Nicolas R.
Yelp
First of all the only reason why I'm giving even a two star review is because the food is that good. The food here is actually spectacular, but the service here is the complete opposite. On the two occasions I've been here, I've received service with an attitude. Not necessarily nasty or rude, but very abrupt and cold. But a week ago was what made me want to NEVER COME HERE AGAIN. LIKE EVER.
My friend ordered the pasta arrabbiata and the way they made it was way too spicy. I tried one pasta noodle myself, and it burned my mouth badly. My friend has a very high spice tolerance, but if he has too much spice he can end up in the hospital. This was too spicy even for him, which I thought was strange. When my friend asked the server to exchange it, he flat out said "Well there's nothing much I can do, you tried it and didn't like it there's nothing I can do." To which I asked him to ask the manager if he can do it, and after he "spoke to the manager" he agreed. In my opinion he didn't have to be a complete AH about it like he was doing me (my friend) a favor.
I tried that pasta myself. I know for a fact that there's absolutely no reason a pasta should be as spicy as it was. I even was able to taste the green habanero or green chilis or something spicy green pepper in the sauce because the sauce looked brown not bright red. That's what happens when you mix green and red on the color wheel since they're on the opposite of each other. This abnormality is what lead me I think the waiter tried to put an excess amount of spicy green peppers in my friend's meal as some sort of a joke because he looks different. Not when my friend (or I) are paying customers trying to have a nice night out.
Now let's talk the server's demeanor towards my friend. The server's body language and demeanor was very prejudiced, every time my friend would say something he'd turn to me and not say anything to "translate" what he was saying. This isn't a racial thing at all, but my friend's look can be a little shocking; he's got some physical deformities but he speaks normally and clearly like everyone else. The service after the encounter about the exchange only got worse where I felt the abruptness and coldness became more intense. The place was empty but for some reason this guy was pacing back and forth and every time I wanted to call him over and order something else, he'd just walk briskly by us with his head forward ignoring us.
I give everybody the benefit of the doubt; I'm a service worker too, I know working with people is really tough. But the level of coldness and abruptness turning into disrespect is absolutely never called for even when I was being respectful of the server. It's a shame because I think the food here is really good and they give nice generous portions for what you're paying for it. This place in comparison to other diners is actually very competitive pricing, and have had some of the best meals that I had here. I love good food, but if the good food comes with that coal mine deep level of service; there's other places in the immediate region that don't have that AH working there that I'd rather go to. This place is gonna nosedive with these people running it. But what really cinnamonned my sugar was the fact that they add on an 18% tip for you (it's pen and paper) and make you sign it. Like that guy gave me no reason to tip him, he was awful.
Also the bathroom is both dirty and not ADA accessible as it is on the second floor without an elevator with tight and cramped stairs, and the bathrooms are tiny with an irregular shape so it's difficult to move around freely and difficult to access the sink. I'm a fully-abled person and I don't require an elevator to go up stairs. But someone else does, and I'm pretty sure aside from being a d*ck move structurally-wise, I'm pretty sure that's also a building code violation in NYC.
