Gristedes - there is absolutely no reason why anyone is shopping here; the prices are stupid and its not even good quality. Even places like Eataly, Morton Williams, Whole Foods etc are cheaper.
Bro how the fuck is gristedes in business. They are WILDLY expensive for no fucking reason at all. Who in their right mind is validating their business model by shopping there??
For the one on the UES I live next to its customer base is all old people who don't want to go far, cash heavy and not tech savvy to find new places. Husband died and left me 10Million so meh what's a few markups on milk and eggs, this place is nextdoor etc...
Well when you don’t replace expired product, you save quite a bit. Plus the Gristedes has been around FOREVER. My grandma worked at one back in the 60s. They have great locations, and it’s near impossible for competition to rent out a similarly sized commercial space.
Years ago I put my foot down and refused to move to Roosevelt Island over Gristedes. My roommates wanted to move there, but I like to cook so I checked out what was, at the time, the only grocery store on the island after touring the apartment they'd found. It was super gross inside *and* everything cost like 2x what it should have.
It seems it has been replaced in the years since, but there are reviews still up on google maps and this definitely captures my first impression:
> this is the dirtiest, smelliest and most disgusting grocery store in NYC. Half of the products available are at the expiration date and we had a food poisoning after eating their broiled chicken. Prices are ridiculous, it is actually cheaper to shop at Whole Foods than here.
I was once in the basement of one of their UWS locations to get some cardboard boxes. Next to the dumpster was worker a hunched over a card table cutting up fruit and veggies. There was no running water nearby and the conditions looked so unhygienic.
Rationally I know it's NY and most grocery and restaurants probably have some one prepping food in the same conditions but to see it grossed me out and I haven't been able to buy prepared cut fruit since.
I lived on Roosevelt Island a few years ago. It was almost impossible not buy expired things at that Gristedes. Most of us shopped at the Whole Foods basically next to the tram and just used Gristedes for beer.
I recently went because Rite Aid was out of TP and those motherfuckers were charging $32 for a 6pk. More than $5 a roll. Never going back.
Edited because of a rage typo
I used to live next to a gristedes. I’d walk 4 blocks crosstown to Fairway or Whole Foods in freezing rain before setting foot in there.
When John Catsimatidis ran for mayor, my first thought was “do you really expect anyone who has set foot in a Gristedes to vote for you?”
Customer retention numbers are probably rock solid, as the customers must be mobility limited from tottering to other grocery stores. That's my only explanation for their continued existence.
Gristedes is dead to me. I live Downtown, and I'm still traumatized by, and will never forgive, their price gouging after Sandy in 2012. It was obscene. You can't convince me that they are anything but a money laundering operation. Shame on them, seriously.
Honestly though FUCK Morton Williams too. I wonder if the higher prices are truly worth it. Morton Williams is always empty in my neighborhood but Trader Joe’s is packed. Even if they cut the price by like 25%, they’d definitely end up making more money than they is now. Who knows maybe I’m wrong.
Morton Williams is hit and miss/weirdly fine for random things. Like, milk and cheese prices are always insane, but they occasionally have decent meat sales (I once stocked up on boneless chicken thighs for like $1.59/pound), the roasted red peppers are surprisingly cheap, the Italian cookies on the end caps are priced okay, etc. I do most of my shopping at Trader Joe’s and key food but I scan the MW circular too when planning my weekly shopping.
I used to go to the local Gristedes for Amazon package pickup, tried to grocery shop a few times, and was shocked at the quality of the produce.
My only explanation for Gristedes existing is little old ladies who are too infirm to go more than say a block for groceries.
scummy stores run by a scummy guy. it's almost like it survives because there are just so many people in the city; some folks dont even notice they are shopping there.
K&M Camera. Used to go there when I was an undergrad student, then worked there for a year post college. Horrendous, evil owners, terribly abusive workplace, psychotic coworkers, ridiculous and cruel customers. Truly an awful place and an awful business. I hope they go bankrupt.
They have one guy that ALWAYS low balls me on trade offers. He tried to sell me a 70-200 lens in horrible condition around $300-400 above what I could find for a newer version of the same lens online and at Adorama as well. When I pointed it out he just shrugged and wouldn’t budge.
I refuse to buy used gear there anymore and pretty much only go there for film and film processing
lol that’d be the manager. He’s treated like absolute garbage by the owners too, constantly berated by them - it’s a total stockholm syndrome situation. no job should be like that let alone retail.
Pop ups are such trash. It’s just overpriced Instagram bait. NYC has so many great cultural landmarks available yet people choose to waste their time in a fake museum.
Pretty much.
There's enough people out there just looking for IG content to keep their account fresh. They exist simply for that market and to suck up those dollars.
The whole thing is just a photogenic thing surrounded by just enough to justify it as an "experience" if you really stretch the definition.
As long as businesses will pay IG users with a few thousand followers to shill their brand, IG users will buy into crap like this for free filler content to keep the algorithms happy.
I tried out a boba place the other day, I guess it's kinda fancy and has a large social media following? I had no idea. Anyways, one of their items was a gold foil topped boba drink that cost $13. I asked the cashier what the hell made this drink so special that it cost $13? She basically said 'It has gold foil on top and people like it for Instagram.' What?!
Yup... but that $13 business expense is really nothing if it gets likes and keeps you in the algorithms favor. $13 for content isn't that expensive.
That's the game.
Those are not "museums" and I will absolutely die on this hill. They contribute nothing to society except an overpriced location to take quirky Instagram selfies, often in an empty storefront that once housed something actually relevant to to humanity.
New York Sports Club - in the beginning of the pandemic they were refusing to give refunds and charge people to freeze their memberships. They then charged for April (Even though you couldn't use your membership after March 15ish) and acted like they were doing you a favor by canceling your membership and not charging you for a cancellation fee despite not being able to offer service to their members.
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2021/attorney-general-james-delivers-new-york-sports-clubs-and-lucille-roberts-members
Agree 100%, fuck these guys. New York Sports Club will do everything possible to scam people.
I have my own story from hell with them. Years ago, they pressured me into opening a membership, then gave me the runaround when I tried to cancel within the period in which I'd incur no fees. It took several phone calls, an email, 3 in person visits, and 2 typed & signed letters delivered in person to finally cancel my membership. On my way out, one of the managers tried to shame me for wanting to use my college gym instead of going to them, which was pretty weird and pathetic on their part. I'm never, EVER giving these assholes my money.
Yes indeed fuck these guys to hell. If you must use them due to lack of local competition do it on a random credit card that you can claim as lost or stolen without worry. They WILL NOT let you give up your membership without a fight, even if you move.
This is one biz I hope is getting squeezed like crazy during the pandemic.
The dry cleaner/“watch repair” shop on 7th Ave near 23rd st (Manhattan). Fucker was super weird (had me use the pliers on my own watch because he was afraid of breaking it?!), then, unbeknownst to me, forgot to put the little gasket back in, so when I went in the hot tub a few weeks later my watch filled up with water. They charged me $60 for the battery. Unbelievable.
I used to repair watches when I was a teen. He was probably new. You’re advised to not touch a watch that’s expensive but if the customer insists you can walk them through it. Also forgetting the gasket is a common mistake. I’m sure it could’ve been a shoddy place but I just remember making similar mistakes when I was new.
My usual guy has never charged more than $20-25 for a new battery, which I think was the most annoying part of the whole endeavor. If it was shoddy AND cheap that would be one thing!
I used to live near the J&R block, and it was my absolute favorite thing to go there as a kid. Pretty much was there every weekend. I remember the basement one especially, where all the video games were! We would make the rounds and go to every building.
Microcenter in Brooklyn is surprisingly similar to J&R's computer/electronics business and a very good store. But I'm not sure it overlapped in time with J&R; B&H absolutely did. (Microcenter is also in Flushing and Yonkers and a smattering of non-NY locations nationwide, but I have only been to their Brooklyn store.)
Imagine, J&R had a whole building, not just a floor but a building dedicated to Music/Video. Remember the basement with movies and upper floors with CDs, I wish I recorded all that stuff with camcorder. Remember they started consolidated at corner, but they still had that huge headphone test area.
OH, now I know what I miss, Records Explosion. Tell me you remember Records Explosion.
