Mad Donkey Beer Bar & Grill — Restaurant in New York

This weird/rude situation happened a while ago, but upon retelling it to some friends, they urged me to make this review about my experience.

I used to live right around the corner from Mad Donkey and sometimes when my friend would stay over we would get chicken tenders from there because it was literally 10ft away, their kitchen was open late, and support local businesses.

However every time that we would go, we always felt off about our experience. The first time was a normal, but every time after (like 4x) the staff was weirdly standoffish and cold and would seem disgruntled that we were only ordering chicken tenders (we weren’t big drinkers + my friend is a picky eater so this was her for real deal meal). We didn’t think too much about any of this until the last time we came in and it was the first time there was a female bartender serving us.

The female bartender was the coldest towards us yet and acted the strangest towards my friend and I, after we had ordered our food she very sternly told us to wait at this table in the corner away from the bar top (which is fine because we usually waited at a table since we weren’t drinking and were fine chatting however long the food cooked for) but how she went about it was just very weird and passive aggressive.

When she handed us the food she then extra sternly said, in front of the whole bar “can I speak to you girls outside please?”. We went outside and she then told us that unfortunately the bar wouldn’t be able to serve us going forward because we were under 21, so this bar couldn’t serve us anymore and we would have to “find somewhere else to eat”.

I understand this to be completely logical and in ordinance with proper US laws. BUT, at the time I was 24 years old and my friend was 23, completely legal. So you could imagine how we felt when this woman we didn’t even know acted so hostile towards us over a random assumption and then tried to make a statement about it by causing a scene.

It then got really awkward and weirder… we told her we were both over 21, she said she didn’t believe us, we showed her our very legal IDs and she rolled her eyes, flicked her wrist at us, and started walking away back into the bar. Before she went through the door she said “whatever, but what I said still stands” and left us outside, just feeling uncomfortable and really weirded out by this situation.

I completely understand a bar would want to be careful about the clientele they serve, if they are this paranoid however, why not card all orders? Or have a bouncer every day of the week not just Fridays and weekends?

I understand that we were two youngish looking girls in hoodies and sweatpants, however there is no excuse for being straight up mean and disrespectful off of an assumption you made up in your head + extra weird with customer/server dynamic…

Basically now I just tell this story to my friends when we walk by, we laugh and say we’ll never go back and deter other friends from going. This is what happens when you’re weird to people, they’ll tell everyone they know and now you have a reputation. The chicken tenders were fine btw and the only time we ever got a drink it was fine too. But I don’t like paying for weird public displays of aggression over something factually...

I NEVER write reviews for anything but just wanted to say after my birthday in NYC, ended up meeting a few of my friends at a bar in Astoria id never heard of called Mad Donkey. At that point, i was already drunk so didnt need anything more then Rangers game, a place to sit and a beer or two. Let me just say though, EASILY one of the coolest atmospheres and COOLEST bartender we've ever had. Was incredibly accommodating (especially on a busy saturday night) and helpful and even gave us a break on some food that was served to us that we were waiting on for a while. (We didnt care but extremely nice of him to do nonetheless.) More places should act like this, realizing that its these types of people and gestures that keep customers coming back to your establishment. (I apologize..i was too f**ked up to remember bartender's name but bald dude with a sick cool beard)

Anyway..we're definitely coming...

For a place that advertises all you can have peanuts and the freedom to discard them at will wantonly, I eagerly anticipated my evening revelry. However upon arrival I found the environs to be dark and uninviting, although the staff is capable and hard working, there was a gruffness that seemed not to be born out of working long hours, but of a desire for the night to be over, or for them to be free of the clientele. Granted the fish bowls filled with 3 different kinds of rum and fruit punches makes my mouth water. And the decor of tap pulls hanging from the ceiling is very fun. But altogether the company I kept was the best part of the evening and it felt as though we were only scraping at getting minimal service. It may have just been that night, so I would try the Mad Donkey again, but don't try getting the nuclear wings---they are as nuclear as dropping a mentos into flat soda, sadly,...