Very disappointing. I understand inflates prices and have no issue with them considering the time and place. With that though, I expect to have at least mediocre food at a minimum. $10 for chips and salsa. Ok fine. Chips were stale and obviously old, and considering a few were limp because they were wet with salsa, potentially reused as well. Ordered a salmon Caesar. I cannot comment on the salad except to say I had the waitress take it away. Several of the pieces of the romaine lettuce were dark brown from being rotten. It was nasty enough for me to lose my appetite. The waitress didn't seem to think it was too big of an issue apparently as she didn't even bother to apologize. Definitely won't return. read more

Was there for 55 minutes without being offered a water. Was not that busy. Upsetting. Last year I was there was great customer service guess they really went down hill. read more

Nice place to grab some lunch. Did enjoy the outside dining atmosphere. The meat on the Philly cheesesteak could've been sliced thinner. The pieces of meat too big for the sub. The sub was still delicious though. Loved the fresh cut fries!!! read more

Not gonna lie I only created this yelp account to let others know how bad this place is. So to start, the manager yells at the waitresses in the middle of the restaurant which made me and my family feel very uncomfortable. She presumed to yell while my fiancé was coming back from the bathroom and even backed into her without an apology. Clearly the owner needs some backbone and possibly a new job bc the dude can't run a business if he can't fire a shit manager like her. But I really felt bad for the waitresses, the ones that we had were so sweet and did everything they could to try and make things better for us. Also the food wasn't too bad, it was just way too expensive for what we were getting and half the stuff that we wanted prior wasn't even on the menu. All in all, if this place gets a new owner some new structure, and a new manager I would deff try this place again. It has so much potential. read more

First things first, the menu was fairly small with very expensive prices ($15 apps). We probably should've checked the menu first but we just dropped in. When we realized the prices, we diverted we would only get appetizers and then get full meals at a different place. The wait time for food was not bad at all, average at best. We got the cheese curds, the boneless wings, the quesadillas, and the mozzarella sticks. The mozzarella sticks, wings, and cheese curds tasted exactly what you'd expect from any restaurant in America, and probably 99% of them are cheaper than they are here. The chicken quesadillas tasted fine, but weren't anything spectacular. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone unless they needed food and couldn't walk an extra 500 feet to any of the other places to eat surrounding it. read more

Was excited to eat here after a long day at the baseball fields. The wait to sit down was quick and our waiter took our orders right away. It wasn't until the food came out that our group of 6 started having issues. The food came out about 30 mins after we ordered, however after bringing out the food the waiter had forgotten my daughters meal. We snacked on the seasoned French fries for about 10 mins before she got her food. I went to take a bite of my chicken Caesar wrap and there was a hair on my plate! After informing our server he felt bad and made a new one for me (only took about 10 mins). When he came back with my new meal the French fries were unseasoned. The rest of our groups food was average, nothing special. At the end of the meal before we got our bill the waiter told us that he didn't charge us for our 3 sodas we had because of all the inconveniences, should have gotten the 2 meals for free though. Will not be returning back. read more

Surprisingly good food & service! I don't know why I thought it wouldn't be, but they did a great job accommodating our large group. Food - Decent salad & delicious burger. Service - they provided separate checks for our entire group & delivered food quickly and efficiently. read more

Food was great! Probably some of the best French fries I have had in a long time and the steak and cheese sandwich was excellent. I do believe they were short staffed when I went which explains the slow service, but our waitress was clearly working very hard and overall did a good job. Only complaint I had was the prices. I would definitely come back here next time I'm in town. read more

We ate there twice. Had the fish tacos, pretzels and beer cheese, Caesar salad, and burger. Everything was good.

We were looking forward to a group lunch. Unfortunately it was a really bad experience. Took 1hr and 30mins to get our food which was not hot and also half the group did not get food or wrong order. We tried but they failed. read more

If you want a burger fries and a brew then check it out. Shaded busy patio setting on main st. Good food good beer good service. read more

Hardball Cafe - Cafes Near Me - Cooperstown, New York

This place is cramped, dark and expensive. Their food is mediocre. I had French onion soup which was bland and the bread was rock hard. My husband had chicken which was under cooked. We ordered their fries off of the appetizer menu which were soaked in grease. I had fish and chips which was so over cooked I could only eat half of it because it was so hard. I will not be going back there. This place was definitely the worst part of our 4 hour drive. read more

Got there an hour before they closed, felt rushed by the hostess & server. Tight quarters in a mostly empty restaurant. Turkey Club Panini, was horrible. Hot wilted lettuce & a small amount of turkey for 14.95. read more

