Claudia's — Restaurant in New York

This past Sunday, a group of friends and I had a very upsetting experience here, that felt nothing short of racial prejudice.

A friend who was separately on her way to the restaurant called in a reservation under my partner’s name for a table of 5; she was told it would be ready in 15 minutes. As the 4 of us who were there walked into the restaurant, a table for 5 was just getting up, but we were told that table was for a party under the name of “Freida”. We were seated at the bar in the meanwhile, waiting for an update from our friend on the way who called in the reservation. The table for 5 stayed empty.

This friend who set the reservation, still on the way, called my partner a few minutes later to update them that the restaurant had called saying our table was ready. My partner (a visibly queer person of color) then got up from the bar to let the hostess know that our friend who reserved the table got a call saying the table was ready. Instead of verifying by checking for the correct phone number or calling our friend to verify, the hostess, getting testy, instead reiterated again that it was NOT our table, and the table was reserved for a group under the name “Felipe”. A few people turned and looked at this point, and my partner felt humiliated and singled out, and came back to the bar to sit down.

When our friend who made the reservation (a white passing person of color) finally reached the restaurant, none of us immediately got up to greet her. Instead, we had her check in with the hostess, saying that she had received a call from the restaurant saying our table was ready. The hostess sat her at the open table for 5 almost immediately. Once she was seated, the 4 of us sitting at the bar got up to go sit with her and were told by multiple staff AGAIN that was NOT our table; they looked worried like we were causing issues, until they finally realized that was our friend sitting at the table.

The restaurant did nothing to make up for this, just like they did nothing to actually hear out my partner, instead just humiliating them and making them feel less than. The hostess apologized for the “confusion”, barely looking at us, and not acknowledging what had happened besides that. No genuine apologies, no comped meals, nothing done that showed even the slightest amount of care for what happened and the emotional hurt this had caused my partner. This was an unacceptable experience; it was really disappointing to see racism so ingrained in restaurants that we would expect to be...

Unfortunately, I had an extremely upsetting experience here yesterday that felt influenced by racism.

While on the way to meet my friends at this restaurant, I decided to call to put our name on the waitlist because I knew restaurants would be busy at this time on a Sunday. I was told it would be a 15 minute wait for a table of 5 persons and that they would call me back once the table was ready. I made sure to give them the name of my friend (a person of color) that I knew would arrive there before me and spelled it out to make sure they had the right information. My friends had arrived at this point and were seated at the bar waiting for our table to be ready, but I was still on the way. A few minutes later, I got a call that my table of 5 was ready and I let my friends know.

However, when my friend went to speak to the hostess, they were told that the only table ready for 5 was under the name "Frieda" and that this table was NOT for them. While trying to explain that I just received the call a few minutes ago and that I gave them their name, the hostess again, now even louder began to say that this is NOT their table and this table is for "Felipe". Several people in the restaurant turned around during this time.

When I arrived a few minutes later, I was able to be seated at that very table of 5 very quickly. At this point, my friends at the bar got up to join me and AGAIN, were told by the hostess that that table is NOT for you, interrupting them as they tried to explain that they were a part of my party.

At no point in time, was there ANY effort to remedy this situation or this "confusion" as the hostess called it after the fact. There was NO effort to verify the phone number used or to simply call my number again to verify that they were with me. If this was simply a matter of "confusion," there were MANY instances where it could have been rectified but instead, the hostess decided to base her actions off assumptions and humiliate my friend in the middle of this restaurant several times. The only apology we got after this was "sorry for the confusion" while the hostess could barely even look us in the eye. There was no effort to show just how sorry they were - not even something as simple as a real apology or something on the house. This was truly an eye opening and deeply saddening experience to see racism is so deeply embedded in one of the most multicultural cities of...

As someone who got priced out of Crown Heights ($3k/month, can you believe it?) I know how "gentrification" can be a double edged sword. However, there is one effect that goes hand-in-hand (hand-in-mouth?) with a neighborhood in an upswing that makes it all worth while: The plethora of excellent fun, trendy brunch places that inevitably follow!

You know the type of spot. The food is fresh and eclectic, mirroring the fresh and eclectic NYC clientele, comprised of hipsters, musicians, bankers, artists, political activists, all melded in one big New York City melting pot. The neighborhood waitresses know the neighborhood locals yet welcome first time comers because they know that most of the people that come are here because of the restaurant's reputation via "word of mouth". They tend to be smaller than demand dictates, which means they tend to have a very relaxed mellow vibe, but sometimes with wait lines (which makes scoring a table all worth while!)

New York City has become a cottage industry of hip knock-your-socks-off cafes / brunch spots, and I for one am a sucker for these places. Well, this 5-star rating is here to tell you that C.Lo Cafe is one of these places!

I ordered the C.Lo burger. I gotta say, I asked for medium rare, and that's exactly what I got. Medium rare. I've seen world-class steakhouses like Peter Luger's screw that up. Kudos to you, C.Lo! The patty was bigger than I was expecting, and unlike some of the crappy places popping up in NYC, you don't even have to pay extra for lettuce and tomato here. This is not the throwaway burger you see in diners. You order it because it's damned good burger, not because you're ordering a burger by default.

My baby ordered guacamole with chips (which I shared) and has been raving about it ever since. Obviously made to order, it was incredibly fresh and vibrant with fresh ingredients. The tortilla chips were amazing

My wife ordered the brunch tostada, and when the plate came out, I was instantly jealous (I'm ordering it the next time we come here).

All in all, good food, wonderful staff, relaxed NYC vibe. This place is definitely "as good as it gets." ...