EGO Providence — Restaurant in Providence

Hello my name is Edwin, A GAY MAN. This post is being made just 3 hours (yes 3AM 6/7/2024) after my awful experience at this establishment. I am in the restaurant industry. I got out of work earlier than normal and made it to the doors of Ego PVD just a few minutes after 12AM. I come here every few weeks, usually on Fridays, but sometimes Saturdays, with my friends and co workers and normally have a fun time but tonight was a very uncomfortable experience with the “security” and or “bouncers.” One in particular, this tall light-skinned black man with a beard and bald head, who ruined my whole night. This man must be the head of security, because he was the most comfortable to exhibit his rudeness. I’ve encountered this man a MILLION time before but for some reason, tonight, he asked me and my friend if we were aware that it was a gay club. We were confused and told him yes and then he asked us if we were looking for boyfriends, which was particularly strange. I was the only one who said yes, but he apparently didn’t believe us and told us we had to step aside. Another group of boys came thru and he asked them the same question and made them step aside shortly after. The 2 security guards behind this man told me to come thru so we could be patted down and I proceeded but was stopped shortly after because I guess this man was assuming I wasn’t gay…? I told him I was a gay man and this was super weird cuz we have been here plenty times before ( I am 29 years old and have been coming here since I was 18) and he had a strong attitude. I was not happy with what was going on and expressed that it was very weird that he was asking about my sexuality and VERY ILLEGAL for him to try and refuse service to me based on an ASSUMPTION that I am straight . He then told me if I had a problem because he did not “HAVE TO LET ME IN.” But he allowed me proceed to go in with my friends, since I did not entertain the fight. I was still taken aback by what I was experiencing and some of the security on the outside of the partition noticed and asked if I had a problem. At this point I didn’t even want to go in, but l payed my $20 and went in anyway. I was so disappointed in myself and the establishment for what happened tonight. I’ve always prided my community and this establishment as a safe space with inclusion to all people, but tonight I got a taste of something I never believed I would somewhere I thought I could call a home. I did not have fun. All I could think about was reaching out to someone about this and beating myself up for not recording this interaction on my phone. THIS IS WRONG. I was planning on coming here for pride June 15th, 2024. And I just might, but I promise I will now record every time I come to this place. This is discrimination. Although I am not straight, this man assumed just by the way I looked that I didn’t belong at Ego. And I can understand that he is “looking out” for the community, but the principle is, he should not be refusing service based on sexual orientation. This is just as bad as being refused to go to a straight establishment for being gay, or a “white establishment” for being black. I would hope this will be rectified. This man needs a talking to. I will continue to go to this establishment, but I will record every time I do, because although I do not want to come after my own community, I will sue for discrimination the next time around. All I need is my proof, which...

I READ THE COMMENT BELOW ME AND I AM SO GLAD I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS NOTICED THE NEGATIVE CHANGES IN THIS PLACE

Before I describe the horrific experience here I would like to say I have been going to EGO since I was 19 years old. I am now 24 years old and never did I think I would be in such situation in which I would be writing a bad review towards this place. The changes that are being made to this bar is crippling its business. Lets begin with the staff aka THE BOUNCERS THAT CHECK YOUR ID AT THE DOOR. My best friend and I are in line waiting for our ID's to be checked. We find out that I can not get in because my ID is expired (I HAVE PREVIOUSLY USED MY EXPIRED ID THERE BEFORE MORE TIMES THAN I CAN REMEMBER AND IT HAS NEVER BEEN A PROBLEM) so then the guy that checked my ID tells me I can't get in. We explained to him that this has never been an issue, but he refuses to let us in, no big deal. I told my friend I have another form of ID that is not expired in my car and we'll go grab it and come back and so we did. When we came back to the line, I showed the same guy my ID and pointed to where it the date of expiration was. Once he saw it, he handed me the ID and said in a very snappy tone "it wasn't unreasonable for him to ask for ID". This is where I get upset because he could have been a PROFESSIONAL and just stayed quiet and kept it moving with his job. I shrugged my shoulders and said whatever it kinda was. So I walk away from the guy and head towards the ticket booth he starts yelling and chasing after me as if he was going to do something. Then he gets in my face and starts screaming at me telling me how he doesn't have to let us in. I ignored him. We usually get in for free because the person who we thought was the owner always let us in (SINCE I WAS 19). So now this other security guard (witnessed the conversation between me and the other guy at the door) who claims to be "the owner" lmao notices we were on the guest list and so now he bangs on the window of the ticket booth (ALMOST HITTING MY FACE) pretty much telling us that we are no longer allowed on the guest list and that we have to pay. Money was never the issue so we paid hoping that we would enjoy our night but I honestly didn't even feel safe in there. BOTH security guards were in my personal space yelling at me over an expired ID. Even though I came back with a proper form of ID. What kind of customer service is that? Your revenue is earned from the people that go there and that's how you say thanks huh? By the time we were inside the club we decided to leave, I didn't feel safe in there because of those two guys. MY FRIENDS AND I WILL NEVER GO TO EGO AGAIN. VERY VIOLENT AND UNPROFESSIONAL STAFF AND THERE IS A HUGE LACK IN...

IF YOU ARE MILITARY... Got pushed out of an event on Friday with a crowd. We waited for the crowd to thin so we could go back to close are tab to retrieve are NAVY FEDERAL card. They where very rude and told us it was " locked in a safe and had to drive back to the establishment another day to get it" So as soon as we could we returned to retrieve it and called them to bring it to the door... The manager looked in quite a few places and we clearly could hear cabinets and drawers opening and closing... We where told the card could not be found ( obviously we where lied to about it being " locked in a safe" being the reason they couldn't give it to us when we where at the open door when they where bring stuff in from outside) We told the manager one more time they said they put it in a safe on Friday and that was why we couldn't get it back when they where closing up. His response was "I can't give you what I don't have" My fallow up was can you find out the person who was working the front bar on the right side guy with the blond hair long under cut with the beard and ask him what he may have done with the NAVY FEDERAL CARD. And he got short and told me no. He then decide to tell me that I probably had the card the hole time ( just to mention they closed the tab and processed it three days later from when we where there AND everyone's card in the group of 5 had processed and cleared (all Navy Federal too) on Saturday the following day but are card got processed Monday and he's trying to tell me that I am confused and took it home with us) 😑Because we definitely wanted to drive over an hour for no reason after being turned around at the door that night after being told they "locked it in a safe" There definitely dose not seem to be any kind of set procedure guidelines for there employees to fallow.

If you go there don't let them hold your card sign after your purchases. Your card will disappear after getting a locked notification for a failed purchase attempt (when your card is "locked in a safe") *Management dose not fallow up or consult it's employees with your concerns

😒THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPECT & FOR SUPPORTING YOUR ACTIVE DUTY TROOPS😒....

( SEVERE...