Smith and Wollensky & Wollensky's Grill

[thereuare]

After eating a few meals at the NYC Smith and Wollensky in the past, i received an email regarding a "price fixed" dinner for ฮ.01 and my wife and i decided to try it (the email showed the menu, which included appetizer, entree, and dessert).  A very good dinner (food wise) was destroyed by a waiter (G. Donnelly) that made us feel like second class citizens.  He was noticebly upset when he learned we were ordering the price fixed meal (even though we ordered drinks and a "side" as well).  

Additionally, the email received stated that caesar salad was one appetizer choice, yet we were told that we could only choose from a house salad or pea soup.  The same thing ocurred with dessert, where the email states that Apple Brown Betty is an option, but we were told it wasn't.  We were told that the NYC location doesn't participate in that exact program, yet the email states: "Valid at any Smith & Wollensky."  By the way, I even called the restaurant beforehand to ensure that they participated in the ฮ.01 dinner promotion.

Dinner still ran 贄 (which is not a cheap dinner in my book) and we were looking for a good time, but unfortunately we didn't get it.

What are other people's experiences with taking advantage of promotions such as this, and how do you handle it if/when you're treated poorly because of it?  

[Fat Guy]

If a restaurant chooses to participate in a promotion -- for whatever reason, even if it is with reluctance -- it should treat customers utilizing that promotion exactly the same as it treats customers paying full price. Sadly this ideal is realized only once in a blue moon. In particular the waiters hate promotions because they see them as a form of theft: They are having their income decreased by management in order to promote the restaurant (income goes down because tips are lower on lower checks). Why, they think, should the financial burden of promotions fall on them? Not a bad point when you think about it. It's even worse with a national promotion by a chain, since New York waiters suffer a higher cost of living yet are suddenly getting compensated at nationally uniform rates. So I suppose many of them hope consciously or unconsciously that by providing a bad experience to customers utilizing promotions they will discourage such promotions in the future. Management too tends to hem and haw a bit about promotions. They behave in a self-defeating manner, first creating a promotion and then honoring it poorly, thus eliminating whatever public relations benefit was originally sought. This doesn't happen everywhere. At Danny Meyer's restaurants when they do promotions they do them with eyes wide open, with aplomb, and with the cooperation of the staff. Reports from customers are always glowing.

That being said, nobody can make you feel like a second-class citizen. A person can attempt to make you feel that way, but you have to cooperate in order actually to feel that way. So if you wind up in a situation where someone is trying to make you feel bad, just smile and send the signals that you couldn't care less about what this irrelevant person thinks of you. And then complain in person to management and in writing to the owners. It is not too late for the letter-writing part of that.

Obviously, when a meal turns into an adversarial situation, your enjoyment is diminished. It defeats a main purpose of going out to eat instead of cooking at home. But if it does turn into a restaurant versus customer experience, you as a customer have a duty to all your fellow customers to achieve victory.

Most importantly, if your complaint is not resolved successfully, do not return to the restaurant.

[Ruby]

If I'm treated badly in a restaurant, whether I'm there for a promotion or not, someone in charge there will hear about it. I won't tolerate any blatant attitude. Smith & Wollensky obviously offered this promo to entice customers into their various restaurants--to surmise that servers in the New York restaurant feel cheated with promos because the dinner cost is lower and so is the tip is IMO totally illogical and doesn't justify bad behavior. I would have had a little talk with that waiter with attitude. This is your hard-earned money. Smith & Wollensky emailed you that promo; they came to you--you didn't solicit them.

I believe it was Eleanor Roosevelt who said "Nobody can make you feel like a second class citizen unless you give them permission." So, Thereyouare, don't take any more crap, okay?

[macrosan]

I only ever visited S&W once (in NYC), and never will again.

I also had the surly waiter problem (this wasn't a promo, btw) and had it reinforced by a surly maitre d' to whom I complained (after the first course). I wrote and complained and never received a reply.

Maybe my impression of the food was colored by the bad service (OK OK not maybe, definitely ;)) but I thought they spent more time preparing the cutlery than the steaks. I found the the food very average.

[Bux]

The quality of food should not be marred by service, but the enjoyment of that quality can be marred, if not ruined. In the end, that's what counts. I can overcome less than perfect ervice and many minor flaws, but there comes a point when the experience is unplesant and the food can't help enough.

[thereuare]

Just to follow-up because i said that i would....

