Sadelle’s

KenScale: 8.0÷10
There is probably no other restaurant group that is hotter in New York dining scene than Major Food Group headed by Torrisi-​Carbone super chef duo. I’ve always been keeping tabs on what their next biggest idea is (they started with casual Italian tasting menu at Torrisi Italian Specialties until branching out to old-​school Italian-​American at Carbone, coastal Italian at Santina and decadent French at Dirty French). The next big project had a somewhat more modest proposal: in partnership with Melissa Weller, a former baker of Per Se and Roberta’s, they decided to open a Jewish-​inspired restaurant serving bagel and other food with Jewish bent. I haven’t been to Russ and Daughters Café yet, so it’s hard for me to clearly define what Jewish cuisine would be, but based on the description of Sadelle’s I’ve been hearing, it seemed as simple as bagels and other pastry dishes to go along with smoked fish. At the risk of sounding too simplistic, that is really what Sadelle’s offers during brunch time; sometimes, simplicity is the virtue in dining, and Sadelle’s exactly shows how food that doesn’t have a ton of flair can still more or less deliver.
Obviously, any meal at Sadelle’s would need to start with freshly baked bagels and smoked fishes that are also accompanied by a plate of tomato, cucumber, onion and capers. I wasn’t quite sold on the bagels; I was hoping for something that was baked right on the spot but the tower of bagels that came in wasn’t really delivered just-​in-​time. Anyways, the combination with house salmon and sable still worked, especially the fresh and silky smooth sable that I kept digging. This being a brunch, Sadelle’s offers a number of egg dishes. We ended up choosing salami and eggs and it turned out to be a winner. I probably saw similar omelette dishes a million times at other brunch places, but the one at Sadelle’s had that addictive quality to it with very nice balance of flavor (definitely no overseasoning!). You also have to get pastry dishes at Sadelle’s: sticky buns from Weller were just out of this world! I haven’t really had similar bun dishes lately (watching for my sugar intake) but I really had to succumb to the sensational flavor of sticky buns (although I wish it came at the end of the meal as opposed to beginning) that were literally melting in my mouth with delicate sweetness. I would totally start every morning with one of these without any hesitation!
The restaurant is probably the hottest brunch ticket right now (all Major Food Group restaurants are very difficult to secure reservations, but my OpenTable search constantly showed «no table» signals for the next 8 weeks whenever I was looking for weekend brunch openings). The best bet may be to show up early and take your chance for walk-​in tables. Sadelle’s has a number of brunch cocktails too, but if you’re inclined to skip alcohol, freshly squeezed orange juice would probably enhance your brunch experience. Is Sadelle’s an over-​hyped brunch destination? Perhaps, and probably because I think all brunch restaurants are overrated in some way (people love brunch but the restaurant doesn’t showcase its full range of skills during this time), but Sadelle’s overall delivers the type of experience you’re looking for: a trendy vibe with a lot of young, handsome crowd in a brightly lit and chic dining space, accompanied by solid food offerings.

Horrible no-​reservations policy on weekends that keeps a ton of people angry and waiting for hours. Simply idiotic

Sometimes you have to have a cheat day and indulge a little. For this fashionplate I definitely indulged and had a decadent dinner at Sadelle’s in Soho. I decided to dress up a bit and rock our Ali polka dot romper. Sadelle’s is a Jewish appetizing shop with bagels, lox, whitefish and more during the day. Come nighttime it’s transformed into a candlelit non pretentious caviar den complete with house infused vodkas. My dining companion and I were seated upstairs at a great table overlooking the bottom floor of the restaurant, such a fab view. I was sticking to sparkling water since it was still Dry-​unary. However my dining companion tried the beet cocktail which was fab. The complimentary truffle studded brioche is beyond, I need to get this for takeout and eat 4 loaves in the privacy of my apartment. We knew we were going in for it and ordered the Royal Transmontanous caviar which came complete with rye toast points, blinis, POTATO PANCAKES and all the condiments. I would’ve been happy with this alone as my meal, you get a good portion for 2 people. This caviar was extremely creamy and luxe and all the accompaniments were on point. We didn’t stop there though, we also ordered the pigs in a blanket which were amazing and a great contrast of high and low culinary excitement. As something a little lighter we picked the scallops which were also great. The meal from start to finish was amazing, our waiter and the whole staff at Sadelle’s are beyond accommodating. Definitely a place to splurge for downtown caviar service.
Now on to the fashion part of this fashionplate. Most patrons were part of the fashion crowd and Soho locals, so feel free to dress to impress. At dinnertime this spot is not as packed as during breakfast/​brunch so you get to enjoy a nice leisurely dinner.

