Bristens Cafe

If I am not mistaken, they were talked about on a blog earlier this year because they never opened according to their posted hours so someone inquired if they were out of business. I guess they are still kicking,obviously

Subject: Bristen's Cafe

I lived just around the corner from the old Bristen's and the food was very good, the staff very nice and the atmosphere quite 'chill'.
They served panini sandwiches, soups, salads, muffins, croissants, bagels etc..
Sort of like 'Choice Market' on Lafayette
I was very sad to see them go as there is nothing over here like them.
Can you tell me the address of where they will be

Subject: opened?

i heard bristen's opened yesterday (i'm not in the area right now). has anyone been? what do you think? it sounds interesting to me, the description sounds a bit like saje with different food. and now that saje is only open in the evenings this may be my new little cafe chill spot.

Subject: Re: Bristens Cafe

sweet tea wrote: i noticed that sign the other day, and had been meaning to bring this to alafairnadia's attention:

[quote=Ben] chicken waffles dusted with powdered sugar and served with syrup

Nice! I have to check that out. I haven't had a good place for chicken 'n waffles since Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles (on Brooklyn Ave and Church Ave) closed.

Subject: a review...

ok i went by this place over the weekend. here's my review of what i ate/ saw:

the space is quite small but not cramped or uncomfortable. the decor is cheap and cute, not overdone. i'm pretty sure the music was one of those lite-mix radio stations. didn't do much for the ambiance but the place doesn't really have any to begin with.

the menu is sort of a jazzed-up diner fare. they have cherry-pear french toast for instance. they also have burgers, waffles, and grits among other things. One cute touch was a pretty good variety of paninni offerings, all named after streets in crown heights. they also have cafe-style baked goods like scones and cookies at the counter as well as limited coffee and tea offerings.

to start we had a couple of biscuits, an oatmeal cookie, and a mint hot chocolate. the spiced cookie was good and the herb-y biscuits just ok. both could have been heated up a bit. they served the biscuits with their own special honey-butter which was so good i wanted some to take home. the mint hot chocolate was an interesting change from the regular kind. after that i had the cherry-pear french toast and he had herb chicken & waffles. the french toast was pink inside and cherry flavored and there was pear & cherries on top. it was quite good although i may have preferred a little less cherry flavor. the chicken and waffles were great. the chicken was a perfect combo of crispy outside and juicy inside and the waffle was better than average. the prices were very reasonable. not as cheap as the bodega but not as high as saje for instance, and all the food was of good quality.

the service was interesting. we were allowed to sit where we wanted and we were brought menus but told we had to come to the counter to order. the food and drinks where brought to the table but we were told we had to go back to the counter for sugar for the hot beverages. i guess i would've preferred it to be brought over with the drink but the counter was only a few feet away (like i said, small place) so it wasn't that big of a deal. the counter people, waiter, and owner were all very friendly and professional.

in summary, this is a neat unpretentious place to get decent quality food about one block from my house. not so amazing that i'd eat there everyday but at least i have a cheap alternative to the chicken spot when i don't want to cook.

Don't bother going here. I went with my girlfriend the other day and the service terrible, almost non-existent. We waited forever for our food, and had to get our own coffee refills. I ordered the chicken and waffles: the waffles were impossibly hard and the chicken was okay at best. Her eggs benedict didn't even have hollandaise sauce at all. I ordered onion rings, which never came, but we were so sick of waiting we just left.
I understand that they just opened, but you would think that if they had another location, they would have their shit more together than that.
Epic fail.

just came from a marvelous brunch at bristen's. i'm not a big brunch person in general (hard to justify paying a lot for a meal i can easily make at home, without having to change out of pj's), but i suspect i may start going here a lot.

atmosphere was lovely -- relaxed and unpretentious. the kind of place where you can admire your neighbor's food or baby without it seeming weird. there was a lull after we'd finished eating, and the chef (carlene) came out to chat with us. she is friendly and smart and very interesting. she says she's liking the neighborhood. also, we talked about the many things she's doing to make the restaurant as green as she can. the back patio was built using leftover material from redoing the inside of the cafe, she's looking for a distributer of biodegradable take-out containers, and they offer $1 coffee on ANY reusable mug that you bring in.

out food was good, too, and a good value for the price. we had the cheese grits with smoked bacon --YUM. real grits, too, not quick grits. we also had the peaches and cream pancakes, which were huge and fluffy. my friend reported that her chai was nice and spicy, and my iced tea was lovely.

it was a little weird to me that we had to order at the counter, but there was sugar, etc., on the table, so we never had to get up again. and everyone was very nice.

recommended.

We went to Bristen today for the first time and liked it. I had a nice paninni and my kid and mom had some nice homemade pastries. We sat on the patio, which still needs some work/decoration, but i think it has a lot of potential. Although as everybody mentioned you have to order at the front (which is not such a big deal TO ME), the service people where very nice and attentive. I made a couple of suggestions to the chef/owner (?) and she listen to them with interest. As any "new" business they still have a few kinks to work out, but we will definitely be going back.