Pastis — Restaurant in New York

I have no idea where all those 5 star reviews are coming from. But I can guarantee this:. none of those reviewers was there last Saturday (9/20/25) at 2pm.

It was the most agonizing dining experience I've ever had to endure. The noise level was assaulting. it was hard to converse with the people checking us in. No wonder the people waiting for a table were doing so OUTside. Could we PLEASE get a table outside? (There were several empty ones) Well, you have to wait an hour. As guests of the couple who invited us, we couldn't say much. Not that they'd hear us.

We walked to a table in the southwest corner. It was a LITTLE quieter. But we still had to all lean in to the middle of the table to try to converse.

The waiter asked for drinks. I asked for a Corona. Nope. Heineken. Nope. Sam Adams. Nope. Sir, we are a French restaurant and we have (mostly) French beers (that you haven't heard of). Ok, Pinot Grigio I said. Ahem, we are FRENCH. That's clearly Italian. OK.. whatever you have similar. Si vous plait. Waiter: I don't speak French and don't know how to respond to that.

I asked for my $31 cheeseburger very rare, please. Sorry, the cheeseburger is a smash burger and only done well. Eggs Benedict please.

My friend had the $31 burger and it was a joke. Very smashed. On a weak excuse for a bun. With tons of tasty (French!@) fries. the burger was hardly edible: tough and overly smashed. Five Guys, Wendy's.... you name it... they would all beat this excuse for a NYC boiguh.

My wife ordered the quiche. It was tall and fluffy. And COLD inside. Like it had been quickly pulled from the fridge and popped in the microwave for not long enough. Why didn't you send it back, I asked later. Because they are YOUR friends. What a champ.

My eggs benedict were similarly lacking. The eggs were closer to hardboiled than runny. The muffins were something Stop and Shop would feature in their day-old section. The Hollandaise sauce was out of a bottle, barely room temperature.

The tables were so jammed together (maybe 5" in-between) that getting up and out was a group effort, requiring the cooperation of the nice out of towners who shared our frustrations.

Asking for the men's room, I was directed to a bathroom near the kitchen door. The "facility" was an exact replica of a mid-50's truck stop in Mississippi. Rust. Dirt. TP on the floor. I later learned the good stuff was down stairs. Just got a new knee, that wasn't going to work.

Our menus were the place mats and the selection was surprisingly lean. Having just reviewed their website, we were clearly given the brunch offerings. We missed out on a lot of good sounding foods I would have liked to have tried. If the waiter could hear me on one of his rare appearances.

Hopefully you'll do better. But you've been warned. I wouldn't be surprised to learn this was a black ops room for torture interrogations. Noise boarding is...

I'm leaving my prior enthusiastic reviews but adding the terrible experience I had Sunday night to show the contrast. Two of us had a 7 PM reservation. I called to say we'd be a bit late and the guy who answered said, "I'll mark you as late. We hold a table for 15 minutes." We arrived shortly after 7 and there were no free tables outdoors (which we'd specified). We were told to wait. A table freed up and I went inside to ask if we could be seated. The two people at the desk said someone would seat us. We continued to wait and weren't seated. Some time passed and I repeated the request, but they didn't seat us. I asked the guy who stands at the front door if he could help but he said, "They're not going to give you that table (it was set up for 4 people) as they can seat a party of six there." I repeated my request and he started yelling at us. There's a smaller table right near the door that's scratched up and they stick some chairs there, that looks truly makeshift. It's unpleasant as it's close to the entrance. The guy continued yelling. My friend told him it wasn't necessary to yell and he quieted down but we were never seated. I told them we were leaving and nobody offered to accommodate us. This was such a huge contrast to prior meals there. I called the reservation number and reported this. The woman promised someone would call me today. They didn't. I emailed Starr Management today and got no response. The disappointment was even greater since I was with a visitor from LA and wanted the experience to be wonderful. This is such a marked difference, I'm posting it to alert people the restaurant staff is no longer pleasant.

I've had several dinners at Pastis in the last few years, each time dazzled by the quality of the food, the service and the atmosphere. My husband and I recently had bouillabaisse in Marseilles that had nothing to do with the quality of what we had last night at Pastis. The price here is far more reasonable, and the stock and ingredients superior. We also had the cheeseburger and were blown away. Everything was terrific. I urge you to go to Pastis if you haven't yet tried it. We are still soaring from the experience.

And this was the last review: Had dinner there outside last night, our first time since it reopened and we were delighted. Staff is friendly, vibe is exciting. Food is excellent and I loved the choices. We started with pate and herring salad, both delicious. I ordered the bouillabaisse (Friday special) with a bit of concern as it got bad reviews, but it was absolutely delicious, well seasoned with a variety of fish and made even better by the toasted bread and rouix (sp?). We had a carafe or rose and can't...

I don't typically write reviews but exceptions are made when people take what's normal and make it exceptional....The Normal; place is always packed, staff is slammed and clientele can be unruly on any given night (especially weekends when the regulars are overrun by the out-of-towners). We (party of 3) arrive without a reservation at 8pm on thursday and are met with the place in full swing !! We grabbed standing room near the bar and placed an order for drinks...Chris (bartender) was dealing with 3deep along the whole bar and was not looking to make chit-chat but somehow was able to be genuinely kind, funny, direct and extremely competent all in an instant. While waiting for the drinks, I asked the women at the front if a reservation for tomorrow evening -Friday night- could be made, as nothing was available online. Hallie smiled as if to say ... Come on dude... but instead, focused and was able to offer a table for two at 7:15pm. Unicorn type results amidst the mayhem of the thursday night crowd at the door. The drinks came quickly and my cocktail was superb. Two seats open up at the bar and the ladies could sit to enjoy their wine and a bunless cheeseburger that had no rival...other than the fries!!! Phenomenal kitchen execution...More unicorn/fairy dust magic. Customers to the left, right and behind couldn't have been more ideal. Sharing their dining experience and recommending some favorite drinks and meals. Chris was always checking back and never missed a beat. His dessert recommendations, steller. People made was a normal night for them, an extraordinary evening for us......But what about Friday....The table for 2 was ready as promised but I request a lastminute change if possible....table for 4....Not an easy change but you wouldn't know it... Hallie again stepped up and was able to get us a GREAT table in the dining room the made me think they had me mistaken for an "A" lister. Our waiter gave exceptional recommendations...beef bourguignon, escargot, tuna crudo and the trout almondine and to finish...espresso, espresso martini and dark chocolate mousse, a scoop each of raspberry sorbet and vanilla ice cream. Thank you to all the people who made the two evenings...