Montero Bar & Grill — Restaurant in New York

This bar is a place that's near and dear to my family. I hadn't been there since the hipster invasion but decided to go. My daughter visited there a couple of months ago and was telling me how the bartender was very knowledgeable about the bar's history so I wanted to see for myself. Upon arriving, there was a pack of young people who seemed to cringe as you came near them and their backpacks. We walked into a place that literally has history on every surface and were greeted by a " How y'all doing tonight". I know I'm from southern Brooklyn but our accents don't sound like that. Fuggetaboutit! We were promptly served and I noticed young people crammed into the old wooden telephone booths as if they were mini private hangout rooms. (Not sure if you noticed I'm not a fan of hipsters). I began wandering around, looking at the many old photos that line the walls. My friends and I are Brooklyn through and through. That means we might use our outside voices inside, or might sing along with whatever song is on. When we do this in our natural habitat, people either join you in song or don't even notice. But being a very observational person, and CLEARLY not in Brooklyn that people know from tv and movies, I noticed other patrons looking disapprovingly at us. Not one person in there was smiling or laughing( just a sidenote observation). Then the bartender remembered the obligatory speech and demonstration of a scale model of an engine the Mr. Montero built and turned it on to show us that it still worked. When we returned to our seats, Smooth Operator came on and we began to sing along. At the point of the sax solo, my friend was doing his "air sax" solo at which point the bartender sees this, shoots a look to what I can assume is a regular, and gives the head tilt that says "omg you HAVE to see this weirdo". Said regular, turned to my friend and in the patronizing way that only a hipster could speak says, " hey buddy..look at you go" and turns back to his companion. I had had enough and we promptly left. My thoughts: the obligatory speech about that engine was awkward for myself and the presentation aspect, the people there kind of sucked, if you want an authentic Brooklyn experience- that whole area is not the place to go. I will not be returning until the tourists move...

This space is not meant for people of color! My friends and I had to learn the hard way, as we were accused of stealing “karaoke forms”… the only way to receive karaoke forms is by buying drinks; we had bought 3 shots. The owner of the bar stated after accusing us of stealing said forms: “I own this place I can do what I want, if you don’t like it then get out” she wanted us out way prior to the accusation and it is so sad that blatant racism like this is still happening !!!! Seriously, why would we go behind a bar to steal small green pieces of paper, to then place our names on it and sing on a mic… it’s laughable! The real issue was the color of our skin ! We spent money there and we’re basically told to leave and we couldn’t even enjoy our night! Please if you are a person of color, DO...

Montero’s used to be my favorite bars. I’ve spent thousands of dollars here over the years—on drinks, pool, and karaoke. Nighttime vibes were always solid.

But it’s changed. The Saturday afternoon bartender is regularly late, and I was recently charged $7 for a seltzer water on a $30 tab. When I didn’t tip enough—on overpriced water and bad service—I was called out for it.

If this is how they treat regulars during slow hours, I’m out. Disappointing to see a favorite spot go downhill because of alienating service. I didn’t end up shooting pool, chugged my beers and water to leave as soon as possible and enjoy my time...