Turtles all the way down — Restaurant in New York

I am extremely disappointed and frustration with a recent incident at your establishment. As a long time patron of Turtles and a resident born and raised in Bedstuy, I have always enjoyed my experiences there. However, during my most recent visit last night for my cousins birthday celebration, I encountered a situation that left me feeling unwelcome and unfairly treated. While enjoying my time at the bar, another customer was extremely rude and condescending to me and my family over a bar stool that we were unaware was occupied. Instead of politely informing us that the stool was occupied, the woman instructed us to "put it back" in a disrespectful manner. Despite our attempts to address her behavior calmly, the situation escalated when she interfered with our interactions with the bartender, even suggesting that my cousin be charged extra. Despite our efforts to handle the situation maturely, we were asked to leave by the female bartender . I was surprised by this request, as I had not engaged in any behavior that warranted such action. It became evident that the bartender's decision was influenced by the actions of the customer who had been antagonizing us throughout the evening. We later found out that this customer was her friend. This unequal treatment is not only unacceptable but also reflects poorly on the reputation of your bar. As a loyal customer, I expect to be treated with respect and fairness, regardless of the actions of others. Additionally, I observed that the female bartender attitude towards us and other customers was consistently unhelpful and snappy throughout the night, which further exacerbated the situation. I urge you to address this issue promptly and ensure that all staff members are trained to handle such situations in a just and equitable manner. I value the time and experiences I have at Turtles, and spend most of my weekends there, but unless this matter is resolved satisfactorily, I will be forced to reconsider my patronage in the future and advise others in my community to do the same. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing from you soon. I am even open to have a discussion with management, and the bartender to further iron out...

EDIT 6/23/24: Begrudgingly knocking a star off. Perhaps something happened and it's with good reason, but security is suddenly both very aggressive and very inconsistent. I've been coming here for YEARS and security staff has always been lovely-- until now. The super invasive pat-downs are a relatively new phenomenon, in my experience. When I couldn't hear the security guard over the music (my hearing isn't amazing, too many years of this, I guess) and I clarified "you need to search me?" he acted as if I was being flippant and challenging his authority, immediately inviting me to turn around and leave. Bro, I literally just couldn't hear you! When I finally got patted down and made it to the bar, the bartender couldn't hear my order, either! Clearly it's not just me.

Furthermore, I fully understand the need for security, especially on the weekend, but the level of nut-fondling is WILD. I've felt less violated at the doctor.

TLDR: As a loyal customer who generally loves the bar and the staff, I'm sorry the bar needs this level of security, and I'm happy to cooperate. But when your security staff is stationed nowhere near the front door, approaches while I'm halfway into the bar, isn't prepared with an ID scanner, then acts in an aggressive manner, it feels like amateur hour.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: It's a dive bar with live turtles in the back. If that isn't your thing, please avoid at all costs. I don't need you to...

(Translated from Hogaronia) I walked and was greeted by a nice Sir. I sat at the table and was met by a menu. On the menu was many O options. I picked what I thought sounded most tasty at the moment. A burger. The second I ordered a burger about as big as my head showed up. Curiosity hit me and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I gave it a quick poke and the bread rebounded. It was real. I picked it up. It was very heavy but my hunger made me persevere. I took a bite and an eruption of flavors hit my tongue. Meat. Pickle. Onion Cheese. Tomato. Wait. Tomato. My star stuck thoughts had stopped as I opened my eyes and saw a red ring of death was staring me in the eye. I hated tomatoes. After centuries of fighting with tomatoes I swore to never to have tomatoes in my presence. The room started to shake. Picture frames were falling off the walls. A portal opened up and a cosmic battle occurred with my taste buds and the tomato. I came out on top. As the worthy victor I paid for my food and walked out the door once again pledging never to eat...