The Usual

i am a big usual fan. if i lived closer i would be there all the time.

mike and johnny are great guys. they really welcomed us to the neighborhood when we first got here. mike gave me his card and insisted i call for directions home if i ever got lost.

if you're ever in montreal, even just in the airport, the guys from the usual demand that you bring them canadiens merchandise. i think the one dude even offered to reimburse me for it.

ditto on the constant renovating. i think they get bored. maybe they could just build a treehouse out back for that.

You know what I love that place for breakfast but haven't been there in quite a while. Soooo... I will go tomorrow morn.

Thanks for the reminder. Gotta support the local biz.

Ive only been there for breakfast but its always awesome.

i'm going to part ways with the crowd a bit here. . . i like the food at the usual, like the friendly owners, and love having a breakfast alternative when tom's is closed on sundays, BUT every so often, at least a third of the time, i've gotten really amazingly bad service. . . . a long wait before someone notices i'm there, coffee that i wanted right away that doesn't come, part of the order wrong, etc. sometimes i've gotten terrific service so i don't want to tar the whole place, but it's happened enough that i think twice about going there, especially if i'm pressed for time. anyone else? and i don't know why this is so but i'd guess that the comparatively smooth service at tom's is related to the fact that there's almost no staff turnover there.

sweet tea wrote: i love tom's service, but not if i'm hungry.

seriously? maybe you mean the line on saturdays? to me it usually feels like by the time i sit down the food's there. i find myself wondering how they had time to cook it.

In a way Tom's sets the standard on service. More so than a few upscale and Michelin rated ones. The waiters and waitresses and delivery boy are courteous, friendly and are good hustlers. Gus and his wife are very outgoing and the ambience of Tom's is fun. However, the food can use some sprucing up. I will take the Usual's bacon and eggs over Tom's anytime.

Idlewild wrote: However, the food can use some sprucing up.

don't disagree with that, although it really just is what it is, which is basic diner grub. although better coffee would certainly be a pleasure.

Idlewild wrote: I will take the Usual's bacon and eggs over Tom's anytime.

i can't comment on bacon, which isn't in my repertory, but in terms of eggs, grits and toast, i don't see much difference in quality except for that imposed by service time. eggs, grits and toast are all far superior right out of the griddle/pot/toaster rather than cooling on the bar for ten minutes before the waitron notices they're there, which i have to say has happened to me at the usual a few times. tom's, on the other hand, seems to have a particle transporter that instantly beams the food from the kitchen to the table, steam rising, butter melting.

Um >>>>hello<<<< it has been scientifically proven that that song is about Tom's in Manhattan.

i went to the usual once and experienced really terrible service. have not returned.

Subject: Toms vs. The Usual (Who's Worst)

I have a friend who is related to someone who works in our community who know the scoop on most of the places out here. TOMS.......(a little story) a group of us are eating, drinks were already served and the waiter come out to take our order and right in front of the waiter one of us takes a sip of our drink and yet behold, theres a roach floating in the beverage......waiter act as if it fell off the ceiling and continue to take orders and just replaced the beverage when the food came( happened twice).....another incident, ordered a salad to go when sat down to eat it there was numerous strings of hair inside of it, returned it back and the owner himself refused, never will eat there again!!! I wish i can only tell the people who wait on the long line the truth behind the restaurant!!!!! ......The Usual, rumor has it, the break-ins in the neighborhood that were happening not so long ago, were assignments given by the duo!!!! Think, when your inside eating them tasty pancakes, the owners sent people out to break-in to your apartments for the laptops(preferably MacBooks), and just before you pay the bill or soon as you leave the restaurant, the burglar walks in with your laptops and cameras for a lousy 50 bucks!!!!! Look at the name!!!
Open Your Eyes!!!! Don't believe , ask the people on Underhill who it happened to!!!!