T. Paul's Supper Club — Restaurant in Astoria

I've been going here for 12 years, but it's really lost its charm and customer service in the last 3 years. I've gone back a handful of times a year and each experience has been negative, whether it's been poorly trained staff, lackluster dishes, or prices going up up up. My last bad experience is now my last. I'm calling it quits on a once beloved eatery. Last experience: I had a hankering for their wonderful calamari and so a friend and I decided to indulge. This was at opening on a Saturday 3/6 and it wasn't busy yet. We ordered one cocktail a piece, costing $26 in total. Which is as much as one of their salmon entrees and just a $1 less than a nice steak dish. Their cocktail prices are one of the highest for the area and compared to their menu have become a bit unbalanced over the years. When our waitress came we tried to order the calamari. She said it was not being served anymore, but hopefully would come back soon. Many restaurants have cut dishes due to Covid. I told her how disappointing that was to hear since that was the reason we came in that day. It was one of their best appetizers. We hesitated on staying, but our drinks were already made and so we decided to stick around and order something else. We ended up with a couple of burgers and a different appetizer. The food was okay, but we felt the flavor of our burgers were very monotone. They were interesting ingredients, but all mixed together there was no zest or pop of flavor. I liked my martini, but my friend's pomegranate margarita was not so good. It tasted like juice with a hint of alcohol flavor that couldn't be identified as tequila. We each had a garnish of lime and so we squeezed those into the drink and the flavor improved a bit. All in all it wasn't a great visit, but it kept going downhill when we were waiting for the waitress to come back with our cards. My friend noticed what seemed to be the calamari being served to a table close to us. We waved down the waiter who delivered it and asked if it was the calamari, and he said yes. After expressing our disappointment to our waitress at having come there for a dish that wasn't being served, to then see it successfully ordered by another table, was quite the snub. This visit alone wouldn't have stopped us from coming back, but it ended up being the last bad experience on a three year decline of service. I once truly loved this place and am so sorry that has changed. However, I'm no longer willing to pay high prices for bad experiences when there are better options where you leave with a sense of happiness and contentment instead of frustration and...

In town on 5/11 & 5/12. Our first night we waited 40 minutes for a table and was then seated at arguably the worst table in the place. There's a half dozen tables that are undesirable to sit and we got one of them. Luckily two seats opened at the small bar (seats about 6) and we quickly took advantage. Bartender extremely busy but she did the best she could. Started with the Crispy Sprouts and they were excellent. Need to figure out how to do those at home! We eat brussels fairly often and these were the best we've ever had. Salads that came with dinner were fine, nothing special, and were served on these tiny plates so a quarter of your salad will end up on the table. Not sure who came up with that idea but needs to be re-examined! For entrees we ordered the NW Salmon and the Salmon Romesco. The Romesco was definitely the winner, served on top of partially mashed potatoes (mashers). All in all a good experience. That said, we revisited the next night for lack of other options in Astoria, hoping for the same as the previous night. Got in shortly after opening and seated right away, this time at a decent table. This night, service was lackluster. Server seemed distant and not too attentive. Ordered a bowl of clam chowder that was served in a stone-cold bowl. (I won't say "ice" cold, but as cold as it was outside). We were among the first patrons in the door and served barely warm chowder in a cold bowl. Seems management would step up their game on this one, but no. Just spoon it in cold dishes and call it a day. (Remember, it's freezing and raining outside much of the time. This is not a welcoming treat.) The served HAD to have known it when she placed it on the table, and said nothing hoping it would just go away. Is that the way they like their chowder? hmmm... Sensing there might be a problem, we ordered the Crispy Spouts (again) in hopes to raise our expectations and they were barely warm, too. So assuming all their food was going to be served the same way, we opted to cut our loses and leave. Thus a good 4-star review has turned to 3. Sorry guys, but consistency is right up close to the top of great restaurants. T. Paul's failed at this element, so...

To start, we love eating here and usually look the other way and forgive all their quirks. But tonight was unacceptable. We normally eat at the bar and the service is fine, but tonight we had family in town. I called ahead to get on the seating list for a table which is somehow different than a reservation which they now don't take. I was told the benefit of calling ahead is that we'd be seated before walk-ins. So we arrive at the scheduled time and let them know we called ahead and were told by two front desk staff our name had been crossed off the seating list. No idea why? So we waited for a table. We finally get seated and order a bottle of wine and cocktails. The waitress comes with our drinks and tells us she doesn't know how to open a bottle of wine. We laugh it off even though we are paying $50 for a $13 bottle of wine. Whatever, we are out to celebrate. She comes back and we order an appetizer and settle in with our drinks. My husband's salad arrives immediately as we continue to wait, he tries to be polite waiting as the appetizer would surly arrive soon. An entire hour goes by. New people are seated, served and eating all around us. After more than an hour our SANDWICHES and one coconut shrimp entree arrive. Fries were cold. No appetizer. When we say something they immediately turn super rude and repeatedly tell us to just let them bring the appetizer and so we can just take it home. They would bring it after the meal. And when we declined the wait staff turned super rude. I could see our waitress complaining about our table to the owner behind the bar. We had planned to have dessert and after dinner drinks and do the whole thing. Could not get out of there fast enough. It was a terrible experience when all we asked for was what we ordered. Terrible service and no change will happen as a result of this review. They do not care. Potential diners be aware what you're in for. The food is good, drinks are good but all ruined by terrible customer service. I'm tired of making excuses for this place. Embarrassing to even...