Sant Ambroeus Madison — Restaurant in New York

If I could give zero stars, I would. I’ve been coming to Sant Ambroeus on Madison Ave literally on the daily for more than a decade. Lunch, dinner, coffee, you name it. Almost every family Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter meal is spent at Sant Ambroeus. I’ve ordered drinks at the bar and showed my ID more than a dozen times, and by now it’s very very uncommon for someone to ask me to show my ID. I have sat at their bar in the evening for hours with no problem before, on many days. Today, I was sitting with my mother at the bar waiting for a salad we ordered, when suddenly, the bar man told us we “had to leave” because I was “underage”. I have no problem with showing my ID, but today I happened to have forgotten it. I can’t imagine how it is possible that not one manager or staff was unable to tell them otherwise. Has Sant Ambroeus replaced its entire staff team?? The man at the bar also had no patience when I was trying to find a picture of my ID, and waiting for my father to send it to me. Additionally, the man at the bar was EXTREMELY rude not only about this whole situation, but about every thing else. My mother asked for “oat” milk and the man at the bar raised his voice, shouting at her “whole or oat” five times. We realized he was asking “cold or hot” after five minutes. After she said “hot” he said “you should’ve said so”. How does he have the audacity to yell at a customer, with this attitude, when it is not my mother’s fault that he has anger issues and that he cannot express himself understandably? If only this was the end of it. The same man at the bar also packed my salad to go, when I clearly stated I wanted to eat it now, and he even brought us utensils and a napkin. Why place utensils if he thought my salad was to go, and that I was underaged? The funny thing is, I have NEVER had a situation like this at Sant Ambroeus, except for one time, with this SAME man. He didn’t even ask for my ID a couple months ago, he simply said “get up from the bar you need to leave”. I was so appalled by this, that I got up and left, with my chai latte in hand. My mother also tells me she has had many negative experiences with this man and his rude behavior.

I understand Sant Ambroeus’s commitment to abiding by the law, and even if there was nobody on the staff team today who could have said they know I am not underaged, at the very LEAST I expect basic etiquette and politeness from people who work at the bar. And I still dont understand why the man at the bar booted me from my seat before my father had time to send me a picture of my ID.

The whole situation is very disappointing, especially since I’ve loved this place for so long. The staff team is usually lovely, and I have talked to a very kind woman at the bar a couple of times, who was not here today. I will come back probably tomorrow to show the guy at the bar my ID, but I don’t know how I feel coming back here to dine after...

I'm in my 50s and live in NYC. Clearly I've eaten at a lot of food establishments. What a (sadly) awful experience this time around. What was once on my favorites list is now on my list of "never go back". Horrible treatment. Seated at the worst table possible, I politely asked the hostess if I could sit at one of the other 4 tables that were empty. (It was that really chilly day in October and even with my jacket on, as the door opened I felt very cold). The hostess said no and walked away. 20 minutes later and still no menu..not even water or asked about coffee. I asked the server if I can sit somewhere else and was once again ignored. It's now 35 minutes after my arrival and still no menu. As the manager walked by I asked if it was possible to sit at one of the other tables, still empty. "Let me check" he said. I watched him for another 20 minutes, walking around the restaurant helping out the staff. Never even glimpsed my way. I finally asked if he was planning on at least giving me an answer. I pointed at the tables that were empty for the past 45 minutes (which is the time that I could have eaten and left already). I asked why I couldn't sit there and he said those tables were reserved. Finding that odd, I said that's not possible since I know very well that when you call to make a reservation they flat-out tell you that you cannot reserve a particular table at the restaurant. I waited for an answer, I didn't get one. He just looked at me. I finally asked.. how are these guests sitting at these tables? What makes them different? He finally replied "they are regular customers, this is my business, I am the manager". I would have walked out but at that moment a friend came in and joined me and I didn't feel like going out in the cold to find another restaurant. We were finally moved to another table where it was warmer. I must say however that I too am in the food service industry in a managerial capacity and this is definitely not how I treat my customers....

Food was great but we left dissatisfied with the service here. It all started fine at first but by the middle and end of service we felt abandoned and unattended.

The restaurant overall is very elegant and charming. Our original server was attentive initially and she was very helpful with her recommendations since this was our first time at this restaurant(We were recommended the Avocado toast and the Sant Amboeus Egg Bendict which both ended up being great). Once our meals arrived, she basically vanished. I'm guessing the restaurant got more busy. After we finished our breakfast meals, we asked a second server if he would place a second round of drinks(black coffe and a glass of freshly squuezed orange juice).

After our drinks arrived but before leaving, we wanted to order some of the in-house made pastries to-go for our road trip back to Washington DC but neither our first nor second server returned. After what felt like 15 mins, we got tired with the lack of service and simply asked a third server for our bill so that we could leave. Our final day(07/14/2021) in NYC was coming to an end and we were wasting it away waiting for servers who didn't seemed to care for us.

Our trip to NYC overall was fantastic except for the way this final meal in NYC ended. The only reason we stopped here was due to a recommendation from my parents who visited here about month ago and had nothing but a glowing recommendation for the food and service during their visit. Every restaurant we went to during this visit to NYC was spectacular except for this restaurant which was the only one that left a disappointing impression. This suprised us given the initial great initial impression of...