Lunch after 5 hours at the Hall of Fame. Sat outside on the last day of the season before Hardball closed for the Fall / Winter. Good service. They had run out of a few things, but compensated with extra wine. Shrimp po' boy sandwich nicely prepared. Good grilled chicken sandwich with side salad. Chicken fajitas very good, nice sauce with a little kick, red and green peppers. Will happily come back at our next visit. Kids had hot dogs (buy one get one) and took home the frisbees that the meals were served on. read more

We went here for lunch here in August, and I wish we hadn't. The service was good, the hostess was super nice. All the tables were cramped together, so I felt like I was eating on top of the other guests. The food was overpriced and mediocre at best. Head over to the Doubleday Cafe just a few doors down and you'll leave much happier. read more

We went for lunch. Service was slow and waitress only checked on the table after we were done with our meals. One meal did not come out until the rest of the table was finishing. Food was okay but overpriced due to location near Baseball Hall of Fame. read more

I would give it zero stars. Asked for a Reuben without sauerkraut and they couldn't do it... dead give away. Boneless wings were pre-made frozen or similar for sure. Waitress said fries were great and homemade. Nothing we ordered was homemade - and because of the induction weekend they jacked the price up at least $6 for cheap bar food. Will NEVER recommend this place OR come back. The one star is because the manager stepped up and handled it like a pro. read more

I can not give zero stars so one it is. Quite simple don't walk away run. It's awful.

The wait was too long for our food. When it did arrive, some of it was cold or wrong. Our waitress tried her best but was overwhelmed. My salad was dropped on the way to the table. The second attempt came out with steak instead of the chicken I ordered. The third attempt was good but was missing the walnuts, orange slices, bleu cheese crumbles and dried fruit medley. Two people at our table went across the street and ordered takeout and returned to our table to eat it. It was a frustrating dining experience. read more

We are here in Cooperstown for the baseball tournament at dreams park. We had 40 plus people in our group and they accommodate us perfectly . All the boys of our team come to visit the hall of Fame and we have our entire team plus families eating lunch here. We have been here and done the same thing the last three years. We had our own outside covered patio area that was perfect for our team party/lunch. The wait staff here was great and very attentive. The food was amazing and the real reason we keep coming back. The food seems to have gotten even better today then we remembered it from before. We are already planning on coming back for our team lunch here next year as well. Any parent that has a child playing baseball in Cooperstown should have their teams party here as well. read more

We were there for lunch on 5/27/17. The hostess and waitress told us it was just their second open day this year. You could not tell everybody seemed up to speed. My wife and I both ordered the Bambino Burger. It's a very good burger and we also got the rally cap fries. They are French fries with garlic. Has anyone else thought of these. The garlic was fresh not powdered and tasted great. We drove 3 hours to go to the hall of fame and when we come back we will be eating here. read more

Hardball Cafe - This is the Bambino burger. It's 10 ounces of delicious - Cafes Near Me - Cooperstown, New York

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This restaurant is an overpriced disaster. The service is slow and they don't even know how the food is supposed to be prepared. (We ordered the Hard Ball dog that's supposed to be amazing - first time it came out as a kids dog, second time it came out plain - the whole point is all the great stuff on it - the beer cheese was definitely not beer cheese, more like flavorless cheese whiz. The burger was way over cooked and the BLT came on limp toast with way too much and too big lettuce, paper thin tomato and small little bits of bacon). Food comes out after a very long time and isn't right and is cold - but only part of the food, the rest will be out later. Do yourself a favor and don't stop here. There are lots of other choices. Apparently this is their 2nd day of business - but I still have to pay full price - not a great excuse. We can deal with being slow as you iron the kinks out but sub par food shouldn't be a consequence we suffer. read more

We read the reviews and were hesitant due to the bad service reviews. We should have listened. The service was exactly what you'd expect from a poorly run restaurant. We waited for about 10 minutes before a waitress took our drink orders. We received no beer list, no explanation of what the beers were when we asked, and the vibe of "just pick something". We ordered meals and waited. Our drinks were empty and we had to find our waitress to get refills. My chicken tenders and fries came with 3 tenders and a small amount of limp fries. My kids split the giant hot dog and never got the chips until we asked for them. All of this with a restaurant that was 3/4 full. Also, the owner was walking around the restaurant mostly interested in chatting with people at the bar an oblivious to the terrible service happening all around him. read more

The Hardball Cafe was previously the All American Cafe. From the only review posted here, it sounds like nothing has changed here but the name. See my review from August 2011, which describes in great detail the train wreck of a meal we had at 99 Main Street, Cooperstown, NY. Steer clear of the Hardball or you'll feel like you were hit by one. read more

