Abilene Bar — Restaurant in New York

Bizarre and disappointing experience

I brought some friends here who were visiting from out of town. I’ve walked past this place many times and was excited to finally try it. When we arrived, we were seated and greeted by our waitress, who actually sat down with us to take our order. She was friendly at first, and everything seemed fine.

She brought over our sodas, and then… nothing. After about 45 minutes, we noticed another table—who arrived well after us—getting their food. We politely flagged down our waitress to ask if ours was coming soon. She glanced at her handheld tablet, nodded without saying anything, and then went over to the bar and started dancing with the bartender.

We waited another 45 minutes, hoping it was just a delay. When we tried to get her attention again, she suddenly yelled across the restaurant, “YOU NEED TO WAIT,” in a completely different tone than earlier. It was shocking and uncomfortable. She disappeared into the kitchen, came back out, and continued dancing with the bartender.

After nearly two hours of waiting, we saw her head into the bathroom and took the opportunity to ask the bartender if we could pay for our sodas and cancel the food order. That’s when we were told—shockingly—that our order was never even placed. He apologized and told us not to worry about paying for the drinks.

We left confused, embarrassed, and disappointed. I still have no idea what went wrong or why we were treated that way. It was an incredibly awkward experience, and unfortunately, I won’t be...

I’ve been going to Abilene for over three years, and I have felt welcome since the first day I wandered in, in a blizzard, those years ago. The food is consistent, and exactly what I want every single time, and I know what to expect from their beer and liquor selection. Coronavirus has been tough on them, like it has for every business in the hospitality sector, and they have risen to the challenge. I go to bars or restaurants about twice a week on average, and I don’t know of a single place that is doing more to be not only compliant, but mitigate as much risk as possible for both the customers and the staff during this bizarre, trying, and potentially dangerous time. I hate how the packaging at restaurants has to be disposable right now! That said, after discussing the matter with management and staff, I feel comfortable in the fact that Abilene is sourcing the most environmentally conscious and compostable materials they can reasonably acquire. Listen, I’m a fan, so maybe it seems like I love this place disproportionately, or at least a little too much, but it’s important to advocate for businesses that are truly going the extra mile right now. Abilene is absolutely one of...

The food was good, a little pricey for diner style brunch. Belgian waffle was well cooked but only came with one small syrup. The grits were very thick but tasted good with hot sauce. Juevos Rancheros was great. The service was ok. They were very obviously short staffed. We sat outside and some of the tables outside are plastic. The problem with this didn't become apparent until our food came and the table began wildly shaking as we tried to cut our food and eat. Our drinks went everywhere, whip cream and strawberries actually fell off my plate to the ground. When I asked for more strawberry they refused. The bloody Mary didn't come with celery as pictured on another review and when we asked for some, they charged us for a side of celery. We went mainly for the bloody Mary as it was pictured and were disappointed. It's ok if you live in Carroll Gardens but not worth an out...