Bacchanal Junction — Restaurant in Bloomfield

For the past few days, I've been contemplating my recent experience at your establishment, debating whether to share my feedback on Google reviews, especially considering your status as a new restaurant. However, your response to Nef's critique extinguished any hope I had for a constructive dialogue and learning opportunity.

Let's address the inaccuracies in your rebuttal. Firstly, your claim that the waiter was asked to slow down the service is misleading. The initial pace of service was rushed, prompting us to request a moment to settle in before proceeding with our orders. It's standard practice in many dining establishments to allow guests time to peruse the menu and enjoy their drinks before delving into appetizers and entrees. This wasn't about tardiness but about ensuring a comfortable dining experience.

The second paragraph of your response to Nef is also misleading and potentially damaging. We were not loud! Our request to lower the music was a desire to converse comfortably with our fellow diners. In response to the excessive volume, some of us took the initiative to relocate temporarily to quieter areas for conversation, demonstrating our consideration for both your establishment and other patrons. To insinuate that we were a loud crowd incapable of comporting ourselves in public is offensive and grossly misrepresents the situation. Your choice of music, while perhaps fitting for a club or lounge, was incongruent with the ambiance of your establishment.

Now, let’s address the core issue: your team's mishandling of the situation and the lack of accountability displayed. We waited for 1.5 hours for our entrees, which we ordered from an extremely limited menu. Everyone was served except for one person. When we brought this to the waiter's attention, the response was dismissive, claiming that she hadn’t placed an order. Instead of acknowledging the oversight and rectifying the situation, your team argued with us. There was no consideration given to the possibility that the order was simply forgotten. After escalating the issue to the manager, who then called the chef, the back-and-forth continued without resolution. A simple gesture of accountability, such as offering a complimentary drink for the wait, could have mitigated the frustration. However, your team chose a confrontational path, and the person was no longer interested in the order.

We are a small group, part of a larger community with over 30,000 members. We recently shared a picture of ourselves at your establishment supporting black-owned businesses and received significant engagement. Imagine if we were to share our experience and your response on Topic Tuesday. It's disheartening to witness how poorly this situation was handled. Based on our experience and the subsequent response, I cannot recommend this...

I had the opportunity to dine at this beautiful Caribbean restaurant for the first time. I was excited when we arrived and I saw the cool name of the establishment. I was eager to try the food. We were immediately greeted and seated as we had a reservation. I must state that our waiter was professional, kind and very pleasant. I believe it’s necessary to always give genuine and candid feedback to help restaurants make improvements.

1. the decor is beautiful with the pics on the wall of places in the Caribbean
2. the entire layout and furnishings are beautiful
3. the bar is very modern and large
4. the bartenders were pretty young ladies dressed professional with kind demeanors
5. I love that there were televisions on the wall. My recommendation as a customer is, they should have carnival videos constantly running on their televisions thru out the evening for customers to feel that Caribbean vibe. I do watch Shark Tank at home and cable news so I really wish that their televisions had carnival videos with masqueraders, and soca/calypso artist etc. just my suggestion. I’m a very good cook that comes from a Trini family that can cook good Caribbean food. Unfortunately, I must be honest and state that I give the food a 1. I had oxtail, it was dry and had a bit of a vinegar taste; the peas and rice ok, the little cubes of plantains were ok. My hubby had the stew fish and I tasted it. My recommendation is to wash the fish in lemon or lime to get rid of that awful fishy taste, ugh. It’s difficult to digest fish that has that fishy taste. Paying $33.00 for a plate of oxtail with rice and getting 4 tiny pieces of oxtail is not fair to the customers. The presentation could have been a lot better. I was literally in shock when my food arrived with the smallest pieces of dry oxtail. This is a beautiful establishment that can make these improvements to provide the best possible customer service experience as their menu is limited and very pricey. It was extremely kind of the owner that stopped by our table and kindly asked how things were going for us. He was super nice and professional. I’m sad to say that my response to his question was a bit of a fake smile and nod as I was disappointed with my food even though I did eat it. Happy for parking on premises Lot of patrons dining so that says a lot. I will not return. Not impressed with the food. Wishing your restaurant...

Wanted to support this new business. Traveled from Bergen County just to be extremely disappointed in the service and drinks. The music was the ONLY good thing about this spot. I arrived at 7:50pm (checked my Uber receipt) my husband and I went directly to the bar. We did not have reservations. I sat down as there was only 1 seat, he stood behind me. We talked about our work day, laughed, caught up and no one came to us to take our drink order. Nearly 25 minutes passed until he became impatient and yelled over the music to catch the bartenders attention. It honestly was not THAT busy for them to have missed us at the bar.

The waitress took our order—simple: don julio, seltzer SPLASH of lime. We received our cocktails and YUCK!!! Bartender, a young lady with glasses and a natural type bun must have poured half the bottle of lime juice in our glasses. It was horrible. I still tried to remain positive because music was good. While I reluctantly sipped on my lime drink trying not to complain, the bartender never came back to take our food order. At this point my husband was able to get a seat. Waited another 20 minutes to get her attention. We were really here for the food! Placed our order another 25 minutes go by. No update. I asked the bartender for an update as we only had ordered our appetizers, same young lady with the glasses. Her response to me was “i mean i feel like you JUST sat down but I’ll check with the kitchen” Excuseeeee meeee!!!??? That was rude and uncalled for. After another 10 minutes my husband and I decided we wanted to leave. We were NOT feeling it!!! I had planned on bringing my coworkers here for afterwork fun, but now that thought is over.

I was so disappointed in the lack of customer service, nasty drinks, bartenders with attitudes and slow service. 2 poorly tasting drinks were $44 (gratuity was automatically included). I will never be back here. We ended up going to a Latin Bar/lounge in Passaic...