Restaurant Review
I pulled up at about a quarter after eight at night, on Saturday the eighteenth of October. Like always, the tiny parking lot was filled with cars. Just by pulling in it is easy to tell that Zorbas Coney Island in Riverview, Michigan on Fort Street, is a family owned restaurant. Immediately, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of being welcomed. The outside is lit up with a bright neon sign and the awning surrounding the building is a turquoise color that no franchise restaurant would ever be able to get away with. Walking through the door, you are immediately greeted with familiar faces, as almost everyone who goes there can be considered a “regular” because they always come back. A 
waitress named Jenny greeted me at the door with a huge smile, despite the lack of a “please wait to be seated sign,” and allowed me to sit wherever I pleased. Immediately after, she brought me a glass of ice water and was ready to take my drink order. I ordered a Mountain Dew and while waiting for her to return I examined the details of my environment. The walls were covered in pictures and wallpaper. Most of the pictures were the ones you can find at trade centers or pawn shops with the tiny lights all over them representing something in the picture. For example, one of my favorites was a car at a drive in and all the lights on the building as well as the car’s taillights were actual lights behind the picture. In most places this would have seemed ridiculous to me, but it fit the atmosphere of the dining room and made it feel even more like I was at home. I also noticed in the corner there was a Scooby Doo mannequin holding a tray with a hot dog on it. Again, this would have seemed awkward at most restaurants, but at this Coney Island it seemed to fit perfectly. 
Jenny soon returned, interrupting my examination of the interior, with my Mountain Dew, and asked if I was ready to order. When I told her that I hadn’t even begun to look at the menu she told me she would return soon and to let her know if I needed anything. So far my service had been extraordinary. I also couldn’t help but notice that she was the only waitress in the building at that time and it was quite busy. She seemed to be having no trouble however, and what would have been a stressful situation to most people, was very simple for her to handle. I began to look over the menu. The variety of it was what one would expect from a Coney Island. There was breakfast, which was served all day, of course the Coney part of the menu, many different styles of sandwiches and burgers, and a somewhat large salad menu. I decided I would order an appetizer of the cheese sticks and follow it up with an entrée consisting of what was called the “country omelet”. I found it difficult to pass up ordering breakfast if they were so confident that it was good enough to serve 24 hours. I took the few minutes I had before Jenny returned to examine the cleanliness of the restaurant. My silverware was spotless but I couldn’t say the same for my two glasses. They looked very old and used up. It wasn’t completely shocking to me, being that it was a Coney Island, but it was still very noticeable. The floors were clean other than the grout in the tiles which was black and was supposed to be gray. The Ceiling was smoke stained because the entire restaurant allowed smoking. This obviously made it difficult to keep the building entirely clean, and if you found the smell of smoke bothersome it would be difficult to enjoy a meal here. Jenny again returned and was as nice as she had been before. I placed my order and before I could even ask, she had grabbed my Mountain Dew to refill it.
After she left I wanted to further my examination. I visited the men’s restroom and was surprised to find it wasn’t as clean as I had expected it to be. There was a bar of soap on the sink, which struck me as weird. In the corners, hair was visible, and it looked almost as if it had been swept there. I went back out to my table and saw my cheese sticks just being put up in the passover window. Jenny saw it and immediately, after taking another tables order, grabbed it and brought it to me. She brought a small side of ranch and marinara as well, and informed me that she had forgotten to ask if I needed either, and had brought both just in case. After just one bite, I was satisfied. The cheese stretched from my mouth to my hand for a couple seconds before breaking off. The gooey, delicious cheese mixed perfectly with the flawlessly seasoned breading. I was more than happy after consuming all six of my cheese sticks for just $2.75. Jenny soon came back with my omelet. My mouth began to water when I saw the perfect looking concoction of vegetables, meats, eggs, cheeses, and gravy. The inside was filled with green peppers, onions, ham, small potatoes, melted cheese, and tomatoes. The outside of the omelet was topped with homemade country gravy. I immediately dove into my entrée. Again, I was extremely satisfied. It seemed as if the farther I got into the omelet, the more ingredients there were. My plate was overflowing with deliciousness. The food had definitely lived up to my expectations. I was more than happy when I was finished eating. However, there were many other things on the menu that looked delectable and absolutely worth trying. Someone can expect to pay under $3.00 for most of the appetizers, and to get an entrée for under $10.00.
Overall my experience was very satisfying, with a few downfalls. The service was very good and the decorations were fitting for this type of restaurant. The cleanliness of the restaurant was mediocre, but that was to be expected considering they are a 24 hour restaurant with very little down time to focus mainly on cleaning. My entire dinners total came to $11.83. The pricing seemed very fair on all the other items on the menu as well. My food was done and brought to me very quickly, but appropriately, with appetizers first. I definitely recommend Zorbas Coney Island to anyone looking for a less expensive, but still delicious meal. Obviously, no reservations are required and there is plenty of available seating so you can expect to almost never wait very long. My overall impression was satisfactory and I plan on returning very soon.