I sent an email to S+W and they apologized for the poor attitude and said that discipline action has been taken against the waiter.

Regarding the NYC location not having the same promotion, they did say that the NYC menu was different.  They defended themselves, admitting that the promo said that it was "valid at any Smith & Wollensky" but that NYC was not listed on the email (incidentally, there was only ONE location mentioned on the email, but based upon their reply, the offered menu was valid nationally, just NOT in NYC).

They invited me back to partake in the price fixed dinner once again as their guest, but i don't think i'll be taking them up on their offer.

[jaybee]

Took a client to lunch at Wollensky's Grill yesterday. Crowded and loud but a fantastic burger and home fries. Big, charred outside, great beefy taste, cooked as ordered. If you want, you can order from the full S&W menu. I saw someone eating a killer rib eye.

49th Street just off Third Ave. No reservations.

[tommy]

Took a client to lunch at Wollensky's Grill yesterday.  Crowded and loud but a fantastic burger and home fries.  Big, charred outside, great beefy taste, cooked as ordered.  If you want, you can order from the full S&W menu.  I saw someone eating a killer rib eye.

49th Street just off Third Ave.  No reservations.

was that your first time at the grill?

i've found the service so atrocious that i vowed to never return. but i am a sucker for a good burger, so i think i'll try it again.

ediot: speeling.

[Wilfrid]

I recall a dining companion ordering chopped beef in the main restaurant, and getting what was in effect a burger. Is there a distinction here? In other words, are there two different dishes at SW?

[Jason Perlow]

What does Wollensky Grill charge for their burger nowadays?

[jaybee]

Second time there.

Service was fine.

Burger is probably half the size of a chopped steak.

Burger with potatos (fries), tomato and lettuce is $12.

Place is chaotic but you can zone in at your table.

The burger is great.

[Shermar]

The Grill used to have wonderful baby back ribs (which you couldn't get in the main room) back when I was a frequent customer a decade ago. Controlled chaos was the norm then too.

[eatpie]

Funny, once I get seated at the Grill (which can be a moderate pain in the arse) I've always found the service to be quite good.

The lunch burgers are quite good but I am a bigger fan of their Colorado Rib Eye. It is not on the menu but it's always a special. Only complaint would be that the cut can vary in size occasionally from "wow, what an icredible slab of meat" to "shit, this was $30+ $'s." In their defense, the latter has only happened to me once or twice - Ive had it at least 20x.

[johnjohn]

I used to work across the street, and have had the burger while sitting at the bar for lunch a few times. I've always thought it was a good meal and the service at the bar was great.

I did have the hashbrowns once and they came soaked in oil/butter - there was a pool of it around the edges. We sent them back and a new plate arrived that was exactly the same. I understand the fat is what makes them taste so good, but thought it was a little overboard.

johnjohn

[senor hamachi]

A few years ago a colleague and I found ourselves flying to NYC quite often for work. We would arrive on the last non-red eye flight of the day from Los Angeles and would want to go out for a bite before checking into our hotel. On one of these outings we hit the grill at Wollensky's. It was pretty late and I didn't know if I could handle an entire steak right before bedtime. I asked the waiter what was better, the club sandwich or burger. His reply was: "The sirloin! You don't come to Wollensky's for the club sandwich!" My colleague and I still chuckle about that one once in a while.

[mogsob]

The burger is great, and the ribs are some of the best in NYC, but I never get either due to the presence of the roast beef hash on the menu. One of the great unique NYC dishes and the single best reason for going to the Grill.

[tommy]

holy cow. i think i want to marry jaybee.

i stopped at S&W, going against the promise i made to myself (and only on the recs from you people), and ordered the burger. and what a fine burger it was!! yaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!!! jaybee did a nice job of describing it (crust, beefy). it's just the right thickness as well.

i asked for raw onion. the plate came out with raw onion and tomato. no lettuce contrary to what jaybee suggests. didn't bother me as i don't eat lettuce on burgers, but you might want to not make any assumptions when ordering.

the service at the bar is most likely more consistent than in the dining room. it's your typical old-school new york ruddy-faced bartender. quite efficient.

burger was about 12 bucks and a glass of suitably fruity and pleasantly tannic cotes du rhone was 10 or so. note: you can go broke drinking wine by the glass here. the cheapest was 10, and the others were more like 12, 14, 22, and 27.

i'll be back (but at the bar).

note: the bar at the grill is non-smoking, which might appeal to some people.

thanks to all reminding me of this option!