The Reuben was so bad we sent it back to the kitchen. Service was slow and menu was limited but not in a good way. There are many other options in cooperstown that are more worth your time and money. read more

Not a good experience at all...food was a big disappointment (tasteless really), service was extremely slow (40 minutes for a salad, 2 burgers and a Reuben and they weren't even busy!) and quite overpriced. Based on other recommendations, go to the Doubleday Cafe. read more

Worst service ever!!! Not prepared for large parties.....which is odd seeing as their main market is baseball teams. Over priced....3 adults and 2 kids $90 for food that was cold by the time we got it and bland. Everything at Cooperstown was perfect except this restaurant. Go to the New York Pizzeria- great prices, great service, and ready to handle a team! read more

Horrible service. After waiting 5 minutes for a waitress to come take our drink order, she came by and we were ready to order. Took our order. Drinks came fairly quickly and was informed that our order had been placed. Proceeded to wait for 15, 20, 25 minutes. Waitress never came over to check on us, so I wasn't able to inquire about our order. The two times she did come out to our end of restaurant, I was trying to make eye contact. NEVER looked my way. I'm fuming now, it takes a lot for me to walk out. We left without opportunity to let her know she/they f-ed up. We left at went to Sal's across the street. read more

We had good service (bartender) and food. We had the turkey avocado club (cannot recall name -$15) and the fried pickle spears ($10) which were excellent. The chips came with small salsa and sour cream ($10). We sent those back due to burnt taste on chips. We sat at bar, not such a good seat because the wait staff would surround us to get their bar drinks; at times putting server trays in front of us. Prices are steep. read more

Very good food. Service was quick and friendly. The charging station for cell phones is a nice touch. Also there was a wait. They took our cell phone number so that we could visit the Hall of Fame shops while we waited. read more

Don't do it. If you're a restaurant in Cooperstown and accept baseball teams, you should know what you're doing. Warning to all teams that come to Cooperstown... any option is better than this. They can't remember orders, they don't get orders correct. They run out of glasses to serve drinks! If you say you take teams, you should be prepared to do so. This place should be the last place you try. read more

Great food. Awesome atmosphere. Attentive staff. Candace is the best barmaid in Cooperstown

This place is great!! The service was great!! The food was absolutely terrific!! The barbecue sauce was some of the best I have ever tasted, and it went great with fries and chicken tenders! Has great baseball themed menu items, and the bambino burger was fantastic! Will definitely come here again the next time I'm in Cooperstown. I would suggest to the owner that he/she should sell the BBQ sauce in bottles, because I would definitely buy it! read more

The food was ok, a little pricey, but staff was super accommodating for 30+ people last minute.

Terrible food/service. Drinks and food took forever to be served, the pretzel app we ordered was BURNING hot and once cooled it was stale. Guess they heated it up to be sort of edible. The table that was seated after us was served their food long before we were. Food finally arrived and was completely wrong, waiter apologized and told us the "kitchen is a mess today" which left us not feeling confident that the food will even be decent, which is wasn't! Don't waste your time or money (food was way overpriced) go somewhere else!!! read more

They say that they specialize in serving large groups but I can tell you that is not true at all. We came in with our baseball team of around 25-30 people and it took them 45 minutes to just to get our order. Then it took about 20 minutes for everyone to get there drinks. The servers sounded clueless when talking to us. By the time we got our food we had been here for 1 hour and 30 minutes. They had messed up a good number of our orders when we told them what we wanted. They never came back to ask for refills and we sat around without drinks. And just to add it took 20 some minutes for us to be seated. All in all I do not recommend coming to the Hard Ball Cafe. If you think about coming turn around and go somewhere else cus it absolutely sucks here. Please do not come to the Hard Ball Cafe in Cooperstown, New York. read more

Had the garlic fries.....they were AWESOME but cold bc they had a huge party come in of 30......took all the waiters time! EVEN though they were cold they were delicious read more

Ok I wanted to skip the joint the moment I walked in. They had no hot water to start off. The waitress is very nice. The food was hot and crispy. The hamburger was huge and tasty. The cheesesteak was real steak and very good. The meats could use a little seasoning. The atmosphere was park like. read more

Was in town for Cooperstown. Great food, service and atmosphere! Such a quaint and cozy outdoor place to eat. Fish tacos, baked potato, philly cheesesteak and grilled chicken panini were all delicious--as was the pineapple mojito. Very friendly staff. read more

my family and friends ate here with our children before a baseball game. FOOD WAS HORRIBLE, my son and daughter's food was cold and he called the police on us for refusing to eat cold shrimp . THE CHEF GOT ALL UP IN MY FACE REFUSING TO MAKE US NEW FOOD because he thought it was hot. What a joke. read more