Sirena Ristorante — Restaurant in Long Branch

We had a very disappointing Easter lunch experience at Sirena. The food, atmosphere, and company was great, but everything else was aweful. I made our reservation on January 31st for 11 people so they had plenty of notice to be be able to accommodate our party comfortably at a table. They squuezed 5 seats on a side of a table that seats 4 people. I have never felt this claustrophobic and been this uncomfortable at a restaurant - ever! We immediately called over the manager to express our concern and she was completely apathetic and could care less that we were seated on top of each other on that side of the table. She basically said, with no care or remorse, she had no place to move us and there was nothing she could do. Then the waiter came over and said he would make it better and asked if he could get us drinks. To clarify, I asked “is this round on you?” He said “yes”. Then the bill came and the drinks were on the bill. He denied saying the round would be covered and told the manager that he told us he can’t promise anything. That was completely untrue when everyone at the table heard him say “yes” to the drinks being covered. If he didn’t have authority to make that call, the right thing to say would have been let me talk to my manager and see what I can do. After I confronted the manager with the situation, she did the right thing and adjusted the bill to remove the drinks, but the adjusted bill came with the tip added to the bill. When the first bill came the tip was not on the bill. Did they think we were not going to tip? That’s insulting! I dont think it’s too much to ask to want to be seated comfortably at a table especially when your 84 year old parents are spending over $1000 on a meal to feed their family when the reservation was made over 2 months prior. As for the waiter, he seemed very caring and was an attentive server during the meal but he did not want to keep his word and denied what he said to us. When I got home, I also realized he charged us for a bottle of still water and a bottle of sparkiking water, totalling $18, which he also said was on him. He never even asked anyone at the table if they wanted bottled or tap water. He saw that I was drinking bottled water so he brought the bottles over for the table, poured them and charged us. I told him everyone at the table doesn’t want bottled water and he said it was on him. I am still in complete shock and disbelief with the series of events thst occurred here on Easter. I don’t want to spend my holiday arguing with the manager and waiter and leaving with a disgusted feeling. It’s so upsetting when you walk into a restaurant happy and excited to spend an important holiday with family and leave terribly unhappy and disappointed feeling like you were part of a bait and switch situation. This used to be one of my favorite restaurants. I have eaten here several times with large groups and for holidays, but after todays experience, I would think long and hard before going to Sirena with a large group or for a holiday...

Food was good, service was beyond horrible. My family and I visited this restaurant during the week, on a Monday. Most of the tables were empty, I'd say about 30% capacity. My mother in law is disabled and in a wheelchair, she wanted to use the restroom and the corridor leading to the restrooms had chairs stacked up which shortened the width of the corridor. Made it very difficult for us to take her to restroom and her legs/feet hit the chairs and wall while trying to maneuver her in. I spoke with the matradee and advised her that the corridor was not wide enough to maneuver a wheelchair due to the chairs and her response was "that's where we stack our chairs" shrugged her shoulders and walked away. Our reservation was at 7pm and it was not 715pm so I asked if our table was ready and they said that they were waiting for two more members of our party. I asked if we could be seated and I received an eye roll and she walked away again. But within a few minutes we were seated. We waiting patiently for over 10 mins and not one person came by to bring us water or bread or even greet us. We finally got the attention of a staff member and asked if we can get some water. They brought us a bottle and filled two out of three glasses with an inch of water, walked away. We waited a few more minutes and once again tried to get a staff members attention to order appetizers and we were advised that they would not be taking our order until our whole party has arrived, so we waited. Once our party arrived, we already knew what we wanted so everyone placed their orders. The appetizers came pretty quickly and they were delicious. The entrees arrived and everyone received their orders but my oder was incorrect, not what I ordered. I told the person that this was not what I ordered and within a couple of minutes our waiter came and said "oh yes, you ordered the NY strip", walked away. There was no apology or anything else. I waited while everyone enjoyed their meals. The wait was so long that 3 out of 5 people in our party finished their meals. To add insult to injury, staff members came and started to clean up the table, which included taking my utensils and clearing everything in front of me. Shortly after that my entree arrived and I was well past the point of trying to salvage the experience so I asked for two containers. After waiting 10 minutes for the containers, I actually had to walk over to the matradee and ask her if I could get the containers and the check. I couldn't get out of their quick enough. I've read most of the reviews on here and other sites pertaining to this restaurant. I will admit the food is good but as most have stated, the service is terrible. Long Branch has developed into beautiful place over the years but it's not the only shore front location to get a good meal. Asbury Park has regained its previous beauty so there's no shortage of good food in the area. Save yourself the disappointment and try...

tldr: atrocious customer service and RACIST. DO NOT RECOMMEND.

As someone who never writes reviews, I felt I had to write one today after quite possibly the worst experience I’ve ever had in any establishment. My friends and I wanted (all of us 22 yr old women) to have some drinks and food and decided to come here. After sitting in the bar and waiting for the bartender, my friend gave him her ID, which he took and examined for too long before deciding it was “fake”. He then ignored us after we were rightfully confused as all our IDs are very much real. The bartender was extremely disrespectful and said my friend had an attitude despite her politely asking him to check our IDs again or even scan them since he hadn’t even given me and my other friend a chance (he refused. Shocker.) and to speak to the manager. Apparently we LOOKED “too young” and it was his right to not serve us for that. Like I’m sorry we haven’t aged like cheese I guess. and even if they were fake, why would anyone ever insist in closely reexamining a fake ID, it’s literally not that serious. Aside from that, it shouldn’t matter how we look because that’s what IDs are for. To prove that we are who we say we are. For him to DISMISS a real legal document and deny us service based on his opinion of our looks defeats the purpose of presenting your IDs at a bar . At this point, neither of us wanted any service but just an acknowledgment that we were unjustly being denied service. This has never happened to either of us before, but I did, in fact, take notice that we were the only people of color in the room. It was pointless speaking to the manager as she was extremely unhelpful and didn’t even apologize for the way their bartender treated us and made my friend cry. My friends and I, who all hate confrontation by the way, left extremely upset by the service here and quite frankly his behavior felt racially motivated and it doesn’t seem as if this place cares about changing that. If the restaurant is as concerned about fake IDs as they seem to be, maybe they should invest in a scanner or hire an employee who knows what actual IDs look like especially since they are located on the beach where young people go to have fun. This should not happen again and this establishment should be ashamed of its treatment towards their customers. I have never been dismissed by anyone like that EVER and I will not support any business that treats and discriminates anyone. I highly recommend going literally ANYWHERE else to eat unless you’re into being served by a rude and racist staff for...