The Vinegar Factory

Favorite place for brunch in the neighborhood! Definitely not your usual Manhattan brunch scene, the vinegar factory provides somewhat of a suburban atmosphere… family friendly and spacious! Staff is friendly and service is quick. Favorite thing about the Vinegar Factory is the consistent quality of the food. The bread basket is a great look too — highly recommended!

Unique local spot for a weekend brunch.
The Vinegar Factory is off the beaten path in Yorkville. It takes up most of 91^st Street between 1^st and York Avenues, as it includes Eli Zabar’s bakery operation, a gourmet market, and an informal café. The reason why I make it over here is for their brunch, which is served on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 am to 4 pm. Walk through the market and you will find a sign to head upstairs for the, «VF Restaurant.»
The seating area is cool. It is the top floor of the factory in a wide-​open space with a casual setting. This is a good place for families — I have noticed many birthday celebrations for the younger ones in my past outings. It is equally as fitting for those without children (like me) considering the size of the eating area.
The food is great! Make sure you indulge in their delicious breadbasket and jam. I have also enjoyed the blueberry pancakes (most recently on ¹¹⁄₁₅), eggs benedict, cheese blintzes, French toast, and cheese & tomato pizza.
I recommend this to anyone living in the neighborhood, looking for an adventure, or visiting nearby locations such as Asphalt Green or Carl Schurz Park.

ate lunch… coffee so bad a sea capt wouldn’t drink it …$ 6 a cup they offered free refill .but who the heck in there right mind would drink it
said something about it .it’s fresh they said… we were the only people in the place… had pizza outer edge of crust was nice .the rest was a soggy cold mess… bread was the only thing edible… I ate the pizza because I was starving .my mother had ½ a slice… ELI’S bread is the best and only reason to go in the vinegar factory on 91 st
go for a water and a bread basket that’s all that’s edible

The food upstairs is good if a little expensive. The best part about the place is the building /​ambiance. The place has a cool vibe and is a place you should check out.

Coffee cakes bread are super good. Cashier staffs are not so good. Gotta b more n more polite.

Love their bakery, fresh bread every day. Their breads are fantastic, particularly the double ficelle.

I work around the corner from the Vinegar Factory so I stop in there on a weekly basis, different days, different hours. I certainly am aware of the Zabar’s lineage also. Frankly, I’m surprised this place is still operating and passes Health Inspections. The place is always empty with at times more personnel than customers. Their prices are still astronomical and their customer service people, cashiers are lackadaisical. Is it too much to ask to greet the customer when they come to the register? Or even better, how about a «thank you» after making the purchase that is paying your salary. But I don’t blame them because at times there is a «manager?» near by who should be observing the exchange. Retail is dog eat dog and with Fairway and Whole Foods now on the block, better up your game Vinegar Factory. You’re nothing special anymore.

The place is empty and I now know why. Bought some scallops and shrimp. When I opened up the grocery bag at home (not even the sealed and bagged container they were in) a terrible stench wafted out. It smelled like a dead body. I rinsed the fish and it went away, but did some research and learned that it was likely preservative that makes fish last longer in grocery stores and in certain states is not allowed as its a NEUROTOXIN! And PESTICIDE! It is disgusting and abhorrent that a store that markets itself as a premier NYC grocer would treat it’s fish with such harmful chemicals. This is obviously necessary, since as other reviewers have said– it’s always completely empty. If you can’t do the volume, please don’t sell people chemically treated seafood– stick to the dry goods and don’t put your customers health at risk! If you’re looking for fresh fish or meat don’t go here!!!
And if you need veggies, only go if you want to overpay big time.
gross Zabar’s you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Whoa!
This place is stuck in the 1995. Hand Written Checks? Deteriorating booths and floors? A Douchebag manager/​owner from Albania?
One star for good food and staff. I got the french toast which was unique… a server told me it was made with Challah bread… very good actually.
minus 4 stars for whatever that short thing with overalls that calls himself a manager roaming around the restaurant like penguin from the batman comics. His attitude made me want to leave the restaurant then and there. No wonder we were the only other table in this restaurant…

Very overpriced. A lot of food has expired and they still sell it! Not a good choice to go. The only positive is that choice is pretty good.

Food and service was great but meal spoiled by garage refusing to honor the validated parking… We parked 1 hour and 15 minutes and the validated ticket only gave us $ 3.50 off (charged $ 11.50 plus tax). Asked to speak to manager and attendants on duty Dominick and Fred said they have no managers on weekends… Beware.

Exceptional weekend brunch in an awesome loft space. A best-​kept secret of the UES!
Run, don’t walk. Gorge yourself on the bread basket and delicious raspberry jam, and you will be one happy camper.

