LaoJie Hotpot — Restaurant in New York

We come here often and we get good service when we're downstairs. But we were placed upstairs today and the experience was so different and disappointing. I don't know if anybody has noticed but some of the new staff look really young. We did hotpot and bbq. There were only like 2 server girls upstairs and one of them was better than the other. The younger looking server was the one who mainly helped us grill our meats. She seemed a bit inexperienced with cooking but we just kind of brushed it off. Sometimes she would pass by our table but not come back for awhile to grill the meats and the meat would be all burnt and black. We just ended up flipping the meats ourselves after awhile.

This bad service review is really for the other server girl who wears glasses and ties up her hair. She was terrible!! She was so lazy. She rarely came by to help us cook the bbq food. All she did was put the cooked bbq food onto a plate. She mainly just let the younger girl do all the work. When we asked for the check, she just handed a paper receipt to us without any check tray or melon candies (we always get this downstairs or with other servers.) She didn't even turn off the grill. She had such an attitude. When we asked her a question, she just kind of gave us a stare and would say no. Usually, they always give us dessert before even giving us a check. But no, this server wanted us to pay the bill before getting dessert. She also wanted to make sure that we filled out the receipt with our tip. Well, I'm sorry to say that she didn't deserve our tip. She didn't do much. The tip was for the younger girl server and not for her.

When we tried to ask for another mango pudding dessert (you can usually ask for multiple ones), she just kind of looked at us and went ok....Why the hell do we have to feel judged about asking for another dessert? She even went and asked the other younger server girl if we gave back the check yet before giving us another dessert. Like are you serious? Do we look like we wouldn't pay?! We come here so often. By the way, the dessert is included with the hotpot/bbq. That should always be given before the check even comes! Seriously, I never got that kind of vibe or attitude from the other servers I encountered. There's this older server woman downstairs and she's very kind. We love her. This woman really does not belong here and she shouldn't work here as a server. She just seems like she doesn't want to work and she lets her other coworkers do all the dirty work. You guys can do better with your service. Don't hire...

Edit: I have to update my previous review, as our experience has changed drastically. We are (were?) regulars at this place and absolutely loved it, but the last two experiences were less than stellar. During our visit a few weeks ago, our waiter kept on messing up our order and bringing wrong items. Yesterday, we didn't feel welcome at all and the waiters pretty much ignored us. Firstly, no one told us that the kitchen is closing (about an hour before the restaurant did) and so when we wanted to order more protein, we were told that the kitchen is closed. We wanted to get more sauce, but the condiment station was also closed 40 minutes before the restaurant. No one bothered to give us a heads up so we could plan our meal accordingly. The pot of soup was boiling over and I asked the only waiter I could catch to lower the heat a little, but he lowered it all the way down and the pot was barely simmering and not cooking properly. We only received two small plates instead of the usual stack, so the food was all piled up. Seems like the place is getting disorganized and the waiters are not properly trained or just don't care anymore. At this point, I wouldn't recommend this place for a relaxing meal. Original: Really awesome hot pot and BBQ place in a relaxing atmosphere and with great customer service. For the hot pot we paid about $28 per person, which was all you can eat option. There are separate options for the BBQ and BBQ + hot pot. Everything was very fresh, delicious, and beautifully served! We were also able to get two separate soup bases: herbal and creamy bone, and both were great. For the drinks, they have very delicious ice green teas with fruit flavors, which I highly recommend. Overall, an absolute gem of a place that's perfect for intimate dining or large group...

I don't know if it was cause my friends and I look young but we came to have hotpot after work and it was busy due to graduations. They stated that it'll be an hour wait to which we said ok and put on a wait-list waiting to be called. We came back after an hour with no phone call to where we were told to wait another 30 mins. We waited with no call so we asked the staff again to which we saw on their waitlist that we've been skipped multiple times. They then told us that we'll get the next table. 30 mins later, still no call. We went back in and saw we were yet again skipped and told that they will have a table ready in 15 mins. 15 mins past and we finally decided enough was enough and just left. I got the phone call that our table was ready after waiting 3 hrs and 30 mins. I understand being busy but actively skipping a number on the waitlist because we looked younger than everyone else is not ok. I wouldn't be as upset if they just straight up told us that it'll take 3 hrs than the initial 1 hr they told us.

Update: I am changing my review as I went back for a friend's go away party. I arrived an hour early and asked if we can be seated around 7/7:30 to go pick up cake. We were able to be seated around 7:15. The staff serving us was extremely nice and fun. We had an ice cream cake prepared and they held it for us until we were ready to cut it. They also sang happy birthday for my friend in celebration. The food all looked good. We had the ayce hot pot and watermelon juice. The watermelon juice lasted us the entire 2 hours. I had an amazing experience. I believe this change is due to a change in staff. We did not se the same staff that treated us the way they did when I made my...