emilyeastvillage

Kate's Joint in Manhattan, New York City
Sep 15 07

I loved Kate's joint before last night. Last night I had the worst restaurant experience I've had in New York yet. As a party of four, it took over an hour to get our food. The waitress was rude, and didn't even try to bring out drinks/appetizers ahead of time. Once the main dishes arrived, the vegan TLT (which I've been ordering for over 5 years) was just awful. Soggy, bland, inedible. When we asked the waitress if there was anything that could be done to make it better, she basically said "no" but she would "tell the kitchen." Nothing was done. No remedy was offered, and the food stayed on the bill.

When we left, the manager followed us out onto the street (?!?), complaining loudly that we had not left a good tip! This was incredible, given that we had left 20 percent - she simply hadn't been careful enough to check the table (where we had left cash) before deciding to stalk us outside! Now, I wish I had given a smaller tip - because the service was just awful. I can forgive a restaurant for an off night on the food, but I can't forgive a spot for treating a regular customer like a piece of dirt! As a loyal customer, I was shocked and hurt and how blatantly rude the staff was.

I have spent the last 5 years telling everyone I could just how great Kate's was. But last night was so horrible, and the interactions with the waitress and manager were so unprofessional, that I have permanently crossed Kate's off the list - and would encourage all readers to do the same.