Londel’s Restaurant

Very average food with friendly service. However a mid-​low shelf un-​stocked bar knocks it down to 2 stars. If you’re a vodka-​cranberry person then you’ll feel right at home.

Have good dayz & bad dayz. (Differ cook on differ dayz) it’s newly renovated. The band is great. It’s a great place to relax and have a glass of wine.

Just good… great owner… great service… great food… went with fellow alumni from NYU and although we all ordered different entrees because of our different taste buds, we loved every taste of each others’ meals. It was crowded and kind of tight, but I guess that is what happens sometimes when people enjoy a venue/​restaurant.

Great soul food establishment in Harlem. Winston is usually our server. He’s very friendly & always on point with making sure our dining needs are taken good care of.

Because of the live Jazz (I’m a jazz fanatic) I gave a 3. Started w/​1star. THE FOOD HERE IS AWEFUL! It was a few of us & I picked this place b/​c the music was hypnotizing as well as the ambiance. It was embarrassing when we got our entrees (if you want to call it that. More like tapas). Worse than mediocre, Mac & cheese (cold), salad (pathetic, home made salad is way better & colorful), fish (frozen tilapia) salmon (over cooked), ribs (eh), cornbread (complimentary & excellent. Stuck eating that for satisfaction), fried chicken (you’re better off going to the Chinese spot). All in all we will not go back.

Took my lovely grandma and family here for sunday brunch. It was hard to find a nice southern food restaurant in harlem open for sunday brunch at 3p. Not only was londel’s open but i was able to resereve a table for 10 that same morning. It was buffet style for a reasonable fixed price and the food was yummy. Even my picky daughter found something she liked! They also served sweet cornbread muffins for the table. We only wished they had a good dessert selection. There were only cookies, which the kids loved but the rest of would’ve liked something more.

Lousy food, poor service and an owner who has the worst customer service and attitude ever towards folks patronizing his business. WILL NEVER EVER GO BACK THERE. FROZEN waffles, refried chicken. Surprised it’s still open.

Great food. Great staff. Owner is very welcoming. Live jazz. Food is always fresh. Special shout out to Londel, Winston and Kenny (the chef).

Sigh. I first visited this restaurant over 10 years ago for my college graduation dinner. I didn’t particularly enjoy the food but I chalked that up to the excitement of the day.
Fast forward to Easter Sunday 2015. If there was a day for Londel’s to be on point that was the day and yet they were below average in every way.
First I made reservations for a party of 8. No one told me there would be an issue with this when I made the reservation. Yet when we arrived we were spilt into tables of 6 and 2 without explanation.
Then we made our way to the buffet, which was set up more like a buffet you’d see in your church basement than an established restaurant. The presentation of the food did not look particularly appetizing and the pickings were slim. I had some not-​so-​cheesy mac and cheese and forgettable peas and rice and chicken. The kicker was «dessert»: shortbread cookies with rainbow sprinkles. That was it! I couldn’t believe it. I wound up going to town on the tiny cornbread muffins since I was so disappointed with my food. Jacobs and Mannas have better tasting food and better selections than this place :/​
So when the bill comes we notice that a very large gratuity has been included for a waitress who didn’t do much considering it was a buffet. We also noticed that we were charged for our mimosas. Now our waitress specifically stated when we first arrived that the $ 40 brunch buffet included free mimosas. I remember bc when I ordered a glass of wine the waitress encouraged me to get the mimosa bc it was included in my meal. When we reminded the waitress of her own words she simply said (with somewhat of an attitude) that she had been mistaken and the mimosas were not free… She didn’t offer to adjust our bill so we just decided to just pay and get out of there.
As we were standing outside of the restaurant the waitress came out and started to profusely apologize and offered us a free drink for our *next* visit. Yeah, that won’t be happening.

Went for the first time based on a recommendation. The first entrée I ordered was too salty therefore I ordered something else which ended up being the fried chicken I request they lightly salt the chicken. Although my request was met the chicken had no taste to it and it was fried too hard. The décor was nice, love the linens on the tables and our waitress was accommodating and friendly. I was just disappointed with the taste of the food however I will go back I’ll just order something different. Gotta support our community businesses in this day and age!

Food was good, but the service wasn’t all the great. Maybe because I wasn’t dressed in my Sunday Best. Lol

Last month my family orchestrated a reunion here at this spot and I had to come and let everyone know about how impressed I was. Okay here it is.
The venue: very well kept, clean, spacious, inviting, outdoor seating, and appropriate music.
The food: DELICIOUS!!! We ate at the buffet which served mac n cheese, fried chicken, pasta, salad, potatoes, greens, meat loaf, baked chicken, bread, and more!
The service: It was okay. It was at times difficult to get our cups refilled with beverages but Londel was actually there and was very welcoming and even took pictures with some of my family.
Anyway for me to even return a month later to rant and rave about this spot has to say a lot about this place. Please try the mac n cheese! It is a rare occasion that you find something so delicious and on point. So do yourself a visit and pay this restaurant a visit:-)

Extremely mediocre. Not worth the trip. Chef needs to experiment with seasonings like salt and pepper, will be surprised to find that flavor actually enhances the food. The famous mac and cheese? Tasteless. Potato salad? Tasteless. Fried chicken? Good, but not worth the cost. Save your money and calories and head some place you will like… such as Sylvia’s.

