Sundays Well — Restaurant in New York

We came here for a corporate happy hour and had called earlier in the day to reserve a spot. We were told it was not a problem and there would be space for us but when we showed up they had the reservation wrong. The waitstaff seemed surprised but was nice enough to figure it out and seat us. We stayed for a while and was then told there was a reservation for our table (which is completely understandable) but we were still spending money and weren’t ready to leave (we were a table of 10+ so the restaurant was making decent money off of us) and they did not offer to reseat us or even buy us a drink at the bar. After working in the restaurant industry at a busy, high turn restaurant for years, I find this to be unacceptable and poor customer service. We couldn’t locate the hostess after minutes of waiting up front so we relocated ourselves to an open table at the bar. We were then told they had a reservation at that table in 30+ minutes and we had to vacate the table. At this point they didn’t offer to take our order and just walked away (I swear it’s like they don’t want to make money). We were fine with only sitting there for a short while and were understanding that they had a reservation but assumed they would serve us in the meantime. (Again, all would have been totally fine if they offered to make our experience better by trying to reseat us after we were kicked off yet another table and had spent, in total, close to $800+ at this point at the establishment.) We finally flagged down a server who kindly took our order and delivered our drinks only to find our original server returned to promptly and unkindly kick us out and demand payment asap. Again, the bill from the one round of drinks was over $125 and the server was beyond rude and unfriendly. We used to frequent this place but the unfriendliness of the staff will make us find a new after work spot moving forward.

I’ve worked in the food and beverage service industry for years, and as a waitress / host you sign up to be in a “customer facing” role. I found the service and attitude I experienced here to be unacceptable and far below a standard that I would ever be held to as a server / hostess myself in the city. Moral of the story, come here for the drinks / food (they are good) but keep your bar low for...

It’s taken me a month to write this because I didn’t want to write from a place of emotion. But when something is still eating at you a month later, you know something has to be said. I live in the neighborhood and thought Sundays Well would be a cute place to celebrate my birthday. Close to my apartment and supporting a local small business.

The topline is that management acted unfairly & poorly and took $600 from me without providing any goods or services. Then after agreeing to provide me with $300 in wine to try and make things right, insulted me by giving me 5 bottles of wine worth $78 retail (which means they paid $40 or less for all 5 bottles). I feel truly ripped off and disgusted and do not recommend having a private party here.

No one throughout the entire 3+ hours of my party informed me of how I was tracking to the minimum spend. Towards the end of the evening I asked and was told I had $500 left to spend to meet the minimum. I was unable to purchase food for my party of approximately 20 because the kitchen was already closed at that point (and people were done drinking). Upset but not wanting to cause a scene in front of my guests I figured I would take it up with the manager the following day. I was also charged a 20% tip on the $500 balance??! Why would I tip on a balance for which I did not receive any goods or services.

After several emails back and forth with the person who I had discussed the party with originally, my email reached the owner - who apparently had been there the evening of my party but had never introduced himself. He agreed to try and “make things right” by meeting me halfway with $300 of wine (I asked for that or $300 in credit at the bar). He further insulted me with 5 bottles of cheap wine. I am truly disgusted by the actions of this small business owner. 10/10 do...

11/22/2023

I wrote the below review 2 years ago. What took my so long to return?! But I digress...my friend and I stopped by last Friday night for Happy Hour. Best decision I've made in awhile. We were seated in the garden and it was super peaceful, relaxing and quiet. We had drinks (great Happy Hour), shots and shared the brussels sprouts and hush puppies (delish!). Special shout out to James and Jazmin who really helped to make it an excellent night for us! Fantastic service and great energy from our servers! Highly recommend if you are in the neighborhood! My friend and I stopped into Sundays Well tonight as we were searching for a place for drinks and dinner. It was perfect! Loved the ambiance (beautiful inside, cozy backyard garden). The food was delicious. My friend and I shared the eggplant appetizer, he had a burger, I had the kale salad and we also split the cauliflower sandwich, 3 beers, 2 glasses of prosecco and one glass of wine. Service was fabulous - attentive and friendly. Highly recommend! Special shout out to...