D Garden Caribbean Bar & Grill — Restaurant in New York

This is my second time at DGarden! The first time it was back in March for brunch for my brother's birthday. They were quite accommodating for a last-minute reservation with a big party and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! So I knew I always wanted to return.

Last night was the first time I was there at the night time. My friend and I wanted something casual and the plan was to get appetizers and drinks.

Coming in the decor is cute and modern. They also have a nice outdoor area which is decorated nicely! In addition to this, they have an enclosed area in their outdoor section as well. You can only smoke hookah outside.

Inside wasn’t packed and there was a live DJ playing. At first, the music was a bit low but then became so loud that my friend and I could barely hear each other.

Tasheba was our server and she was very nice and energetic, there were some slight issues. We placed our orders, which were honey garlic wings and Mac and cheese. Our first round of drinks was DVibe and DGarden. As soon as we were finishing our order, someone from the table behind us called her and she immediately went over and didn’t excuse herself. She didn’t come back either.

Our food came first, and we didn’t have our drinks. I did notice there was only one bartender. Tasheba also brought two sides of mashed potatoes and we reminded her that we didn’t order this. She proceeded to say that there weren’t any sides of Mac and brought this out instead. We respectfully declined the sides, and my friend reordered her side as fries. She walked away and didn’t ask me if I wanted anything.

Now onto the food, the honey garlic wings were pretty good! I would give them an 8/10. The portion size was appetizer-friendly. The DVibe was good, but I tasted the port more than anything, rating wise, I would give it a 7/10. Tasheba did a check-in as well.

Later on, we decided on another round of drinks. I had a We Go Together this time. This drink was stronger, however, it is a bit on the sweeter side. I would give this a 7.5/10. I also ordered mussels, and these were soooo good! They can be a main course. I would give them an 8.5/10.

When we decided to leave, there was an issue with my card, and when Tasheba tried again, my card got charged for the full amount instead of half. She was apologetic and stayed to make sure things were troubleshooted. I just want to advise as well that there is an automatic 18% gratuity. Overall the total for two rounds of drinks and appetizers was about $150. It is a bit pricey to keep in mind.

Overall I feel like D Garden is a great vibe if you’re looking to be casual or a birthday. If there can be added staffing for the bar and floor it would help!

( This is a 3.5/ 5...

Alright guys. One of two things usually happen when going to a place that recently opened (8/5), everything is amazing due to the need to establish a positive reputation OR it’s obvious that kinks need to be worked out. Me and my boyfriend’s experience was unfortunate the latter. We arrived on time for our reservation and were told by the host “we’re fully booked. Would you like to sit at the bar?” Um, what? What’s the point of making a reservation if it’s not honored? We didn’t want to sit at a bar, hence, making the reservation. Ultimately, she was able to separate two tables and we were able to be seated about 15 minutes later, though that started off the night on the wrong foot.

We ordered Guava BBQ wings as an appetizer (a leaving patron told us while we were waiting to be seated that the food takes a long time), which was decent to me; my boyfriend liked It a lot. It was missing the crunchiness/freshness imo. We both ordered drinks (left hook right jab & dvibe). It took around 20 min (he came back to ask what drink I ordered, guess he forgot) to get one drink. My boyfriend inquired about his and received a reply of “you didn’t order anything.” He remembered once my boyfriend repeated it. After multiple looks of frustration & an additional 20 min, he got his drink (AFTER we got our entrees—which actually didn’t take that long). Needless to say, my s/o wasn’t happy. My drink (DVIBE) was ok; i initially thought it was strong but didn’t feel a buzz once finishing. My boyfriend’s was really good & strong.

I ordered the salmon w/ mashed potatoes & spinach; he ordered oxtail with rice & peas. I enjoyed my food; my s/o’s rice was bland but the oxtail was good & very tender. He did note that it wasn’t filling; he was still hungry.

We dared to order another set of drinks which took another 20 min.

The DJ was good in the beginning. Then there was a random 15 second period of silence and he switched the genre of reggae/soca to R&B. Then to drill/rap. It made me feel like I was at a function.

Ironically, the quickest thing that came was the check smh.

Per the host: Hookah is only offered in the back/outside with the purchase of a bottle or a min bill of $250.00. Please be advised that you can only order appetizers in the back, not entrees. So keep that in mind if hookah is a main attraction for you.

We also observed two sets of guests being asked to change their seats long after they were seated, which is kinda wild to me.

Overall, the food was good, the left hook right jab was good & strong. But as stated in the beginning, there are a few things that need improvement. Hopefully these are worked out for future patrons, but I don’t think...

I went for my birthday brunch on a Sunday back in December 2024. I’m praying they got it together by now. But unfortunately for my 31st, it was truly not a spot for me to celebrate. It’s beautiful inside, but between the champagne and orange juice smelling like vinegar and tasting very off, a rude bartender, and a space lacking heat, it was just horrible to experience. I’ll never go back there during the winter time and never with a big group of people. It took all of me not to cry. I appreciated the accommodation, as some people didn’t end up showing up. However, I did not appreciate how watered down, bad drinks, and rude the bartender was. She kept arguing with our waiter because the drinks were so watered down & poorly made, we wanted them off our bill. She argued with him the whole time we were there. I have never in my life had a watered down rum punch. How do you mess that up? Every drink ordered, watered down. Even the lemon drop 😭. Come on. The grits were too gritty. The sauce that came with the grits was great! The oxtail were tough :/. The burgers were extremely well done when two of my guest asked for it to be medium :/ The appetizers were great: ackee and bammy + the lemon pepper wings! We all loved. To be honest, it took me forever to leave this review because I was so disappointed. There are way too many good reviews and someway how we ended up having a horrible experience. When it’s 22 degrees outside and you know you have a large party that you’re sitting in the back, crank that heat up at least one hour before! Do not wait until we get there. Come on now. Or just be closed for the day since the temperature was so low. The furniture needed to be replaced. I shouldn’t feel springs or wood underneath. There was a lack of cushion. I was just so disappointed man. Like… I never knew champagne can go bad ….. that was just not a way to celebrate my 31st birthday. Half of my table ended up leaving mid way. & yes we paid, but never again. Our bill should’ve been adjusted for the consistent food & drink issues and it wasn’t. I was hoping this would be a spot for me to go to on the regular, but because the experience was so bad for myself and so many of my loved ones, it’s a strong no for me. I felt embarrassed that I even brought them there. I just hope within the past 5 months, the establishment made major improvements and hired a better staff with great attitudes. P.s. the waiter was the only great thing about the experience. He really tried his absolute best, but he shouldn’t have been the only one serving us. He needed a second person to help him run things more smoothly with such...