Photos 1-4 all taken by Jeff Cesta
17 comments:
I enjoyed reading you review about Zorba's Coney Island. I have been several other Coney's but have yet to go to Zorba's. It sounds like it is about the same as all of the Coney's I have been to except that it is open 24/7. I like the description of your meal, especially about the cheese sticks which happens to be something I order regularly at Coney's. I also liked how you mentioned that the restaurant wasn't very clean, but that it is expected to be a little dirty since it is a 24/7 diner.
I enjoy your style of writing. It made the whole restaurant experience sound like an adventure. I liked how you ordered breakfast at night, and your descriptions were really good. It is important to know that a restaurant is not terrible just because it is not spotlessly clean, and you showed this well in your descriptions.
The thing that makes your resturant engaging is the fact that it is family owned. You do a good job showing how they make you feel and how good their srevice is. You describe the service in great detail by saying how friendly and helpful your waitress was. I also like your pictures, they make the place seem friendly and fun. To me it seems you have all the appropriate content so i don't have much to say that could improve it.
This review had many good details about the food. You said everything that was in your omelet like the cheese, onions and verything else which was good. I thought it was a nice touch the way you described the cheese in the cheee sticks and how it stretched. Eventhough it was not the cleanest restaurant you did give a good reason how they do not have any free time to make it spotless.
I have heard of this restaurant before, but have yet to try it. I enjoyed reading your review because I really liked your style of writing! However, I think you should alter the format a little bit so that so many words are not broken up and it is easier to read. Also, I would suggest using more descriptive details when describing the food. Other than those 2 things, good job!
I have never been to this place and Im not very fond of these kinds of restaurants but by the way you described it, it sounds like a fun place to be at. I like the use of details and the way you organized it. I read the other Coney Island review and something similar that you both had written down was the fact that the restaurant was not very clean. I agree with this not becuase I have been there but because I have been there because I haven't, but because everyone that talks about this place constantly talks about the uncleanliness of it. So I am not surprised that you have stated that in the review. Overall, good job on the review.
I love the use of the word deliscioiusness. The details were nearly flawless but could use a little more interesting transitions to intrigue the reader. Other then that you make zorbas seem far superior to other coney islands.
I liked how the review was done like an experience when you went there. Everything was in order. I liked how you went into all the details about the place like the floors grout and the ceiling tiles. Very well written. I didn't see any errors. Good job
Excellent review. The format and style of your writing suites this review perfect. You were able to give a good description of the meal you had, and of the other items from your menu. You also describe your service which is always important when visiting a restaurant.
You did a very good job describing your experience, with personal details like the drink you ordered making it a more interesting read. Your description of the bathroom was a little disconcerting though. Overall you did a very good job covering everything that you have to, as well as presenting the review rather polished with zero grammar mistakes.
Great Review, your word choice made me smile :] I bet if I ate there my plate would be overflowing with delicousness too! I was glad to see that you included a picture of the scooby doo holding a hot dog that you mentioned in the review. It sounds like it would be a fun restaurant to eat at and I would like to try it some time! Great job :] :]
Zorba's sounds like a nice restaurant. Besides some of the downfalls that you described, such as the old and used up aspect of the interior, It sounds like a desirable place to eat. I do think, however, that the way things were worded made the review a little less affective, but overall it was nicely written.
Out of all the Coney Islands in Michigan, you picked Zobra's and made it sound like the best one out of all of them. I liked how you included good and bad parts of the restaurant and I think you did a good job describing the setting and decor of the place.
I enjoyed reading your review because it was personal, and walked us through your entire experience their. You did a good job showing both positive and negative points the restaurant had to offer. you review was good and interesting to read.
The only thing that I saw that could have been improved was the presence of an interesting title to draw the reader in closer. Other than that, you described everything very well. I like how you gave us a play-by-play for what you actually did to "examine" the restaurant. This made it seem like you were telling us exactly what happened. Your details went very in depth, especially when you mentioned the cheese sticks. Overall, it was a very good review and I hope to visit there one time.
I found the review to be very informative, and I really am going to say that including a Scooby Doo statue in the review made this all the more eye catching, mainly because I've grown up with this dog as some sort of iconic figure.
But back to the restaurant. Yes it is true, you can't do much about a Coney Island and the atmosphere, they're not supposed to be high class diners, just a place that you can stop by, plop yourself down and eat come food.
All things considered your review was well presented, and the food you described, seemed delicious.
Nice description and order in your review. Breakfast anytime is awesome, and I should totally visit this place. The order and description of your experience was well detailed, but a more decorative detail would be nice. Overall a good review.
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