You've Been Served

Or maybe you haven't. Or, more likely, maybe you've been served poorly. The Daily News highlights the (somewhat obvious) fact that New Yorkers don't like bad service in restaurants. According to Tim Zagat, who is quoted in the article, in the 2006 Zagat guide surveys, 49% of New Yorkers named bad service as their primary complaint.

It is truly amazing how bad service can put a damper on an otherwise fine meal. The other night, we had dinner at Gradisca, a modest, rustic Italian restaurant in the West Village. In our party of six, two couples had gotten babysitters in order to go out to dinner, which made us particularly aware of the fact that we waited close to an hour between the time we were seated and the time our appetizers actually made it to the table. There was clearly no communication among the waitstaff, and we had to ask several times for bread, wine, and water. The food was fine, but the service had pissed us off so much that it was hard to enjoy. The other night, and Mexicana Mama Centro, we had finished our guacomole and chips and were waiting for our entrees to arrive, when we were suddenly asked if we had decided on dessert. Not fatal, and the place is fairly new so we're likely to give them some allowance to work out the kinks, but suddenly we felt rushed. Even at high-end Del Posto, we had to wait close to 45 minutes after our reservation time to be seated -- at those prices, one shouldn't be kept waiting at the bar that long without a round of drinks or a nibble. From that point on, however, the service was flawless, and the food was quite good, so we somehow forgot about the long wait.

What are your worst bad service stories? Any repeat offenders?

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Laren Spirer in Food on March 20, 2006 1:32 PM

Comments [rss]

erika!

I know that AppleBee's isn't exactly a great place...but if I'm paying for food, I expect good service. Once it was a group of friends that went in around 3pm on a friday, the place was empty and one of us went to park the car. We got a table, ordered our drinks, and told them we were waiting for a friend. Not five minutes after the waitress takes our drink order, she told us that if our friend didn't show up we would have to leave. Now, I would expect something different if the place were lacking seats...but it wasn't crowded AT ALL. After our friend got there, we ordered and had to wait for a long time for our food. And were rushed for dessert. But the seat thing is REALLY ANNOYING. I hate being rushed when I eat when its completely unnecessary.

But the WORST service I have ever gotten was in Naples, Florida. Where the waitress was extremely rude from the start, but incredibly cheery to every other family around. We were in naples on a family emergency in the first place and were in NO condition to bring out the "nyc gangsta attitude." It made us miss the diversity and the comfortable-scuminess back home in NYC.

jeep

Sadly, it seems like terrible service is more the norm than the exception in NYC these days. In the last two months, I've waited 40 minutes for my order to be taken (Aquavit), served a fish entree which was cold (Aquavit), been poured wine from completely the wrong bottle (it was one of those places where they take your bottle elsewhere to be chilled) (The Harrison), and been practically force-fed three courses in under an hour (Ivy's Bistro).

My personal irritation: most places won't tell customers to leave after 2+ hours, which means you hang around forever for your table if the previous customers are taking their sweet time (I've watched my table occupied by a group of people for an HOUR, without them eating/drinking/ordering a thing).

There's a few places where I've consistently had good service though: Holy Basil (LES), Puttanesca (Midtown).

Cortney

I had terrible service at Maxwell's in Hoboken (yeah, not exactly NYC, but lots of NY kids go for shows). My friend and I decided to split a plate of fries and drinks before the show, and it took ages for them to take out order, ages for them to bring the fries, and the kicker- the waiter came over when we were done and snarled "are you finished? Because we need the table." We had been planning on ordering more, but we immediately got up and paid the bill in exact change.

What an asshole.

two.oh

Gradisca is always kind of a pain, but the food is very good, and all of the pasta is made in the restaurant! At least the service isn't like Ktown. They tend to have a prejudice towards the younger generation. Even though the bill was like $250, we were asked to leave after an hour!

jim

to be fair, i walked into Del Posto ten minutes early on a friday night and was seated right away. at 8pm.

James

Went to La Paella last Saturday night, never been before and wanted some paella, walked in, nobody was at the door, so my gf walked to the back bar, where they told her it would be a sec. A minute later the hostess then came up and helped us. She looked around the top floor and didn't see a table for two. (there were two) so she took us downstairs, where there was one. She seated us and gave us one menu and asked if we could share, that they were low. We waited and waited and waited for the server, he came by helped the table behind us, the table on the left and the table on the right and left. I couldn't get his attention and our table was uneven, we had one menu, i had a wad of cash and wanted to be taken care of, so I had had enough of that place and walked out. the hostess wasn;t even at the door so no one every noticed..........went to FLEA MARKET on A and had a great meal.

rude service at charbon

chris. yeah, we prob. should have just gotten up and left. but that seemed to be exactly what the hostess was trying to get us to do. and it didn't seem right to be bullied out of a place where we had a reservation.

but prob. more to the point, it was cold and we were lazy and didn't feel like going out to find a new place w/o a reservation.

marc

i went to gradisca with a friend of mine on a sunday night. the place was almost empty - yet they sat us right next to the bathrooms.

i think we were too tired to ask for a different table - but it struck me as odd. i think it was their way of saying 'f you for coming in at 9.15 on a sunday - can't you see everyone is having coffee?'

Jen

Veselka brunch, every single time we go. After we wait for a seat (not a problem), we're inevitably rushed into ordering, then our food is dumped on the table and we never see the waitress again. The past two times, they've "switched shifts" during our meal, and we've waited 15-20 minutes to get our check after asking for it.

chris

RSAC, why didn't you just leave? There's 1,001 decent places within a 10 minute walk. There is no reason to put up with sub par service - just walk out. Make a scene if you'd like, but remember you can always just leave.

rude service at charbon

at charbon/epicerie in the LES

reservation for four..... two of us get there on time, and the restaurant is empty. a waitress sees us, and seats us. brings us menus, water, etc. etc..

two minutes later, some other woman.... a hostess who looked like she had had too much facial surgery came over and told us rudely that we couldn't just sit down on our own. we were like, um, we didn't just sit down, that waitress over there led us to this table and gave us menus and water. the hostess glares at us as if we're lying. and haugtily claims the table is reserved. we're like, yeah.... we have a reservatino for four. the hostess says if the other two people aren't here we'll have to leave the table. we say the'll be here any second now. the hostess comes back literally every two minutes to ask where the other two people were. literally every two minutes. ten minutes after our reservation time, the hostess snarls "i'm going to have to ask you to leave. you're party is not here and we can't wait around all night." the restaurant was largely empty at this point!! luckily our two friends arrived just as the hostess completed her sentence. and we're like, excuse you, they're right

behind you.

five minutes later the waitress came and asked for our order.... we said we needed a minute or two, she came back and asked if we were ready.... a moment of hesitation later... and she says with a straight face: 'well, i have to take your order now.... whether your ready or not. you can't sit here all night." it had been five minutes since we sat down!

it sounds minor, but the totally disrespectful and accusatory tone of the hostess was ridiculous. she must've known she was wrong because at the end of the meal, she apologized for having been rude.... nice gesture.... but it was too late. the mood was ruined. we just gave her stink-eye, rolled our eyes and left.

never going back there again.