The Irish Exit — Restaurant in New York

This an excellent bar in a great location. Beautiful decor. Wonderful way to enter and exit Penn Station. I recommend this establishment.

I recently had two experiences at Irish Exit. One that was amazingly hospitable, the other, unfortunately, was not.

First, with best: Both New York baseball teams were recently in the postseason. This doesn't happen very often. I wanted to catch the Yankee game from the beginning, so I visited the bar before the start time, but the game wasn't playing. I asked the bartender if the game would be shown and was told that it would. I ordered a beer but unfortunately the game didn't come on the screen. I reminded the bartender and he was genuinely apologetic. I could tell that he intended to follow-through, and was he sorry for the mistake -- he got the TV turned on right away. When I closed my tab, the bartender apologized again -- he didn't have to, but it made an impression. This is a person who cares about providing top notch service.

Second, with the unfortunate: similar situation. It's a possible elimination game for the Mets playing the Dodgers, and I visit the bar and inquire about whether the game would be playing. I was told "I don't know. I'll have to check". The bartender goes to the other side of the bar and returns, and asks if I know what I would like to have to drink. I say it's dependent upon whether the game will be shown. The person says, though seemingly a bit annoyed, that it will be shown. I gave them my card and keep the tab open. I'm happy! I order my drink and patiently wait in front of the TV. A game comes on, but it's the wrong one - Jets vs. Steelers. This is funny. I confirm with the bartender that I was there to watch the Mets vs. Dodgers. I patiently wait for the game to come on. A few minutes later the bartender asks me to kindly move a few chairs over to the right to see the game in front of the other TV. No problem! I'm happy to be able to watch the game. I don't interact with the bartender the rest of the night, no check-in, "how are you doing", or anything like that. That's ok, maybe we were off to a rough start at the beginning. There were at two additional bartenders there to help me order additional drinks. I keep a written tally of what I order, and I changed the brand of beer I order for each round. It was a Sunday night, kind of slow, and the end of the week for the folks on staff, so I could see they were a bit tired and bit disengaged. I can understand how they might feel. The Mets didn't score runs in the late innings with bases loaded, so I decided to go. I asked to close out, was given my bill on the small mobile POS terminal, add my tip and then ask for the receipt to be texted to my phone.

I want to note that with these terminals we're often presented with only the total amount and requested tip -- not the itemized total. I'm sure there's a way to review the details, but I usually trust the bartender that everything is correct. As I was riding up the escalator to exit Penn Station, I received a text on my phone, which was itemized bill for what I just paid for. I noticed that I was charged twice for the first drink that I ordered. I decided to go back to the bar and point out the error. There was no apology given, albeit the bartender who I spoke with wasn't the person who made the error. However, I was told that the manager wasn't around to approve a refund, and that a request would be put in, but not to worry. This would imply to me that manager would approve the credit for the extra charge. Several business days later, I check my credit card statement online.

The refund was not given. Everyone makes mistakes, but unlike the first experience, this one makes a poor impression. The ball was dropped twice. I genuinely hope this was unintentional. In the future, this type of situation can be avoided. One possible resolution have token(s) or coupons to give out for a complementary drink. Another is to prepare to have the TVs on for the World Series and other big games before people...

I had previously been raving about how much better this experience was from even a few months back, all until they went and closed my tab while I was at the bar without my approval — had to wait 5+ minutes to close my tab, and then another 5 minutes when I pointed out to them I had never authorized my tab getting closed given I had been sitting there for over an hour. When I looked, there had already been a tip assigned to my tab without my authorization (much lower than I would’ve given originally, too). Seems they just do this in an effort to not have people just bouncing out on their tab, but I had been at a table and then ordered a drink on that same tab at the bar, something they said would not be an issue. The person I ordered drinks from was the same both times so I don’t get where the confusion came from. No less, they then made me wait longer and voided my payment to make me pay again with the hope of a higher tip after that. So odd. I understand the confusion with having someone move from a table to the bar, but I had been at the bar well over an hour and no one asked for my signature to close out my tab, even at the point of ordering my second drink. Woman next to me said it had happened to her and her friend as well. Seems to be a...

I had just picked up a call from my mom saying my grandfather had gone into kidney failure. I paused, clearly emotional, tearing up, and sat down at the nearest chair to hear from my aunt what the prognosis was. The bartender/waitress comes up to me and asks me what I’ll have- I wave my hand saying I’m okay, still on the call, still with tears in my eyes…and she says you need to order something to sit here.

The thing is, I doubt that waitress lacks humanity. Her behavior is probably the legacy of some director or policy she’s been instructed to enforce - maybe even criticized when she hasn’t in the past. And that’s the real lapse here- a structure that doesn’t allow employees the flexibility and agency, or the comfort and confidence to leverage them, to determine when a policy should be enforced.

Maybe if some compassion had been shown I would have called that woman over after the call and ordered a coffee or breakfast. Regrouped in a spot that suggested care and warmth and community. Instead I walked away, unwilling to experience a hard moment in an atmosphere lacking the most basic of human responses. I hope next time...