Bravest — Restaurant in New York

Dear Bravest Owner,

I am writing to formally express my disappointment regarding the treatment my family received at Bravest on 6:30 PM, 3/7. My husband, our 17-month-old child, and I visited your restaurant for dinner, expecting a pleasant dining experience. Unfortunately, we were subjected to unfair treatment that left us feeling embarrassed and unwelcome.

During our meal, my husband and I had a private disagreement—nothing loud or disruptive. At no point did our child make any noise or cause any disturbance; he was well-behaved and enjoying his time at the restaurant. However, a customer from a nearby table approached us and expressed unwarranted concern about our child. I asked this individual to mind her own business, as our child was fine.

To our surprise, shortly after this exchange, the restaurant manager approached us and demanded that we leave, claiming we were disturbing other customers. This was simply not true, as evidenced by another diner who later checked in on me and assured me I had done nothing wrong. Despite this, the manager returned and insisted that we leave, accusing us of being too loud when responding to the other customer. The situation escalated when the manager called the police.

We chose to remain in the restaurant until the police arrived because we knew we had done nothing wrong. When the officers arrived, multiple customers stood up for us and confirmed that we had not caused any disruption. Meanwhile, the manager avoided addressing the situation directly and refused to speak to the police.

This experience was deeply upsetting. My family was treated unfairly and made to feel unwelcome without justification. The actions of your staff, particularly the manager, were not only unnecessary but also unprofessional. I hope you take this matter seriously and address the behavior of your management team to ensure future customers do not have to endure similar treatment.

I would appreciate a formal response regarding this matter and an explanation of how your restaurant intends to prevent such incidents...

Deeply disturbing experience—beware.

I visited this restaurant one Sunday evening with my 11-year-old daughter and encountered one of the most alarming and unprofessional incidents I’ve ever experienced in New York City. The server displayed hostility from the start, but the situation escalated into outright aggression. After I calmly raised concerns about my meal, he became confrontational, photographed my plate without consent, and loudly insisted I pay—despite me never refusing to do so.

He then threw the credit card reader in my direction, nearly hitting me, and physically blocked us from leaving the restaurant even after payment was made (receipt timestamped). My daughter and I were physically obstructed from exiting, even pushing us back with his body, and he falsely claimed we hadn’t paid and that he called the police on us—refusing to even glance at the digital receipt I showed him. This escalated to the point where I feared for our safety as we had to push past him to escape.

We found a police car parked a block away and reported the incident, but the officers treated us dismissively and appeared sympathetic to the server rather than to the mother and child. Despite explaining clearly that we had been unlawfully detained, the response was apathetic at best, and in parts condescending. One officer even mischaracterized my attempt to leave as an act of aggression.

This experience was not just about poor food and service—it involved intimidation, and a disturbing lack of accountability from both the restaurant and responding officers. No parent should have to shield their child from that kind of treatment, and no child should be ignored by law enforcement after such an event.

Absolutely unacceptable. I will never return, and I strongly advise others to think twice before dining here. *Photo of the server/perpetrator talking with...

I am compelled to write this review because of the ridiculous experience I had. I wanted what is known as a patty melt, so I asked for a grilled cheese and add the patty. The waitress insisted that I had to buy the cheeseburger AND the grilled cheese orders because they could not add a patty to the grilled cheese. We also paid extra for an order of fries. Which is so odd that fries do not come with a burger.

The burger was not good and I ate barely a quarter of it. The waitress never came over to see how things were or if we needed anything.

This place charged me $24 for a grilled cheese with a patty on it. Could’ve gone to five guys and paid 1/4 of this and it would’ve tasted 100x better. We were also sat at a table by the kitchen which we were told is the only spot because I had my 16 year old nephew with me. The constant jostling into us as the waitress went by was excessive. They shouldn’t have a table there at all.

So disappointed in the food and the experience. So many better places to go to and spend $60 plus rip. Quite ballsy to charge these prices for subpar food and a hateful customer experience. $24 for a bad patty melt, this place should be embarrassed. How can your staff not know how to charge for an extra...