Sometimes businesses who’ve been around for a while lose sight when quality drops in certain areas and that employees may not be doing their job. I just moved blocks from VF and popped in a few times to get food and while some items I tried were the best I’ve ever tasted, some were the worst.
While the chocolate babka and quiches are the best I have ever eaten (really amazing!!), the prepared meatloaf and turkey sandwiches are tasteless dried logs. If they can’t create a flavor profile as amazing as Pret-​A-​Manger they shouldn’t be selling them. Even sandwiches at 7 – 11 are better than theirs (I’m truly sorry to say). The Orange diamond cookies were average and not sure why they sell them.
The bagged potato chips were soggy. Which brings up another point of my concerns for freshness. Every time I’m in the store it’s like private shopping. With all the prepared foods offered I wondered how fresh everything is as how could it sell if I seem to be the only customer, or are the higher prices reflecting high waste. Or they must have disappointed a lot of people and lost their trust and why it’s never crowded in there.

Great brunch! OMG I wish I knew this was here sooner. The service was great and the menu was even better. We had:
Bagel, cream cheese, capers & lox — every bit as good as you would expect
Omelette, potatoes, cheese & onions with home fries — delicious
Macaroni & cheese — delicious
Bread — very yummy
We would definitely come back.

Above The Vinegar Factory is a fantastic restaurant that does a great brunch on the weekends. The loft space is huge and open and lets lots of sunlight in and gives the space a warm and airy feel. On each table there is a basket filled with different kinds of fresh Eli’s bread, a little crock of butter, and a jar of the most delicious raspberry jam. The service is friendly and speedy. My roommate and I came here and were starving — we nearly ate the entire bread basket — but our eggs came out very quickly! I had a fabulous farmer’s omelet with bacon, cheddar, potatoes, and onions. I definitely should not have eaten the whole thing, but it was just so good. After you scarf down your amazing brunch, you can lazily wander downstairs for pastries, cheese, and other treats!

The sandwiches are tasty, and the baked goods are especially so. But the prices are outrageous, especially for grocery items like bottled iced tea. Regardless, I’ll still come here, as it’s convenient, and it’s not like you’re paying double what the competition charges, but man are they catering (literally) to the Hamptons clientele.
One thing that irks me is that Eli Zabar puts his face in damn near every photo associated with his businesses. Get over yourself Eli, you’re looking kinda scary.

I stopped here for lunch on a cold, drizzly summer day. Although the prices were high, this place was DINGY and all of the tables were covered in crumbs. It was sort of depressing. My soup was tasty, but the extra-​large macaroon I got wasn’t particularly good (the little ones at the westside Zabar’s are infinitely better). Don’t think I’d come back!

Store downstairs is SO pricey it’s ridiculous. Food upstairs is SO average it’s a waste of time.

Brunch, only available upstairs on weekends, served up the best spinach-​and-​mushroom omelette I have ever had. The kitchen was very generous with ingredients. Plus, the free bread basket and butter are outta this world.
I liked the raw, saw-​dusty warehouse feel of the room. As for the main floor, it’s chock full of goodies. The olives I took home were fabulous. And while I had doubts about the small $ 7.95 eggplant pizza that I bought, it turned out to be scrumptious; great quality cheese. Would make for a great appetizer at a small dinner party. Or, a hearty small pizza for one or two people.

Crazily overpriced food and produce market catering to the UES snobby upper whitebread prepsters who live around here. That being said, it is a good place to go when looking for hard to find ingredients for preparing a nice meal to impress out of towners. They also carry a full line of prepared meals that you can just heat up and say you made from scratch at the deli area!
Yes, the breads here are terrific. The raisin walnut bread is one of my faves. Full salad bar on premises too. Again, very expensive. Be prepared to hand over your first born when shopping here.
I also occasionally do brunch here on a Sunday when all I need is a good cup of hot coffee, an omelet, and big ass home fries. Brunch comes with Eli’s mixed bread basket and jars of homemade jams. All delicious and the breads are always good. Yes, it is pricey but the quality, service, and laid back casual vibe is relaxing on a Sunday morning when you are a bit crusty from partying the night before and just want to eat. Brunch is located on the upper level and it feels as if you are eating in an old factory with the old wooden ceiling and exposed beams. Balloons are given to the smaller kids to help keep them happy.
They carry pretty much everything here to prepare gourmet type meals. Large fruit and vegetable area, meats, dairy, oils, vinegar, breads, olives, chocolates, cooking tools, etc. Just be prepared to part with a lot of cash during a visit here. Good quality, but very overpriced.