RPM Underground — Restaurant in New York

The front desk guy/owner (Raj) said “can’t wait for your your negative review” so here it is. 🫵🏼😉 Staff is extremely hostile and rude. Made a reservation for 11PM 2 weeks prior & confirmed over text same day. Arrived at 11:05PM after walking in the pouring rain. It was a party of 13 so by the time we had our ids checked and got to the desk it was 11:08PM. Immediately they told us they gave our room away bc it was “busy.” Expressed my confusion since karaoke spots have a grace period or begin charging you from the time of your reservation if late.

Asked them about the grace period and they replied by questioning me with “well what time is it?” I told them 11:08PM, which is really not far off from 11 and the front desk said “how about you try coming to your reservation on time?” Snarky and condescending- not the way you talk to customers let alone people in general.

I pushed back saying this was unreasonable. Their attitude was completely unnecessary as well. They told me a room was available for $80-90 more than what we initially expected to pay. Another person in my group asked if they could honor the original price and they essentially told us “if you wont pay for the room then get out.”

At this point we had put up with enough. I firmly told them to give us the upgraded room, and not to speak to my friend in that manner. Front desk guy says “do you want to keep talking to me like that or do you want the room?” Firstly, they were antagonistic from the get go. Secondly we’re all adults, let’s not patronize paying guests.

The vibe was horrible so we decided to leave. Another staff member asked us if we were taking the room. I told them we weren’t. Her response: “okay then go. Bye.” I’ve never met a more entitled, self-important group of people. Please don’t act like customers need you more than you need them. Embarrassing for your business. You’re running a karaoke joint not the White House.

I’m sure they’ll reply to this and say we were “accosting” them like they did with all the other negative reviews. At no point did we attempt to truly talk back until we decided to leave because they were continuously disrespectful. BELIEVE THE BAD REVIEWS & find a different place bc...

TLDR; if you want to have a good time with ur friends, DO NOT bother coming here. Trust the negative reviews. We made reservations weeks prior, confirmed the day of, and the owner gave the room away 5 mins after our reservation time and tried to get us to pay double the price for a different room.

Dishonest, hostile, and patronizing. There are countless cheaper and better establishments with friendlier staff in the city. Please support businesses owned by genuinely kind people instead of this.

As said above, we arrived 5 minutes after the reservation. and the owner gave the room away despite us making reservation weeks in advance and confirmed the day of. Keep in mind that it was also pouring out and we had a big party, so the id checks also took time for us to even get in. We were told by the same establishment there is a grace period prior.

When asked if there's other rooms, the owner offered a room that is double the price (~$200 an hour), and we asked if there's a way to do a discounted rate due to the circumstance.

The owner immediately turned hostile, telling us "take it or leave it". This did not rub us the right way, especially since we were trying to have a civil conversation bc of the difficult situation we were put in. It felt like the owner were trying to make money out of the situation knowing that we were a decent sized group. In retrospect, looking at other comments, I wonder if the owner also saw that we were a group of POC women and treated us differently.

I believe that people should treat others how they want to be treated, and the way the owner and staff dealt with the situation really make me question all the information and responses they are sharing publicly. Please do not support such business - you can find better ones.

The owner can reply and say whatever he wants - the truth of what happened is not only here but also in other...

This newly renovated, stylish spot is like a speakeasy that happens to feature Karaoke.

Atmosphere: There is a speakeasy feel as you enter a record store and go downstairs to a pretty modern & stylish, but casual bar. You don't even need to like karaoke to enjoy the vibe. I think when it's busy they open up the back bar area for drinks or private events (not necessarily karaoke). I'm told the back room holds 100 and it's quite a stylish well designed space. As it's newly opened, it's pretty quiet.

Upstairs is a record store. They are pretty serious about music, so if that's your deal, I'd check it out. there are so few remaining in the city.

Drinks & Food: They have a great selection of craft beers. The main bartender is very talented as a mixologist. If you're wanting something with a lot less crowd then Tanner Smith, low key but and less Divey than Iguana, then try this spot, even if you aren't into karaoke. They do have a host of apps that range from dumplings to fried calamari. It's pretty good.

Service: Friendly nice staff. Very chill. Very quick on service.

Songs: The main bar currently has English & Spanish karaoke. The Spanish selection is pretty good. There's only one other spot in Manhattan that might be better. The rooms have limited Chinese selection and far more Korean. You can choose from book, or find songs via their website search. There are tablets there in case you don't want to go to their website on your phone. As the bar is new, they do actually carry very recent songs. But they have a great selection across all decades and more Musicals than most places. An awesome thing, given their location near Theatre District and Lincoln Center. My suspicion is that the language availability will grow over time by request. Management seems really open to feedback.

I'm just really stoked there is a karaoke bar (not just rooms) in my...