duckduck — Restaurant in New York

this was one of my absolute favorite bars until i encountered a really rude bar tender (shorter woman with long black hair). My friend and i sat in with our food because it was raining. We were about to order drinks before she passive aggressively demanded us to order something rudely. I understand the issue; however, she just came about the situation extremely rudely and unpleasantly. So i obliged anyways and ordered a drink. I then asked "Sorry but were we supposed to order sooner" then she started arguing about how we didn't order anything because we were trying to eat our dinner there, implying we were freeloading (after i ordered a drink) and how i didn't tip which i was about to until that really rude response. I work in the service industry so i understand; however, how she presented the situation and how she reacted was awful. She thought i was trying to underpay or to freeload when I was just visiting and trying to relax after an extremely heavy rain (the bar was empty). She kept arguing and demanded i finished my drink (i know this sounds made up and so silly but it quite literally happened). She told the bodyguard and even he was confused. I would never come back again not because of the overall bar but because the bartender was very hostile and rude for no reason. Most of the bartenders are really cool but she was just nasty and just plain ridiculous. (i wish i got her name specifically)

update: The bartender is...

Beloved Duck duck the go to for nearly a decade for great drinks at amazing prices, good music and a vibe that is unmatched is now fading fast to rude (possibly racially motivated) mistreatment by staff to its patrons. This has been the fun place the safe place however last night I experienced the most memorably disgusting experience. My friend and I sat at the bar and waited and watched for 15 min as the blonde female bartender in black jeans proceeded to take the orders of absolute everyone around us including those who just walked up even offering second drinks to those seating right next to us. She laughed talked to them engaged them. When she walked past us at least 8 times she would not make eye contact. Finally my friend called out nearly yelling “we would love to order drinks please” and turned looking almost insulted and she just starred at us. I ordered our drinks to take my friend out of it and she brought them back slid them to us repeating the price 3 times and walked away. We put our cash on the bar for payment and even my friend mentioned when we were wrapping we would like to pay she didn’t acknowledge us and never touched the money. My friend was so uncomfortable we decided to leave and find another place. I have no idea why this was our experience and why this woman acts this way we can only assume looking at the circumstances but it’s 2024 in NYC…come on duck...

I've been going to Duck Duck for years and have always had great experiences until recently.

During my last visit, the bouncer incited violence by physically assaulted my friend, and forced them out without warning. The situation was completely uncalled for and handled with unnecessary aggression.

The real issue seemed to stem from a lack of communication between the bartender and the bouncer. We were served drinks at 3:57 a.m., just minutes before closing, and as paying customers, we had no reason to think that would be a problem. Instead of calmly addressing the situation, the bouncer escalated it in a way that left everyone shocked and confused. Especially since other patrons were allowed to stay inside at the time.

To make matters worse, we couldn't help but wonder if this treatment was influenced by bias, as we appeared to be the only queer couple in the bar that night. Whether or not that was the reason, the result was the same: we felt unsafe, disrespected, and unwelcome.

I've supported Duck Duck for years, but after this experience, I can no longer recommend it (especially to queer patrons). What happened was not only unprofessional but unacceptable for any establishment that claims to offer a safe and inclusive...