Melba's Restaurant — Restaurant in New York

It’s always disheartening when a business that once was considered a staple within a community diminishes its value by not valuing every customer. Today was literally the worst experience that I have ever encountered with Melba's Restaurant. As a frequent visitor of this establishment, and by frequent visitor I mean that I am patronizing this business at least once a week at a minimum and often bringing other people with me so that they can experience Melba’s as well, I have to say that I was completely disgusted with the HORRIBLE service that I received here today. I advise that NO ONE and I mean NO ONE ever eat here.

When I first entered the restaurant I was put on the waiting list, which is normal, and told that the wait would be long which is also relatively normal as well. I tried to sit at the bar as opposed to waiting for a table due to the long wait. I waited patiently for a bar seat to become available and once it was I proceeded to sit down. Once I sat at the bar, I was then told that I would need to get up from the bar because there was apparently a reservation for the bar. Please keep in mind that the bar is typically open seating and the tables are what requires a reservation. However, the hostess told me that I must get up. This is also after several people had the opportunity to sit at the bar without reservations prior and even after me. Needless to say I was very frustrated and decided to leave. After leaving, some of my friends convinced me to come back because as previously mentioned I am the one who brought them there because I am typically the one that brings folks to this establishment from my friend group.

Fast forward, I come back after our table is finally ready and continued to receive HORRIBLE service. The waiter took my order and I requested some water. Now ideally when you sit down at a table at a restaurant, water is automatically provided to you without you having to ask. Evidently that no longer the case at this restaurant. After requesting water, it took my waiter 15 minutes to bring me my water and once I finally got it there was NEVER a time when he came to check on me or even offer a refill on the glass of water that I received. It was not until my meal was finished that he finally came back. Upon returning, I requested a to go box for the rest of my meal and that took an additional 20 minutes. Now while all of this is happening Kevin Hart is sitting at the table beside me with his family and receiving immaculate service from the same waiter. I mean they are getting checked on, receiving the items that they requested in a timely manner, water refills etc. and all of this is happening during the timeframe where I am still waiting for water and during the timeframe where I am waiting for a to go box. After still not receiving the to go box after 20 minutes past, I ended up having to go to another staff person to receive the to go box. And of course the bill is ready and dropped at our table. I immediately reach for the bill so that I can request that the waiter takes the tip off for my bill due to the fact of the waiter providing the worst service that I have ever received at this restaurant. The waiter proceeded to tell me how much he “accommodated” me and so I asked for a manager who then had to come and handle the situation. This was extremely disappointing for me because as previously mentioned I frequent this restaurant and if you are unable to handle celebrity guest and your regular guest that will provide service to you after that celebrity leaves then you need to reevaluate your customer service practices. From the hostess to the waiter I am beyond being disgusted and disappointed. I’ve stuck by this restaurant through the years and watched it blossom into what it is today. But don’t ever get so big that you forget that you can still be small. While I will NEVER eat here again and recommend that no one else EVER does. I hope you guys improve so no one ever has to experience what i experienced with...

