BAR BIZ RESTAURANT & LOUNGE — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

This place is unprofessional. The treatment I (we) received from this establishment needs to be addressed immediately. I was attending a baby shower which was held at this venue. From what we were told we had a time frame of 3pm until 7pm for the shower group. Most of us started arriving close to 4pm which still falls under the scheduled time frame we were given. The staff had a table for our group and they did some decor too. Upon arrival, a lady that served us told us we had to order starters and entree’s at the same time. I was surprised by this “instruction” we were given so I proceeded to tell her that we wanted to play some of the baby games we had brought while we have starters and wait for our mains. She told me no, we have to order both meals at the same time, eat the meals then play our games after, I asked her why the rush, she responded by saying there was another group coming at 6pm that they had to cater to.

Everything felt rushed, the atmosphere was unpleasant and it seemed they were short staffed as the server was the only one attending to our table. Everything she was doing was because she had to be ready for the next group that was coming in at 6pm. While we were still eating our mains, another lady comes and she’s telling us that our time is up, we have to leave. It wasn’t even 7pm, we were still on time but she started moving our table while we were still seated, pushing our table to the side so she could make space for the next group. From my understanding, this establishment is big enough to host two or even three groups of parties and the restaurant was not busy at all for us to be squeezed to the side while making space for the next group.

The next group started arriving a little after 6pm and the staff had already set their table next to us. Someone from our group accidentally broke a vase that belonged to the other group and we were charged for that. This was a terrible experience we had because most of us in the group work in the service industry and we know there are things that can be done differently. Being charged for a vase that was put next to our table because we were squeezed? Being rushed to order both meals and not even letting us cut the cake we brought because we were over the time frame which we were not? That’s absurd. The cake we had was an ice cream cake and we asked the staff upon arrival to put it in the freezer. Our request was ignored because the cake was completely melted. Nothing felt right at this place the experience and service we got was ridiculous. Overall, to say I am disappointed is an understatement and that I will not be returning...

Having frequently passed Bar Biz on my way home, I added it to my list of must-try places, especially now that I'm an Elmont resident looking to connect with my community. Upon entering, I was greeted by the cozy ambiance and my favorite reggae music playing in the background. I found a spot at the bar, although the welcome was minimal, a menu was promptly provided.

The menu immediately caught my attention with its promising selection. I started with the Lychee Martini, which was delicious and well-balanced in terms of liquor and mix ratio, a tad too sweet for my taste. For my appetizer, I choose the crab and spinach dip, which was mediocre. The dish lacked seasoning, the spinach was large wilted chunks, and the crab was almost nonexistent. At $24, I felt that improved seasoning and a bit more flavor, along with finely chopped spinach and thicker chips (perhaps homemade to better complement the dish and justify the price), could elevate it significantly.

For my entree, I was eager to try the curry oxtail. It was beautifully presented, and the seasoning had a nice spice kick, but the curry flavor became overwhelming after a few bites, and the rice was somewhat hard throughout the dish and the side of spinach present with the dish was tasteless with no seasoning or added any compliments to the flavor of the dish. A total of $154.00 plus tip for one.

Despite these culinary hiccups, I appreciated the ambiance, decor, and especially the karaoke segment of Bar Biz. As someone passionate about food and exploring new places, I see great potential here with a few adjustments suggested by patrons. I'm certainly open to giving it...

I attended a baby shower 11/17/24 on a Sunday afternoon…we were asked to leave before the time frame of the booking which in my years of traveling the world…was my 1st time experience being thrown out of a restaurant.

We left having not served our baby-shower ice cream cake which was melting due to the restaurant not refrigerating it properly.

The venue booked two events ours 3pm-7pm and the 2nd party starting at 6pm…our party was late n started at 4pm and by 6pm the owner was informing us that we have to leave cause the other party is going to start yet when booking the he restaurant that information was not shared…we had 1hr left and to my observation they were short staffed which then means the same server that was serving us had to finish up with us so she will service the 2nd party…being asked to order both starts n mains @ the same time, as you’re indulging on you starter the server is already ready to deliver the main…that definitely is a rush…we we’re still within our time frame for the booking & the worst happened…one of our guests incidentally tripped a table & broke a vase with flower display for the other party which was placed behind our table n didn't give us enough room to move around…the owner lost it n charged us for the breaking of the vase.

I thrive in supporting black businesses but wow this particular establishment needs to improve on customer service…food was average the ambiance good but once the service is extremely bad… nothing else matters...