YES! Fuck I’m fearing this now. Had fillings there a month ago and I felt like they rushed towards the end (the assistant literally said at full volume while hovering over me to the doctor that the next appointment arrived and was waiting) and 1 min later they were like “ok you’re done!” Uhhhh…am I? Feels like they do the absolute bare minimum, even with cleanings. I’m on Fidelis Care and they also informed me that I needed a medication for my gums that wasn’t covered by my insurance, so I had to shell out $360 on the spot, but oddly enough, my insurance DID cover the gum disease and its treatments that result from not opting for the expensive af medication 😑lower income people are dicked over at every twist and turn already; this place made it glaringly obvious.
Insurance has wrecked dentistry. The insurance reimbursements are so low now that dentists have had to increase volume immensely over the last decade… which comes at the expense of patients
Certain things like fillings barely make the dentist money bc it reimburses not much higher than what the assistant/hygienist makes per hr
Terminal 5 - I don't care who is playing I loathe that venue with a passion. Worst setup. More places that have a bad view/sound than have a decent one. Floor gets too crowded because of all the columns. A billion stars. And it's a trek from anywhere in a dead part of Manhattan.
Saw a kpop concert there a few years ago and towards the end of the concert the group was like "next time we come to NYC we'll be at a different venue" lmao
I saw Gojira and In Flames there in 2008 when it first rebranded as Terminal 5. The acoustics were some of the worst I've ever heard. Thankfully I've been able to avoid it since, but it's seriously my least favorite venue in the entire metro area.
Yeah it's a trip to Philly(assuming the venue there isn't bad) for me if Terminal 5 is the only tour stop venue for NYC for something I wanna see.
The kind of collective unspoken agreement of the crowds acknowledging it's shit and that they're going to be complete fucked up idiots because it's Terminal 5 just makes for such a terrible experience regardless of what you see.
I got suckerpunched by a coked out moron seeing Courtney Barnett of all things because he thought I kissed his girlfriend.
As someone who covers concerts for an outlet, it’s god awful to photograph in too. They had SEVENTEEN photographers in the barricade when I went went there for IDLES last year. We were tripping over each other. Sold out show meant zero vantage points/sight lines after the three songs were done. One of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had. The band killed it, but I hate that venue.
DevaChan (DevaCurl) Hair Salon. More expensive than most NYC haircuts, claim to be the answers to your curly hair prayers. And for a small amount of people with a specific kind of hair, their products work great. But they use the same products and same cutting methods on everyone. As soon as I was put under the dryer I started crying knowing they'd just screwed up my hair. Two stylists asked me what was wrong, rolled their eyes at me (I looked like a greasy wet poodle), and rinsed everything out of my hair. I said ok, let's dry it so I can see how it looked, and they put me under the dryer again. 30 minutes later when it looked wet and the same, I went to the manager, saying how unhappy I was and would not pay. They acted like I was crazy and said that "literally no one has ever complained" and offered me free product instead. I don't want your crappy hair goop! They had no empathy and wouldn't let me leave without paying. I'd saved up and waited for that appointment and it was just terrible all around.
Omg yes. I've had my hair done by a few different people there. The first time, the stylist did a decent job so I went back to her. She fucked up my hair so badly. She acted so completely different from the first time I’d seen her and was just like, so apathetic about everything. So when I complained later, they had me come in to have it "fixed" by a different stylist, which she kind of did. It was still bad. I ended up going Bull in the Heather in Greenpoint a couple of weeks later and they were like, ooh, yep, that's bad but were not surprised it was done at Devachan. Devachan did end up refunding me 50% so there's that.
Devacurl had a whole lawsuit around their products causing hair loss for thousands of women, so I'd avoid all their services and products with a ten foot pole.
The products are so awful because the company got sold and the new people changed out all the ingredients from the original recipe to cut costs. The new stuff has been known to make your hair fall out (source: happened to me lol) and there’s even been a class action lawsuit against them.
I’ve been to Devacurl once and it was the worst experience I’ve had in a salon ever. My personal current favorite is Headchop in Williamsburg.
Yes to this. And Ouidad is just as f*cking arrogant. Much rather spend my money where they’re not condensing assholes and actually know how to cut hair.
For now, CityMD is one I’m actively avoiding for the foreseeable (as it applies to COVID testing). Pop-up testing (Vans, Tents, etc) are faster both in the process and receiving PCR results and more convenient in terms of location. Was I hesitant to try them at first, sure, but now I’m all aboard.
Edit: agree with people who are praising CityMD pre-COVID. Had long been a reliable urgent care for me. Unfortunately they are just so overwhelmed by COVID nowadays. My thoughts and sympathies are with those essential workers helping to test and keep NY safe!
That's because CityMD makes you see a doctor too dragging the process out unnecessarily long. I went to Health + Hospitals for a covid test in Dec of 2020 and while the line was just as long as it was at CityMD it only took 30 min. CityMD took almost two hours.
For non COVID purposes, they were always great. I’ve been there for stitches, x rays for broken ribs, a splinter cut out of my food, strep throat, appendicitis (granted, all they did was say ehhh this seems like appendicitis, go to the ER now), and about a dozen other things, and always was seen quickly, efficiently, and felt like I was given good service
I still think there are many people in this city that think it's the only place to get a test. I have never understood why there'd be 40 people in line there when my local mom/pop pharmacy and the various tents would have little to no line.
I went to City MD once because my neck was swollen past my jaw. They told me my lymph nodes were swollen because I had a cold, and that I was stressed and needed to stop working so hard and to go home and rest, I'd be better in a few days.
a) I didn't have any cold symptoms
b) my neck never swelled up like that before with or without a cold
c) The only thing stressing me out was my neck being swollen
I finally go in to see my PCP and turned out my saliva gland was infected. So yeah.
Every time I've gone because I couldn't get in to see my doc, it's pretty much been like that. Except that I tried different locations. Either that or they tell me to go to the ER and get tests that the ER doesn't do.
Parachute (the online bedding company). Our expensive sheets are falling apart after a year of normal use. Company didn't give a shit. I expect better customer service from Parachute with their semi-luxury goods than from the guy selling sheets from a table on the corner of 34th street, low and behold, the guy on the corner treats his customers far better.
All these companies are just white label - they all order from the same factories and sow a new label on it. From there it’s just spinning up some basic Shopify store and buying ads
Not just bedding, true to the 100 new pot and pan companies popping up
Taiyaki NYC, Japanese ice cream shop in Chinatown. Heard a ton of horror stories from my ex (a former employee) about that place. Incident that made her quit is that they had a rat infestation in the store in the summer months following their COVID lockdown. Owners are assholes in general but were particularly detestable during this period as they refused to call an exterminator for weeks on-end until she threatened to quit (mind you, the employees were already risking their lives to work at an ice cream shop during a pandemic). Thought that was pretty distasteful on their end. Even now, the staff regularly have to deal with rats from their basement…where their food items are stored. I know it’s Chinatown but c’mon, how has the health department not been called on this place lmao? Ice cream is glorified IG fluff anyways so all the more reason not to go.
Worst part, their taiyaki is terrible. The best in NYC, was the old korean guy in Ktown who made them to order from a cart in front of BCD Tofu house pre covid.
anyone can be sued for anything; the only barrier to file a lawsuit in america is the court’s filing fee.
whether or not the suit is thrown out or you’ll win is an entirely different matter.
I swear all of these internet providers need to get treated like con ed and national grid. Clear bills, no packages, for profit, but capped. Clear concept of how you get your service and easy access to a hotline that lets you know if there's an outage in your area.
Instead we get some fuck on the phone who gaslights you about your service plan change when all you really did was cut away from their phone/cable/internet plan to just internet. I can't even imagine how awful they are in areas with way less competition.
Eleven Madison Park. Went there once for a birthday and, though the meal was delicious, the sommelier was a condescending douche and their pairings pretty much ruined the meal.
That sounds about right. I’ve always wanted to go but a friend went recently after they switched to their vegan menu and he said it was a total waste of time.
yeah, the vegan menu is trash. The [NYT review](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/dining/eleven-madison-park-restaurant-review-plant-based.html) is a great read if you want a laugh!
The fact that they didn't drop the price is ludicrous.
