Very pleasant, especially outdoors if you want to keep your distance from others. It's has a covered, heated outdoor area. The waiters are helpful, kindly taking our order, even though they mentioned we were supposed to go inside and check-in first. It is kosher so because they serve dairy, they don't have meats, but they do have fish so there are plenty of ways to get protein. The food is fresh and tasty. A good choice for a casual Mediterranean meal. read more

Unbelievable. Me and my partner sat down to eat and dine in for some breakfast. After sitting and waiting for over thirty minutes for French toast and pancakes, we see people order after us and still get their orders before us. Okay we understand it can get busy sometimes. But for a group of 10+ to walk in and the waiter to ask us to move to accommodate people that just walked in when we were already sitting in a corner because the other two tables were filthy is hilarious. We were already trying to take less space to help blend in since we obviously stood out. We asked to sit in the corner to ease the waiters job because of the dirty tables that we were told to sit at by the waiter. Obviously we were fine when we asked the waiter if we could sit by the corner ... so why would you ask us if we were "comfortable" when the group of people asked the same waiter if we could move somewhere else to accommodate them knowing we asked to sit there to begin with? What a way to start the New Year. Do not Recommend. Waste of time. read more

Effy's cafe is a casual eatery with good outdoor dining.l excellent choice for breakfast and lunch. Many salads and vegetarian choices. Lox and cream cheese, hummus, Mediterranean choices read more

I ordered green shakshuka which comes with creamy hummus and pita and ate it all. I also ate all three kids' meals leftovers (challah French toast with strawberries, bananas and blueberries), grilled cheddar cheese sandwich on buttery whole wheat multigrain bread), egg and mozzarella on brioche) and a bit of my husband's falafel platter sides and didn't regret it one bit. The kids had smoothies and hot chocolate. Everything was sooo good. read more

If you live in New York, be sure to visit Effys Cafe. A place made to forget your daily routine. Now located on York ave. The music, the atmosphere, the people, the food and the service are incredible. We ordered a berry smoothie, avocado toast, and my husband an ice cappuccino and Effys breakfast. OMG really out of this world everything was delicious. I really recommend it. Excellent! read more

I was looking forward to Effy's upper-east-side arrival. Though I have never tried the west-side location, I have heard positive comments. Upon arrival on an early Saturday afternoon, we were given the last available outdoor seats (there is indoor dining as well). Pancakes and a California omelet were both very good. The only negative point is that they appeared to be understaffed. Everything- the wait to order, the wait for the food to arrive, the wait for the check- took longer than it should've. I have since returned for a takeout order of fish-and-chips, which I enjoyed. I look forward to returning. This kosher-certified restaurant does not serve any meat. read more

i really enjoyed visiting Effy's at york. i loved their shakshuka and its all day breakfast for any platter comes with a free coffee which is great especially I'm a morning person. My husband tried the Vanilla Chai which is so good and they have fresh juices as well. Very friendly service and great recommendations. read more

Lovely atmosphere very good and fresh food the service was excellent. Wish er could have ordered a single pancake to compliment our eggs and salad. :) read more

A very nice place to eat in the upper east side. Foods were delicious, the prices were reasonable and the service was excellent. I woud definitely come back here. read more

Always fresh and delicious highly recommend this restaurant. Love the fish tacos and falafel plater.

Crappy Experience - Sat down, was served a large glass of lukewarm water, no ice, server disappeared. Outside was not crowded and inside was not full. yet it took them a while to bring the menu. I ordered a falafel sandwich on pita. I asked for extra tahina sauce on the side and hot sauce. 30 minutes later nothing arrived, server was absent then she she saw me and said she'll check on my order. Ten minutes later - a wait of 40 minutes - she brought the plate and disappeared. There was no salt and pepper on the table, hot sauce was missing and I was nearly done with my water. The sandwich was tasteless, there was little hummus, the tahina sauce was straight out of a jar, unseasoned and thick, and the salad in the pita had no seasoning; the falafel balls were OK. The server never returned. Finally I had to ask another server for the check and ask for water, having finished the glass midway through the sandwich. Poor food and lousy service. Don't understand the high reviews. Won't go back. read more

