Alice — Restaurant in New York

Had a girls night dinner here last night after wanting to visit this place for years… Have mixed feelings about the service standards, but because every bit of food was so outstanding I’d say it nets out at 4 😄

To start, this is one of those places that annoyingly won’t seat you until every member of the group is present. So we were relegated to squishing between a constant stream of servers and patrons in the little bottleneck of a bar for a while, which wasn’t my favorite 😅 In our case, 3 of 4 had checked in and I had to go back to ask directly if we could sit and start ordering some apps. It’s New York—someone will always be late because of trains—that policy is just goofy. (After asking, they did eventually agree to seat us, though.)

I will say, all of the cocktails we had before and during dinner were outstanding 👌🏼

We ordered the scallops and octopus to start, which were both delicious and cooked to a perfect texture.

We couldn’t decide among the many excellent sounding mains, so we split the cacio e pepe agnollotti, lobster risotto, short rib tortellini, and lamb chop—everything was absolute perfection. The crowd fave was definitely the meaty and juicy short rib tortellini, while the lamb was a close runner-up in the way it simply fell off the bone 🤤

Unfortunately, things took a weird turn at this point.

It was just after 9 when we finished our entrees (which they—noticeably—kept trying to clear before we were done); the server Gabriel asked if we’d like desserts. We pondered for a minute, and said we’d probably like to drink our desserts instead (ie drinks).

It was starting to get super loud in the back dining room, with large groups arriving in advance of a 10:30 dj set (which I only found out about because I asked if we might be able to move to the front for our last round(s)). He left to check if there were any tables available, and informed us there wasn’t anything inside. So we said that’s fine—we’d just have a last round at the table. All of this took maybe 5 minutes… yet they told us we could no longer get another drink. Evidently they needed that table?

He offered to give us a round of drinks at the bar—which no one was excited to return to and be shoved around at again, so we opted to leave.

In most places, they’ll a) inform the party when they arrive of any time parameters—especially if it’s not even 2 full hours, and b) not offer dessert only to rescind the offer and literally push patrons out the door when they’re attempting to stay. This was just ridiculously poor form, and we were all super disappointed to have an otherwise awesome experience cut short on such a bitter...

Walking into Alice, the vibe is really good. Nice low lights, really fancy feel. Our server was really nice and warm so I want to make sure I give credit where due. The moment we got food things took a turn. My partner and I attended on Valentine’s Day, a four course dinner with about 4 options of meal per course. For my first course, I ordered the Red Shrimp, it came out slimy. Unfortunately, I ate a full one and my stomach still hurts. My partner got the white chicory which had no flavor at all. Second, I got scallops which were really inconsistent, out of the 3 on the plate, only one was cooked right. Out of the other two, one was undercooked, one was overcooked. My partner was willing to try her Burrata which was okay. At this point, we are not enjoying ourselves, we’re just hoping it gets better. For the main course, I got the lobster ravioli in which they didn’t have anymore ravioli and the lobster was overcooked. My partner got the Black Truffle Agnolotti pasta which was undercooked, and she sent back to order the swordfish instead. This is where we both agreed that we were not having a good experience not even the slightest. The swordfish that was sent out was completely RAW.

Our server was really apologetic and went to get a manager, but he sent her back to tell us they would comp our bill. That’s okay, but we had already pre-paid money through Resy so we wanted to know how could we also be comp’d for that, we requested the manager. He came to the table and the first thing he offered was $150 gift card, so we’re wondering if these will be Visa or what? He tells us the gift card will be to use at any of his other restaurants as if we’d want that.

We reiterated that we’d just want our money back from Resy and we will be fine, we were told he had to contact Resy because they’re the only ones who can process the refund. In the midst of him talking to us, he let us know they had served a thousand plates plus that night and nothing was returned yet we watched the table next to us return food due to it smelling bad and watching a staff member tell him maybe it’s the mix of ingredients on the plate he smells. He also let us know the chefs work really hard, and though based off the restaurants ratings, maybe they do. Regardless, the food we received was majority raw or just not right.

As he was telling us that Resy would need to process the refund, I emailed Resy, Resy responds later saying only the venue can refund so now I’m trying to figure out if we were given the run around.

I have never in my life had this bad of experience at a restaurant, I would...

DO NOT COME HERE!

Our experience was beyond terrible from start to finish. We booked a table for 9:15 PM, arriving promptly at that time, only to be told we were “early.” Apparently, this is “what to expect” since we’re not from New York—an incredibly dismissive attitude. Instead of being taken to a bar or waiting area, we were left standing awkwardly in the middle of a bustling restaurant alongside other guests, like afterthoughts, while staff worked around us. After waiting 45 minutes, with no updates or apologies, we were finally seated at 10:15 PM, just as we were about to leave.

Even after being seated, things didn’t improve. We weren’t offered drinks until 10:45 PM, and only because we flagged someone down. When the waitress eventually came, she had to ask for our order three separate times because she couldn’t remember it. (Why not just write it down?) The menu was small, yet somehow the dishes were atrocious. The risotto was cold and crunchy, and the “special” truffle pasta was greasy and drowned in oil.

We ordered a bottle of wine, but after finishing our first glasses, we had to remind the staff that our bottle was sitting forgotten in an ice bucket across the restaurant. It was clear that attention to detail was nonexistent.

The only decent things we ate were items that didn’t require cooking. Everything else was undercooked, overpriced, and disappointing. The bill came to $250, and instead of rectifying the situation properly, they kept offering us free limoncello shots, which was not going to fix anything. To top it off, as we waited to pay, they mistakenly brought over a dessert plate that wasn’t ours, creating another awkward moment.

This place is a confused mess—unsure if it wants to be a trendy bar or an Italian restaurant, and failing miserably at both. The staff seemed inexperienced and overwhelmed, and the blatant disregard for guests (especially those visiting from out of town) was infuriating. If you value your time, money, and a pleasant dining experience, do not come here. If I could rate 0 stars I would.

Even if we were in New York again we would never return but an awful way to end our last day of our holiday. Again please don’t waste your time coming. Rude staff and overall...