I am about as angry as I’ve ever been with a restaurant for the lowest level of care for their customers.
I had a long standing reservation for my birthday at 945 on Sunday. Yes it was the day after a blizzard but they were still even taking fresh reservations on Open table and I’d received no word of a cancellation.
When I show up I am informed that they have my reservation but no baked goods. Hmm 75% of your menu is related to bagels.
I asked why I didn’t receive a call (they had been open for at least 45 minutes). Apparently the people in the office weren’t in. Hmm but you have a whole staff here who isn’t doing anything (since I was hardly the only one who didn’t want their limited menu) who has cell phones. Of course they didn’t think of that. Or maybe they knew no one would come if they called.
And of course mistakes happen and most restaurants would have offered to make it up to you (a free coffee matzah ball soup). Nothing on offer here.
I walked out never be return to a restaurant too popular to treat their customers with any notion of hospitality.

Needs a lot of work. Shouldn’t offer gluten free if they can’t execute it. Put croutons as a garnish on a GF soup. Place was dirty. We were being harassed by fruit flies (in winter) and took our food to go. We told the manager on our way out since he was nowhere to be found during our meal. He said he would take care of it. Hope he did so other people could actually enjoy. Poor service and waiter kept blaming poor busboy when he was the restaurants only savior… Well that and the lox and the GF bagels. Just be careful because they will give you regular ones if out of GF…

Excellent French Toast, good bagles — also served free when hot out of the oven — salmon, waffles, etc. Beautiful setting. Good service. Not easy to get a reservation. Expect a 2 month wait for a weekend spot.

Current hours listed as opening at 7:30am on Weekdays, not open on Mondays.
Sit-​Down or Take-​out Service?
If you’d like to be served at a table for a relaxing breakfast, see the hostess. If you just want a bagel or pastry with coffee, step into the blue ropes for counter service.
Take-​Out Tables:
They actually save a few café tables near the front for people who are taking out but want a quick café seat. You’ll know which ones they are because they don’t have plates or silverware prepared on them. If they aren’t available– you can take your lovely packaging across Houston to one of the street-​side parks or Washington Square.
Sit-​Down Service:
Included with sit-​down service is essentially unlimited hot bagels– similar to basic bread service. That alone makes it worth sitting down for. If you want a specific bagel flavor, just order that with your server since it’s unpredictable what will come out of the oven next as hot bagel service– you can grab a hot bagel when it comes by even after you’ve ordered your meal. At first glance you probably think the prices are steep for breakfast compared to other cafes nearby, but the secret here is that most of the portions are shareable sizes, and when you factor in unlimited bagels and bottomless coffee (even on my iced coffee)… it’s actually not bad at all for a SoHo eatery.
Bagels:
You don’t HAVE to order fish to get a bagel– but if you do, you’ll get all the veggie fixins and cream cheese with it. Everything Bagel 2.0 includes fennel & caraway seeds. Everything has all the other stuff you’re used to. Cinnamon Raisin, Poppy Seed, Sesame, Pumpernickel, Plain. Toasted or not– it’s up to you. The hot bagels certainly need no toasting. Our bagels had a pretty thick crust to bite through after being toasted and were moderately dense on the inside. The scallion cream cheese tasted freshly mixed– as though the scallion flavor and cream cheese hadn’t fully intermingled. They were freshly slicing salmon and other fish at the counter– but we opted out of that option.
Eggs Any Style:
The scrambled eggs tasted like there was a touch of cheese and a sprinkle of scallion. The potatoes are thin slices then deep fried for a crunchy outside and soft inside, sprinkled with dill and a few other seasonings.
Coffee:
Iced coffee has the little crushed ice cubes, which I prefer. You can pour your own milk or cream along the side wall if you’re taking out.
Sticky Bun:
More like a croissant texture on the inside and the caramel on top is almost as hard as Carmel candy– it will definitely stick to your teeth.
Babka: (updated ¹⁄₁₆)
Previously unavailable by the slice, but stepped in today happy to find those babka cakes sliced up in pieces and ready to sell by the slice! Yesssss!

