• CLOSED: Curly's Vegetarian Lunch

  • (19)
    11

    Closed

  • White Vegetarian
Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Ovo
Beer/Wine
Take-out
Breakfast

Small diner serves breakfast all day, diner type food, sandwiches, and vegan cakes. Reported closed to HappyCow.


19 Reviews

First Review by Bill K

myboyfriendisdead

Points +108

Vegan
06 Jun 2007

Old Veg City Diner

But not nearly as good. I was so excited when Veg City Diner was re-opening, but Curley's is not nearly as good. Part of what made Veg City so great was the hours, Curley's is NOT open that late, so please call beforehand. They still serve Vegan Treats deserts, which are super yummy.. The Food is still good. However, the place is rather small now.

Pros: Good Value

Cons: Small seating area

O-liv

Points +100

Vegan
31 May 2011

Disappointing

I went here for brunch during my trip to NY. I had been looking foward to it, after reading so many great reviews. I wanted a "real" veganized american brunch, so I opted for the plate of pancakes, with tofu bacon, and other things (was it maizena?). When my plate arrived, it had only 3 huge pancakes. I asked the waiter about the other stuff marked on the menu, and he said they were all chopped up and put in the pancake mix. I couldn't finish my pancakes, which were very thick and stodgy. The other items were indeed in the pancakes, which ment I'd come across something smocky or hard while eating them, with my fruit and syrup. I didn't enjoy my meal at all, and headed straight to the Cowgirl's cafe when I left, for a vegan doughnut.

My boyfriend found his none-vegan meal only ok, but the curly fries were over cooked and more like chips.

We did however enjoy the original idea of giving everyone crayons to draw on the paper table cloths, and the drawings hung on the walls.

Pros: original decorations

Cons: stodgy pancakes, food in general, over cooked fries

Brooklyn

Points +46

Vegan
15 Feb 2011

Great vegetarian/vegan brunch place

Curly's offers up vegans the opportunity to eat all the brunch/diner food that they once gave up. Great atmosphere, massive portions (leads to a lot of food waste, unfortunately) and many options. There can be a really long wait on the weekends, especially around noon.

Pros: Friendly staff, Good value, Small

Cons: Portions are too big, Long waits

Sprout

Points +218

Vegan
20 May 2010

give me pizza fries, or give me death

Please order the vegan pizza fries when you go to Curly's. I could have just ordered them and been happy. It was a huge bowl filled with curly fries and topped with marinara and daiya cheddar (I think it typically comes with teese mozz, but I'm not a fan of their mozz flavor, so I requested the cheddar and LOVED it!) I also enjoyed the creamsickle drink drizzled with chocolate. I order the blue plate special, chili cheeze corn doggies, and wish I hadn't. The waitress had made several other recommendations, and I should have listened to her, but I was a little seduced by the complete junk food nature of this plate, and had to order it. I just didn't like it. I am not sure which type of hotdog was used, but I didn't like whatever it was, and the chili was just ok. I think the waitress was trying to steer me away from it (although she did say that the plate gets good reviews) but I was set on it anyway. Oh well. The pizza fries more than made up for it. My brother enjoyed the fauxphilly cheese steak and his friend enjoyed the buffalo style salad. They ordered regular cheese, so I didn't get to sample them. Overall a good experience with really terrific staff, but I will not go for the chili doggies next time.

Pros: pizza fries, good variety, friendly staff

bgoodwin17

Points +47

Vegan
17 Feb 2010

YUMMMOOO

My father and I are from Boston and were visiting NYC for the weekend and were dying for a good vegan brunch. We found Curly's online and thought that it sounded like exactly what we were looking for. And it was!!

I got the vegan Huevos Rancheros (salsa verde style) with curly fries and my dad got the vegan Slumberjack breakfast (pancakes, tofu scramble, sham & homefries). All I can say is YUMMM. The portions were HUGE and the food was so tasty and satisfying.

In order to try as much food as possible in a short period of time, we each ate 1/2 our meals and then switched. It was a great idea. It gave us enough energy to walk the streets of NYC and shop all afternoon without getting hungry again until dinner time.

