Viva Toro — Restaurant in New York

I don’t usually complain about things but because there’s no resolution to my issue, I’m going to share my experience so it doesn’t happen to anyone else. Sometimes things aren’t meant to be and you just have to take heed of the signs. Last year I wanted to celebrate my Bday here but when I called they said the bull wouldn’t be available that weekend. Fast forward to this year, I emailed and asked if the bull would be available on the date I was interested in and they told me yes it would be available the whole month. Now we move forward with date, time, menu. So after I have all the info I need I call to finalize my reservation. First call I let the person I spoke to know that it was around 20 people but didn’t have definitive number yet. He said it was fine, the deposit would be $10 per person and that if I had less people day of the deposit is applied to the bill. I asked them the total per person for the prefixed menu including tax n tip he told me $66, I say ok. They send me the link to pay but I wait because I was still trying to get the count together and my name was spelled incorrectly. So now I get my count and call back to change the count and ask them to change name. I pay the $190 for 19 people. Day of Bday dinner we arrive. We’re all in our cowgirl outfits ready to have a good time and there’s NO BULL. Nothing we can do about that now, we’re here, I check in let them know we’re a party of 18, we’re seated, we begin ordering, group is already instructed to open personal tabs if getting anything extra. We’re having a nice time, except for being harassed by the photo people to buy $20 pictures. When the bill comes I tell the waiter to give me the prefixed bill for the group and he brings me a single folded bill with writing at the bottom, so I immediately notice that he wrote $180 and a different total than was printed. He tells me that the $180 is the deposit I paid that will be deducted from the total because it’s only 18 people so now I’m explaining to him that that’s incorrect because I paid a deposit of $190 and that’s what should be deducted. He disagrees and we go back n forth for like 3 minutes before he says fine I’m not gonna argue with u. I pay the amount and I wait for him to bring the receipt back but he doesn’t come back. When I finally find him I ask him for the receipt he tells me he doesn’t have it, he threw it away. I say since when do restaurants throw away receipts,they should have a copy, there’s usually 2 receipts. He says he doesn’t know he doesn’t have it. Now I’m annoyed because it’s my bday, I’m trying to enjoy myself, we requested 1 song that was never played and then the bill. I ask someone who was in charge, he told me to speak to a guy who said he was in charge of the nightlife and that the restaurant manager has already left to email them the next day. I sent 2 emails and still have yet to receive a response.I believe I was overcharged and that’s why he didn’t want to give me that bill. I think I was charged for 19 people instead of the 18 that were present because my bill was almost $1400 and everyone paid for their own extra tabs. So now they lost a bunch of business because when you like the food and the atmosphere u will come back to spend your money and refer others but in a case like this I do not recommend. Horrible...

Who is the lie for?

I’m not typically one for conspiracy theories, but this morning finds me crafting shiny headwear.

It has been years since I’ve felt the exhilaration and thrill of having 800 lbs of synthetic animal bucking underneath me, and research showed that Viva Toro was now the only spot in town to offer such excitement on a ??? night. I was invigorated - finally, another rodeo. I planned to dust off my cowboy hat, get my posse together, knock back a few drinks, and have a hootin’ ‘n holleren’ good time. That’s when the trouble started (queue the minor chord piano riff).

There aren’t great details about the bull on the website, so I placed a call and was told to check IG for details about when VT did their best impression of Pamplona and ran the bull. And while the social feed had ample postings for entertainment sure to excite whether you’re dead or alive, I didn’t see a billet for the bull I Most Wanted. I pushed the shadow of a doubt from my mind and placed another call.

“Fridays! Starting next week, we’ll be running the bull every Friday!” is what I was next told. And why wouldn’t they fire up the bull on Fridays? It’s the perfect night to shake off a long week driving fences on the range. “We ride next Friday!” I crowed to my amigos. Spurs were shined. We slipped into our best denim. The gang was getting back together for one last ride.

Now, if my years have taught me anything, it’s that you measure twice and cut once. So I called up the bull keep (VT) to confirm we were on and that I wasn’t leading the crew into an ambush. And wouldn’t you know, my instincts were right - “Saturdays! We only have the bull on Saturdays!” was the new message I received. Devastated, I relayed the news, my reputation sullied as being a fool, if not a liar, having tried to pass along a fake bill of goods.

Well, my pappy always said “follow your dreams, son” and I dreamt of laying eyes on this particular stationary steer, so with a substantially reduced group of riders, we moseyed into this watering hole Saturday night to assess the situation. To my muted surprise, the only bovine in sight was the beef tacos and the closest resemblance to what I was looking for was a tasteful mural of their namesake. “What in tarnation?”, I asked of the staff, and once again I was told two tall tales - “check IG for special events” and “every Friday”.

While their drinks and vibes seemed equally refreshing, on principle we had to see our way out of the saloon, as empty-handed as VT appeared empty-bulled.

Viva Toro, I just have to ask - who is the lie for?? Cui bono? Was there ever a bull, or just a load of bull? Why tell such fibs? At least get all the staff members telling the same story…

Pour one out for Johnny Utah’s, you...

The night scene is EXTREMELY unprofessional and inexperienced. I came two weeks in advance to reserve a isolated section I specifically wanted due to covid. I paid the deposit in advance. I even came one more time just confirm everything because I sensed the lack of knowledge and unprofessionalism so I wanted to be reassured. The manager told me not to worry! my spot that I reserved will be waiting for me. Of course,Once I get there, with my giant party of ten, my table isn’t available despite my deposit. We were sent to a little table in the crowd. My big party of ten stuck at one little table in the crowd. Something I desperately tried to avoid due to covid. The manager was busy partying smoking hookah and all he could say was “ um I’ll give you a discount “. This place is for the bottom of the barrel type of people. *UPDATE ON RESPONSE * As I do I wish the response was as professional as stated bellow, unfortunately nothing in that manner was said. I got a shoulder shrugged response saying “this happened well I wasn’t here for a second” then was offered a discount. I was then walked to a table that was completely sticky! and soaked. I had to complain to get it clean first. I was NOT given the option of choice to a space I felt more comfortable with, I was given what was left and available. I was also told it was because I came late, but when I gave my deposit I stated twice that I would be attending at that time. We also spent half of the time kicking people from they crowd off of our couch, while the security guard just watched. We had to tell him four times we don’t want problems, can you please tell these people to get off of our couch and do your job. You see what’s going on. After an eye roll he did. I don’t understand how many workers of this establishment lack experience in their specific job form. The only worker that had customer service of class was the gentleman that brought out my bottles and catered to us...