Lao Ma Spicy — Restaurant in New York

Ive been to Lao Ma multiple times since they opened several years ago. I love their Mala dry pot.

However over the last three years, the staff and service hasn't been remotely as friendly and helpful as my first dozen visits. On top of that, there has been multiple instances where I question their business practices. Not only have prices have increased by double since they opened but they have questionable tactics to milk as much money out of you.

Not only are they heavy handed with items they place into the basket that bring up your bill, but the prices in their physical menu don't match their "QR code" menu. It's a matter of a few bucks at the end of the day but it makes a difference. Having differing posted prices is illegal.

Worse of it all is that they dont allow you the ability to write in a custom gratuity (see photo).

They only allow suggested tips of 16%, 18% or 22%. Not that I have a problem tipping those percentages but the issue is that if it's "suggested" you should have a choice esp if you're not feeling the service you've received (like my last few visits). When I asked the cashier, she replied "oh no, we only have suggested tips" which I'm certain is an illegal business practice. I've received this new receipt format the last couple of times.

The food itself is very good and I much prefer it over Mala Project but the clear business practices that aim to nickel and dime consumers and make them responsible for providing a liveable wage for their staff is both illegal and...

I went here last night with my friend. I'm vegan and there were not many options so I ordered a spicy potato. The food was highly overpriced! $17 for a potato including tax?! Everyone had to order their separate orders on the website so everyone was charged separate taxes. The potato was extremely spicy and when I told this to the waiter he said "this is what it is". Ended up having only a few bites with glasses after glasses of water. Finally when the waiter brought the check he included preset tipping options, and there was no custom tip option. I crossed off all the options because I did not want to tip him after his ignorance and attitude, and he refused to take the payment without tips. He instead started arguing that waiters bring you food and water so I have to tip. Like with utmost respect (and I used to wait tables too) what else are you being paid for?! I went with the minimum option of 16% and asked him for a copy of the bill, which he refused to give and instead printed out a new copy with a $20 bill (tip included) but still had those tipping options below that I need to check and made me sign it. I ended up taking a photo of the bill just to make sure he doesn't charge me...

We picked this place last minute for dinner and boy was that a mistake. They seated and it took a few mins to realize they weren’t coming back and we had to use a QR code to order. Mentioning that would have been helpful.

The first thing that came was dumplings, turned out to be the neighboring tables dumplings but they CHARGED US ANYWAYS and refused to take it off the bill. The crystal shrimp dumplings tasted and smelled kind of like a public bathroom. The sesame chicken smelled fishy and was relatively flavorless. The soup dumplings did NOT come with a typical dumpling spoon.

They didn’t bring my daughter a fork when asked so she had to resort to tongs. They didn’t bring sugar when asked. They didn’t bring my tea until I actually paid the bill. They didn’t refill our waters until my daughter chased a waiter down. I attempted to not leave a tip but the waiter hovered over repeating that tip wasn’t included until i just checked the lowest percentage offered(16%). I’ve never left less than 20 elsewhere.

Frankly i was desperate to get out of this restaurant. Gross. Ended up being around $90 w/ tax for 2 people. Worst...