Lefkes Estiatorio — Restaurant in Englewood Cliffs

TL;DR - Never Again, waiters and manager we engaged with were very condescending. If I could rate them a 0 based on service I would.

Please note, we had to make reservations 30+ days in advance with the condition we spend a minimum of $140 a guest. Not a problem, we're drinkers. We were a group of 17 ready for an amazing time.

The experience on 12/3:

Waited over an hour to be seated and were not seated until 10 pm. We were all at the bar drinking and waiting. After multiple inquiries on the status of our table, based on response from staff they overbooked. When we were finally given a table we had 4 guests without chairs as if the number of guests was a news flash and not in their system for over 30 days. We ordered drinks.

10:15 pm we received tap water 10:20 pm bread arrived 10:25 pm partial drinks arrive along w/ hummus & pita 10:30 menus arrived, for viewing since they never took our order (it was family style but I expect to be asked about the main dish since it was between steak or fish). In less than 5 minutes appetizers arrived. We had a diabetic guest which was very overwhelming to deal with considering the lack of food then a fast paced service not even allowing us to have enough table space for it all. 10:50 pm we followed up on the remaining drinks ordered 11:00 pm drinks were provided, FINALLY after an hour 11:38 pm, dinner arrived, who wants to eat dinner close to midnight and tomorrow's calories - I requested mine to go and never saw the food again.

After eating the thinnest sea bass of my life I became nauseous, cannot say with full certainty that it was causal. Either way, I requested ginger ale from a waiter nearby. He asked me if i knew where my waiter was, I was bewildered, how can I know where he is? Waited another 15 min and asked if he could get it instead. He said no, my waiter must. Now another 15 min have passed and I said my nausea isn't subsiding if he could please get my ginger ale and I'd pay him cash on the spot. He went to the back for 10 min and got me a cloth bag to vomit in. Needless to say, I'm disappointed and still nauseous. At this pace I'm about to lose another hour of partying - that is unacceptable. So I walked myself into the kitchen to get my own drink because clearly they are understaffed. Grant it that isn't recommended but I was desperate. While there a kind young lady (believe her name was Liliana) brought me the ginger ale and I will be forever grateful for her. She understood basic customer service and even checked up on me later in the night. If the remainder of their staff had 30% of her customer obsession they'd (your staff) be a lot more successful.

We had a b'day cake that took about an hour to bring out so we were not able to cut it. They brought out their own desserts instead then the cake for pictures but weren't able to have the server serve the cake anymore since it was the end of the night.

As a group we were vocal due to the subpar experience. Staff was condescending and behaved as if they were doing us a favor. Manager offered to comp our drinks from the table only but the vast majority of the drinking happened at the bar while we waited for over an hour. Then they offered a few other discounts and claimed it was his limit. We wanted them to acknowledge that what we experienced wasn't acceptable but they refused. Excuse after excuse to justify the series of unfortunate events. Since we are a friendly happy crowd, other people were kind enough to make us aware the owner was there so we escalated our issue and after our discussion with the owner we received an additional % off from our bill.

In the end, the lack of service trumped the food and atmosphere. If you make the customer the foundation of your business you'll achieve great things - nothing better than the voice of the customer to promote your business but it can also be...

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I made the mistake of taking my nephew here for his 21st birthday, as he discovered it on Instagram. There are two different seating areas (inside and an outside tent). To my understanding, you are unable to request a preference and it is left up to the hostess to decide your fate. I called the restaurant four times asking for indoor seating as it was the only reason I was going to the restaurant considering there was a DJ and party experience.

Upon arriving 20 minutes early, it was complete chaos. The entrance is most definitely a fire hazard considering the number of people waiting to check-in. The amount of times I was stepped on or bumped into is unheard of. It took me the same 20 mins to actually get to the host to check-in for my reservation. I was looked at up and down and asked who I was with so they can be looked up and down as well. Afterwards, two of the employees talked back and forth arguing about where to place us. They both agreed to sit us outside, almost as if we were peasants. I explained I called multiple times asking for an inside table and that we respectfully wanted to sit indoors (especially that it was 18 degrees outside). I was told to go to the bar and order drinks and I explained I had an underage teenager with me and preferred not to but it was insisted we do so, so I complied. 45 mins later I went back to the host to ask for an update. I received attitude and was told “I already told you, you have to sit outside, do you see this line, I don’t have time for this”. The level of disrespect and disregard for a paying patron is unbelievable. She also stated “let me get permission from my manager so you can bring your 16 year old nephew back in after your dinner outside so you can hang out at the bar”. Excuse me? You’re getting permission for an underage child to stand at a bar?

We were given a table directly next to the entrance of a tent which has a sliding door. The amount of times this door was left open by employees was bewildering… I got up from my table so many times to close it while they exited and expressed my frustration to the waiter who acknowledged they were wrong, All of our dishes arrived cold, we sat in our coats in the entire time and the service was terrible. The look on my nephews face was so disappointing considering this is how he spent his 21st birthday and I felt terrible as if I let him down. Please note, they literally carry your food outside of the restaurant into the cold and if you need to use the restroom, you must walk through the busy valet area back into the restaurant to get to them.

Do yourself a favor, don’t waste your time on this establishment. They clearly do not know how to run a business and can give two shits about your experience. A waste of a $500...

We came to Lefkes Estiatorio for a birthday dinner with a group of eight last night, and honestly, the night started off rocky and ended worse.

We made our reservation online and then called to ask for a table downstairs, since it’s much nicer there. The day before, I got a text saying our reservation had been moved to a later time. When we showed up, our table was still upstairs even though we specifically requested downstairs. After slipping a waiter some cash, we finally got moved downstairs, which already felt a little off.

Once we were seated, things started out okay. The food was good. I had the seafood pasta and really enjoyed it and the drinks were solid, though definitely overpriced for what they were. For a while, it seemed like things were turning around.

Then came the birthday part. Toward the end of dinner, our waiter asked if we were celebrating someone’s birthday. I said yes, and he handed me a piece of paper asking for the birthday girl’s name. A few minutes later, a busboy brought out a light-up birthday sign (which they do for other tables), and our waiter came out with a little charcuterie board that had three desserts and “Happy Birthday” written on it. It seemed like a nice gesture, at no point did anyone say it would cost extra.

When the bill came, we noticed we were charged $16 each for the three desserts ($48 total). I asked our waiter about it, and he immediately got defensive, insisting that he told me there would be a charge (he didn’t). Then he said loudly, “Do you think the birthday sign was free? You either pay $75 for the sign or $48 for the desserts, you pick which one to pay.” and walked away.

Everyone at the table was stunned. A few minutes later, he came back, shoved another bill at me, and said loudly in my ear, “Here, I took off the desserts since you want to be like that and check every single thing on the bill after the great service I gave you.” The attitude was unbelievable. And for the record, he wasn’t even the one who helped us move tables earlier.

We paid the bill (tip was already included) and left. The whole situation killed the vibe of what was supposed to be a fun birthday celebration.

To be fair, the food was good and the space downstairs is okay. But the service was unprofessional, the surprise charges were shady, and the waiter’s behavior was completely out of line. Between the reservation mess, the attitude, and how it all ended, we won’t be coming back.

According to our receipt, our waiters name is Jet. He didn’t formally introduce himself so I’m not sure if that’s...