Leo's Tavern

Leo's Midway is located right in the busy streets of Garden City. It is extra busy there during the summer, especially on Fridays. They offer outdoor seating and since every Friday is a block party, they even have tables extended onto the streets. The space indoors isn't huge and they have booths and tables to cater to different sized parties. Oddly enough, the wait for outdoor seating was longer than sitting indoors. I guess everyone wanted to enjoy the summer weather. My friends and I (party of 5) only had to wait about 25 min for indoor seating compared to the 2 hours for outdoors. Service felt pretty slow the entire time. Our waiter was nice but it did take a while for our food and drinks to come out. Portions were decently sized; definitely had some leftovers after. They did not skimp out on the fries for sure. They were nicely fried and salty enough. I got their Garden City Burger and it was decent. Felt like the patty didn't have much flavor, but all the rest of the toppings together gave it more flavor. Others got the Steak Sandwich, California chicken Sandwich, and French Onion Dip. The steak didn't have much flavor either; I feel like they don't marinate their meats enough. I didn't try the chicken sandwich or french onion dip, so I can't speak much on that. Overall, the food and drinks were kind of expensive for what they were.

The first time coming here was yesterday. At first, I was torn of ordering for the main course either the New England lobster roll or the sirloin steak sandwich because I read the New England lobster roll description on the online menu in advance that it contains mayo which I don't like. I was unsure if I could get one with just garlic or butter and celery so I made up my mind to order the steak sandwich because it was composed of cheese and fried onions which I like. I enjoyed my meal with a table of three; my brother and an acquaintance I get along with who I haven't seen in almost 2 years. I think what our server could have done better was check up on us more to make sure we had the right entrees. I ordered the sirloin steak sandwich with fries and my brother ordered a steak. The server made the minor mistake of giving me my brothers dinner and my brother my entree where he and I had to switch platters. It wasn't too crowded when we were dining. I would have to come here again not only to give the servers a second chance to be more accommodating and come around every 10 minutes, but there was a football game on at the bar area and it was somewhat loud. Unfortunately, in a scenario like that is beyond the staff's control when something exciting or disappointing happens when a sport is played with fans booing or cheering loudly. It was just very awkward to dine in peace with the noise of the fans a few times.

I really enjoyed to have spent time with my co-worker Bob and have lunch with him. Today I had the cheeseburger and french fries,it was delicious. I had a good time and maybe think about coming back again soon,the only problem is just taking 3 busses getting there.Today I had boneless chicken wings. Once again I had boneless chicken wings with garlic parmesan sauce.

Leo's had an impressive and welcoming makeover which includes lovely seating outdoors. It's a significant change from the homey older look it had for years but now being more contemporary. Service was excellent. I think you would do well with the burgers and the traditional bar type appetizers. The chicken entree was so-so, and the Thai entree was way to spicy hot, which was not indicated on the menu. We frequently eat out for Thai food, and our experience is that particularly spicy meals are so marked. Our dinner experience not withstanding, we will definitely go back.