Soco — Restaurant in New York

A terrible experience through and through. The original place we decided to go to was closed due to the weather so we decided to have my birthday brunch at Soco. I had been once in 2017, so I’m sure it couldn’t have changed that much. Wrong…When we first arrived we were greeted by a rude host, who couldn’t bother to even greet us properly. She told us that she couldn’t seat us until everyone arrives, although my friend was just parking her car, I understand that’s standard restaurant rules. We agreed but asked if we could have the back table (more light & better dining experience) she told us that wouldn’t be possible because our last person hadn’t arrived. When my friend enters, she sits us (and I’m not kidding) 1 ft away from where we stood. I asked why we couldn’t sit down before if she was just sitting us here, she just said “no” with no further explanation. The table wasn’t lit well and we we’re getting a draft from the door. (The manager did come over to turn on the light)

After our server arrived to greet us, we realized she was extremely new and still needed help with the menu, wasn’t an issue because she was extremely warm and kind. They asked us if they could store our birthday cake in the refrigerator for us to make room on the table. I didn’t have an issue with that but as long as it was just to STORE IT not put candles or anything else) When my friend requested the birthday cake the wait staff ruins the cake by putting their own candles in it and singing happy birthday. It was a specialty cake and I at least wanted pictures of it without the holes from the candle. My friends fix the dents in the cake and we take pictures…

We request a butter knife so we can divide the cake, the staff says they can’t give us a butter knife because they charge a cake cutting fee of $25. I’ve paid cake cutting fees at higher scale restaurants before but this is a local brunch place, c’mon…be for real. I was a little deterred at why they couldn’t just give us a butter knife especially because of the issues we had already experienced…but whatever. They cut the cake for us. The server brings out individual cake slices to us (there’s four of us and it’s a large cake) we explain to her. We’d like to divide the cake up by fours to take home slices that’s why we needed the knife. After she speaks with her manager…a knife was received.

This wasn’t a good dining experience. I felt on edge the entire time and...

Set early afternoon reservations on 10/30/23 for lunch with my son. The restaurant was not busy. There was one patron at the bar and a couple with one child in the rear of the establishment.

Ordered waffles and fried chicken and requested a standard preference for either dark meat. The server (female wirh black straight hair) replied that the dish of chicken is served " with whatever comes up." Unable to wrap my head 6 such a reply, I asked to speak with the chef. Surely, someone else would have a sensible response to aid a patron of their options to dine. But the same wait person returned with a reply that it is the owners policy that they do not have any other choice but what the chef scoops out from the oil.

After, I caught my breath and realigned my focus on the mattwr at hand, I asked to speak with a mangwr and was informed by the same wait person that she [is] the manager. I smiled and thanked her for service and moved to exit that restaurant as fast as humanely possible.

Such substandard service. Below par focus to accommodate a paying customer that chooses to dine, and lityle to no initiative to create an enjoyable experience.

As we began to leave the store, the other couple hailed our attention. They said that they were dissatisfied with the food because their meal was not completely cooked. The fried chicken was chopped up bits, and their bill was a staggering $90. We encouraged them to make their matters known to the [manager] immediately for satisfaction.

The entire dining experience at Soco was aggregiously shocking. Not to mention unacceptable. They...

Overall I would give this experience a 10+. This place has done a complete turn around. My 1st visit in Feb.2019 was a -10rating due to over 1hr wait (with reservation), slow service, missing utensils, noisy, unattentive waiter, I had to ask for utensils, black pepper, water, I didn't like a drink but the waiter still charged for a drink he took away instead of replacing it or adding flavor. It took over 10 mins to pay the tab... It just killed 3 hours of my day for sucky food and service. I told myself that this place is overrated and I would not be returning.

Fast forward 6 months later, I'm in the neighborhood and this is the chosen venue. Despite my previous experience, I gave it a try again and I am happy that I did. EVERYTHING was AMAZING, I'm not exaggerating either. The host was very inviting and seated us at the bar until a table was ready. The bartender was professional and kind and even knew to bring our drink to our table, which by the way was so good, we had 2 rounds 😬. What I found interesting was, both the waiter and the bartender, went above and beyond to make sure that everything was to our satisfaction. It felt like we had a private dining with 3 butlers! The food was the served timely, hot and delicious. I'm happy they added spinach to the steak and eggs entree because it was very tasty unlike my previous visit. We ordered 3 entres and an appetizer and they ALL flavorful and delicious. Due to attentive staff, excellent service, delicious food, on this day we tipped 30% and I will definitely...