Bagel Shop — Restaurant in New York

Overall a good place as far as quality of food. Staff on the other hand is hit or miss; but I guess that’s the case with most places. Back of house kitchen personnel does their job and they do it well when judging the quality of the food. Front of house, in particular, the register is the hit or miss. On 2 separate occasions in the last 8 days, it has been lack luster and a little disturbing. One day, last week, a woman was manning the register who I guess was new and really didn’t know how to operate the register correctly. She kept registering a breakfast sandwich which I have bought several times before and it costs actually $6.00 and she kept entering a sequence where it rang up as $11.95. Upon telling her that it’s a basic breakfast sandwich and on the board as $6.00 she started to argue that this is the cost of the sandwich according to the register. I even showed her the item on the board and she said, “that must be wrong because the computer register says this...”. Finally a front of house kitchen staff member came over to assist and showed her what to do. But it took about 7-8 mins and the line behind me was getting frustrated due to the excessive time it took. A few asked, including myself, where was the owner? Especially when a new person is behind the register. I, personally saw him there the day before.

Secondly, today, 4/17/2020, I ordered a bagel with cream cheese with 2 coffees, and the register was blocked with the tip jar. I moved the tip jar so I could see the total and the person behind the counter moved it right back so I couldn’t see the total. I moved it again and told her that I wanted to see the registered amount and she began to get a little confrontational about it being moved from that spot and moved it back. I again moved it, but this time to the opposite side so I could see the register and she finally left it there when I informed her it was against the law in NYC to hide the register tally amount from the customer. She then said, “we were told to leave it there and that it didn’t matter anyway because the register display is hardly ever correct. Wow! That’s a bit disturbing!

#1. What are they hiding? Why does the tip jar have to be right in front of the register display? Why can’t people see the tally?

#2. Why is the register’s display tally almost never right? Seems odd.

Overall a really good place as far as food but just make sure you’re paying the right amount before you leave and always ask to see the register display and get that receipt (especially since the register display doesn’t work...

I have been coming to the Bagel Shop for about a year, and have had many positive experiences with the food and the customer service. Unfortunately today, I opened up my black coffee to stir in some sweetener and discovered some sort of cockroach looking bug in my cup. Since I was already back at my apartment at this time, I called the shop to let them know what happened and was met with an automated response. I understand the shop is very busy, so I waited a few hours and called back.

The employee who answered the phone was very kind and understanding, and they connected me to George, the manager of the shop. Unfortunately, George proceeded to make excuses about the reason for the cockroach being in the coffee, including that “maybe it got into the cup when it was open.” This response is unacceptable, especially from a business that gets so much traffic from people who are on the go and relying on them for sustenance. The interaction truly left a bad taste in my mouth, and I won’t be patronizing the Bagel Shop again unless they make a concerted effort to ensure that they will be more fastidious with their food safety.

EDIT: I was contacted by Paul, the owner of the bagel shop, and his response was more than enough to make me feel secure that the shop would not handle such an unfortunate mistake like this unprofessionally ever again. He reassured me that my initial complaint was not received properly and has let me know that his staff has been informed that the goal of my complaint was to be reassured that I could return as a patron with no worries about how I would be treated. I understand that sometimes things happen unexpectedly in food service, but I am glad to know that the shop is now prepared to respond to these mishaps in a professional manner that takes full responsibility despite this having been an...

Very disappointing service for the price. I paid $22 for 2 everything bagels with chicken salad and melted American cheese. After I left and drove a few blocks I realized that the cheese was NOT melted. I made my way back to the store to have the cheese melted on 1 of the bagels and was made to wait while 10 other customers were served. After the 10th order went up I asked the server how long would it be another cashier answered “oh well it has to go in the oven so you have to wait” I looked over at my bagel that was still sitting on the counter where the other server had placed it & soon realized that I would probably never get to eat at this rate. I asked for a refund and had to go back to my car and retrieve the receipt. From the time I ordered my bagel up until my refund was a total of 42 minutes! That is way too long for a quick bite to eat. I never received an apology for the error or the wait. This was my second and last visit to this establishment. The food was so delicious the first time that I was actually excited to be in the neighborhood today. What a big disappointment. The pic is from my second and final visit. I don’t understand how the value of good customer service is at such a decline at this place. For the price you would think customer service would be a priority. I took a pic of my receipt (bc the server said she had to keep it) and plan on calling the store manager to let him or her know that they have got to train their front end to treat customers with respect. Oh btw I left a tip of $2.33 which I think was a waste bc I didn’t even get...