Zeta Bar — Restaurant in Sydney

We attended Zeta Bar on the weekend after a work dinner. We had to stand outside for 20 minutes waiting to come in. As the father of a three-month old child I was getting pretty tired, verging on morose. I'd had two pints of lager over the course of a three-hour dinner but was by no means intoxicated. I am by no means a loud or troublesome person. There were about 12 young chinese women outside with excessive make up and they appeared to be there to make the club look popular. Aside from them there was no line to get it. Finally we were allowed in. I duly showed my licence to the licences scanner. Smiled at bouncer one and the girl standing there, explained that I'd had dinner and a couple of drinks and was ushered to the area with the elevator. As I stood there with the organiser of the event the bouncer must have either took a dislike to me or mistook my drowsiness for intoxication. At the time I was literally standing there, saying nothing, bored and wanting to get the wait over with. He rudely (as they always do) asked me what I'd been doing and how much I'd drunk. I said I had dinner and two or three drinks (I'd actually had two pints of beer). He warned me about predrinking and then said I could go in but warned me not to get any more intoxicated (this is a bar, mind you). This is where I should have shut up, but I was getting tired, not very excited about going up and not really wanting to drink a lot anyway. I was also unused to being treated so rudely because I don't get out that much anymore (I'm 40). So I asked him what exactly he meant by predrinking. He said pre drinking. Drinking before you came here. I told him that everyone in the line had drunk before they came here. I (facetiously but willingly) offered to be breathalysed if he thought I was intoxicated. He said that he warned me not to get drunker. I told him I obviously hadn't, I was still standing outside their elevator getting more bored and impatient by the minute. He told me I had a choice. The choice was not clear, but I presume it was suck up to him and get let in, or be asked to leave. I made my choice. I was too angry and insulted to want to enter Zeta bar. Why would I want to spend money in an establishment that treats its customers so rudely? I said that I thought this situation was ridiculous, and that denying people entry on the basis of "predrinking" was ludicrious. He asked me to leave. I did willingly. I admit I gave him a few choice words as I left, but I swear I was polite, if annoyed until I made the choice to leave.

Reflecting on it. I was clearly not intoxicated. Once he started talking to me he established that and gave me the option to let me come in to the pub. However I was tired and irritable (due, in no small part to standing around for 20 minutes waiting to get in whilst there was no one entering or leaving the club and no line). And I just could not bring myself to smile and be nice to the bouncer so I was denied entry.

I don't regret it. I do regret sucking up to so many idiot bouncers on power trips in my younger years. If everyone treated bars like they treat any other business and left if the service was bad, this sort of harrassment would be a thing of the past.

In the future, if asked, my answer will be "I've had two pints, if you think I'm drunk then tell me and I'll go home. Don't expect me to look act I'm not tired of standing in this line and I like being hassled for looking...

I had a birthday event at elite night club last Saturday with around 25 guests. We booked a table with Kristijian and was allocated to an area where we situated for the celebration. The night was going well until one of the security guards approached my friend and asked him to leave. We were trying to explain to him that our friend is legally blind and his balance and sense of direction is different to people who can see. My friend had the supporting documents to to prove that he is legally blind but the security guard did not even consider it. He was rude and was kicking out my friend for no real reason. The security guard did not even want to reassess the situation, instead he said “I know he’s blind”. We found that very rude and discriminatory. My friend was kicked out for being blind and the security did not show any compassion nor did he present any real reason. Security are meant to resolving problems not causing problems. My friend was definitely NOT causing any problems, he was just standing around and having fun with his friends and he still got kicked out. There was absolutely no reason to kick out my friend. The discrimination that came from this particular security guard is very inappropriate and unprofessional. In the midst of trying to explain to the security guard that my friend was legally blind, one of my other friends was also kicked out for defending my blind friend. This security was causing issues and ruining the night for everyone. We came to elite club to have fun but instead was kicked out for having a legally blind friend? The whole group eventually just left the venue and was shocked at the discrimination that was experienced that night. Thank you to kristijian and his staff for trying to assist in the situation, but the night was already ruined at that point. I am very disappointed and disgusted at the way my friends were treated. Further training may be needed to prevent anything like this from...

Absolutely worst experience I’ve ever encountered!! Had a private booking for 15 people for 9pm which the manager confirmed included entry and a drinks and food package. As soon as we got there the drama started! Firstly there is zero communication between staff here - no one had a clue about anything we booked and wanted to charge us entry even though we already paid it in the booking. Made us wait 10mins until the manager could come up to sort out. We weren’t seated until 10pm and even then there was only enough seating for 5 people. Meanwhile they started to set up another reserved seating area right next to us and no one arrived because THAT SPACE WAS MEANT FOR US AS WELL!! They finally figured that one out and reconfigured the seating arrangements for us. When I complained to the manager, he plays the blame game and nothing important comes out of his mouth. Speaks volumes about the quality and standards of the place. We started a drinks tab while we waited for our drinks package to start - because again no body knows what is happening at this place - and half way through the night THEY LOSE OUR CREDIT CARD and tell us they will try to find it for us later - ummmmmmm no, you will look for it now!!! Finally food and drinks started coming out at 10.40, almost 2 hours after our booking time - for 15 people it was gone in 5 minutes. Absolute waste of money and disgusting lack of customer satisfaction. Such a poor reflection on the Hilton - I would have received a better experience at a motor inn. Hardly bloody worth it!! Do yourself a favour and avoid this place like...