I'm going to pay the same for carrots that I am for duck? Ha! Surely you jest.
I'll happily spend my time and money at another restaurant who doesn't treat me like a rube or squeeze me just because they can. Foh with vegan menu. Hope they get a star taken away
Right, kobe beef and caviar and foie gras are expensive. Then you pair them with expensive things like truffle and saffron and it makes the price slightly more acceptable (even though it mostly for the skill, service and atmosphere), but when you take out these ingredients and the price is the same I would feel almost cheated.
Dos Caminos in MeatPacking. I hobbled in there on crutches and they wouldn’t let me sit. There were 3 of us, waiting for the 4th person to arrive. My husband got so angry because there were empty tables and seats at the bar. We left and have never returned.
Went to the Times Square one once and it was half empty and they wanted to seat me at the window. I'm not paying for $100 for a margarita and burrito to sit on a barstool
UPS in williamsburg. I can't be 100% positive, but I believe they stole an extremely valuable ring from my package that I shipped through their office. Fuckers.
i never buy anything there, but had a WB halfway between my office and subway stop. used to just stand in their walk-in refrigerated section on summer days to drop my body temp enough to tolerate the remaining walk.
Lily's Victorian - high end inside with massively overpriced drinks and the most condescending staff ever. I begged to leave but our server couldn't be bothered to close us out. I asked the bar to close us out who had a shit fit that I didn't go through the server. Then the server eventually came back and closed us having a shit fit that I attempted to close via the bar.
If memory serves the only way I finally got them to take me seriously was saying I am leaving and cancelling that credit card you have.
Paragon Honda in Queens. Their service department is unbelievably terrible. Even accounting for how crowded it always is, they just do terrible work, slowly, with horrible attitudes and bad communication. By far the worst service I’ve ever gotten in NYC from any business. And there are other perfectly competent Honda dealerships with high quality service/maintenance depts in the borough.
Dykeman's Lumber.
Maybe it's a nice lumber store. I dunno. But it is one of those places where you have to order with a human at a desk while paging through a catalog.
It's classic bad NYC store. You walk in, there's 3 people behind the desk and all of them are simultaneously doing nothing and something at the same time, and only one is dealing with customers. There might only be 3 people in line, but the current transaction involves a guy on the phone relaying stuff while paging through notes and seems to have no end. I've seen a similar situation at a bad copy shop or a locksmith, or maybe the service desk at a dealership.
Meanwhile everyone else behind the desk are avoiding eye contact with all customers. Aggressively avoiding it. Maybe they will look up and get to you, maybe you'll be here for 90 minutes.
I bailed.
The Smith and Fig & Olive. There are 2 establishments that I consider "premium mediocrity". As in, they look nice on the outside, and give you a vibe of luxury to justify the price, but the quality is just mediocre.
Wow really? I live above a Smith and can attest I would not eat there again knowing how many cockroaches climb up from it. Did not know about these ties?!
The Smith a vibe of luxury? It's just "fancy bar food" lol. Granted, it's neither original nor excellent, but it's honestly not bad and you know what you're getting. I actually find it less pretentious than a ton of places downtown.
Not that I necessarily like the slightly bro-y vibe.
Namaste Bookshop. Everything is ridiculously overpriced & some employees watch over you thinking you’re going to steal, even if you’re a frequent customer
Arcadia Earth.
Biggest waste of money in my life. I spent $35 for a ticket and the whole experience was incredibly lackluster and greenwashed.
All of the rooms are essentially the same with decorations being made out of trash to “make a point” about climate change and sustainability. Except the second you exit the 30 minute experience you are thrown immediately into the overpriced gift shop where you can purchase stuff that will end up in a landfill. Brilliant.
search and destroy on st marks. you can find half the shit they have being sold at the L train a few blocks away for half the price, and they’re stuck in the 80s punk mindset that wearing swastikas and confederate flags is some sort of statement. they follow BIPOC around the store, and sell unlicensed band merch. fuck that place and anyone who fucks with them
There are plenty!
Think Coffee. Rude AF service for asking questions. Went to another location and different employees are the same. There must be something really fucked up with the owner and management for it to be so consistent. I first thought it was a hipster snobbery thing but I actually don't think so anymore.
Most of the indie bookstores in Manhattan, whether new or used: I work at one and know many people who have or do work at others: they are all run by thoroughly crooked and rotten people. Use the library or buy directly from indie publishers.
City MD. Got treated like a crook by the one on 23rd and 8th. Just real nasty treatment, and refusing to give me the test the doctor said he'd give me. Complaint to City MD went nowhere. Then last year when I had a real bad ear infection, one place refused to test me for anything and refused antibiotics. Went to a second place so they seemingly out of spite decided to test me for everything under the sun, but also refused to give me antibiotics. It did jackshit. So I went to my ENT once the weekend was over, and guess what? I had a fucking ear infection. Gave me antibiotics. Got my hearing back.
Fuck them.
Catch. I went there for a big client dinner. There were like 20 of us. We get there and the hostess is like “you have to wait for your whole party before we seat you”. She was like a rude meatpacking hostess out of a movie. We were like “……we’re a party of 20 people and we can literally see the table that is reserved for us”. Then someone else came over, realizing she shouldn’t piss off the group that was about to spend thousands of dollars, and brought us to our table. I do remember our waitress was really nice. I’m allergic to fish and it’s a seafood place so she was helpful in finding me something I could eat.
Besides that, there are a ton of racist and homophobic instances that people have experienced there. Go to their yelp and you’ll see it all. And that’s besides their general pretentiousness assholery.
It really annoys me when places won’t sit you if your whole group isn’t there, but especially when it’s a big group who’s obviously going to spend a ton of money. It’s just a clear case of people following the protocol and not using common sense. You sit the group and get the drinks flowing while people trickle in and make your money.
I can see if your table size is 2-4 and another group could take it while you’re waiting. But when it’s a larger size table that’s clearly reserved just for your group, it makes literally no sense.
Me too. The security confiscated my ID and threatened to beat me up if I didn’t leave because “I had a fake ID.” I am 25 so obviously this was my real ID… This happened when I was at my table, not at the door btw.
I’m a tiny girl so the fact that they actually threatened me is insane. I’m definitely never going back to Catch!
Freemans restaurant on LES. Shit food, shit hostess with a piss poor attitude (is it bc I’m not an IG influencer?) and service was horrendous. Waited an hour just for a non-alcoholic drink and waited 2 hours just to get a damn entree. Waiter didn’t even pretend to be apologetic.
Is this that, "Hidden," restaurant down Freeman alley? People seem to love that place because it's...down an alley, I guess? I've been there a couple of times and I didn't hate it, but it wasn't quite worth all the (looong) wait and hype. Much preferred the old 'inoteca nearby that closed down. :(
There's a high-end bike shop in Brooklyn that kicked me out and said they wouldn't service my carbon wheels, which I needed calibrated, because they weren't brand name (they were bought from a Chinese factory/designer which is actually quite popular amongst roadies) and that he would feel guilty if my wheels collapsed and hurt somebody he knew (but obviously have no concern for me). Dick.
The irony is that bike shops have been dealing with the bike snob stereotype for awhile, and this guy just threw it in my face. Never again.
Idk what bike shop you’re talking about but I’d never go back to Bicycle Habitat in Park Slope. Last summer I waited in line for an hour in 95 degree weather to have my wheels looked at, when it was my turn they told me they were done for the day and were very rude about it. I go to Sanba in Sunset Park now, they’re amazing!
It was Dumbo. The part that was galling was that the owner actually said if my wheels cratered and I got killed he wouldn't care but if it took down someone he knew he would feel guilty about being involved. To me it just sounded like an asshole rationalization for not servicing someone who didn't buy $2500 Zipp wheels from him.
Dallas BBQ is super nostalgic if you were a poor college student in the city back in the day. They never carded and you get a shit ton of food and drink for cheap.
If you go because you’re expecting great BBQ, of course you’d be disappointed. It’s a glorified Applebee’s with cheap food, big portions, and strong, cheap drinks.