As many previous reviews have said, the homemade infused lemonade is a must! I had the blackberry infused one and I would definitely get it again. Another benefit to this little restaurant is they serve Vegan Treats desserts. Yummo.

I can't wait to go back here for my birthday weekend in March!

Pros: everything on the menu can be made vegan, good, home-cooked style diner food, vegan treats!

Cons: small

fondducoeur

Points +1167

Vegan
15 Feb 2010

Super Yummy

I was very pleased with my meal at Curly's. I had the big enchilada for brunch and it came with a mountain of food that was very tasty. The prices weren't bad and the menu had lots of options.
It was very crowded, and while waiting for a table I was forced to hover around people's table who were eating, but this is NYC we are talking about, so that's not unusual.
I would go here again for sure.

Pros: Good Food, Big Portions, Inexpensive

Cons: Crowded

quarrygirl

Points +1725

Vegan
08 Jan 2010

this place is AMAZING

i've only been to curly's once, but it was one of the best restaurant experience of my life. we got the vegan open faced turkey sandwich and the tofu scramble with curly fries. both were AMAZING.

for such a tiny place, curly's has a HUGE menu, and every item can be made vegan. man, i love it there. plus the service was great!

Pros: everything can be made vegan, big menu, great food

Cons: super small, limited seating

VeggiePinkoKat

Points +142

Vegan
05 Nov 2009

Curly's Lunch

Cute little cafe with interesting history mentioned in the menu. I'm always supportive of any veg establishment, especially since there aren't too many in carnivorous NYC, but Curly's left something to be desired. The service, albeit very friendly, is very slow. I ordered the Suna Melt (fake tuna) w/ curly fries, since it mentioned on the menu the Suna was housemade and "back by demand". I was underwhelmed. It was a little over-mayonaised veg protein with not much pizazz--I poured a lot of pepper on it. The cheese was Follow Your Heart which did not melt at all. The portion was great, but I only at half the sandwich since it was ok. I was excited about the fries until I heard they were store bought. Bummer. Still tasty enough though. My guy ordered a Buffalo Bleu sandwich and he said it was "pretty good". The food was a decent price and can fill you up. However, I would probably only go back to try out the desserts that people seem to like. Artwork on the wall is cute and gives it a homey feel.

Pros: Nice Staff, Big Portions

Cons: Not Vegan, Somewhat Bland Taste, Slow, yet friendly, service

VeggiePinkoKat

22 Feb 2013

You are an angry little man. It's sad. Anyway, there happens to be a lot of places that will pop up that are vegetarian, sure, but not vegan. And not of top-notch caliber like Candle 79. Manhattan has some of the best veggie Indian places to choose from, but give me some diversity is all I ask, and nothing boring! As an aside, it's common knowledge that Manhattan is full of meateries. I won't be losing any sleep of what some sad little sack like you takes seriously. I have fun traveling the globe eating vegan high-quality meals, enjoy your haughty anger issues.

·X·

Points +28381

Vegan
27 Sep 2009

Great Deserts!

Curly's...I'm on the fence with this place service wise. We sat down and waited patiently for the waitress to take our order - it seriously took an eternity for the waitress to take our order. This was irritating to both me and the individual that I was with. If this would have been a place back home in Chicago, we would have gone elsewhere.

So we stayed and I ordered the Philly (Vegan) with curly fries and my bf got some burrito. I thought my sandwich was average, nothing special; however, my bf was very pleased with the burrito he ordered. The best part of the meal was desert, vegan carrot cake made by Vegan Treats, WOW! That cake was so AMAZING that I can't even find words to articulate how great it is...try it!

The artwork along the walls created by Curly's customers was quite interesting (in a good way), let's just say that there are some people that are very good with crayons. I thought the drawings added a nice and unique touch.

d_greenwald

Points +109

Vegan
11 Mar 2009

Big portions

I was very pleased with the portion size. A little pricy for the taste being pretty standard vegetarian cuisine. The selection is nice. A very "cozy" place so I hope you don't bring a big crowd you'll have to wait forever for a seat.
Even though it has it's cons, this is still a very good place.

