The Grey Dog - Union Square — Restaurant in New York

Definitely disappointed by an experience I had earlier today and I will not be back. My friend and I went to get a happy hour drink to enjoy the beautiful weather and it ended up going so south somehow due to poor communication by the management.

We had one drink each and a few apps, and we were chatting up our server and having a great time. We had a few other friends meeting us so we asked the server if we could move to a table inside. She was super accommodating and let us know we could sit inside no problem when our other friends arrived. She told us to head inside once they got there.

Once they got there, we were in the process of moving to the table inside like the server told us to. Because we were carrying our own drinks and our own food, my friend tripped on the tight space between the curb and the table, and ended up dropping her wine glass.

We apologized and proceeded to move inside.

At that point the vibe shifted majorly, and even though we ordered another round, only my friend was the one individual who didn’t get served. We never got an explanation, so I flagged down another server and asked for another rose, since my friend did not receive hers.

When they gave me the rose I passed it to her, again because she never got the glass she ordered.

Instead of clearly communicating that the staff was “concerned” for some reason due to our “behavior”.. which again.. was unclear exactly what we had done wrong, they were whispering about “keeping an eye” on our table.

We decided to leave after we figured out what was going on.

I completely understand being mindful of the staff’s safety, and respect that. However, there was no point the staff’s safety was in jeopardy. We were extremely friendly and mature.

The situation was handled so poorly when it could have been avoided with a simple apology and direct communication. Instead, WE were the ones who had to ask what was going on and why we were being treated this way.

It feels like unfair judgments, and frankly, racial profiling, were passed on our table for reasons we really cannot understand.

Is dropping a wine glass suddenly a crime? I’ve seen this happen all the time at other places I’ve been at, and no server or manager has ever reacted the way this staff did.

I hope management sees this as a lesson to learn from, and to approach folks with care instead...

This is in reference to a recent experience that made me walk out, with an new (white male) employee I hadn’t seen before. I’ve been coming here 3-5 times a month for almost half a decade. This place is awesome, the vibe is quirky, the food has soul, even though Dave, the owner, isn’t from the south—he’s an honorary southerner in my book. He’s got a good spirit. This is made obvious in the type of people that work here and how he and his operations team hire.

I’ve seen numerous front of house team members and managers come and go but in general they all have that positive spirit that Dave has. But I just had a terrible run in with a new person that made me leave, I had never seen him before today.

The interaction was simple, text book. I approached the restaurant as he was walking out. He asked what he could do for me, he seemed somewhat flustered. I kindly asked for a table inside. He then responds, too firmly, nearly without expression, that there is no space inside. I respond with that’s fine, how long is the wait? He responded, clearly annoyed at my question, that he had no idea, “whenever people decide to get up and leave” he said. He then gestured to an area off to the right side of the building and said I could wait over there. The negativity rolling off of him was so palpable that it could be bottled. Then, almost sounding like an afterthought, he suggested I could sit at one of the unoccupied and unheated sidewalk tables. This negative treatment was something like how you’d expect to be treated if you were going to an exclusive or popular club without reservations, without knowing someone that worked there, or being underdressed.

On impulse I knee jerk requested a table with a bit of sunlight, but I wasn’t more than two steps towards it before A., he’d already disregarded my existence, and B., my resentment at the tone and manner in which I was just communicated with, in which I was “dealt” with, boiled over. It felt like I had been hit with a laser beam of negative energy. I turned and walked away. I was hungry too, but I’d rather go someplace where people treat me with respect.

The soul of this place is its people, the food, and the way they treat customers. This interaction was unacceptable to the point that I’ll pass on the sweet potato fries from...

SO DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!!! i came here today (02/02/2025) for the first time and had the worst experience i’ve ever had at a restaurant. i was so excited because i’ve heard good things about The Grey Dog, but this was just a big disappointment. i went here with 3 friends and we each ordered our own food. 2 of my friends got a salad and me and the other friend got a sandwich with fries, and a soup. when we got out food, the fries were completely cold and soaked in oil, almost like it had been sitting in a puddle of oil for hours. and then, my soup was also cold. not warm or lukewarm, COLD. and mind you it took 40 min for them to bring out the food. i proceeded to ask them to remake my soup and bring my friend fresh fries and the waiter said that wasn’t a problem. 45 minutes go by and nothing yet, so i asked again just for them to tell me my order was never put in. this got me so upset because by that point i had been waiting for an hour and a half, i was STARVING, And my two friends who got salads had already finished over half an hour prior so we were literally sitting there as the waiter walked past us several times and never even thought to check on us. even the water i had to keep asking for and they’d bring it out like 15 minutes lates. and by the way, the floor was not full and there weren’t many people in there. they were so not proactive in helping and still charged my friend for the cold fries. TERRIBLE experience and for that alone i don’t care about this place and am very unlikely to recommend. I left out of there starving and upset. i don’t care how good the food is when this is the treatment i get as a customer.

the food was only comped because I asked for it to be. They would’ve let me walk out of there hungry and still having paid. The fact this manager doesn’t even acknowledge my experience is so astounding and just another reason why this business lacks in...