NK Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

Unfortunately, got into a verbal altercation with the manager, after the bill was paid, this past Wednesday night as I was giving feedback on our dinner that night. Biggest takeaway now is that the managers need a bunch of work on communication between their team and how they handle guest feedback and complaints..

The space is really beautiful inside with a lot of areas for photos and some small tables in the dining room with comfortable benches and chairs, really nice. This night we were out for my brothers birthday, and wish we had known in advance that Wednesday nights are more of an open floor dancing type vibe, so we were sat next to the server pass through doors, but it wasn't much fuss, didn't smell and I wasn't getting my chair knocked around. They also do a stylized menu for birthdays with the persons name which was nice. The music was loud for the dance floor, but the song choices were right up our alley and DJ or playlist was great, so all was well.

Our server Estefany was very nice, funny and attentive and it seemed like the host and staff were the same. The red flags started with there being no tap water "that night" for our table and so we had to get the bottle water.. May be a health department issue but we looked past it.

The food in general was alright, not as good as the presentation, and really not worth the price. The drinks were better, the rum punch was great and surprisingly The Godfather on their menu was tasty and strong. The prices for the food and drink, as many people say, are very high, even for the area it's located, so be sure to bring your wallet, BUT only 1-2 cards for payment. They have an invisible policy of a two card maximum splitting of the bill, before they add on another charge to the bill, and will let you know only when you give them more than 2 cards, as the manager clarified. Another red flag, as it's not posted anywhere and wasn't told to us at all during the night, but "store policy" as the manager states.

The biggest issue was with the cake that we brought in to have presented for the birthday boy. Multiple times I called and informed, and informed the hostess when we arrived, that we were going to bring in our own cake to be presented with the sparklers but we didn't need it sliced and served, as they charge another 10% of the bill for that, so they would box it back up after. Somehow this was never relayed to the manager, or our server, and the cake was left out of the night, instead we got a cheesecake slice with the sparklers and the cake back and the end of the dinner. Disappointing but thankfully he still had a good time.

After all that and looking past the high prices and bill... we payed and I wanted to give my feedback. So I do that and before I can really get my point across, the manager is making excuses and the situation just elevates. Not a...

I went to Nuvo with a friend of mine and we were treated very poorly by the staff and manager.

My friend walked into the restaurant with a hat on and we were seated with him wearing this same hat. We began to chat and consider our food options when a Hispanic hostess came up to us and informed us of a no hat policy. My friend proceeded to tell the hostess that he is currently in remission and is waiting for his hair to grow back, he also stated that if it's that big of an issue he would like to have a friendly conversation with the manager. The hostess then left and said that she would inform the manager and let us know. She left and came back and told us "it's all good, you can keep the hat on" in which we thanked her and proceeded to order our appetizers and drinks. After we received our food and drinks another Black hostess approached us and stated "Hi, I'm sorry but we have a strict no hat policy". We proceeded to tell her that the other hostess already told us this and that the manager is ok with the hat. This hostess then proceeded to say "the manager is the one that sent me to inform you that we have a strict no hat policy but that you can wear this religious cap for $10". We then asked to speak with the manager because at this point we were hearing different things. The manager then comes to our table and states that the Hispanic hostess is new and that she misspoke. They do not allow hats and we should decide what we would like to do. He also stated that although women are allowed to wear hats men are not (my friend is a man) going on to say "we know our black women, so we allow them to wear their hats for their hair but for men absolutely not". Mind you we had already told this "manager" why my friend had the hat on in the first place. We asked him to give the religious cap to us either complimentary or discounted due to the extreme gross miscommunication on his staff member's part and he refused. We ended up buying the religious cap because we had already wasted an hour of our time going back and forth with them. The religious cap did not fit my friend's head and he genuinely felt extremely uncomfortable wearing it. We decided to leave the restaurant based on that horrid experience but were told that we must pay for the food and drinks WE DID NOT TOUCH because all their orders are made per person so whether we touch the food or not, we must pay. We ended up paying $120 for two drinks and two appetizers.

That place is wildly overpriced and the workers are extremely rude and poor customer service. Long story short,...

Great place to dine!!

If you enjoy Caribbean infused food you'll love this place. If you've never had Caribbean food you're in for a treat!

LOCATION: Restaurant is located in a plaza like strip. Easy to get to from Brooklyn/Queens & other parts of Long Island via the highway. In a busy area but not too congested. Parking is available right outside of the restaurant but you can expect to wait a few minutes for a spot as the restaurant seems to attract many customers. This restaurant offers a free coat check.

The restaurant is dimly lit with an open concept. The restaurant features a huge glass window where you can see right into the kitchen as the chefs whip up your dinner. The background music was good however a bit loud. Cute decor and decent lighting in the bathroom for selfies 🤳.

FOOD: I ordered the crab cakes, shrimp roti & yucca fries. All were delicious. Crab cakes taste like real crab and the dipping sauce was spicy and delicious. The yucca fries were doused in pesto sauce which I've never had before but I enjoyed it very much. I highly recommend the shrimp roti. By the time we were ready to order entrees we were stuffed!! I ordered the fried rice and my girlfriend ordered the snapper. The snapper was amazing; fillet which is rare!! I however did not enjoy my fried rice as much as I would have liked to. Not because it wasn't flavorful but because it had more to do with the texture. The rice was a bit too soft and I like my fried rice a bit more dry. Other than the fried rice I give the food 4.5 stars. Serving portions are generous so be prepared for a full tummy. We both ordered the drink called the Cable Car which was tart and strong; perfect for me.

STAFF: Staff was friendly and helpful. Our waitress was attentive and polite even though the restaurant was a bit busy. There was a gentleman that walked around the restaurant asking patrons about their dining experience which was a nice personal touch. I have no complaints about the staff whatsoever. Everyone was attentive and professional (forgot to mention; well dressed staff).

COVID PRECAUTIONS: You can expect readily available hand sanitizer, temperature checks at the door, social distance dividers and all staff wear matching "NK" masks (nice touch!!). I felt secure with their precautionary measures.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: I think it's a good location to celebrate a birthday or any event with a group of friends. I would...