The Rockwell Place — Restaurant in New York

TLDR - Order mixup led to a very negative staff interaction on first visit, won't be going back.

I came in with a group of seven and ordered many mixed drinks, beers, and shots throughout the night. We also decided to splurge on a bottle.

The sparkling white section had three listings*: the second bottle was a "Such and Such... Brut," for $56, and the third was listed as simply "Champagne" for about $100. We joked about ordering the expensive bottle, but ultimately decided to get two of the $50 bottles instead. My boyfriend pointed to the second listing and said to the waitress "Can we get two bottles of the Brut?"

She may have responded, "sure, two of the brut champagne!" maybe she didn't, but either way she came back with two, already corked and bucketed bottles. She did not show the labels, did not ask any of us to sample, did not repeat the name and vintage, or confirm the order in any other way. Like I said, we were a big group and had been ordering a lot; we were having a good time so we dug in straight away and of course polished them both off.

When the check came, we saw we'd been served two of the $100 bottles, not two $50 bottles. Upon bringing this up with the waitress, her first response was to say that we were mistaken, and this was what we'd asked for. I was certain I'd heard my boyfriend say "Can we get the Brut," to which she responded, "Well, there are two Bruts on this menu."

This was confusing, so we looked back at the menu. As it turns out, the fine print under the "Champagne" listing describes that bottle as a brut, among other characteristics. The waitress then educated us, not kindly, on the difference between champagne and other sparkling whites, informing us "if you ask for champagne, I'm gonna serve you champagne."

Now, I know not everybody is aware of this wine factoid, but we were, and knowing what champagne is was not the principle issue. We now see what happened, we said, but there's been a miscommunication. She says she'll get the manager.

I want to stop here and say that I don't totally blame the waitress. Part of me is so appalled by what happened next that I'm tempted to say this was a fix; that we made an ambiguous order, and she interpreted it in the most profitable way, thinking that we were a big group and we'd go along. But honestly, I think it was a genuine misunderstanding. She could've been a lot nicer about it; the "champagne region" lecture felt very condescending, and I am left wondering, if it's so easy to mix up these "two bruts on the menu," why not clarify with us before assuming we meant the one that was double the price of the other? Besides than that though, she was a totally fine server and I would like to just give her the benefit of the doubt and move on.

The manager's response, however, was totally inappropriate. First he says since it's our word against hers, he's got to side with the waitress. OK, that's fair enough. But while we tried to figure this out, every word he said to us was condescending, exasperated, and straight up rude. I maintain that the best thing to do would be to comp us one of the bottles, but we understood that might not be possible so we tried to compromise. Yet, it all came back to the champagne region. I finally said "Look, let's try to meet in the middle. If you can't comp the bottle, is there anything else you can do to help us out? Maybe cut us a break on something else?" He stares at us, rolls his eyes, and says "I'll comp the two Sapporos," then STORMS OFF without another word! Those two beers were the cheapest items we'd ordered all night, totaling around $10. Our check, even without the extra $100 champagne, would've been nearly $300.

Honest misunderstandings happen at restaurants, but I have never, EVER seen a manager act this way. So no, I can't recommend this place.

*Looking at the website now, it seems like the list has already...

Went to this bar on a Saturday night with three of my Asian girlfriends — all of us well over 30 — and honestly had one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in NYC.

We had almost finished our first round of drinks when the manager suddenly came over and asked all four of us to show our IDs. Not at the door, not when we ordered — after we were nearly done drinking. And later we noticed — he didn’t ask anyone else for ID, just us. That already felt discriminatory.

Then it got even weirder. I was holding a vape — not using it, not even bringing it into the restroom or anywhere discreet. We were sitting right in the middle of the main hall. Still, the same manager came up and told me to “put it somewhere he couldn’t see it.” I told him I wasn’t using it, and he said, “I know, but still — put it in your bag.” I was honestly trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but there was just no excuse for that kind of behavior.

We felt so uncomfortable that we just paid and left. I’ve lived in NYC for years and have never experienced anything like this. If you’re a person of color — especially Asian — or if you have a vape, think twice...

I had a really bizarre experience at this place. I ordered a dirty martini, and when it arrived without olives, I politely asked for some. The server told me they had olives but only for platters, not for drinks—meaning I could have them, but only if I paid extra for a separate order. So…you have olives, but you’re just choosing not to serve them in a classic cocktail that traditionally comes with them? Make it make sense.

What made it worse was the attitude. Instead of acknowledging how weird this policy is, the server acted like I was crazy for even questioning it. Can we normalize calling out nonsensical policies instead of pretending they’re totally reasonable? This is a cocktail bar—not including olives in a dirty martini (when you clearly have them) is just ridiculous.

Wouldn’t recommend unless you enjoy paying extra for...