Despite the other lackluster reviews for their food and service my experience was overall pleasant. Seated promptly for a brunch res on Saturday 2pm, our service was swift and friendly. Food was all on point and our entire party enjoyed it. What really brought the stellar experience to a grinding halt was when their POS system was unable to process several credit cards properly. This resulted in some of us charged 3 times, myself included. They use an iPhone (not an iPad like coffee shops) based POS that each server carries around and I’m sure the business was sold on what seemed like an innovative system. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the other negative service based reviews were cause by this. I’m all for innovation but field testing a product on live guests seems pretty risky… I think it was called Flow and Flow it did not do.

This place is AMAZING! Wow!!! From the ambiance (retro-​modern) to the freshly baked bagels, everything is perfect! You order your fish (we had delicious, ultra-​thin sliced house smoked salmon and whitefish salad) and then you get unlimited bagels with it! Waitstaff was friendly and great. Food came out very quickly even though they were jammed! We also ordered blintzes which were yummy — just like grandmas. Other things looked fantastic (chocolate babka, French toast, pancakes, etc) but we just couldn’t eat that much! Oh, and the coffee was piping hot and great.

I didn’t want to like this place. After several attempts to dine here only to be turned away due to a fully packed waitlist, I wanted to give up. Unfortunately, after I finally scored a table here for brunch, I have to say the hype is justified.
Definitely one of the best bagels I’ve had and the tuna melt is epic. The vibe is super fun and it’s definitely not an experience you’ll want to miss. Stoked to come back and try the salads.

Brunch should always be fantastic. Although the experience and ambiance of this place is lovely inside and out– the food and everything else was average. For the price. You’d expect more elbow room and a table to enjoy your food on.
Ordered 2 cocktails (bloody Mary and a grapefruit vodka.) I originally did not like the bloody because it was over bearing with pickle juice (gross.) Super diluted and barely had any alcohol. For $ 15 a cocktail? It was crushed ice with a splash of juice… or whatever it was.
Got the house salmon with bagels (bagels are complimentary) and they offer free cream cheese with it (whoopty doo.) Also had a side of bacon and potatoes. The bagels were a bit burnt. Was not a fan.
This place is cool and the vibes are great but I don’t think it’s worth the price. You can get great lox on nonburnt bagels for $ 4 with a nice cup of coffee. Get a real cocktail at a real bar.
Nice for the experience. Food and everything else.
SUPER MEH.

Sadelles… Where do i begin?
Surly hostess (todays wasnt friendly at all). She must be having a bad day especially since every person trying to enter restaurant tried each of the 4 doors until you see her irritably gesturing to the furthest left door.
Bustling bus service means they will brush against your chair, where my bag fell. Dont expect a sorry. Try to ask for booth if you can.
Very nice waiter — the only nice part of todays breakfast
Ordered the $ 16 custom omelette that comes with 3 add-​ons — chose chives, salami & mushroom. Nice round omelette with firm, brown edges. Reminded me that i shouldve asked for lightly cooked egg.
My best friend ordered their $ 26 salmon benedict which was comped after i commented that she bit down on eggshell twice to our server. Yes, i was surprised to find eggshell on a poached egg. The comp was very nice of restaurant.
Wasnt told about their bagels but later found out that its complementary with meal. Good to know for those who wanted to carb up.
Their sticky buns and chocolate babka slice was the highlight of our meal. I would recommend their bakery items. But after todays meal, this reminds me why i dont frequent Major Food Hospitality grp restaurants. Their pricing and service isnt to my taste. I would come back for take out and bakery items only.

Bagels hot off the press! Lines out the door! You know it’s good in here without having to read my review.

I am extremely pleased to report that our second brunch at Sadelle’s was a complete, massive success!
Seven of us shared:
One fish tower (two kinds of salmon, salmon salad, sturgeon, sablefish, and whitefish salad, plus tomato, red onion, cucumber, and capers, all sliced thinly and expertly) to accompany bagels for each of us. Comes with plain and chive cream cheese. The bagels are not huge, which is fine — the fish is the star here. By all accounts, it compares favorably to Russ & Daughters, high praise indeed. The tower is $ 100 and perfect for a group of fish lovers.
Two LEOs (lox, eggs, and caramelized onions; the eggs are frittata-​style, with a layer of salmon draped on top). It’s $ 21 and great for sharing.
One French toast — this was awesome. It’s custardy (god knows how many eggs are in there) and massive. For $ 20 six people could each get plenty.
One chocolate babka — excellent. A thick slice for everyone, plus three left over. $ 18.
Side of home-​fried potatoes — these were $ 12 and fabulous. Came in a big bowl. I’m pretty sure these were Yukon Golds. Crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside, tossed with onions and red pepper. Really an unexpected treat.
Bowl of pickles — half sours, full sours, and garlics. Excellent.
I think that’s it. Not anything close to a clunker.
Our server was up to the food — helpful and professional.
Just an all around ridiculously good meal.
NB: On the weekend, make a reservation or don’t bother, unless you want to kill the better part of the day.