We had a good run at Effy's until we didn't. We ordered like we usually do - scrambled eggs, French toast, bagel etc. The eggs were extremely greasy and had gray marks all over them, the French toast was raw in the middle. The server, whom we told about the raw French toast, came back to the table to say that it was cooked, the "chef" said so and that is how it usually is, soft. No, that is not how it was the prior two times we ordered it. This time the middle was wet and raw. It had nothing to do with the challah being soft. The bagel was hard and they are skimpy with the cream cheese. Unfortunately this place is too good to be true. They also need a lesson about customer service. read more

Good food and good service. Kudos to this restaurant.. Will coming back definitely!! read more

Went in at around 10-11 am for breakfast and it did not disappoint! I had gotten the green shakshuka and the french toast and both were really delicious. Despite there being only 2 staff members, they got us our food quite quickly and were extremely kind. read more

Really impressed by both food and service. Delicious with a long menu of options, fusion of Israeli dishes and American favorites. All day breakfast food and nice entrees. Pretty indoor area and nice outside place as well. Overall worth a stop.! read more

The place was empty on a summer Saturday morning. Pleasant and accomodating service. Breakfast was delicious- hummus and labna with my eggs. Fresh greens and fruit. Would go back for more. read more

So that the best on York Ave . Take it from a Doorman that's been in the business for 25 years on York Ave.

Nice place. Colorful, considerate, homey, interesting menu, good value for the money.

Effy's is a mixed bag. On the one hand the prices are great, probably the best prices in the neighborhood by far. Also, I very much appreciate the wait staff - they clearly do a lot of work and seem to be quite cheerful all the time. The Israeli salad is a nice, refreshing alternative to most salads that you get in the neighborhood. The best dishes are the simplest dishes where not much cooking is required such as the Middle Eastern breakfast which is a salad hummus and labneh dish. On the other hand most of the food in general is on the dry and bland side. Couldn't comment on the pancakes and more american style breakfast dishes. read more

The food is fairly good but the prices are too high for the amount. We probably will not return.

First visit and really enjoyed the food. The inside is comfortable and not crowded with tables and chairs so you don't feel like you're sitting on top of each other. Ordered the fish tacos and they were delicious, great sauce and plenty of fillings. Fries that came with the order were amazingly crispy and not greasy. The French toast was ordered by a couple of people while we were there and it looked delicious. Since you can get breakfast all day, I certainly will try it. I can't wait to go back again. read more

Food was Ok but cheap so I guess I get what I pay for. Actual herb stems in the home fries and the "toast" was not it

Great spot for brunch on the far upper east side. Super friendly nice service, large menu selection, and nice outdoor seating spaces. Went a few times and always outside so cannot give a review of the indoor space. Between the three visits we had the falafel platter, the green shakshuka, and the variety of Mediterranean dips and roasted vegetable dishes. All were excellent. They had run out of their delicious pita on one visit which they were extremely apologetic about and that kind of affected the one dish that we had ordered which were Mediterranean dips and it was obviously something that they should have told us about before bringing out the order with just toast but they felt so bad about it that we couldn't get too upset. I recommend this place for a casual and pleasant meal on the East side. read more

Delicious food (especially loved the vegan shawarma and the Moroccan eggplant pate. Falafel was great too!!). Sit down service was pretty slow but take out service was timely. So great to have this cafe in the neighborhood! read more

DO NOT GO HERE!!!!! After walking into a jam packed restaurant, it took me 7 minutes to get acknowledged. I told the worker there I wished to get a table for two and she walked away without saying a word. When she came back my way I asked her again telling her I wanted to sit outside. With no open tables outside EXCEPT ONE she said she didn't know where to put me. I was then instructed to go stand outside next to the dirty table and look at my menu. I waited 15 minutes before I had to flag someone down to clear off the table. I asked the woman if there were any flavors for their coffee to which she proceeded to say "coffee is on our menu!". When she cleared off our table she left me the dirty cups AND the water-bottle there for me to use. The table wasn't wiped down nor was anything sanitary. Another 15 minutes passed with no one coming to greet me, but rather people walking around outside talking care of other peoples orders. I chose to leave and give my menus back inside and they didn't even know I was there waiting. HORRIBLE service DO NOT GO HERE. read more