Azucar (not sweet)

Longtime lurker, but had to take the plunge as I think this is what the forum is designed for. I thank everyone for the information I've gained over the years. And now it's my turn to share.

New years eve was our third visit to Azucar and we thought it would be a nice local place to spend ring in the new year. We were a party of three and I had called ahead and made a reservation for 9pm, I was told on the phone that was great and they are having a champagne toast at midnight. We got to the restaurant on time and were warmly greeted by the owner and given a choice of tables, we picked the the high top near the bar. This ended up being a mistake as our waiter was also the bartender (a bad management choice especially on nye). The manager came over and informed us of a couple of specials for the evening and again of the toast. The barman/waiter came over and we told him we were going to take our time order some cocktails and start small. We ordered the special flatbread and olives and they came out fine. Had to flag down the busboy to get more service, but no big deal. We then ordered the artichokes, shrimp and tortilla. After 30 minutes we again had to ask the busboy about our order, finally the artichokes came out. The manager then came by and informed us it would be about 10 minutes for the rest. Again this was a bit annoying, but liveable as we wanted to stretch the evening out. It was now 11pm and the two tapas arrived at our table. Seeing as how the kitchen was slow, we decided to immediately place our order for the "bigger" tapas. However, we were informed by the barman/waiter that the kitchen was now closed.

"What?!" How could the kitchen at a tapas place on nye be closed at 11 with full restaurant? More importantly nobody told us it would be closing at 11. He went back to check, but again said the kitchen was closed. We then asked to talk to the manager, who came by 5 minutes later and greeted us with "so what's the problem? Well the problem is nobody told us the kitchen was closing at 11 when we made the reservation, when we walked in, or when we ordered a couple of times. Your server f@##ed up and we are busy was the reply, no you are the manager and you f@#$ed up and we are still hungry was our reply. He then told us there was nothing he could do but would we stay for the champane toast? (Which was now 45 minutes later) Obviously we said no and again questioned why they would close so early and not tell us. Still without even an apology he said we could leave if we wanted, after getting over the shock of this statement we called his bluff and got up to leave. We were in for over $100 at this point, as well. Then as we were putting our coats on he said he hopes we don't leave with a bad taste in your mouth, we said how could you not even apologize. HIs reply again was the kitchen was closed and everyone else had their orders in already and there was nothing he could do.

All it would have taken was a sincere apology and check if there was anything left for us to eat, last time I checked Azucar doesn't make their own cheese. So I gave the busboy $20 in front of the manager since he was the only help of the evening and walked out the door. And will never return again.

We then celebrated New Years at dunlays with a nice beer, pizza and service. Cant wait for Ciao Pizzeria and Longman and Eagle to open, hopefully it's a tight squeeze for Azucar.

nice first post,one word; UNFRIGGINBELIEVABLE !!! such a shame! p.s. BEST TO ALL IN 2010 .....597!

markski wrote:Your server f@##ed and we are busy was the reply, ...

farted?

Kennyz wrote:

markski wrote:Your server f@##ed and we are busy was the reply, ...

farted?

No, no. The server fapped. Under the circumstances, one can understand why the service suffered.

Azucar sucks. I want it to be good because I live down the street, but it just isn't. Sorry it screwed up your NYE!

borismom wrote:Azucar sucks.

Would you mind expanding on "sucks" please.

Only as it pertains to Azucar

kenny &jils I think it rhymes with ducked.

Local597 you are correct, no need to actually write the appalling language used by the manager that evening.