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""Like a Manhattan restaurant???"" Please! - Review by citysearch c | Panama Hatties

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""Like a Manhattan restaurant???"" Please! 5/7/2007

Having lived and dined in NYC for many years, my husband and I decided to try a ?special occasion? restaurant in LI for a change for our anniversary. We heard great things and expected the quality to be on par with a Manhattan restaurant as is their claim.\r \r Upon arrival we were greeted, barely, by an exasperated girl with a tattoo on her chest and told to have a seat at the bar as our table wasn't ready. All the bar stools had ripped upholstery and the bartender wasn't welcoming or gracious at all. We had an 8:45 reservation but were not seated until 9:20. This is despite me making a reservation over a month ago and letting them know at that time and when I called to confirm that we would be there for our anniversary. There were no apologies, no comped drinks, nothing. \r \r We were seated next to very loud people who seemed to be VIPS (they were seated 5 minutes before we were despite them coming in 20 minutes after us) and many members of the staff kept coming over to chat it up with them. Not so romantic for us. \r \r Some friends had ordered a bottle of champagne for us which the restaurant kept in a bucket out of reach. Our glasses were constantly empty and I found myself scanning the room for the waiter. We ordered 2 glasses of wine from a runner, and they never came. When I finally found our waiter to follow up, he said ?oh, that?s because we are out of it.? Uhhh. When we finally ordered different wine, our food arrived before it did. \r \r The positives: after the wine debacle, our waiter did bring us out tastings of a few of their wines. This was very appreciated and all were delicious. And, the most important part of a restaurant: the food. It was really delicious. The menu was nicely diverse and everything was prepared beautifully.\r \r But overall, for a restaurant with prices like this, the service should be flawless. They should hire people that reflect the food/price point. The staff behaved as if it was the corner bar. \r \r We wouldn?t go back. \r Pros: Food is fantastic, nice wines Cons: Service is like at T.G.I. Fridays except not as friendly, too expensive for overall experience more
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