Boris & Horton — Restaurant in New York

I've been coming to Boris and Horton with my dog every few months for the past year and change, and it's been a wonderful and fun experience every time-- the food is tasty, the dog-side staff are really kind and keep everything nice and tidy, which can't be easy with so many dogs running around. Up until today, I would have had only the best things to say about coming here.

Unfortunately, I had a very bizarre and unpleasant experience with one of the cafe -side staff. I'd placed my order on the dog-side and my name was called that my order was ready on the cafe-side, so I went over to get it. I got everything in my order except for the Wisconsin Gouda cheese plate, and after waiting a couple minutes, I realized that it wasn't in the works and it must have been missed in preparing my order-- not a big deal, they're busy and stuff happens. I told the young man behind the counter (young caucasian guy, petite with a slouchy knit hat and a piercing) that I was was waiting on a Wisconsin cheese plate. He was momentarily confused but said they'd make it and it would be ready in a minute or two. I waited for a few minutes, and when the cheese plate was put on the counter, it was the White Cheddar cheese plate, which comes with pickles and tomatoes. I said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, it was the Wisconsin gouda cheese plate." Again, not a problem, mix-ups happen. He responded with quite an attitude and said, "Um, you said cheddar." I'd now ordered this plate twice and I knew I didn't say cheddar, I don't actually like cheddar cheese so I definitely didn't order it. So I answered, "I'm sorry, no, I didn't." He rolled his eyes and said, "I just gave you what you said you wanted." At this point, I was getting a little aggravated, and I said, "I don't like cheddar cheese, I don't like tomatoes, and I don't like pickles, so I definitely didn't order the cheddar cheese plate with tomatoes and pickles." I'm not sure why it even progressed to this point, because I'd ordered on the dog-side and there was a record of exactly what I'd ordered-- the Wisconsin Gouda plate. He sighed and said "Fine. You can go back to the other side and we'll call you again when it's ready." And as I was leaving to go back to the dog-side, he said to a coworker, loudly enough for me to hear, "She SAID the word CHEDDAR." This whole situation would have been comical in its ridiculousness if it wasn't so unpleasant. It's cheese. It's just cheese. It definitely didn't need to become a hostile situation. I mentioned to the very sweet woman over on the dog-side that this had happened when they called to let her know that my correct order was ready for me to come pick up. She apologized profusely and said that if I'd like anything before I left, just to let her know. She was really nice about it, I didn't need anything for free, I just wanted to let someone know about how weird it was.

I'm moving out of the area next weekend, but even if I was staying in the city, this weird, defensive, rude interaction (over CHEESE!) would make me have second thoughts about returning, at least to...

This review is based solely on the inept staff on the coffee bar side. The people working on the coffee bar side were all very young, no sense of urgency, or care. Too busy playing on their phones during an extremely busy weekend afternoon. I find out after I come home I was charged almost $20 extra although I’m sure by mistake. The girl at the register was not friendly, overcharged me, got the order totally wrong and was generally unpleasant. Because she could not have cared less (and was too busy telling customers she crochet her own bucket hat) I not only paid way more then I should have but also had a bad experience which will cause me not to go back. The guys making food prepared my order wrong twice- first time based on how the cashier took it down, second time because they just didn’t listen to what I was saying. They needed up throwing out three different plates this way which is costing the operation money- waste. I waited for 20 minutes we standing there only to find out food has been sitting there because no one called it out. My grill cheese was cold due to that. I didn’t get the side sauce that was supposed to come with my grilled cheese. Literally was so so poorly managed I couldn’t even get napkins. Overall dog had fun, is a cute idea, but the manager or owner needs to get someone to actually run the coffee bar because the kids working there...

Overall great concept, good food/drinks, friendly staff and it’s basically Disneyland for my dog. It’s a treat to have in the neighborhood!

That said, I highly recommend it on weekday mornings or non-peak times. Weekends are simply a madhouse. It could be so much better if they limited capacity and group size, particularly people without dogs - and thus reduced some of the furniture clutter, which would help the general feeling of crowdedness and chaos.

Dog owners should be aware they cater both to dog parents and people without dogs who want free “Japanese cat cafe”-style entertainment. There seems to be little staff enforcement on customers so there ends up being irksome behaviors like: -People grabbing at and even restraining your dog for cuddles without asking. -People sitting/laying on the floor, which encourages jumping up and over-excited dog behavior. Also makes it hard to walk around or get to the ordering counter. -Young children wandering around without parental supervision, grabbing at dogs. Very dangerous and irresponsible, would really prefer if parents took their children to the playground instead.

For now we will just try to avoid the chaotic times. I genuinely hope some of these issues are addressed by Boris and Horton in the future, it would make the place so much better and safer for the dogs and...