The Phunky Elephant - Staten Island

*This review is for Drag Bingo Brunch with Luscious Lola* If you haven't caught on to this fantastic trend at the Phunky Elephant Gastropub on Staten Island, you need to get your reservations and experience the Drag Bingo Brunch with Luscious Lola! First of all, the brunch is a great deal. $21.95 for brunch and two cocktails. The food is incredible! We had the mac'n cheese stuffed spring rolls (extra charge). More like the size of an egg roll, but crispy and thin like a spring roll, these babies are on a bed of sweet chili sauce and are divine. The chicken and waffles is uniquely served with a lovely southern gravy which contrasts the maple syrup perfectly. Caesar's Huevos are served on homemade tortilla chips and a delicious salsa verde gravy. Luscious Lola puts on an incredible show. She lip syncs, does costume changes, and interacts with the crowd in a respectful, but hysterical way. Bingo is a blast and every time O 69 is called, the entire bar gets shots of Fireball! It was called 3 times in 5 rounds of bingo. The bar was pumping smiles and cheers all around! We will absolutely go back to see Lola. They even have other events at the bar like live music and Game of Thrones trivia. Reservations are a must for bingo, and they fill up fast so plan ahead!

Not sure what has happened with this place but for the second time in a row, my order was delayed and the staff was rude. I don't understand. This has been one of my go to resturants for years. I placed order at 7:04. I arrived for pick up at 7:40, woman says with attitude, I told you, 45 minutes and keep in mind the order was placed at 7:04. She went to speak with someone else, came back and said you need wait another 10 minutes. I asked her did I have a choice? Now it was time to pay, had to ask for all of my change, as they decided to keep the coin portion ot it. If looks could kill when I asked, I wouldnt be writing this. Oh and another 10 minutes after the whole payment issue, that's when my food came out. 8:12 was when I actually got my take out order. That's it local, long time customer lost. PS over 1 hour for a take out order. Stay away from here if you want to eat on time. Will never again tell anyone to go here.

Unless you have a reservation, you will be turned away. Which is fine... however there is no option to book one online. I looked to make one yesterday and I was redirected to the Yelp page. Was gonna go here for brunch today and was instantly turned away.. despite the fact that I came at opening, no one was there and it was only going to be two of us. I was a little sad since this place is supposed to be great.

It 's possible that I caught them on a bad day but the avocado spread on the BLT looked a couple days old. No avocado should be that dark. On top of that, the French Rustica bread was extremely difficult to chew. Everyone else I was with had a great meal and a great experience so I don 't doubt that this place has solid food, but if this is what is considered okay to serve, I have an issue with it. I scraped the avocado spread off because it was so unappealing but then the bread still had some on so I ended up reconstructing my sandwich using the bottom part of the bread with all the ingredients in between. The fries were also just subpar. I don 't know... would I come back? I don 't know...

So today I went to Staten Island to babysit my nephew. I figured let me order a quick takeout so I ordered a crispy chicken salad, fried pickles, mac and cheese spring rolls and truffle french fries. The menu said chicken salad yet they charged an additional $5.00 for chicken, the truffle fries on the menu said $5 and they charged an additional $2 for truffle. That is ridiculous and a real slick move. Now as for the food, terrible nasty burnt pickles. Mac and cheese rolls and fries also burnt. Chicken was wrapped separately and it was drenched in grease. Worst take out food ever. Not worth the $54 I wasted.