meeting. Our waiter told us that he was the owner of the bistro. One of my friends simply asked the owner a question regarding his establishment. His «girlfriend» did not like that and took our curiosity about the bistro as a some sort of flirtation with the owner. His «girlfriend’s» insecurities and low self esteem got the best of her. As a result, she and her group of «friends”/ groupies began to talk about us and describe us «basic bitches». The lead groupie began waving his hand and invading our personal space all in an effort to provoke us. Unfortunately for him, his efforts went ignored. We are young professionals would not consider stooping to his childish behavior.
The «girlfriend» then called her «boyfriend» (the owner) over to take selfies with her. I believe this was her way of making it clear that he was all hers. In addition, the girl with the numerous gaps in her teeth gave us an evil glare every opportunity that she had. The gapped tooth girl is also the same girl who said numerous times «oh the perks we get when you’re friends with the owner». This animal like behavior continued for about an hour. What was surprising is that the owner did not try to control his guests. He did NOTHING, which is highly unprofessional! I have never in my life seen such behavior from men and women in their late 30s/​early 40s. Overall, we made their brunch relevant.
Because of the owner’s lack of professionalism I will no longer support this establishment.

2^nd visit and i got the burger… amazing. high class big mac status. I dont understand why this place doesnt get higher reviews. Sitting at the bar this time. Great place!

My company’s holiday party was here. A great atmosphere especially the back space. It is very spacious however I’m wondering where the air conditioning is tonight lol other than that the food was delicious and the waiters and waitresses were splendid.

Charming, French-​inspired joint on the corner of St. Nicholas and W. 119^th. Went there for brunch with a buddy. Hip, young and eclectic «New Harlem» crowd. Servers were charismatic and chatty, but also slow and a bit addled. Blueberry pancakes were awesome. We ordered the «endless» brunch drinks option (bloody marys or mimosas for a few extra dollars). Although when we bought it, I thought «endless» referred to quantity, not the wait for a refill. Maybe that’s how they keep the cost so low?
Good choice if you are in no rush whatsoever.

The tuna tartar was excellent. The starter one came on a bed of avocado, the mains came with fries.
The coq au vin was good but nothing amazing.
The special was trout on a bed of grilled veggies. The veggies were lukewarm & disappointing. The trout was excellent & had been deboned (grateful for that). It was in a garlic/​herb butter & delicious but the veggies spoilt the experience.

Very disappointing. I ordered take out from them (mushroom risotto and mussels) and it took over two hours to get my food and I’m only TWO BLOCKS AWAY! After placing my order and waiting for an hour I called the restaurant back to see if the food was on the way when they told me the deliverer came to my building and left after no one answered the door. Which is a lie because I was sitting in my living room the whole time so it’s no possible way he could of rang my bell without me hearing it. And he didn’t even call my phone to let me know he was here which I instructed them to do in the first place! They said he’s coming back right away.
After another 45 minutes passed and I called and asked again where is the food when someone rudely hung up in my face multiple times and I called a third time and asked to speak to the manager who wasn’t there. So I ended up speaking to the man that was in charge, I’m guessing, who kept cutting me off and kept trying to rush me off the phone and I had to literally scream through the phone «STOP FXCKING CUTTING ME OFF LET ME SPEAK!» That’s when he finally let me tell him what the problem is and offered to give me the food on the house.
Another 30 minutes pass and finally the food arrives and of course it’s cold. The mushroom risotto literally looked, smelled, and tasted like vomit and most of the mussels were empty and it barely had any flavor. Good thing it was on the house because I would have been so upset if I spent $ 37 on that garbage. And I would have felt guilty for throwing $ 37 in the trash.

We were there for brunch and although the kitchen got a bit behind because of a large birthday party, the food, when it came out (I had the ham & cheese omelet, my husband had the chicken curry, was delicious) The bartender, Jake was great and made sure our ‘bottomless” mimosas and bloody Marys were quickly filled.
We are planning on taking friends there next week for brunch or dinner

I went there on a Monday night and it was disappointing. My friend lives in the area and he wanted to check it out, but we both felt the service and food were horrible. The bartender admitted that he only started 2 weeks ago and didn’t know anything about the food, except he had the burger. We asked the server who also couldn’t give us much helpful information.
A dirty martini took 15 minutes and there was four people in the restaurant and it lacked olives. What is a dirty martini without olive juice and olives?
The bartender was half asleep the entire time and ate his burger while starring at us while we didn’t have any silverware, napkins or drinks as our food arrived.
The hostess and server stayed glued to their phones and were unwilling to help our bartender who had no training what so ever. We asked if Cedric ever game in and they said «not really». We actually saw him come in for 10 minutes and every staff member was sitting down on their phones on the main tables. The didn’t even move when the owner came in. Cedric never came around and checked on his staff, who were all brand new or just not interested in waiting on customers. The food was over salted and $ 28 an entrée for not so fresh ingredients. Very average french food. Nothing seemed creative and just replicated.
Save yourself some time and money and stay away from Cedric’s. Its only a matter of time before it’s gone. I see people go for brunch for the all you can drink. That’s the only time I would go back, but I would wonder if they can make drinks and if the breakfast is fresh.

They are not playing games when it comes to the bottomless brunches, this is the best I’ve been to yet! The champagne to OJ ratio was perfect with every pour, and our glasses were never empty which they get major points for. Now it is a very small restaurant, so it gives them the opportunity to be more attentive to their guests — but still… I’ve been to small spots where the service was horrible also so points for service! I must be a lush because I started this review off talking about how great the mimosa’s were, but OH WELL! So our food…
The food was great, I got the curry chicken with white rice and my boyfriend got the blueberry pancakes with eggs and bacon. I tasted the blueberry pancakes and they were good, a little on the dry side but he tore them up. My curry chicken was also very good, the chicken was seasoned perfectly. I will say that curry chicken was more of a Thai curry, not the Caribbean curry I was expecting. The tastes are distinctly different but it was still good.
Another thing… our food took about an hour to come out. The waiter explained that they accidentally sent our food to the wrong table and they were very apologetic about it and comped two of our meals without hesitation which we really appreciated.
We will definitely return to Cedric!