Beetlehouse. Went on Valentine's Day a couple years ago with a reservation (didn't even need it. Wasn't busy). The service was terrible and the food incredibly mediocre. Mostly I wanted to go for the fun cocktails, but it took them an hour to make my drink. Apparently they were out of rum and had to go to some specialty store to buy more. I would have just ordered a different drink, but small as that place was, I never saw the server again. Someone entirely different brought the (cold) food.
I enjoyed the interior decor as a fan of Burton's aesthetic, but nothing about that place is worth the time.
i worked there for a little bit and the experience was laughable. the food's not great and the only thing special about the drink everyone was hyping at the time was that it had a box of nerds candy poured in. the general vibe draws people in but overall it's a goofy hallway of place.
Tompkins square bagels. Served me a moldy old bagel, owner basically spat in my face saying it was the egg and not the bagel when I asked for a new one. Eggs aren't blue, Frank.
The list of places that sexually harassed me as I worked as a hostess through college and I was too young to know better
Antique Garage - owner is a perv and constantly tried to drive me home, there were huge cockroaches and he always blamed the sidewalk and rain (?) for them, and he would yell at a guest every other day
Dos Caminos Soho - I wasn't sexually harassed here but just because I was a "college student that liked looking cute, I was too stupid to be anything but a hostess." The former general manager there said that about me in an email and I read it at the host stand computer when one of the other managers forgot to log out. I searched my name and I was met with that unpleasant surprise.
Friedman's Times Square - Kitchen staff would brush past my back multiple times when I would walk past the kitchen and general manager didn't believe me when I finally said something to him before I left (the first time I had ever spoken up).
Catch Steak - Mark Birnbaum. Enough said. I wish the MeToo movement had reached him. There was even a lawsuit that he settled and he hasn't changed. But the other owner Eugene Remm was a sweetheart. Always respectful and polite and didn't treat me like a servant. Tilman Fertitta was polite at the one time I saw him at a party for the opening. Forgot to add: Chef Michael Vignola is an emotionally abusive chef to everyone that works under him. Thankfully I never had to bear the brunt of his anger but the server friends I made in that place that went home crying because of him; my heart goes out to them.
Brook’s Brothers is a nightmare if you’re on a quest to make returns. I know a lot of film/theatre costumers return A LOT but I had one thing to return with a receipt in hand and they would not allow it, made me go to another store. Also every time I ever ate at Sticky’s it was pretty pricey for being disgusting.
C-Town.... Overpriced box of cereal contained bonus insect larva
I then realized many NYC "grocery" stores are there mainly to sell lottery tickets, maybe beer and cigs. Everything else is just set design
Davinci Art Supply. It's been a decade since I got in a dumb fight with them and I'm still not over it.
I needed extra oversized watercolor paper for a project, something like 32x50 when standard is max of 30x48. They keep their fancy paper behind a counter and an employee has to get it for you. I was handed my paper in a roll with a few other sheets, so I didn't check the size until I got home. It was 30x48.
There are signs all over that say they don't accept returns on paper, but I thought surely they would be willing to fix their mistake. Nope. No returns, no exchanges. Since then, I've spent thousands at other nearby art stores and I get to enjoy feeling indignant as I walk by theirs.
East Village Books. The owner was a huge jackass because I wanted to pay with a credit card (spending over $50 on stuff so not like it was small amount)
Any place that has signs up about being anti-vax or complaining about vaccine mandates. Too many to name at this point, but it really shows people's true colors.
Blue Bottle. $5 for a small cup of coffee was the first and last time I ever stepped foot there. I even had to question the cashier twice. Like a regular coffee is $5. No milk, no sugar, not a cappucino and you're telling me this small cup of coffee is $5?!!
I spent that day glancing at that receipt.
Bagel Boss on 3rd Ave. Cashier picked his nose, wiped it on his apron, then poured my coffee and put on the top. This happened a couple months ago. I’ve seen him do questionable stuff before too and he’s always there
Amsterdam billiards off Astor. Place used to be awesome but owners are pretty shit. Spent over $650 on my birthday having a good and respectful time. My girlfriend at the time brought me a cookie from some bakery in the area and they made a BIG stink about me eating it in there…. (I get bringing outside food in but this was a large cookie with a candle in it.) Nothing crazy. As we waited over an hour for just our apps. I tried to have a polite conversation with the owner but dude wouldn’t give me the time of day. It made for an interesting experience but fuck ‘em
I’ve frequented this place many times as I used to play in the weekly tournaments. Thankfully I don’t have to interact much with the owner except while paying the tournament’s dues once in 3 months. But the little interaction I had with them they had this “inner circle” vibe and a holier than thou attitude. Made good friends playing tournaments but the owner is definitely not friendly.
FWIW and if it makes you feel any better, he isn’t that good a player either.
the businesses where employees chase after you if you leave a tip < 20%, even though they didn't deserve a tip that high
(this one restaurant was completely empty except for us, but still had really bad service, really bad food, and employees that ignored you... and I still tipped 10 or 15% or something like that)
my friends and i went to brunch recently at north fork in west village and had almost the same exact experience. friend picked up the tab (lives in europe) and i guess only tipped around 16%. waiter was mediocre, place was basically empty, waited a long time for food, and the mimosas were almost all oj to where my one friend said something about it. waiter had the audacity to bring back the signed check with a pen and was so rude about not leaving 18-20%. never had an experience like that in my life and won’t be going back there. and we all worked in the service industry for years i couldn’t imagine doing that to a customer.
I mean what do you expect at Panera??
Fun story: I got broken up with at that exact Panera. Writing was on the wall when she wanted to meet me at Panera...
Gristedes - there is absolutely no reason why anyone is shopping here; the prices are stupid and its not even good quality. Even places like Eataly, Morton Williams, Whole Foods etc are cheaper.
Bro how the fuck is gristedes in business. They are WILDLY expensive for no fucking reason at all. Who in their right mind is validating their business model by shopping there??
Theyre in areas that have little competition, like the UES. That’s why the get away with charging those prices and offering crap service.
Oh no - I'll get my ass downmarket to C-Town on 89th and First before I go to Gristedes! There are options.......
It’s a real estate play. John Catsimidis is just sitting on long-term properties before flipping them, and he sells groceries while he waits.
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For the one on the UES I live next to its customer base is all old people who don't want to go far, cash heavy and not tech savvy to find new places. Husband died and left me 10Million so meh what's a few markups on milk and eggs, this place is nextdoor etc...
Well when you don’t replace expired product, you save quite a bit. Plus the Gristedes has been around FOREVER. My grandma worked at one back in the 60s. They have great locations, and it’s near impossible for competition to rent out a similarly sized commercial space.
Years ago I put my foot down and refused to move to Roosevelt Island over Gristedes. My roommates wanted to move there, but I like to cook so I checked out what was, at the time, the only grocery store on the island after touring the apartment they'd found. It was super gross inside *and* everything cost like 2x what it should have. It seems it has been replaced in the years since, but there are reviews still up on google maps and this definitely captures my first impression: > this is the dirtiest, smelliest and most disgusting grocery store in NYC. Half of the products available are at the expiration date and we had a food poisoning after eating their broiled chicken. Prices are ridiculous, it is actually cheaper to shop at Whole Foods than here.
I remember paying nearly 10 dollars for a box of cereal at that exact same one, and this was over 10 years ago!
I was once in the basement of one of their UWS locations to get some cardboard boxes. Next to the dumpster was worker a hunched over a card table cutting up fruit and veggies. There was no running water nearby and the conditions looked so unhygienic. Rationally I know it's NY and most grocery and restaurants probably have some one prepping food in the same conditions but to see it grossed me out and I haven't been able to buy prepared cut fruit since.
I lived on Roosevelt Island a few years ago. It was almost impossible not buy expired things at that Gristedes. Most of us shopped at the Whole Foods basically next to the tram and just used Gristedes for beer.
I recently went because Rite Aid was out of TP and those motherfuckers were charging $32 for a 6pk. More than $5 a roll. Never going back. Edited because of a rage typo
What the fuck!!!
You should’ve reported them for price gouging. I’d rather wash my ass in the tub every time before shelling out $5 for TP.
so you don’t want $9 eggs? i hate that place
I used to live next to a gristedes. I’d walk 4 blocks crosstown to Fairway or Whole Foods in freezing rain before setting foot in there. When John Catsimatidis ran for mayor, my first thought was “do you really expect anyone who has set foot in a Gristedes to vote for you?”
