So & So's Neighborhood Piano Bar — Restaurant in New York

It was incredibly exciting to find out that a piano bar opened in Hell's Kitchen! Entering through the unassuming door was incredibly fun!

The exicment ended there. What was once wonder and whimsy, was replaced by disrespect and confusion.

For ten minutes we weren't given a menu. The person seating people noticed and said, "We're not setting you up for success." Normally that'd be funny, but the problems continued. We ordered food and drinks. The waitress came back with one drink and then told us she forgot what the other drink was. We then had to wait awhile before getting it. Again, not normally that huge of a deal until we entered what was apparently the lounge customer experience.

It's been a dream of just about anyone to experience the Hollywood red carpet experience. The glitz and glam of getting multiple flash photography on the red carpet! So & So's thought this was so awesome for their performers that after the performances they brought the talent to an adjacent booth to take photos of them. Suddenly I found myself in the monkey's paw version of the red carpet, where while trying to eat and drink I'm being assaulted with DSLR camera flashes of the talent posing in a booth. This went on for ten minutes. It was absolutely distracting and terrible for all patrons. Oddly the staff was fully supportive and would even pause while the full flash photos were taken. Once it slowed down, we thought "Oh thank god! We can finally enjoy the experience!" That was absolutely the opposite. The group of staff and performers decided they needed better lighting and started using their phone lights in this dim lit piano bar for photos. What's supposed to be a piano bar with ambiance turned into staff not caring that they were shining full bright lights into patron eyes in order to take social media photos for talent on a Friday night. I've been treated better in Disney's Hall of Presidents where they enforce that no one use flash photography.

In terms of food, "Pigs in a Blanket" is in their 'indulge' section which is supposed to be a step up from appetizers. You get a total of FIVE pigs in a blanket. The only indulgence is the $16 for FIVE pigs in a blanket. No one would be satisfied with that. The appetizers were literally bigger and more filling.

The only indulgence of the night was the staff deciding to use excessive camera flash photography to get us to leave.

The ramen fries were pretty...

This is a cashless establishment despite it not being listed anywhere or communicated to me when I arrived. Me and my friend came to dine and had a good time until it came time to pay the bill. We were told we couldn’t use cash and the gentleman walked away. I asked him to come back as it was the only form of payment I had and he needed to give me a solution. He had an attitude and said he could get the manager. The manager came over and told me the same and I asked them to tell me where was it listed or when was it communicated to me that I could not use cash to pay my bill. They couldn't provide that information to me. He asked if I could pay with my card. I said no We took out cash so as not to pay with two cards or have to Zelle one another or anything extra. He tells me they can’t take cash because they don’t even have a drawer and they can’t give us change. I said that’s fine because we don’t need any change. He asked again if we could pay with card. I asked him if he would like me to leave the establishment to go put my cash back in my account so that I could pay. He begrudgingly took my cash and told me to wait so that it could be counted. He came back and said we were ok to leave.

The entertainment was great. The food was ok at best and the lack of communication from the venue was poor. I don’t mind paying with my card if that’s policy and stated as such. It was not my responsibility to read their minds if they don’t post it anywhere or say anything. I received text confirmations and instruction on how to get into the restaurant once I arrived. “We are a cashless establishment” could have been included anywhere in those messages. I went to the website before making the reservation and after I went home and nowhere is it listed. It was very unnecessary to pretend I was somehow in the wrong or inconveniencing...

Booked a reservation for 5PM prior to our broadway show at 7PM. When we entered at 5:05PM, we were the first to arrive and this should’ve been our first clue…

Sadly, entertainment only happens between 7PM-10PM each night, which we failed to realize. (Check the website calendar).

Our server asked if we were in a rush tonight or if we had plans afterwards and we informed him that we had a broadway show at 7PM, to which he responded, “plenty of time!”

My wife and I both ordered the “Pre-Show Pre-Fixe” as we thought it would be a good deal. The Salad was good, the pigs in the blanket appeared to be microwaved, and my skirt steak came out cold. As mentioned before, we were the first in the restaurant and I’m confused how they serve a cold steak with at most 10 people inside.

As we wrapped up our main courses, it was around 6:10PM and our server seemed to have disappeared. Another server came by and filled our water and cleared our plates. We thought our desserts would come in the next 5-10 minutes and then we’d have plenty of time for our 7 minute walk to our broadway show…WRONG…

At 6:25, a third server (maybe the manger) came by saying our desserts would be out very soon. Surely, this would mean in the next couple minutes. I kept checking my watch and knew that we needed to leave by 6:45PM at the latest, to make the show on time.

At 6:42PM, I waved down a server and asked for the bill. Still no dessert…We paid and were out at 6:50…

Thankfully we sprinted to our show and made it in time.

I don’t leave many reviews, but this place earned its 1 star review. Avoid it at all costs, especially if you’re outside of their “piano entertainment” hours. Do yourself a favour and go dine at a place in NYC that takes their...