Please Don't Tell — Restaurant in New York

Please don’t tell me we’re still doing this. The allure of a speakeasy tucked away behind the facade of a humble hot dog store never called to me, But being in the area and never having been to Please Don’t Tell, led me to stop by this so-called speakeasy. Alas, what awaited was not an indulgent soiree but a cacophony of disappointment and disdain.

Please Don’t Tell tries to pass its self off as an exclusive, oasis of hidden revelry. But it is hard to take serious while you are waiting in the middle of a hot dog store with the smell of crude meat wafting through the air. Almost as crude as the concept of Please Don’t Tell.

Entering this establishment was like stepping into a poorly rehearsed play of Prohibition-era charm. Stepping into the cramped phone booth to ring the attendant behind the door, almost foreshadows the confined and stifling interior of the actual bar. When the attendant opened up the door, he took our phone number and informed us he should have room available soon. Speaking with an air of exclusivity and secrecy befitting a speakeasy, it was hard to entertain his assertions as his vibe and Hawaiian style button down were off putting. After taking our phone number, he stated that a follow up text would indicate when we could come in. I assume others were told this as well, and left waiting with no follow up text as parties constantly walk back into the phone booth to check with the attendant if they are ready to enter.

After a hefty wait, I was relieved to now be in the bar and no longer wasting my time sitting next to a hot dog grill, only to find that the inside of the bar was even more of a waste of my time. I would have preferred to stay next to the hot dog grill.

The atmosphere, touted as a nostalgic homage, was a grotesque parody. The decor, far from charming, was a haphazard collection of mismatched relics, devoid of coherence or taste. The cramped quarters stifled any semblance of comfort. And the ambience was flat and dull.

The drinks, intended to capture the spirit of sophisticated libations made casual, were instead a bitter disappointment. Each cocktail, an overwhelming failure, ranging from the vile acridity of ethanol to the saccharine cloy of children's medicine. The bartenders that mixed these drinks were evidently bereft of both art and science, or have just begun to phone it in at this point.

Strip away the gimmick of a speakeasy hidden behind a phone booth and what you are left with is a mediocre bar with a mediocre experience lacking any taste or enjoyment. If you’re in the area, should you stop by to take some pictures. Sure. If you willingly head here to check out the space, you will be disappointed and trying to convince yourself that it was worth it. And if you keep...

I was excited to try this place and made sure to make reservations for my party of 3. Unfortunately, the service was a really big disappointment and made the rest of our night feel a bit sour.

Our reservation was at 7:30 on a Sunday and we arrived at 7:22, I went up early and they were a bit snarky about us being early and asked us to wait. No problem to wait, and I thought maybe the host was just overwhelmed and the snark was from that. We went back up at 7:30 and were seated at a small table by the door. We felt a bit in the way but the coziness was fine.

At first, our service was decent. We had someone come by and take our order quickly, they filled up our waters. However, as the night went on our servers just began to ignore our table. They went to all the tables around us and were very personable and friendly. They weren’t talkative to us at all even though we tried, we said thank you for every round and were sure to order at a reasonable rate, but we had to wait 30mins after finishing each drink before we could flag a server again. It wasn’t that busy either so it felt like they were just avoiding us. We were left wondering if our table was in between servers sections or something and they just assumed another person was responsible for us?

It put a big damper on our experience. But the drinks were decent. Not good enough for us to go back, but interesting and complex. We also got the tots which were pretty good.

The atmosphere was nice. Quite dark and moody, but the music felt a bit disconnected from the venue. Top 40s hits but in a moody speakeasy, it was an odd combo. It was also quite loud, we were sat next to two larger parties who were doing shots and yelling. The party next to us were friends with one of the servers so we also attributed that to the rowdiness and lack of attention from the server herself.

Overall, I think it’s worth a shot in attending if you want to try some good drinks. However, if you get sat in a less than ideal spot, I would one-and-done my drink and go to another bar for better...

Very rude hostesses. Expect to be disrespected. I waited for about 1 hour for a table for two. During my waiting, I met two other customers who were also waiting. We started chatting and realized we have a lot in common and we really wanted to seat together. So when my turn came, I asked to switch to a table for four instead of two, so we could all seat together and continue to talk. The hostess said ok, was initially friendly and asked me to wait about 15 more minutes. I ended up waiting 30 minutes when our place for four people was ready. When we were about to seat, however, they noticed the other two guests had also requested a table for two and, therefore, they realized we had just met there while waiting. They said they could not accommodate us even after I had waited for two hours. They said they had “liability” issues, a very vague explanation. Moreover, and I think it is the worst part, the hostess started to behave very rudely and slammed the door on my face. I don’t know why they have to be so arrogant in this bar, as if we should beg to be allowed to go in. C’mon, it is NYC and there are plenty of bars with the same “speak easy” theme. For instance, “The Back Room” is a 12 min walk from this place and has better reviews. I know they also think NYC has plenty of customers so it would be ok for them to slam the door on the face of a customer who had waited for two hours only because he made friends while waiting. Well, we never know the day of tomorrow… maybe competition will be harder in the future and they will be the ones begging for customers… don’t waste your time there. Go to...