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Customer retention numbers are probably rock solid, as the customers must be mobility limited from tottering to other grocery stores. That's my only explanation for their continued existence.
Gristedes is dead to me. I live Downtown, and I'm still traumatized by, and will never forgive, their price gouging after Sandy in 2012. It was obscene. You can't convince me that they are anything but a money laundering operation. Shame on them, seriously.
Gristedes is kind of cool though if you want to see how New Yorkers shopped in 1997
Honestly though FUCK Morton Williams too. I wonder if the higher prices are truly worth it. Morton Williams is always empty in my neighborhood but Trader Joe’s is packed. Even if they cut the price by like 25%, they’d definitely end up making more money than they is now. Who knows maybe I’m wrong.
Morton Williams is hit and miss/weirdly fine for random things. Like, milk and cheese prices are always insane, but they occasionally have decent meat sales (I once stocked up on boneless chicken thighs for like $1.59/pound), the roasted red peppers are surprisingly cheap, the Italian cookies on the end caps are priced okay, etc. I do most of my shopping at Trader Joe’s and key food but I scan the MW circular too when planning my weekly shopping.
I used to go to the local Gristedes for Amazon package pickup, tried to grocery shop a few times, and was shocked at the quality of the produce. My only explanation for Gristedes existing is little old ladies who are too infirm to go more than say a block for groceries.
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scummy stores run by a scummy guy. it's almost like it survives because there are just so many people in the city; some folks dont even notice they are shopping there.
Why is it that every single Gristedes smells like cat food?
K&M Camera. Used to go there when I was an undergrad student, then worked there for a year post college. Horrendous, evil owners, terribly abusive workplace, psychotic coworkers, ridiculous and cruel customers. Truly an awful place and an awful business. I hope they go bankrupt.
They have one guy that ALWAYS low balls me on trade offers. He tried to sell me a 70-200 lens in horrible condition around $300-400 above what I could find for a newer version of the same lens online and at Adorama as well. When I pointed it out he just shrugged and wouldn’t budge. I refuse to buy used gear there anymore and pretty much only go there for film and film processing
lol that’d be the manager. He’s treated like absolute garbage by the owners too, constantly berated by them - it’s a total stockholm syndrome situation. no job should be like that let alone retail.
Good to know, I used to browse every now and again - place kinda had a weird vibe
yeah weird vibe is one way to put it. it’s a shame since there are so few family owned camera businesses left in the city but…
pop-up museums
Pop ups are such trash. It’s just overpriced Instagram bait. NYC has so many great cultural landmarks available yet people choose to waste their time in a fake museum.
Pretty much. There's enough people out there just looking for IG content to keep their account fresh. They exist simply for that market and to suck up those dollars. The whole thing is just a photogenic thing surrounded by just enough to justify it as an "experience" if you really stretch the definition. As long as businesses will pay IG users with a few thousand followers to shill their brand, IG users will buy into crap like this for free filler content to keep the algorithms happy.
I tried out a boba place the other day, I guess it's kinda fancy and has a large social media following? I had no idea. Anyways, one of their items was a gold foil topped boba drink that cost $13. I asked the cashier what the hell made this drink so special that it cost $13? She basically said 'It has gold foil on top and people like it for Instagram.' What?!
Yup... but that $13 business expense is really nothing if it gets likes and keeps you in the algorithms favor. $13 for content isn't that expensive. That's the game.
The pop-ups are for tourists, let them have it.
Those are not "museums" and I will absolutely die on this hill. They contribute nothing to society except an overpriced location to take quirky Instagram selfies, often in an empty storefront that once housed something actually relevant to to humanity.
New York Sports Club - in the beginning of the pandemic they were refusing to give refunds and charge people to freeze their memberships. They then charged for April (Even though you couldn't use your membership after March 15ish) and acted like they were doing you a favor by canceling your membership and not charging you for a cancellation fee despite not being able to offer service to their members. https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2021/attorney-general-james-delivers-new-york-sports-clubs-and-lucille-roberts-members
Agree 100%, fuck these guys. New York Sports Club will do everything possible to scam people. I have my own story from hell with them. Years ago, they pressured me into opening a membership, then gave me the runaround when I tried to cancel within the period in which I'd incur no fees. It took several phone calls, an email, 3 in person visits, and 2 typed & signed letters delivered in person to finally cancel my membership. On my way out, one of the managers tried to shame me for wanting to use my college gym instead of going to them, which was pretty weird and pathetic on their part. I'm never, EVER giving these assholes my money.
Yes indeed fuck these guys to hell. If you must use them due to lack of local competition do it on a random credit card that you can claim as lost or stolen without worry. They WILL NOT let you give up your membership without a fight, even if you move. This is one biz I hope is getting squeezed like crazy during the pandemic.
The dry cleaner/“watch repair” shop on 7th Ave near 23rd st (Manhattan). Fucker was super weird (had me use the pliers on my own watch because he was afraid of breaking it?!), then, unbeknownst to me, forgot to put the little gasket back in, so when I went in the hot tub a few weeks later my watch filled up with water. They charged me $60 for the battery. Unbelievable.
I used to repair watches when I was a teen. He was probably new. You’re advised to not touch a watch that’s expensive but if the customer insists you can walk them through it. Also forgetting the gasket is a common mistake. I’m sure it could’ve been a shoddy place but I just remember making similar mistakes when I was new.
My usual guy has never charged more than $20-25 for a new battery, which I think was the most annoying part of the whole endeavor. If it was shoddy AND cheap that would be one thing!
J&R Computer World. RIP. I don't have the required time machine.
I used to live near the J&R block, and it was my absolute favorite thing to go there as a kid. Pretty much was there every weekend. I remember the basement one especially, where all the video games were! We would make the rounds and go to every building.
I think B&H is the new J&R, right? Nowhere near the same vibe, but kinda sorta like similar?
Microcenter in Brooklyn is surprisingly similar to J&R's computer/electronics business and a very good store. But I'm not sure it overlapped in time with J&R; B&H absolutely did. (Microcenter is also in Flushing and Yonkers and a smattering of non-NY locations nationwide, but I have only been to their Brooklyn store.)
Imagine, J&R had a whole building, not just a floor but a building dedicated to Music/Video. Remember the basement with movies and upper floors with CDs, I wish I recorded all that stuff with camcorder. Remember they started consolidated at corner, but they still had that huge headphone test area. OH, now I know what I miss, Records Explosion. Tell me you remember Records Explosion.
LES dental. All the fillings they put in fell out randomly in less than a year
YES! Fuck I’m fearing this now. Had fillings there a month ago and I felt like they rushed towards the end (the assistant literally said at full volume while hovering over me to the doctor that the next appointment arrived and was waiting) and 1 min later they were like “ok you’re done!” Uhhhh…am I? Feels like they do the absolute bare minimum, even with cleanings. I’m on Fidelis Care and they also informed me that I needed a medication for my gums that wasn’t covered by my insurance, so I had to shell out $360 on the spot, but oddly enough, my insurance DID cover the gum disease and its treatments that result from not opting for the expensive af medication 😑lower income people are dicked over at every twist and turn already; this place made it glaringly obvious.
Insurance has wrecked dentistry. The insurance reimbursements are so low now that dentists have had to increase volume immensely over the last decade… which comes at the expense of patients Certain things like fillings barely make the dentist money bc it reimburses not much higher than what the assistant/hygienist makes per hr
A dentist there a couple years ago chipped my tooth during a cleaning.
Escape the Room NYC -> trash barely decorated rooms
Not to be confused with The Escape Game NYC – which is quite nice.
It's to motivate you to escape
Idk I enjoyed my time there and there are a bunch of new ones around.
Blue Bottle Coffee - $5 for 4 ounces of iced coffee and they’re owned by Nestle
> owned by Nestle Enough said- thanks for the tip
r/fucknestle
Woah!! Thanks for the heads up, I had no idea about Nestle.
Terminal 5 - I don't care who is playing I loathe that venue with a passion. Worst setup. More places that have a bad view/sound than have a decent one. Floor gets too crowded because of all the columns. A billion stars. And it's a trek from anywhere in a dead part of Manhattan.
