Ellen's Stardust Diner — Restaurant in New York

We traveled all the way from Georgia to celebrate my daughter’s 9th birthday in New York City. She’s a budding theatre lover who adores musicals and has been dreaming of visiting Ellen’s Stardust Diner for months. Between the singing servers and the milkshakes, this was supposed to be one of the highlights of her trip. Sadly, the experience fell heartbreakingly short—so much so that we left feeling invisible, disappointed, and honestly, heartbroken.

After waiting outside for about 40 minutes, we were excited and ready to enjoy everything we’d heard and read about. The performers are incredibly talented—there’s no denying that. But the rest of the experience? It felt like we didn’t matter at all as customers.

We had to ask three separate times just to get refills of water. My 9- and 7-year-old kids were thirsty and tired after walking around the city all day. We even placed our empty glasses on the edge of the table hoping someone—anyone—would notice. No one did. We didn’t receive condiments for our hotdogs. We had to ask for a spoon so my 7-year-old could eat his milkshake, and only got one after my mother physically got up and went to the bar herself. When she politely asked another server for help, he looked at us and simply said, “Ask your waiter,” and walked away.

We felt completely neglected, as though our presence was an inconvenience. It was painfully clear that the focus was on the performance and not the patrons. It took asking at least four or five times to get basic needs met.

What hurt most, though, was seeing my daughter’s disappointment. She had written down a special song request for her birthday, and our server completely forgot to pass it on. She never got to hear her song. She waited, smiling and hopeful, only to leave let down and unnoticed.

And then there were the milkshakes—something she and her brother had looked forward to for days, excitedly scrolling through photos of the elaborate, over-the-top creations shown online. What they received looked nothing like what was advertised—just light cookie toppings thrown on top Ike Dairy Queen, no decorations. My son wasn’t even given a proper glass. He got the silver mixing cup the shake was made in. I’ve attached a photo below, because words honestly don’t do justice to how disappointing it was.

As a parent, it’s crushing to watch your children feel so let down, especially on such a special day. We weren’t expecting fine dining—we came for the magic and the joy your establishment claims to deliver. But instead, we felt forgotten.

The singers were truly great. But the service was, without question, the worst we’ve experienced in NYC—and that made the whole visit feel like a mistake. We won’t be back. Not because of the music, but because no family deserves to feel so unseen and experience this level of inconsistency in...

So where do I start me and my family visited from the UK after saving for about 3 years for this trip and this was the first place we ate and it was so disappointing. First of all before I go on, I understand the American tipping system and I do know New York is having major issues at the minute with paying staff decent wages, however I think we were unfairly treated on our visit… On first arrival we didn’t have to wait long for our seats which was great and to start with our server was really nice and polite, we got our menus and ordered. Anyway, when he came back with our drinks he started us off with a tray full of water (which isn’t custom in the uk) so we all kind of paused for a second and before I could ask him what the drinks were or the fact we hadn’t ordered them he started muttering under his breath saying ‘yeah or just look at them and don’t take them’ in a really sarcastic way. Then for the whole night you could tell he had an issue with us, every time he walked past or came to us there was a sarcastic remark. In a side note the singers were great, can’t fault them, I did enjoy that part of the experience. However the issues further came towards the end of the meal. First of all for what it was, just standard diner food the price was insanely expensive, however we all knew what the tipping system was like there so we didn’t complain. The issue was how we were treated afterwards, we could hear the waiters slagging us off after we paid our bill as if it wasn’t enough. Then just as we were about to go we stayed and listened to one last song, then in between the song one of the older waiters came on the microphone and told a story about how he was going around with a tip bucket to get some more money which pays for the staffs singing lessons etc.. which I completely understand however throughout the night, they’d already been round twice with the bucket and we put in every time. This time he made his way around to us and I politely declined and he literally got on the mic and said ‘oh so you’re not putting anything in then’ in the most sarcastic way, which instantly put a bad taste in my mouth as we’d already paid a fortune for the meal and in tips. I just hate how you’ve got to pay a million pound for literally everything, it just felt like a money grab. I felt like I’d been robbed after I left for what? Average food at best and a rubbish experience service wise. I won’t be going back and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, most of the staff were incredibly rude trying to take money off us left right and centre and it was just an awkward...

Starting with the security girl, super hateful and arrogant and with the security man, being in line I tried to talk to him twice, and he ignored me, when he heard me I asked him if it could be just 1 person dining. To which he says in an arrogant tone “wait by the door” he came in and came back, I thought he was going to look for me and take me to the table, I had the impulse to react almost taking a step, to which he yells “stand by” and leaves, out of politeness I didn’t leave, then he comes in and says, “okay, come in” and I asked him which table? and he tells me to come in, come in, come in, I'm not going to take care of you like a little girl” I entered, they welcomed me at the bar (very well) when they served me everything was correct, when the bill arrived it came with the 20% tip included what? and the worst thing is that on the dataphone the waiter gave me the option to give him MORE TIP. Very loud music, the “fourth wall” is too noticeable in the show, no empathy with the customers, even if they are actors and not real waiters they must have a good treatment with people. I advise them not to hire former employees starting with the security girl, super hateful and arrogant and with the security man, being in line I tried to speak to him twice, and he ignored me, when he heard me I asked if only 1 person could dine. to which he says in a haughty tone “wait at the entrance” he enters and when he came back, I thought it was to look for me and take me to the table, I had the impulse to react almost taking a step, to which he yells “stand by” and leaves, out of politeness I didn’t leave, then he comes in and says, “okay, come in” and I asked him “which table?” and he says “come in, come in, come in, I’m not going to babysit you like a little girl.” I entered, they welcomed me at the bar (very well) and served me everything correctly, when the bill came it came with a 20% tip included, what? and the worst thing was that on the dataphone the waiter gave me the option to give him MORE TIP. The music was very loud, the “fourth wall” was very noticeable in the show, if you really know about theater you know what I mean, no empathy with the customers, even if they are actors and not real waiters they should have a good relationship with people. I recommend that you do not hire more ex-employees of “Dick’s last resort” because that strategy does not work for you. You don’t...