American Bar - New York — Restaurant in New York

I typically always enjoy my experience at American Bar but last night the service was beyond disappointing. What used to be one of my favorite restaurants I will now unlikely return based on how my guests and I were treated by the hostess staff. From the start, they were extremely rude and unaccommodating. We arrived a little early for our reservation and with a big attitude she told us our table would be ready at exactly our reservation time (even though there were many open tables), we said no problem and left to get a drink across the street. When we came back promptly at our reservation time she brought us to the absolutely worst table in the restaurant, crammed in the corner with the expandable door hitting one of the chairs. We politely asked if we could be seated at a different table and the hostess rolls her eyes and yells “NO THIS IS YOUR TABLE”! I was in shock but then proceeded to speak with another hostesses who was a little more accommodating. While we were waiting for her to resolve it, the rude hostesses (long black wavy hair) rushed back to the hostess stand and started yelling at us again saying she deserves respect (we were not rude to her at all!). When I asked her not to speak to me that way she rolled her eyes, up downed us from head to toe and acted like we had no business being in this restaurant. We have eaten here many times, we had a reservations, and even though we waited patiently for our table, she made us feel completely unwelcome and undeserving of even being there. I felt like I was being bullied by a high school mean girl rather than a properly trained service person at a high end west village restaurant. During the meal I also observed some other completely inappropriate and unprofessional behavior from this woman such as flirting with patrons and giving out her number. If american bar has any sense or class they will fire this woman...

A group of 6 of us came at noon and who knew American Bar is a VIBE for lunch. Ambiance was almost better at lunch, I don't know what it was.

I ordered the espresso martini as I know they're GAS here, but immediately regretted it when I tasted someone else's breakfast martini. The fusion of Tito's, Orange Marmalade, and lemon had me feeling like I was sitting on the beach in the South of Italy under a striped umbrella just enjoying my existence. Not Positano though, it gets too crowded.

We started with pigs in a blanket and they were straight heat, as they almost always are. They are undebatably one of the most underrated appetizers in the game. Pigs in a blanket gotta be 6th man of the year...

The 3 of you that consistently read my reviews know that I'm on a quest to find the best steak frites in the city, so when I seen it on the menu I had to pull the trigger.

The 8oz hanger steak came with maitre'd butter and some well done thin fries. Not steak sauce on top thank GOD. When a steak comes with steak sauce, one can't help but wonder what they are hiding. What you scared of? Let that steak be eaten for what it is.

The steak came medium rare and was cooked PERFECTLY. Fries were good to but to be honest I am a sucker for some thick cut fries or shoestring fries. One extreme or the other... that's personal preference though. I mean everything kind of a personal preference ahahha.

We got the check and headed to the Spaniard as one does after a meal in the West Village.

All in all, I have it ranked 3rd on my NYC steak frites ranking behind Virginia's and Pastis. I've only tried like 8 though ahahaha they be expensive.

IG @jnov_ Tiktok...

I struggled with whether or not I was going to write a review of my experience, but after having a warm greeting and an immediate seating at another restaurant down the block, I felt that I had to write. After not seeing my family for years, they were in town and we were walking about the Village. My sister, niece and nephew were hungry and as I looked at the food at the restaurant as we walked by we decided to see if there was an available table. Three gentlemen were in front of us and there was a discussion about whether they would sit inside or outside. Before I could speak with the hostess a man in black approached the hostess and whispered in her ear. Then, when I inquired about a table for four, she said that they were "fully committed" even though I could see available tables. So I asked her directly if that was actually the case or whether she had just been told to say that since the sequence of events seemed rather suspicious. She stated "no" and pointed out the man in black as her general manager and said I could speak with him. I declined to do so under the circumstances - but it did seem strange that he would just stand there and lurk about as if to see what would happen since he hadn't been standing there before.

I'm a person who goes by gut instincts and that situation just didn't feel right. But I'm not carrying that energy with me which is the reason that I'm writing this. I know what happened and so do the hostess and the general manager.

All I have to say is there is such a thing as karma. And no one could ever pay me to go back...