I came in for a late breakfast with a friend about two weeks ago. We were both extremely impressed by the space and décor — it’s a very large restaurant, is decorated well, and all the waiters are dressed in clean, white uniforms. The menu features standard bagels as well as omelettes and other breakfast specialties. We decided on the bagels and lox. You get unlimited bagels (of which there are many varieties) as well as a tower of lox and onions, tomatoes, and capers. The bagels are on the small side, but very tasty with the accompaniments.
My biggest complaint is that everything is WAY overpriced. The bagels and lox are upwards of $ 20 which to me is ridiculous. Though the service was attentive and food tasty, I probably won’t return as I feel that it’s not worth the price.

Super pretty and cute ambiance with miniature rose floral arrangements and a vintage feel. It’s a Jewish deli best known for their triple decker sandwich. I feel this place as beautiful as it is– is overrated and overpriced. The menu had very few choices except for salads, small breakfast menu and simple sandwiches. I. e oatmeal for $ 11. I think this place is best for just pick up for bagels.
I also tried their sticky buns and tuna melt. Good but not all that impressed especially at this price point.

Great décor, beautiful peoples do long lines/​waiting time to sit.
If you seek to over pay for a bagel with smoked fish, Sadelles is definitely the place to go!
For the 1% ! Simply keeping it !

I hate to say it, but I was not really impressed with the bagels here. I really enjoyed the pastries though.
I got there around 11am and asked how long the wait was for two, and they said I could be seated around 12:30. Since my friend wasn’t there yet I put my name down and they took my number to text me when the table was ready. When my friend showed up we just decided to do take out and not wait for the table. Luckily there wasn’t too much of a line for take out. My friend ordered a bagel and a few pastries, and I ordered an everything bagel with chive cream cheese, a black and white cookie and piece of pumpkin loaf. You can’t order babka by the slice at the counter, womp.
So we wait for our orders and it doesn’t take too long. We take it outside and walk a little to find somewhere to sit and we take out all our goodies when my friend discovers they didn’t actually give him his bagel. So back we went and they made him a bagel. Then went outside again to eat and I discovered they gave me the wrong order. they gave me an everything 2.0 and plain cream cheese. At that point I didn’t feel like going back again so I kept it. The bagels are pretty small, and mine at that point was not warm and kind of hard. So yea I was not impressed. My friend was nice enough to take my second half and gave me his. His was much better, since it was warm and soft.
I definitely wasn’t that full after my bagel, so I was happy we had pastries, which were really good. Of everything I tried probably the pumpkin loaf and the fruit/​cheese danish my friend had gotten were the best. I definitely think the pastries redeemed this place a little bit for me. The inside looked really cute, so maybe I’d give it another shot sitting down. But as far as the bagels go, if they’re warm and they get your order right they are good, but there are a lot of good bagel places in the city. So not sure I’d go back just for that.

The newest restaurant from Major Food has arrived, and it’s another instant success. I came here for an early breakfast/​late lunch and immediately loved the space.
The menu was a bit confusing as the dishes are not really explained but I love that they serve breakfast all day and lunch starting after 11:30.
My friend ordered the eggs any style. While this might sound like a boring dish, I can assure you it was far from it. She ordered her eggs scrambled and they came with the most incredible fried potatoes, a warm bagel and a piece of buttery, thick toast. I took a few bites and was really impressed.
The waiter really pushed the grilled shrimp and coconut rice and I took his advice and went with it. Wow, it was insane. Perfectly succulent shrimp were covered in herbs and served on a bed of a slightly sweet coconut rice. I devoured this!
I cannot wait to come back and try more of the menu, but to be honest, I’ll probably just want to order the shrimp again!

My BF took me to this place for bagels. It’s a complete surprise. The servant dressed up in 1950s and serve amazing bagels on a stacked serving rack. We both tried the house tuna bagel. Comes with free additional bagels. They even have gluten free ones. Nice find, come before free additional bagels.