Poco NYC — Restaurant in New York

Updated Review, previously rated them 5 stars in 2018.

Poco is my usual go to brunch spot whenever I'm in downtown Manhattan. I have came to Poco a total of 5 times before yesterday 7/18/21. The last time I visited Poco was in August 2019 so yesterday would have been my first day coming back to Poco post pandemic. I was not pleased with the service or how their outdoor seating was set up. Once my 2 friends and I arrived, we asked for a table of 3 and the host, which I do not remember her name, explained to us that they do not have any available seating for us until 3pm, as the last table that was available was for a party of 15 that's also arriving at 3pm. We asked if it would be a problem if we sat at that table until 3pm arrives and we can just move to another table, she stated that it wouldn't be a problem. So we were seated at that table which was extremely small for it to be reserved for a party of 15. Anyways, we started to order our bottomless and food. One of my friends ordered the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich that comes with side salad and potatoes. My friend received her food to see that there was no cheese on her Bacon, Egg and CHEESE sandwich. She sent back the food. Then this guy comes out who I am assuming is the manager, asks my friend why did she send the food back. She explained to the guy that there was no cheese on her sandwich and the guy became mad defensive and stated that there was cheese on the sandwich. My friend continued and stated that there was not any, and the guy again claimed that there was. Then she asked if she can order something else, then the guy exclaimed "Of course". That exchange was very awkward because if a customer was not happy with food that they received, they should be able to have their food fixed with no questions asked or be able to order something else. The back and forth over cheese on a sandwich was very unnecessary on the guy's part. The host came back to our table around 3:10pm and notified us that the party of 15 arrived and she'll move us to another table. Once we were moved to another table, we realized that one of the chairs had bird poop on it. Also the table wasn't cleaned properly. I wish Poco was exactly how it used to be prior to the pandemic, as far as customer service and cleanliness goes. But of course, being post pandemic, they seemed like they were more so worried accommodating as many customers as they can so they can receive the revenue without providing the proper service.

If I do decide to come back to Poco again (still don't know how to feel about yesterday's service), I will definitely make a reservation prior and I WILL request to be seated inside as the outdoor tables and chairs are not sanitary...

Racist staff, don’t bother going here if you’re a person of colour. Average food. Plenty of better brunches in NYC. When we arrived we were seated in the basement, despite there being seating available upstairs and outside. We asked if we could sit upstairs and our blonde white waitress refused, saying they fully were booked. The table we were sat at in the basement was infront of the aircon, which was making us really cold because we were in summer clothes as it was 32°C/90°F outside, so we moved to another table away from the aircon as the basement was empty. A few minutes later our waitress comes over and says we can’t sit there because they had a large booking coming and that table was going to be connected to the one next to it for that booking; not wanting to cause any issues, we moved back to our original table. A few minutes later, we see that same waitress sit 2 white guys at this table for 4 and take their order - so she clearly lied about there being a larger booking needing that table, as she didn’t connect the tables and sat 2 white guys there instead - for context, we were 3 Indian girls. By this point, we were extremely frustrated and not having a good time, so we were ready to leave, but I went upstairs and checked for any suitable tables of which I saw 3 empty and asked another white waitress if we could sit there and she said no, go back downstairs. I went back downstairs, and my friends and I hadn’t ordered food at this point just our sangria, so we were contemplating leaving until a mixed race black waitress came over and said “you guys don’t seem like you’re having a good time, is everything okay?” And we told her what happened, and how we wanted to sit upstairs or we were leaving, and she literally moved us upstairs within 2 minutes. Our initial racist blonde waitress didn’t serve us for the rest of the visit; a different brunette waitress took over. We ended up having a good time and the food was decent but nothing special that you couldn’t get elsewhere. I definitely would not come back here or recommend this racist establishment to anyone. NYC is extremely diverse/multicultural, so it was really shocking to experience racism like this especially at one of the city’s most...

I’m writing to share about an unfavorable dining experience that I had at Poco this afternoon. To be honest, I’m not typically one to complain or write reviews, but I really felt like I needed to provide feedback. My friends and I were celebrating a milestone and decided to go to Poco for bottomless brunch, as we saw that it was rated a top brunch destination in the area. The main appeal was the DJ and the atmosphere that we were so excited for. Unfortunately, despite making a reservation far in advance, we were seated outside. We asked to be moved indoors when a table opened up, but we were told we couldn’t. We could barely hear the music, the tables were dirty, and it was extremely cold outside. When we inquired about a heater, we were told they would go get it. Then, no one returned to follow up, and we heard the table next to us ask for it, to which the waiter said they didn’t have one. Also, we weren’t greeted for at least 20 minutes, and we spent the whole meal pushing in our chairs to allow people to squeeze in to the table next to us while we were hit my plates and bags of the passerbys. A Homeless man also approached our table outside and knocked over our silverware. Although I know this is a systemic issue that is not the fault of the restaurant, it was an uncomfortable experience that we would not have if we were seated indoors. Not to mention there are many price discrepancies; the website says bottomless brunch is $45, the sign our front says $42, and once we got here we were charged $47. I am mostly writing in hopes that this can be corrected for future customers. I also feel it is not okay for outdoor patrons to be charged the same rate as the indoor ones, as the experience is...