Malibu Barbie Cafe New York — Restaurant in New York

It’s a SCAM. The trap begins the moment they make you pay for the ticket + pre pay for food. We arrived on time and immediately the hostess was full of attitude and rudeness, she was told we have to wait because our table was not ready (even though this was a reservation?). She then prompted us to sit outside instead of inside, and when we expressed that we paid for the experience so we wish to be inside (as the outdoor area literally only had white furniture patio and pink umbrellas as opposed to the music and vibes inside), she basically said that our 90-minute period has already started since we refused to sit outside and prefer inside.

This was ridiculous because you pay ticket entrance into this cafe and not just for the food?? when we said that’s not fair, she said it’s not fair to the people that come after us and request to be inside either, and that if I really wanted to guarantee a table inside I should have bought a bar chair instead of table for two.

1- just like you made us wait for our table and tried to force us to sit outside, why would you not offer “the next guests” the same options? Offer them an outdoor table and if they “refuse” outdoor then their 90-minute period should begin as well just like ours would have. Nothing about that made sense. 2- We paid for a table for two which costs DOUBLE what a bar chair costs! And as Muslims who don’t drink it’s against our religion to even sit near the counter top, so are we getting discriminated against for paying more and for not wanting to sit by the bar? Really?

What really irked me was the gaslighting when I was clearly upset they wanted to give us a seat outside, they made me sound crazy. NO ONE was sitting outside because there’s no Barbie decor outside, it’s like an average normal cafe, and she had the audacity to tell me “you can eat outside and then walk around inside”

It’s called Barbie CAFE not a Barbie exhibit, what do you mean eat outside and then walk around? The whole point is to be in a cafe and eat around the experience! It was honestly baffling, if I wanted to sit in a normal cafe why would I even pay for a ticket entry + food?

The workers clearly look unhappy, I don’t know if it’s because they don’t get paid well, which I doubt seeing there’s a 20% gratuity + a $6 per person hidden fee that they never tell you about btw. And to further top it all, all the furniture and decor inside is tacky, overworn, and chipped. The only highlight of the entire place was the Barbie box which was super cute.

Everything else is disgusting. Staff was horrible, waiter was ok I guess, but the hostess and her so called “boss” who also happened to refer to the hostess as his boss (so they were literally both lying about authority) were extremely unpleasant. It just ruined the whole experience

This is a place for a fake happy instagram post! That is it.

Food was obviously frozen, it’s a waste of calories. Go eat chipotle and then pass by museum of ice cream...

Extremely disappointed with our what ended up being a short visit to the Malibu Barbie cafe. My friend and I had made reservations months in advance to visit this pop up. We arrived 20 mins late under the impression that our reservation secures 90 minutes. Upon arrival the girls were nice but once we gave our names the switch up in attitude was a whole 180. They said because we got their 5 minutes past the grace period time which was 15 minutes, we had forfeited the seats to the next guest. While it was our fault for not reaching on time and we understood the policy we were baffled to see how not only the receptions but even the manager lacked so much empathy in the situation. We expressed our apologies and asked if we could even sit down for a few minutes to eat the sandwiches we paid damn near $60 for! We didn’t mind paying as we were paying for the experience. The manager and receptionsints had the audacity to tell us we were still getting the experience while we wait for our food.. We tried very hard to have them accommodate us and I would understand if they couldn’t if they were full, however more than half the seats were empty! We needed no more than 10 minutes to just sit at a corner table and eat and they even refused us of that. They kept saying we can eat outside. Which obviously we would ultimately do, as they were refusing to seat us. Honestly, if they were nice about why they couldn’t seat us and were empathetic towards the situation I wouldn’t be as upset. But neither the receptionists or even the manager could be bothered. The manager looked like she had just rolled out of bed from the back and we were bothering her. The customer service here is absolutely disgusting. It’s not what you’d expect for a Barbie cafe. It was more MEAN GIRLS if anything. On top of that, the food was not up to par and we found more unhappy customers outside of the cafe with this same experience! While the cafe is intriguing because of set up I must say the workers and manager there is terrible. I would recommend you save your money and go somewhere where you are valued...

You’re paying for the experience. That being said, the staff were okay but confused always. The manager in the other hand is an angry and very rude person. My wife and kid had a table along my sister in law and daughter. My brother and I couldn’t get a table ourselves. So we decided to wait until we got there, maybe they could make it work. I spoke to someone before their reservation time and the lady said if there’s open seats at the bar, we could gladly be sat there. When we came back she was no longer there. The “manager” was now standing up front. And from the first impression he seems like he just hates people. Because we were 10 min early he was rolling his eyes as if it were a huge issue. Being there were tons of tables available plus the whole bar open. I asked him nicely if there was any chance the “Dads” could wait at the bar cuz it was my brothers wife’s birthday. He said a straight up nasty No. You didn’t reserve. No seats for you. I understand, but the place is empty. So I asked if we can just go take pictures of our families who already have tables reserved which we paid $80 for each table. He said yea sure. Pay $45 to go take photos. I held my breathe and all the comments in the world and walked out. I told my family have fun enjoy and see you later. But in my honest opinion, this place would be ALOT better if they got rid of these rude employees. Or just that nasty Manager. (He) in case that helps. Not only did they pay $33 for two lemonades. They ask for 20% tip after too lol. So $113 for a burger. Kids quesadilla and twolemonades ? With bad service. Sheesh. Atleast the props made up for the negative.

That being said, I NEVER write reviews. But there’s always a first right ? When people suck and are rude AF. I’ll write it up.

Otherwise. The whole idea is fun and brings the nostalgia feeling back.

Have fun and don’t let this ppl ruin...