I've been coming here for years! The food here is great. The service, not so much. Their slogan should be: Come for lunch, stay (for an extra hour) as you try and flag down your server for the check.
Let's start with the food:
Breakfast:
I can't imagine why people would ever opt for the diner, Bridgeview for breakfast. Paneantico offers 'real' eggs for breakfast - whether it's in an omelette of your choice, or in a sandwich - paired with bacon or italian sausage.
The downside to breakfast, however, is that management must only get 10 croissants delivered each morning - because it's almost funny to ask for one after 9AM. Same goes for english muffins.
We usually go through a song and dance with the waitress:
"I'll have a bacon egg and cheese on a croissant"
"Oh, we just ran out of croissants"
"Ok, can I have that on an english muffin?"
"Ok let me check......oh, we ran out of english muffins..."
". . . Ok....uhhh....a roll?"
If you're just looking to nibble on something, their blueberry crumb muffins are to die for. This must be where the hashtag nomnomnom originated from.
Lunch:
Probably what they're most known for, their huge sandwiches will fill up just about anyone. A large menu filled with italian delights. Eventually, you'll be able to memorize and order the Letter and Number next to your shortlist of favorites. N93 for the win. The hero the sandwiches usually come on is pretty hard to bite into, so unless you enjoy cutting the roof of your mouth, ask for a soft roll - just as yummy, and you won't leave bleeding.
Coffee & Dessert
Pastries are amazing. Despite the vast selection, Sfogliatella and american cheesecake are our personal go-tos. Their cookies are also top-notch and will please any household family gathering. Although they may get overlooked, try the lemon raspberry cookies (buried in the back) - if you're in to lemon. Their regular raspberry cookies are the bomb too.
When it comes to cappuccinos, Paneantico remains supreme and untouchable. Always super tasty, with enveloping, fluffy milk and a nice dash of cinnamon. Their iced coffee is a staple in the summer as well.
The downfall:
The Ambiance and Service:
This place is loud - and really packs 'em in here, and always has a line for pastries or sandwiches to go. Which means if you're at one of the tables hugging the in-store line, you WILL get banged into, hovered over and generally, just feel claustrophobic by the entire Bay Ridge population waiting for cookies.
If you get any other table inside the place, be prepared to get to know everything about your neighboring diners, as you will be sitting on top of them (no space between tables).
During the summer, outside dining is quite lovely - now that they finally cleaned up that sewer and sinkhole. How people were able to eat sandwiches outdoors in the summer ingesting the scent of raw sewage is beyond me - but now that that's all cleared up, it's a great place to people and dog-watch in the warm weather.
Finally, the service is why this place gets a 3 instead of 5 stars. Yes, it's that terrible.
You will never...ever, see your waitress again upon delivery of your food - that is, if someone ever comes over to you with menus in the first place. There have been countless times that we've sat ourselves - waited, 10, 15, 20 minutes, and then just left.
If you do get served, be prepared to wait an additional half hour (minimum) as you try and hunt down your server. They will usually hide in the back, and generally just try and run away if they see you wave for the check.
This is especially true in the summer if you want to enjoy the outside seating. A tip, ask for your check once your food comes out - it may actually come to you by the time you're done eating! read more