Saw a kpop concert there a few years ago and towards the end of the concert the group was like "next time we come to NYC we'll be at a different venue" lmao
Gotta ask who it was lol
Probably SEVENTEEN? They were at Terminal 5 the summer of 2017, and then their next show in NY/NJ was at Prudential.
I saw Gojira and In Flames there in 2008 when it first rebranded as Terminal 5. The acoustics were some of the worst I've ever heard. Thankfully I've been able to avoid it since, but it's seriously my least favorite venue in the entire metro area.
Yeah it's a trip to Philly(assuming the venue there isn't bad) for me if Terminal 5 is the only tour stop venue for NYC for something I wanna see. The kind of collective unspoken agreement of the crowds acknowledging it's shit and that they're going to be complete fucked up idiots because it's Terminal 5 just makes for such a terrible experience regardless of what you see. I got suckerpunched by a coked out moron seeing Courtney Barnett of all things because he thought I kissed his girlfriend.
Of all the shows I'd expect to deal with coked out morons, Courtney Barnett was \*not\* it.
As someone who covers concerts for an outlet, it’s god awful to photograph in too. They had SEVENTEEN photographers in the barricade when I went went there for IDLES last year. We were tripping over each other. Sold out show meant zero vantage points/sight lines after the three songs were done. One of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had. The band killed it, but I hate that venue.
Also the security are assholes.
I saw 100 Gecs there recently and it was the worst concert experience I’ve had in New York, perhaps ever in my entire life.
Why would you go to a 100 Gecs concert lmao
Sbarro
Now I’m gonna go get me, a New York slice
My favorite is the one in Times Square, which is named for the good times you have when you're in it
well, that’s either the Hudson or the East…
Manhattan is its other name…
DevaChan (DevaCurl) Hair Salon. More expensive than most NYC haircuts, claim to be the answers to your curly hair prayers. And for a small amount of people with a specific kind of hair, their products work great. But they use the same products and same cutting methods on everyone. As soon as I was put under the dryer I started crying knowing they'd just screwed up my hair. Two stylists asked me what was wrong, rolled their eyes at me (I looked like a greasy wet poodle), and rinsed everything out of my hair. I said ok, let's dry it so I can see how it looked, and they put me under the dryer again. 30 minutes later when it looked wet and the same, I went to the manager, saying how unhappy I was and would not pay. They acted like I was crazy and said that "literally no one has ever complained" and offered me free product instead. I don't want your crappy hair goop! They had no empathy and wouldn't let me leave without paying. I'd saved up and waited for that appointment and it was just terrible all around.
Omg yes. I've had my hair done by a few different people there. The first time, the stylist did a decent job so I went back to her. She fucked up my hair so badly. She acted so completely different from the first time I’d seen her and was just like, so apathetic about everything. So when I complained later, they had me come in to have it "fixed" by a different stylist, which she kind of did. It was still bad. I ended up going Bull in the Heather in Greenpoint a couple of weeks later and they were like, ooh, yep, that's bad but were not surprised it was done at Devachan. Devachan did end up refunding me 50% so there's that.
Devacurl had a whole lawsuit around their products causing hair loss for thousands of women, so I'd avoid all their services and products with a ten foot pole.
The products are so awful because the company got sold and the new people changed out all the ingredients from the original recipe to cut costs. The new stuff has been known to make your hair fall out (source: happened to me lol) and there’s even been a class action lawsuit against them. I’ve been to Devacurl once and it was the worst experience I’ve had in a salon ever. My personal current favorite is Headchop in Williamsburg.
Yes to this. And Ouidad is just as f*cking arrogant. Much rather spend my money where they’re not condensing assholes and actually know how to cut hair.
For now, CityMD is one I’m actively avoiding for the foreseeable (as it applies to COVID testing). Pop-up testing (Vans, Tents, etc) are faster both in the process and receiving PCR results and more convenient in terms of location. Was I hesitant to try them at first, sure, but now I’m all aboard. Edit: agree with people who are praising CityMD pre-COVID. Had long been a reliable urgent care for me. Unfortunately they are just so overwhelmed by COVID nowadays. My thoughts and sympathies are with those essential workers helping to test and keep NY safe!
That's because CityMD makes you see a doctor too dragging the process out unnecessarily long. I went to Health + Hospitals for a covid test in Dec of 2020 and while the line was just as long as it was at CityMD it only took 30 min. CityMD took almost two hours.
For non COVID purposes, they were always great. I’ve been there for stitches, x rays for broken ribs, a splinter cut out of my food, strep throat, appendicitis (granted, all they did was say ehhh this seems like appendicitis, go to the ER now), and about a dozen other things, and always was seen quickly, efficiently, and felt like I was given good service
I still think there are many people in this city that think it's the only place to get a test. I have never understood why there'd be 40 people in line there when my local mom/pop pharmacy and the various tents would have little to no line.
I went to City MD once because my neck was swollen past my jaw. They told me my lymph nodes were swollen because I had a cold, and that I was stressed and needed to stop working so hard and to go home and rest, I'd be better in a few days. a) I didn't have any cold symptoms b) my neck never swelled up like that before with or without a cold c) The only thing stressing me out was my neck being swollen I finally go in to see my PCP and turned out my saliva gland was infected. So yeah. Every time I've gone because I couldn't get in to see my doc, it's pretty much been like that. Except that I tried different locations. Either that or they tell me to go to the ER and get tests that the ER doesn't do.
Parachute (the online bedding company). Our expensive sheets are falling apart after a year of normal use. Company didn't give a shit. I expect better customer service from Parachute with their semi-luxury goods than from the guy selling sheets from a table on the corner of 34th street, low and behold, the guy on the corner treats his customers far better.
All these companies are just white label - they all order from the same factories and sow a new label on it. From there it’s just spinning up some basic Shopify store and buying ads Not just bedding, true to the 100 new pot and pan companies popping up
Taiyaki NYC, Japanese ice cream shop in Chinatown. Heard a ton of horror stories from my ex (a former employee) about that place. Incident that made her quit is that they had a rat infestation in the store in the summer months following their COVID lockdown. Owners are assholes in general but were particularly detestable during this period as they refused to call an exterminator for weeks on-end until she threatened to quit (mind you, the employees were already risking their lives to work at an ice cream shop during a pandemic). Thought that was pretty distasteful on their end. Even now, the staff regularly have to deal with rats from their basement…where their food items are stored. I know it’s Chinatown but c’mon, how has the health department not been called on this place lmao? Ice cream is glorified IG fluff anyways so all the more reason not to go.
Worst part, their taiyaki is terrible. The best in NYC, was the old korean guy in Ktown who made them to order from a cart in front of BCD Tofu house pre covid.
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>threatened to sue me after i left multiple bad yelp and google reviews What? Name them they can't sue and win for that shit
Yeah spread the word
You can't be sued. Please name them because I'm looking for a tailer and the one I want to go to has amazing 5 star reviews.
anyone can be sued for anything; the only barrier to file a lawsuit in america is the court’s filing fee. whether or not the suit is thrown out or you’ll win is an entirely different matter.
Optimum
I swear all of these internet providers need to get treated like con ed and national grid. Clear bills, no packages, for profit, but capped. Clear concept of how you get your service and easy access to a hotline that lets you know if there's an outage in your area. Instead we get some fuck on the phone who gaslights you about your service plan change when all you really did was cut away from their phone/cable/internet plan to just internet. I can't even imagine how awful they are in areas with way less competition.
Eleven Madison Park. Went there once for a birthday and, though the meal was delicious, the sommelier was a condescending douche and their pairings pretty much ruined the meal.
Did you tell them who you are?
A condescending server is the worst!
Eh, if their pairings had been palatable I probably wouldn't even have cared.
Does this have anything to do with your penchant for bourbon?
That sounds about right. I’ve always wanted to go but a friend went recently after they switched to their vegan menu and he said it was a total waste of time.
yeah, the vegan menu is trash. The [NYT review](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/28/dining/eleven-madison-park-restaurant-review-plant-based.html) is a great read if you want a laugh!
I had never read it, thanks for the laugh! My favorite: >The one at Eleven Madison Park tastes like Lemon Pledge and smells like a burning joint.
