by B.J. on @ Zofia...I'm a bartender and its standard procedure to hold on to a license until a tab is closed. So he was not wrong for that. The rudeness of the staff I can understand but that particular procedure cannot be faulted.
by Henry B. on I agree with just about everyone on here--great drinks, great ambiance and all-together, a nice bar. But I have to give it two stars. Because all of that was entirely offset by one particularly rude employee working the floor. From reading through rateclubs, it seems like I am not the first person to run into this problem. It started when we were waiting to get our drinks. Obviously we weren't clinging close enough to the bar, because the same guy kept (physically!) pushing us closer--to the point where we were uncomfortably crushed together. After getting our drinks, we high-tailed out of there because this guy was clearly on a power trip. We ended up in the main open area, pressed up against the stage they have there. It turns out you're not allowed to place glasses on the thing--which we figured out pretty quickly. The kicker came when another group of friends joined up with us. When one of the girls in the group put her glass on the stage, the same guy from before instantly appeared--and took her drink! He just...walked off with it. I tried to reason with him but he explained that it was " their policy" and that "there was nothing I can do about it." But it was the smirk on his face that did all the explaining. That degree of rudeness completely ruins the ambiance and more than offsets the quality of drinks. And from the sound of it, my experience certainly wasn't unique. A shame really...
by Mary J. on Of course it all depends on which night you go...for instance, PST...I love it...theee best deejays come out to spin at this, but any other time does not interest me. The bartender/backroom employees are just plain rude.
by Zofia Bloch on This place is apparently a fantastic restaurant. I wouldn't know; I've only experienced it as a nightclub. I guess when dinner is over they turn this place over, removing all the tables, etc...to make it a nightclub. Who knows..the experience begins with your typical, 4 guys manning the door, all with lists, looking much more important than they are. After checking id's and getting past the gestapo, you are asked to pay a $15 cover. Fine. It happens..I wouldn't ordinarily pay a cover to enjoy a Saturday night (on 57th St, no less) , but we were there meeting friends, and didn't really have a choice. The interior of the place is beautiful; I will give it that. It's an old church, that became Le Bar Bat, and recently was redesigned as Providence. It's multi-leveled, and there are various stairways that snake through the place. We head over to the bar and I plunk down my credit card to pay for a round of drinks for 3 of us, which comes to over $30. The bartender informs me that to use a credit card, I need to start a tab, and they have a minimum credit card charge of $75. I am starting to grow annoyed. I can understand if I am trying to pay for a pepsi with a credit card--but a $75 minimum? Give me a break. My boyfriend convinces me that in this overpriced place that is equal to one more round of drinks, so I agree to the tab minimum. But it doesn't stop there--the bartender tells me I have to leave not just my credit card in his care, but my driver's license as well. WHAT? You need to see it, to verify my identity, fine. You need to HOLD it until I close out my tab?? For what? Well the bartender then got very snippy (mind you, it was also about 12:30am and the place was EMPTY) and he told me that it was standard practice to do both these things. I beg to differ. So, this place doesn't have an ATM inside, so if you don't come equipped with cash, be prepared to piss away a lot of dough. Oh, and the scene? Terrible.
