Ladybird — Restaurant in New York

I discovered a ladybird some years ago when I celebrated a birthday. I thought it was a fantastic place, and I still have the pic I took with the cute vintage phone on my social media account. When I was looking for a place to celebrate my graduation, I knew to celebrate it at Ladybird.

So I booked Ladybird in March for May. I communicated all my questions, for example, can I add small decor to the tables, which I was told yes and that we would have to come in at least an hour before. Can I bring a cake? Yes, as long as it is vegan and nut free(which it was). Great! I was excited as we booked so far in advance, with enough time for all qualms, etc., to be communicated.

So upon arriving, the energy was off. We had no idea that the staff was having a team meeting! If we had known this, we would have just arrived at 5. The time that it was scheduled for. And also, they had to ask if it was okay for us to come in early to add the small party favors to the table. We booked in March, and I was told over the phone and through email that it was okay—emails I still have.

But unfortunately, this set the tone for how the evening would go. So the cake was an issue as well. And the manager, who seemed overly annoyed, told us that we would be charged a plating fee of 7$ per slice…for my cake; this information again was not communicated to us, and again we booked in March. And if I had known, we would never have made a reservation in the first place. And no courtesy was extended, considering the restaurant did not communicate.

Unfortunately, some of my family members did not like the set menus provided…which annoyed me because I already felt tension because we were there. As a customer, why did I feel like I did something to these people?! Being that we were the only Black people in the restaurant. Also, the waiter assumed that my brother, a tall Black man, would want soda! And he replied that he doesn’t drink soda. Why assume that? And I couldn’t cut my cake, and it was done in such a distasteful matter. We paid for that cake; the least they could have done was allow me to cut it. And again none of this was communicated to me.

The manager gave my sister an attitude earlier because he wanted to take the cake off of the table, and she wanted to take a pic of it. So instead of being polite, he was rude, which was disappointing. The energy of the manager drove the hostesses that we dealt with. It was so horrible. They wanted us to leave. And because we left after 7 pm and not precisely at 7, I knew by the way the servers kept looking at us and asking if we needed anything they wanted us gone—a very disappointing experience, especially on day that was special to me.

I believe they were having a team-building meeting that we, unfortunately, walked in on. The energy and the behavior of the manager and staff show they still need many more sessions. Thanks again. The food was...

Would never return to Ladybird.

We dined here on Friday the 11th of December. Given it was a vegan restaurant, at the start of the meal I specifically asked the waitress if she could alert us to any item that we may order that could contain cashews or pistachios as I have an allergy. The waitress told us with certainty that they do not use those nuts at all in any dishes for allergy reasons specifically. Unfortunately when we asked if there was a dessert she might recommend, the strawberry cheesecake that was suggested did in fact contain Cashews. I ran to the kitchen and asked, and they said it was nut free. When I pulled the waitress aside and stressed to her to double check, she returned to inform us that the dish contained Cashews.

What’s worse is that in the moments that followed:

• No staff member asked if I was ok at any point, in particular the manager who was quite rude to the table. • No staff member offered to call an ambulance. • No staff member offered to accompany me to the nearest pharmacy, just to make sure I was ok, given the incident had occurred inside the restaurant. • No staff member took my details in order to follow up post the incident. • Neither the kitchen, nor the wait-staff were aware of any nuts being present in dishes, even after they were directly asked (which should have at least caused them to check and confirm) • The manager, as far as we were told, elected to stay at the other establishment to ‘count money’ in the critical minutes where a response was needed and the situation was escalating. • When the manager finally did arrive, he was abrasive and rude, rather than dealing with the issue in a manner of which you would expect any normal restaurant to. It was also post 10pm meaning he wasn’t present during the actual operating hours.

As you can imagine, not only was this experience very alarming as a patron of Ladybird, but the majority of actions from staff demonstrated a combination of negligence and incompetence that could have very easily led to a more severe scenario playing out.

To make matters worse, the manager provided me with the owner’s email address and business card. I contacted the owner the following Monday and to this day (Feb 1st) I still have not...

There are many things to like about Ladybird but the artichoke and chardonnay fondue was by far and away the star of the show. Located on E 7th St between 1st and Ave A, the place is elegantly done up and reminiscent of a fancy ante chamber or a bourgeoisie tea parlor. It gives you a hint of opulence without being gaudy or over the top and I did quite like the vibe.

On to the food, they have a single menu and items aren't grouped into appetizers and entrées or courses. We decided to go with an order of the loaded potatoes, a cauliflower toast and the fondue as our mainstay. Loaded potatoes were okay, nothing really to write home about with the taste of the boiled potato more or less overwhelming the other flavors. Cauliflower toast was good, the cauliflower was cooked just right and its texture went perfectly with the not too crunchy toast. The Chardonnay and Artichoke fondue though was to die for! It was honestly better than most cheese fondues I've had and that's saying a lot. It comes with a plate of marinated veggies and bread to dip and was an absolute delight! It was so good I almost wanted to order another. Decided to try the fried mac and cheese balls instead and those were fantastic too. Came with homemade ranch and hot sauce!

Just a couple of notes, the service was friendly but there were only 3 guys working for the entire clientele, one host, one bartender and one server. They were trying to do they best they could but they were very obviously overwhelmed and as a result the service was on the slow side. Also the seating is rather tight, if you have one of the tables for larger parties I guess its fine but the tables for 2 are uncomfortably close to each other. Felt like you were almost sitting on your neighbors lap sitting at the table next to you. It was also hard to get up and maneuver around the tables since they were so close together, felt like it was a matter of time before you knocked someone's food or drink over.

Overall I enjoyed the experience despite the few drawbacks. The prices are on the steep side so I might go back to try the fondue but it would be nice of they made the experience a little more...