Michael's New York — Restaurant in New York

No. For the true New Yorkers, this place is a No. From the sidewalk the space looks nice but as soon as you get seated and settle in you realize it's very stale. If you sit along the east wall you will easily notice the dirty air vents close to the top of the ceiling followed by a not so pretty ceiling. The room is dated, the Christmas garland along the ceiling looked sad, like it's been the same weak rope garland used since 2008 or something. Everyone wrote the service is amazing but I didn't get that at all. It was just myself and my wife. After they took our order, for a good 7 or so minutes we just sat there with water and finally noticed others had bread. We had been sitting for a while with just drinks and no one offered us bread. We had to ask for bread from another waiter and it still took a few long minutes to finally get bread. The crab cake was the size of a small burger patty and the pomegranate salad had huge leaves that were awkward to cut and eat. The raviolis were weak and not creamy, more oily. The bowl for the brussel sprouts was too small for the foods and wasn't the easiest to eat out of bc we didn't want to tip it over. I don't understand all the positive reviews on the food and service. The service seemed less engaged and mostly robotic. The food seemed basic compared to the prices. They'd forget to bring back another drink so my wife was stuck with water for most of the meal until we reminded them. We vibe was just off. Honestly it mostly tourists around the room. We didn't need to try the dessert. This was a miss for us. Again the room is just stale. Not cute, not styled, no one cares enough type of feeling. I don't write reviews but this one just...

We had lunch at Michael's and took advantage of the Restaurant Week offerings. We had a 1:30 reservation which we were late for as it seemed like it took forever to get into the city on Friday. We called to let them know we would be late and were treated graciously and thanked for the call. The decor is bright and fresh. We were seated at a nice table that afforded us to view the entire restaurant, including the celeb guests that are reported to often visit. Unfortunately, we didn't see anyone but such is the case on a Friday afternoon mid-summer. Our waiter was very helpful in selecting our wine. He recommended a marvelous Torrebruna Brunello which I loved. My dining companion selected the Whispering Angel Rose. We both decided upon the Summer Chopped Salad with Pistachio and Thai Vinaigrette. There was an abundance of flavors in this salad that we both described as "fresh". Roasted corn, plums, watercress, mint, cilantro all contribute to this incredible salad. At the recommendation of our waiter we both ordered the grilled barramundi sea bass. The salsa verde was delicious. We both enjoyed our meal tremendously and thought that we were satisfied without feeling too full. We opted to try the dessert as we spied a neighboring table order a yummy looking strawberry and meringue parfait. They also offered homemade gelato which was spectacular (we tried the pistachio). We hadn't realized that the restaurant closed between lunch and dinner until we left. One reason we didn't know was the friendly staff did not rush us at all. ...

Very disappointed with the management at Michael's. My daughter and her boyfriend were celebrating their anniversary and heard wonderful things about this restaurant. They however did not share in this experience. Before they were even seated they were asked if they wanted still or carbonated water. Not knowing they had an option to say "no", they elected still not realizing they would be charged $16 for a bottle of basic tap water. They each ordered a Diet Coke for $8 each and were provided a refill without realizing that they would be charged an additional $8 each for the refills they did not request. So, before they took a bite of food they were out $48. That is crazy. When the manager came over, he simply replied that "This is Manhattan. People with money wouldn't question a refill charge nor be concerned with a $16 bottle of tap water. " This man knows nothing about the financial status of this young couple and it is totally irrelevant. This is just an example of taking advantage of a young couple trying to celebrate their anniversary. this manager obviously has no etiquette or class as far as I am concerned. I would recommend going elsewhere unless you have...