Pros: Portion size

Cons: Pricey, Lacking flavor, Very tiny quarters

ann.marie77

Points +85

Vegetarian
11 Feb 2009

I love this restaurant

Without a doubt, everything I have had there is delicious, well-made, creative, and innovative. Today, I had a fake crab cake sandwich that was amazing. The inside is super-cute. No wait, fast service, friendly staff. Go support it!

piffelina

Points +3608

Vegan
12 Jan 2009

favorite place in NY!

we LOVED this place. it was our favorite, along with slice pizzeria.

we each got a blue plate (i think it was called?). portions were HUGE and food was great. also, it was the coziest plaze we ate at.

def. going back!

Pros: great food!

philjdomm

Points +945

Vegan
24 Jun 2008

dont bother bringing carnivores friends

i never have problem with carnivore friends with an open mind but this time, it was not my friend and its amazing how powerful their opinion and negative energy on a really bad meatloaf immitation can put a tamper on my chimmichanga..or that i may not be that hungry.

Jleon11

Points +45

Vegetarian
19 Jun 2008

Very good comfort food

To anyone that was turned off by this place when they first opened (like I was), I would recommend trying it again. The quality of the food has improved dramtically over the past two years.

The prices are still very low, and they have excellent mock-meats and desserts. On the downside, the place does get uncomfortably jam packed with people on Saturday nights, and the place may not be the most sanitary for some tastes.

pinkbubble

Points +74

Vegan
25 Nov 2007

small but yummy!

Excellent food with HUGE portions. It was worth paying a bit extra for so much good vegan diner style grub.

Pros: excellent food, huge portions

Cons: bit cramped, can get noisy

Erin P.

Points +76

Vegan
24 Oct 2007

Delicious Comfort Food

I ordered the grilled cheese, curly fries, and a strawberry shake. The grilled cheese was made with vegan mozarella which would not have been my first choice but it was made well and was properly melted. The fries were great. But the strawberry shake was not a shake at all. It tasted like strawberry flavored soy milk. It wasn't thick, there was no ice cream in it, it was a big disappointment. And it was pricey too! The place filled up really fast, we were lucky to get a table. The staff was pleasant and helpful. I would definitely eat here again next time I'm in New York.

Pros: great food, friendly staff

Cons: poor milkshakes

shaglow

Points +24

Vegetarian
09 Oct 2007

Veggie Comfort Food

I had always frequented diners before going veggie and this place is the perfect fix for that comfort food craving. I thought the Suna Melt with a side of Sweet Potato Fries was delicious. My boyfriend was not as enamored with his entree of BBQ Soy Tempeh - it had it's pros and cons. So I would say, stay simple and this is a great comfort food fix.

michal

Points +93

Vegan
31 Jul 2007

definately a favorite

this place is so cute, the owner is so kind, the santa barbarella is so delicious and even though the wings are just slices of tempeh, they are somehow tantalizing. i used to go 3x a week for lunch. it is SO good. and the sangria is great too!

Pros: good food & sangria, atmosphere, friendly

Bill K

Points +65

Vegan
14 Nov 2005

Friendly, Homey, Tasty

A small place, friendly and casual. Not vegan, although the "EV" mark next to the menu item means "Easily Made Vegan". Nice basic vegie plate, which includes salad plus grain and bean. Cashew Sofrito is tasty, although the fried plantain hiding at the bottom of the plate doesn't quite make it--clashes too much with the other ingredients. Best to ask them to omit this. The sauce in the BBQ tempeh is a trifle too tangy and doesn't really match the flavor of the tempeh; it should be toned down. The other entrees are good, and the portions are generous. Mexican-inspired lunch items are on the menu. Beer and wine served, a nice touch. Two drawbacks: not organic, and too many tofu and tofu-derived dishes.

Pros: good prices, very friendly, good cooking

Cons: not organic or vegan, too much soy




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