Lamonte — Restaurant in New York

We had a reservation for a party of 10 at 7:45 PM to celebrate my wife’s birthday. We arrived at 8:03 due to heavy traffic, and the reservation had already been canceled. There’s no phone number to contact the restaurant, and no one reached out to confirm before giving our table away, even though they had all my booking details. I understand that timing matters, but a quick text or call would have made all the difference — especially when there’s a $20 no-show fee per person. With a party of 10, the likelihood of us not showing up was clearly very slim. Instead, our night was completely ruined. Really disappointing for such a special occasion. My friends and I will never come back here again, and I hope management improves communication so other guests don’t have the same experience.

FOLLOW UP / RESPONSE TO THE OWNER BELOW

First — it’s really basic hospitality to send a quick text or call to confirm before canceling a large reservation, especially for a special occasion like a birthday dinner. Your restaurant isn’t a huge operation, so it’s hard to understand why a quick follow-up wasn’t possible. We were about 15–20 minutes behind due to NYC traffic, and we did show up. If you had listed a phone number I'd have definitely given a heads-up, but you made that impossible. So a simple courtesy message from you would have completely avoided all of this.

Second — after all that, you even had the audacity to charge me $160 for a “no-show.” I was there, spoke to you and you told me directly that there would be no charge, yet the fee was still processed.

It’s extremely disappointing, especially considering the circumstances and the special occasion. Between the lack of communication, the way the situation was handled, and now an unjustified charge....this has been one of the most frustrating dining experiences...

UPDATE 2024: just as bad as the last time with an entitled unprofessional owner chastising patrons publicly instead speaking in private. Manners are lacking from upper mgmt and the irony is totally lost on the owner in a position of leadership. Some many better places in Williamsburg. Save your money so you don’t get nickel and dimed here.

VERY disappointing ending experience to eating here. Sat at the bar and when I received the bill, they took a simple vodka soda and in only a way I’ve seen in Europe, charged separately as an up charge the soda with the vodka. I said I’ve never seen this here in nyc and the bartender said “oh it’s everywhere around here.” I told him I’ve never seen it around here ever and he proceeded to tell me that I must not be from around here. I told him I’ve lived here for a few years now. He just shrugged at me.

I can assure you, there is no other bar I’ve been to ever in the city that surprises you on the bill and charges you extra for a simple mixed drink over the cost of just the vodka or gin etc…

Upon paying the bill he handed me a portable electronic reader like they also have in Europe and I tapped to pay and when prompted, and selected my tip amount. I handed it back and he immediately questioned me why I didn’t tip more and if there was a problem. Besides the obvious inappropriate and unprofessional questioning and entitlement of being tipped a certain amount, for a server to debate you after paying a bill was just the nail in the coffin for this place in my book.

Mgmt: please coach your employees not to question customers and create incredibly awkward confrontational scenes when they don’t receive some expected extra money from us they believe...

We had a terrible experience at this restaurant/club. The loud music and atmosphere made it difficult to have a conversation without raising our voices. However, our waitress, Katherine, approached our table and rudely told us to quiet down. We were humiliated and felt discriminated against. When my husband returned from the restroom and noticed our distress, we explained the situation. He questioned why we should be silenced when the music was already blaring and other patrons were conversing loudly. Despite our discomfort, we paid our bill and left without leaving a tip. As we exited, the manager, a white man, confronted us, accusing us of mistreating the waitress. We denied his accusations and explained that she was the one who had silenced us. To our dismay, a friend of the owner intervened and physically assaulted me by kicking my leg twice. We did not provoke or aggress him in any way. This entire incident left us feeling discriminated against, humiliated, and unsafe. We strongly advise against visiting this...