Ah, Londell’s, a longstanding neighborhood «supper club»…a place you can never count on to be open; a place that’s been renovated 4 times in the last 4 years; and probably the only restaurant in NYC that refuses to take your take order over the phone. My favorite way to take in Londell’s is at home sitting in my window listening to the sounds of the live jazz waft in from around the corner… eating food from somewhere else.
I’ve given Londell’s a lot of chances over the years and it is rare that I am not disappointed. The food is not great, it’s hard to mess up fried chicken, gravy, greens or fish, but they do a pretty good job of it. The best thing on the menu are the catfish fingers. The service is solid, folks are friendly but slow.
Bonus tip: This place seems to be attracting more and more «Harlem Gospel Tour» goers ie European tourist looking to take in «black culture» who roam the streets with expensive cameras and randomly crowd around your stoop…

We had the chicken fingers as appetizers. Freshly cooked with generous portions.
For main dishes we shared the BBQ ribs with mac and cheese. WOW! We were blown away. The pork just fell of the bone and the mac and cheese were to die for! So authentic and delicious.
We also tried the chicken and waffles. So so good! I was in heaven. The chicken was so tender and fresh and just out of this world.
We came on a live jazz night so the restaurant had a very welcoming ambiance and we came hungry but left stuffed. The food was cooked to perfection and if I could dine here every night, I would!
They also have an amazing bar, with fun cocktails. We tried 6 of them, all of which were unique, strong and yummy.
Great place in the neighborhood overall. Will gladly come back here any night!

This place reminds me of that show about a bar called «Cheers» where everyone is genuinely welcomed, there’s lots of good times and great food.
This was my first time visiting and it won’t be my last. The staff are incredibly helpful (they can read your mind and figure out what you want to order lol). The ambiance is classy yet comfortable. Lastly, the food is so on point!
My family is from the south so my big test on how good the soul food is at a restaurant like this is the collard greens and the amount of hot sauce that is requires — the less needed the better it is. Londell’s passed the collards test and I’m forever grateful.
I’ll definitely will be back for seconds… thirds…and fourths of this place :)

The best thing two things about this restaurant were the corn bread and the service. The food and drinks were horrible. Please hear my story:
So my partner and I decided to get a bite to eat at this place since we never tried it before. Wrong move. Our appetizer which was the whiting fish fingers had no flavor to it. Sad but the tarter sauce tasted better. The drinks were real blah. First we had the nutcracker drinks and it was disgusting. Then we switched our drinks and those weren’t any better. For dinner I had the salmon (which was dry), the Mac and cheese (which tasted like it came out of a box), and the candy yams (was good won’t lie). My partner had the blackened catfish with Mac and cheese and broccoli. Hmmmm she didn’t enjoy it and ummmm yeah it was pleasing to my eye smh.
Overall This place was not that great. Food was worse than ok and definitely not worth the money. Food goers BeWARE!!!

I introduced my cousin to this place because I loved the atmosphere and the food is great. She decided to rent out the private room for a bridal shower dinner which would cost $ 40pp for 25 people. She left a $ 200 deposit to secure her space about a month before the event. We call the night before the dinner party to see what time it would be ok to decorate the room and was told by the manager that our room was no longer available and we will be given an area of 5 tables inside the restaurant. No warning, no phone calls to inform us just a sorry but this is what we are giving you now deal with it.
So like any other normal person spending money we were highly upset. A contract was breached and there was no remorse. When we arrived we spoke with Mr. Londel himself and after being made to feel like we had no right to be upset he finally came to his senses and tried to make a semi private area by rearranging some furniture however when all the guest arrived this space was clearly inadequate. As the party in the private room was leaving he came to let us know that he will be moving us to the original room we booked. This was a relief but way too much back and forth then it was worth.
The end result was beautiful, food was great, guest were happy and the bride to be was glowing while she enjoyed her friends and family. However I will never book another private event in this establishment.
The bill after all of this was a mere $ 400 because we refused to be held to any contract after all the hoopla. A great compensation for our aggravation.

This cozy establishment was our first choice for a late lunch after BF’s graduation. We had a party of four and made reservations. If you are celebrating a special occassion, do let the hostess know when you make your reservation.
Londell’s is a neighborhood gem with live jazz nights, delicious upscale soul food and all you can eat soul food brunches on the weekends.
All. You. Can. Eat. Soul. Food.
We arrived starving. We all told eachother we would consume 5 plates of soul food. We filled our plates on round 1 with buttery sweet potatoes, hammy collard greens, sharp and cheesy mac and cheese, Crispy fried chicken and tender ribs. We never got back up.
The fare at Londell’s is wonderful. but let it be known, all you can eat soul food defeated us. I managed to get up for a 2^nd round only to push the food around. There was nice spread of the classics and the customer service here is great.
There was a large party brunching when we arrived and we were squeezed in with them. Getting up and down while sitting so closely to everyone was difficult.
I plan on coming back for a regular sit down dinner. and preferably live jazz.

Haven’t hit a home run with your hot mate by the third date? Take him or her to Londel’s to swoon your way in.
You’re not coming here for the food, you’re stopping by for the cool vibes and atmosphere. I’m not sure if this place was around in the 20s and 30s, but if it was, I can just imagine cool cats sitting around the bar with their hair slicked back, looking to bag the next happening chick that walks in.
They’ve got a decent selection of wines, beers and mixed drinks.
I recently went on a Saturday evening with Rusty and his dad. There was no wait, and I was enchanted by the brick walls and rustic, old time charm of this place. A lighted tree outside landmarks the spot.
I ordered the chicken with dijon sauce, with sides of spinach and macaroni with cheese. The chicken was good, moist, thick… but the sides were very greasy. The macaroni and cheese wasn’t exactly cheesy… the spinach was also almost tasteless.
Rusty got the fried shrimp. They were pretty big. Russell Senior got the shrimp scampi. They were also really big looking. Pretty flavorful.
We got the red velvet cake for dessert and split it. It left an extremely chalky aftertaste in my mouth. My water glass never got more than half empty… Service was kind of slow, so again, you’re going to want a cocktail or something to mull things over.
Live jazz music is a plus.
This place is ultra chic. I’d go again.