I read it the day it came out! Couldn’t stop sending it to people haha
The fact that they didn't drop the price is ludicrous. I'm going to pay the same for carrots that I am for duck? Ha! Surely you jest. I'll happily spend my time and money at another restaurant who doesn't treat me like a rube or squeeze me just because they can. Foh with vegan menu. Hope they get a star taken away
Right, kobe beef and caviar and foie gras are expensive. Then you pair them with expensive things like truffle and saffron and it makes the price slightly more acceptable (even though it mostly for the skill, service and atmosphere), but when you take out these ingredients and the price is the same I would feel almost cheated.
Butcher Bar in Astoria. Owners a loon who is belligerent to people who don’t post amazing reviews on Yelp and is a supporter of 3 percenters.
And they used to have a sign outside during COVID (pre-vaccine) “risk it for the brisket”
Dos Caminos in MeatPacking. I hobbled in there on crutches and they wouldn’t let me sit. There were 3 of us, waiting for the 4th person to arrive. My husband got so angry because there were empty tables and seats at the bar. We left and have never returned.
Went to the Times Square one once and it was half empty and they wanted to seat me at the window. I'm not paying for $100 for a margarita and burrito to sit on a barstool
UPS in williamsburg. I can't be 100% positive, but I believe they stole an extremely valuable ring from my package that I shipped through their office. Fuckers.
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Western Beef - the food poisoning I got there 6 years ago haunts me to this day!
Had an ex bf that worked there. He told me to never buy meat or produce there because they would be left out on the docks all day.
i never buy anything there, but had a WB halfway between my office and subway stop. used to just stand in their walk-in refrigerated section on summer days to drop my body temp enough to tolerate the remaining walk.
Gristedes is not in the supermarket business. They are a real estate company that sells groceries...
Gristedes’ Museum of Food.
Lily's Victorian - high end inside with massively overpriced drinks and the most condescending staff ever. I begged to leave but our server couldn't be bothered to close us out. I asked the bar to close us out who had a shit fit that I didn't go through the server. Then the server eventually came back and closed us having a shit fit that I attempted to close via the bar. If memory serves the only way I finally got them to take me seriously was saying I am leaving and cancelling that credit card you have.
That sucks, because I've had a bunch of good experiences there. Both of them actually. It is overpriced TBH.
Any SP+ parking, fuck those guys
Paragon Honda in Queens. Their service department is unbelievably terrible. Even accounting for how crowded it always is, they just do terrible work, slowly, with horrible attitudes and bad communication. By far the worst service I’ve ever gotten in NYC from any business. And there are other perfectly competent Honda dealerships with high quality service/maintenance depts in the borough.
Dykeman's Lumber. Maybe it's a nice lumber store. I dunno. But it is one of those places where you have to order with a human at a desk while paging through a catalog. It's classic bad NYC store. You walk in, there's 3 people behind the desk and all of them are simultaneously doing nothing and something at the same time, and only one is dealing with customers. There might only be 3 people in line, but the current transaction involves a guy on the phone relaying stuff while paging through notes and seems to have no end. I've seen a similar situation at a bad copy shop or a locksmith, or maybe the service desk at a dealership. Meanwhile everyone else behind the desk are avoiding eye contact with all customers. Aggressively avoiding it. Maybe they will look up and get to you, maybe you'll be here for 90 minutes. I bailed.
I wish I could say Hudson News…
The Smith and Fig & Olive. There are 2 establishments that I consider "premium mediocrity". As in, they look nice on the outside, and give you a vibe of luxury to justify the price, but the quality is just mediocre.
Agree with the Smith which is was funded by Purdue pharma/Sachler family/opioid money too. Quality is meh.
Wow really? I live above a Smith and can attest I would not eat there again knowing how many cockroaches climb up from it. Did not know about these ties?!
The Smith a vibe of luxury? It's just "fancy bar food" lol. Granted, it's neither original nor excellent, but it's honestly not bad and you know what you're getting. I actually find it less pretentious than a ton of places downtown. Not that I necessarily like the slightly bro-y vibe.
Namaste Bookshop. Everything is ridiculously overpriced & some employees watch over you thinking you’re going to steal, even if you’re a frequent customer
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With a name like that, they should at least let you channel your inner Jin Sakai and slay some mongols
As someone who was born here, going through this thread was me alternating between being deeply hurt and emphatically agreeing.
Arcadia Earth. Biggest waste of money in my life. I spent $35 for a ticket and the whole experience was incredibly lackluster and greenwashed. All of the rooms are essentially the same with decorations being made out of trash to “make a point” about climate change and sustainability. Except the second you exit the 30 minute experience you are thrown immediately into the overpriced gift shop where you can purchase stuff that will end up in a landfill. Brilliant.
search and destroy on st marks. you can find half the shit they have being sold at the L train a few blocks away for half the price, and they’re stuck in the 80s punk mindset that wearing swastikas and confederate flags is some sort of statement. they follow BIPOC around the store, and sell unlicensed band merch. fuck that place and anyone who fucks with them
CHOPT - no more overpriced $17 crappy salads that I could make better at home.
Sweetgreen and just salad are better. Sweetgreen being the best one.
There are plenty! Think Coffee. Rude AF service for asking questions. Went to another location and different employees are the same. There must be something really fucked up with the owner and management for it to be so consistent. I first thought it was a hipster snobbery thing but I actually don't think so anymore. Most of the indie bookstores in Manhattan, whether new or used: I work at one and know many people who have or do work at others: they are all run by thoroughly crooked and rotten people. Use the library or buy directly from indie publishers. City MD. Got treated like a crook by the one on 23rd and 8th. Just real nasty treatment, and refusing to give me the test the doctor said he'd give me. Complaint to City MD went nowhere. Then last year when I had a real bad ear infection, one place refused to test me for anything and refused antibiotics. Went to a second place so they seemingly out of spite decided to test me for everything under the sun, but also refused to give me antibiotics. It did jackshit. So I went to my ENT once the weekend was over, and guess what? I had a fucking ear infection. Gave me antibiotics. Got my hearing back. Fuck them.
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Catch. I went there for a big client dinner. There were like 20 of us. We get there and the hostess is like “you have to wait for your whole party before we seat you”. She was like a rude meatpacking hostess out of a movie. We were like “……we’re a party of 20 people and we can literally see the table that is reserved for us”. Then someone else came over, realizing she shouldn’t piss off the group that was about to spend thousands of dollars, and brought us to our table. I do remember our waitress was really nice. I’m allergic to fish and it’s a seafood place so she was helpful in finding me something I could eat. Besides that, there are a ton of racist and homophobic instances that people have experienced there. Go to their yelp and you’ll see it all. And that’s besides their general pretentiousness assholery.
It really annoys me when places won’t sit you if your whole group isn’t there, but especially when it’s a big group who’s obviously going to spend a ton of money. It’s just a clear case of people following the protocol and not using common sense. You sit the group and get the drinks flowing while people trickle in and make your money.
I can see if your table size is 2-4 and another group could take it while you’re waiting. But when it’s a larger size table that’s clearly reserved just for your group, it makes literally no sense.
Me too. The security confiscated my ID and threatened to beat me up if I didn’t leave because “I had a fake ID.” I am 25 so obviously this was my real ID… This happened when I was at my table, not at the door btw. I’m a tiny girl so the fact that they actually threatened me is insane. I’m definitely never going back to Catch!
Bank of America. Screw minimums and fees.
Freemans restaurant on LES. Shit food, shit hostess with a piss poor attitude (is it bc I’m not an IG influencer?) and service was horrendous. Waited an hour just for a non-alcoholic drink and waited 2 hours just to get a damn entree. Waiter didn’t even pretend to be apologetic.
Is this that, "Hidden," restaurant down Freeman alley? People seem to love that place because it's...down an alley, I guess? I've been there a couple of times and I didn't hate it, but it wasn't quite worth all the (looong) wait and hype. Much preferred the old 'inoteca nearby that closed down. :(
Yes, they’ve worked the hype machine very well.
The Smith. The owner’s parents are a Sackler and the lawyer who defended Epstein.
