Broken Shaker — Restaurant in New York

It’s called the broken shaker for a reason. Horrible, absolutely horrible service. I know racism and sexism when I see it. Recently stopped by for a quick drink after dinner in the area and I have never been so embarrassed. We came in thru the back area, were told by the elevator attendant to “explore and have fun.” So my group of 4 found a table to sit at and grabbed chairs since there wasn’t a hostess present. However, 5-10 minutes later we were unceremoniously removed from that table and told to find a new table because it did not follow their chair protocol. After being told to find our own table and seats, I went inside to ask the waiter who kicked us out to find us a chair to which he took offense to and called me “mamas” while arguing with me about whether or not we follows the right protocol from the start. Mind you there wasn’t a host present to direct us to a table when we exited the elevator and the security told us to “discover on our own’

Unfortunately because my friend was unaware of the situation we had already paid for drinks at the bar so we sat at a high top. After sitting for a while we were having a conversation that had no relation to the waiter and then he sent the security to shush us and told us to “relax, because we were apparently offending him. Why was he eavesdropping on a private conversation to begin with?! Mind you, a table of 3 white men had just taken over the space we had been kicked out of and no one said anything to them. So many things transpired this evening that getting into details over Google is minute. I will never visit this establishment because the staff is so sexist, racist and horrible trained. Speaking to the manager was a fail because she explicitly said she was only on the job for 5 days. So either she will implement great change or she will quit because men in there have a problem dealing with pretty women who don’t let themselves be mistreated.

The barstaff was kind enough, I hope you deal with them in a different...

Okay. This is really hard for me to write because I hate being THAT person but after talking to my friends and co-workers who accompanied me that evening I must speak up. On 6/14 I was attending a work party on the rooftop that was sponsored by my job. We had a tab open. I was there with my co workers and friends. Naturally we were all having margaritas and what not. I had a few drinks. I’ll admit when I stood up I felt woobly but my friend that was with me had not drank as much and was with me all of the time said I was not incoherent, disruptive or annoying in anyway. So what happened next was baffling. She and I went to the bathroom and upon exiting I was stopped by security that said I had to leave immediately. I was cornered off by the elevator as my friend went to go retrieve my bag from our area. It was incredibly embarrassing and degrading. I was only in the bathroom and joyfully talking with my friend about our upcoming trip to South America. Being told I had to leave when my co-workers were equally as drunk was very upsetting. In fact, I learned that many of my co-workers made a big ruckus but were allowed to stay. Why? I am the only Black woman at my party and did not appreciate this treatment. It was incredibly upsetting because I did not receive an explanation either. One of the security guards from my party said he was sorry and that he didn’t see anything wrong with the way I was behaving compared to anyone else. When we were outside of the hotel I sat on the bench and cried hopelessly and apologized to my friend because she had to join me. Might I add we had one more hour left on our reservation and I did not get to partake in it. I will never go here again. They truly give New...

Staying at the Freehand, a fun hotel and was so happy the hotel bar open again after a long pandemic year. What was the experience? One of community joy and celebration at the opening of the hotel bar? No. It was like descending into hell. The bar was 75% empty and we were the only ones put outside, rainy in the low 40’s, the chairs were covered with rain that we had to clean ourselves that napkins we had to find in the main area. Zero service or help. I requested an indoor table (they were 75% empty) but instead was told they had reservations for all the tables (these people never showed up, just got even more vacant) - was even able to book a table on open table without a problem, wide open all night, just totally fake. Wannabe pretentious management that insults native city people. After freezing in the rain the wish to finally enjoy a cocktail in the hotel I was staying in vanished into the worse bar experience of my life anywhere in the world - left my meal half finished and left. Totally clueless amateur even pathetic bar would all be a compliment for our actual experience. Very sad for the Freehand. Lots of great places in the neighborhood, so the night was saved by friendly well run local places with class, better food selection then three fast food entrees, drinks served in warm inspiring ambiences and excellent staff training that is the norm for Manhattan. However since the amenities are everything in a NYC hotel, this puts the freehand somewhere in the minus one star range. The worst bar experience ever. A hotdog in the rain and sleet would be a better more friendly experience. The Broken Shaker is indeed...