Nerea — Restaurant in New York

I ate with a party of 9. I told them several times we would be 9 people and was told not to worry. I even called the day of the reservation as it was for my father’s birthday and I wanted it to be smooth. However I arrived and the table was only 8 people. We got the table adjusted and then atmosphere was festive and upbeat and the staff was gracious. The food was OK. Our meal plus 2 moderately priced bottles of wine resulted in a bill of $750 which is pricey (plus we added 20% tip on top of this since the wait staff was nice). When I looked at the bill I saw they charged 3% credit card fee. At no point in my reservation process was I told to bring cash or expect a fee. Who walks around with $900 cash so it was not even an option to pay cash. For a meal that was already pricey this was hugely disappointing and felt like they are taking advantage of their customers. I have lived in NY for 30 years and never seen this from a fancy restaurant. I called the restaurant the next day to discuss. I was told the manager would call me. 6 calls from me later and a week has gone by and he never called. Clearly he does not care about his customers. Disappointing experience and other nice restaurants in the area don’t try to skim from their customers.

In response to the below... No one ever said the manager was ill that is factually inaccurate. Check with your staff. They said you would call and told me that on Friday, Saturday, and today. I would certainly understand if you were ill. You also responded to this review in an hour but cannot call me for a week. I also was not debating the price of the meal rather the 3% extra charge which most restaurants build into their pricing. I have been to many fine restaurants in NYC and never gotten a credit card surcharge at this tier of restaurant. If you would like to call me to discuss as I have been asking for for a week I would be happy to consider removing this review. Note to readers: the manager never...

Having lived in New York City and dining out for 13 years, this was by far the most bizarre and poor service we’ve ever received period. After we were seated 10 minutes in waiting around, we thought the waiter was finally coming over to take our order however, it was to ask if we could switch seats because the couple at a table by the door were getting too cold we agreed, however, only to discover they put us by the door instead without even telling us. There was a very long lag between the appetizer and the main course about over 30 minutes. During the wait, we had asked the waiter if we can just cancel the main course and get our check because we were late for an engagement, however he kept assuring us it would only be another 5 mins till the main curse came. In short, this happened twice and each time he said 5 mins however it really took over 30 mins for us to finally get our main course. Despite the lackluster and disappointing service , we were really hoping the food would make up for it. However sadly the food was beyond mediocre There was nothing unique or even delicious for any of the dishes. The egg plant was soggy and overly fried with hard stringy cheese, the mixed platter of calamari/shrimp/zucchini had one slice of zucchini and one shrimp in the entire platter. The most bizarre part was the waiter kept lying to us about when the main course was coming out and just refusing to let us get our check. There’s so many more wonderful delicious Italian restaurants in the area to try out I would highly avoid visiting this place. There is simply no redemption for the service...

I came with my parents on 10/18 for a 6:30 reservation. Staff were great and our server was really nice but the hostess was very passive aggressive and tried to loose our reservation at the door, claiming that she didn’t see it and acting very skeptical, after we’d gotten numerous confirmation texts and calls throughout the two hours prior to our reservation. When we did get seated, she said we could only stay for 90 minutes because of the rush but didn’t say that to any of the tables seated after us which were young, hip couples at tables of two, except for another group of older people. Whether this was a coincidence or an attempt to keep the crowd looking like a certain age demographic, we found it unnerving and frankly unnecessary. Especially because the empty tables that were empty when we arrived remained empty for the duration of our meal. The food was alright but lacked flavor and any uniqueness. Im never a snob at restaurants because I am by no means qualified to be but if I’m going to pay $27 dollars for what appeared to be a tablespoon of ragu, I at least expect mirepoix or pasta that’s not undercooked. Seriously, there was more plate than pasta and that applied to all of the dishes we ordered. I’d like to repeat, however, our server was very nice and the interior of the restaurant had a pleasant vibe and decor. But if you’re coming for a welcoming and friendly atmosphere with good food, pick...