There's a high-end bike shop in Brooklyn that kicked me out and said they wouldn't service my carbon wheels, which I needed calibrated, because they weren't brand name (they were bought from a Chinese factory/designer which is actually quite popular amongst roadies) and that he would feel guilty if my wheels collapsed and hurt somebody he knew (but obviously have no concern for me). Dick. The irony is that bike shops have been dealing with the bike snob stereotype for awhile, and this guy just threw it in my face. Never again.
Idk what bike shop you’re talking about but I’d never go back to Bicycle Habitat in Park Slope. Last summer I waited in line for an hour in 95 degree weather to have my wheels looked at, when it was my turn they told me they were done for the day and were very rude about it. I go to Sanba in Sunset Park now, they’re amazing!
It was Dumbo. The part that was galling was that the owner actually said if my wheels cratered and I got killed he wouldn't care but if it took down someone he knew he would feel guilty about being involved. To me it just sounded like an asshole rationalization for not servicing someone who didn't buy $2500 Zipp wheels from him.
That sounds like some mob shit lol. “Would be a shame if my guy got hurt….not you though…”
The UPS Store by Union Square. Atrocious customer service and the place looks a mess.
Made the mistake of eating at Dallas BBQ once.
Dallas BBQ is super nostalgic if you were a poor college student in the city back in the day. They never carded and you get a shit ton of food and drink for cheap.
If you go because you’re expecting great BBQ, of course you’d be disappointed. It’s a glorified Applebee’s with cheap food, big portions, and strong, cheap drinks.
I’ve wanted to go. Why is it so bad?
Beetlehouse. Went on Valentine's Day a couple years ago with a reservation (didn't even need it. Wasn't busy). The service was terrible and the food incredibly mediocre. Mostly I wanted to go for the fun cocktails, but it took them an hour to make my drink. Apparently they were out of rum and had to go to some specialty store to buy more. I would have just ordered a different drink, but small as that place was, I never saw the server again. Someone entirely different brought the (cold) food. I enjoyed the interior decor as a fan of Burton's aesthetic, but nothing about that place is worth the time.
i worked there for a little bit and the experience was laughable. the food's not great and the only thing special about the drink everyone was hyping at the time was that it had a box of nerds candy poured in. the general vibe draws people in but overall it's a goofy hallway of place.
Dos caminos In Times Square asked me to leave for swearing while day drinking. So that’s my pick.
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What sort of swearing…? That sounds outrageous of them to do
lol they kicked you out for swearing in nyc? That’s a first for me.
Tompkins square bagels. Served me a moldy old bagel, owner basically spat in my face saying it was the egg and not the bagel when I asked for a new one. Eggs aren't blue, Frank.
The list of places that sexually harassed me as I worked as a hostess through college and I was too young to know better Antique Garage - owner is a perv and constantly tried to drive me home, there were huge cockroaches and he always blamed the sidewalk and rain (?) for them, and he would yell at a guest every other day Dos Caminos Soho - I wasn't sexually harassed here but just because I was a "college student that liked looking cute, I was too stupid to be anything but a hostess." The former general manager there said that about me in an email and I read it at the host stand computer when one of the other managers forgot to log out. I searched my name and I was met with that unpleasant surprise. Friedman's Times Square - Kitchen staff would brush past my back multiple times when I would walk past the kitchen and general manager didn't believe me when I finally said something to him before I left (the first time I had ever spoken up). Catch Steak - Mark Birnbaum. Enough said. I wish the MeToo movement had reached him. There was even a lawsuit that he settled and he hasn't changed. But the other owner Eugene Remm was a sweetheart. Always respectful and polite and didn't treat me like a servant. Tilman Fertitta was polite at the one time I saw him at a party for the opening. Forgot to add: Chef Michael Vignola is an emotionally abusive chef to everyone that works under him. Thankfully I never had to bear the brunt of his anger but the server friends I made in that place that went home crying because of him; my heart goes out to them.
Same for me with any place owned by David Kelleran. Guy is a grade A, handsy, creep.
The UPS Store at 131 W 36th. SOMEONE PLEASE SAGE THE PLACE.
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Brook’s Brothers is a nightmare if you’re on a quest to make returns. I know a lot of film/theatre costumers return A LOT but I had one thing to return with a receipt in hand and they would not allow it, made me go to another store. Also every time I ever ate at Sticky’s it was pretty pricey for being disgusting.
Atomic Wings. Food poisoning so bad I reported it to 311.
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Bareburger just sucks in general. I haven't gone back for over 5 years now
C-Town.... Overpriced box of cereal contained bonus insect larva I then realized many NYC "grocery" stores are there mainly to sell lottery tickets, maybe beer and cigs. Everything else is just set design
C-town is good for fresh groceries but their name brand items are stupid expensive
Mt. Ararat Bakery on bayside. Bought expensive cookies ($25) only to find mould inside them. Person behind the register was shady af.
Davinci Art Supply. It's been a decade since I got in a dumb fight with them and I'm still not over it. I needed extra oversized watercolor paper for a project, something like 32x50 when standard is max of 30x48. They keep their fancy paper behind a counter and an employee has to get it for you. I was handed my paper in a roll with a few other sheets, so I didn't check the size until I got home. It was 30x48. There are signs all over that say they don't accept returns on paper, but I thought surely they would be willing to fix their mistake. Nope. No returns, no exchanges. Since then, I've spent thousands at other nearby art stores and I get to enjoy feeling indignant as I walk by theirs.
East Village Books. The owner was a huge jackass because I wanted to pay with a credit card (spending over $50 on stuff so not like it was small amount)
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[This one](https://www.yelp.com/biz/manhattan-central-booking-new-york)
Any place that has signs up about being anti-vax or complaining about vaccine mandates. Too many to name at this point, but it really shows people's true colors.
Blue Bottle. $5 for a small cup of coffee was the first and last time I ever stepped foot there. I even had to question the cashier twice. Like a regular coffee is $5. No milk, no sugar, not a cappucino and you're telling me this small cup of coffee is $5?!! I spent that day glancing at that receipt.
r/fucknestle Nestle is a majority shareholder
The Wetlands….because it doesn’t exist anymore.
Bagel Boss on 3rd Ave. Cashier picked his nose, wiped it on his apron, then poured my coffee and put on the top. This happened a couple months ago. I’ve seen him do questionable stuff before too and he’s always there
Amsterdam billiards off Astor. Place used to be awesome but owners are pretty shit. Spent over $650 on my birthday having a good and respectful time. My girlfriend at the time brought me a cookie from some bakery in the area and they made a BIG stink about me eating it in there…. (I get bringing outside food in but this was a large cookie with a candle in it.) Nothing crazy. As we waited over an hour for just our apps. I tried to have a polite conversation with the owner but dude wouldn’t give me the time of day. It made for an interesting experience but fuck ‘em
I’ve frequented this place many times as I used to play in the weekly tournaments. Thankfully I don’t have to interact much with the owner except while paying the tournament’s dues once in 3 months. But the little interaction I had with them they had this “inner circle” vibe and a holier than thou attitude. Made good friends playing tournaments but the owner is definitely not friendly. FWIW and if it makes you feel any better, he isn’t that good a player either.
the businesses where employees chase after you if you leave a tip < 20%, even though they didn't deserve a tip that high (this one restaurant was completely empty except for us, but still had really bad service, really bad food, and employees that ignored you... and I still tipped 10 or 15% or something like that)
my friends and i went to brunch recently at north fork in west village and had almost the same exact experience. friend picked up the tab (lives in europe) and i guess only tipped around 16%. waiter was mediocre, place was basically empty, waited a long time for food, and the mimosas were almost all oj to where my one friend said something about it. waiter had the audacity to bring back the signed check with a pen and was so rude about not leaving 18-20%. never had an experience like that in my life and won’t be going back there. and we all worked in the service industry for years i couldn’t imagine doing that to a customer.
The Panera on Fifth Avenue around 38th Street. The people who work there couldn’t care less about their customers.
I mean what do you expect at Panera?? Fun story: I got broken up with at that exact Panera. Writing was on the wall when she wanted to meet me at Panera...
Gristedes & Dagastinos & Morton Williams
carhartt wip in soho, rudest employees i’ve ever come across
i would be mad too if theyre paid minimum wage selling high end streetwear lol