We visited this black owned establishment on Thursday, August 11, 2022. I did make a reservation prior to online for 5 PM. We arrived about 20 minutes earlier than our reservation and were seated immediately by the host. This restaurant is clean, modern, and Afrocentric. There were beautiful displays of black art on the walls, including a portrait of Jean Michael Basquiat. Upon being seated, we were given paper menus. Our waiter came over shortly after we were seated. We ordered the following menu items: Melba’s spring rolls, bbq braised beef short ribs, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, a$ap yams, eggnog waffle with strawberry butter, lemonade, and spinach. The waitress did recommend the rum punch and the strawberry Henny, but I decided not to get an alcoholic beverage this evening. It didn’t take long for our food items to come out. The spring rolls were seasoned well and came with a powerful kicking sauce. It added a lot of spice and zest to the dish. The spring rolls were fried to perfection and we inhaled them. Not just because we were starving, but also they were delicious. The waitress actually said that people do inhale these and she was correct. About six minutes after we received our egg rolls, we received our main entrées. The waitress said the beef short ribs were fall off the bone and extremely tender. She definitely didn’t lie. They reminded us of home in the south where we live. Really the entire experience reminded us of being at home. This includes the black artwork, the sultry music played, and the efficiency of the staff. We have had short ribs before, but they were nowhere near like this tender perfection. They were seasoned well and the sauce on top made the ribs moist. You didn’t even need to chew them to eat them, that’s how tender they were. The mashed potatoes were creamy and had little chunks of potato mixed in to give them quite a bit of texture. They were seasoned well and the garlic taste was not overwhelming at all. The spinach was also pretty tasty and seasoned well. It’s not bland at all like we’ve experienced at other restaurants. The spinach was also cooked pretty well, since it wasn’t overly mushy or undercooked. The southern style lemonade was sweetly balanced and was provided in a nice tall glass. All of the portion sizes were hefty and we were able to take food home. This restaurant is quite generous with its food offerings. We had to try the eggnog waffle, since it was the winner on Throw Down with Iron Chef Bobby Flay. It was definitely a must have. We did order the yams and eggnog waffle after the rest of our food, so it came out a little bit after the rest of the food. I did use the restroom at this establishment, which was clean although a bit warm temperature wise inside. I attribute this to it being close to the kitchen. There is also a cute little bar where patrons can sit and enjoy drinks, especially if they’re dining solo. This restaurant is pretty spacious and has two dining room areas. We were able to sit in the back area which was nice. They also have outdoor dining seating areas. There is one seating area with covered enclosures, which is really cute with lighting and greenery on top. There’s also an outdoor dining area right in the front of the restaurant with open table seating. Overall this was a great experience and I would highly recommend this restaurant to everyone in New York. All of the food we indulged in was very tasty, the service was efficient, and everything here was very straightforward. It’s amazing that this restaurant has been open since 2005. Melba Wilson has maintained a wonderful establishment for almost 20 years. I know that everyone in New York always regards the Caribbean food, but I think that the black soul food restaurants are king here in New York. Those are the restaurants that have been the backbone foundation of the city for years and years. Those are the restaurants that should be revered and celebrated like Sylvia’s and Melba’s, which is a younger...

Came here last week to make a to go order and the service was TERRIBLE. For context, when I lived in the city I was here every two weeks with my boyfriend and every time I visit the city now I make sure to pick up food to bring home with me (despite the crazy price increase). Safe to say the food is (usually) not the problem. Normally I call ahead so that I can come in and pick up food, but they didn’t pick up the phone - even when I arrived to the restaurant I called before going in and watched the bartender pick up the phone and decline the call with an eye roll. This time around when I came to order it was hard to get a server to speak to me so I went to the bar and asked how I could place an order to go and she (black bob) told me at the bar and walked away. Another waiter came to the bar so I asked to place a to go order with him (thick framed glasses) and he said that they weren’t taking to go orders at the moment, rolled his eyes and walked away. I then went to the hostess who told me to give her a second and to stand off to the side. I watched as she stood there and just stared at the line of people waiting to be seated .. which she did end up seating people but she definitely had time to answer my question. After waiting for about 15 minutes I finally tried to ask her again to which she quickly and rudely interrupted me and told me to get in the line (of people waiting to be seated) I then had to speak over her to get my question out on how to place a to go order. She finally pointed to a specific bartender. When I went over the bar was a mess and I was blatantly being ignored. When I tried to get his attention to order he rudely told me to wait for him to serve another group who was literally walking in the door .. but we were already sitting at the bar in front of him so clearly we were there first. After waiting for a while he finally gave us menus and not even a minute later asked us what we wanted to order, heard about half of it and placed it.. so then we had to wait more time to complete our order. While waiting for him black bob came back a few times (filling drinks and such) and was deliberately making faces at us, mean mugging, passive aggressive smiling, etc. We then waited a while longer and finally received our order. Upon returning back inside we discovered that the sliders that we ordered were not dressed, just meat and bread.. for an hour and a half long of a wait and that terrible service I expected the food to at least be the quality that I was used to as a long time and loyal customer. Granted, they were hosting a block party that day - but in the advertisements that they were posting on social media it was set to end 4 HOURS before I arrived. I deliberately came later to avoid long wait times and a hectic environment. Nonetheless, being busy at an event planned by their own establishment is not reason enough to just be plain nasty and miserable. Be less greedy and pay more waiters for planned events, schedule the waiters who have sound people skills, have a better system or just don’t host events at all if your staff is going to be so overwhelmed that they’re being unprofessional. Fire the girl with the bob, she was beyond nasty and should not be working in customer service environments with her...