The Beagle on Avenue A

[weinoo]

Warning...If you don't like to read something negative about a restaurant, please turn away.

Last night was my second trip to The Beagle this past week, and my wife and I had tossed around the idea of having dinner at the bar, after indulging in a few of the excellent cocktails. Only, it wasn't to be.

Why? Well, let's just put it this way; we were greeted at the door by perhaps the most unfriendly hostess (Significant Eater used a different word for her, but I don't use that kind of language) I have ever experienced in NYC...or anywhere else, for that matter. Maybe it was the fact that it was raining? Maybe it was the fact that I don't fit the demographic - although at every other place where the staff wears plaid shirts (The Fat Radish, for example), we've been treated like welcome customers. After all, isn't that the job of the person who greets you at the door - to make you feel welcome? Now, I do realize that I might have made an egregious mistake by attempting to put my umbrella into the umbrella basket without first making sure that it was closed up all nice and tight, but I still don't think that's a reason to treat a customer like a 6-year old who just spilled milk all over the place. Actually, if anyone ever treated a 6-year old like that, they'd probably be brought up on child-abuse charges.

Be that as it may, I want to point out again that the cocktails were great. Both Tom and Abigail were behind the stick last night and treated us very nicely. Although if I was picking nits, I'd wonder why, at times, there are 5 people behind the bar. Isn't that a few too many, especially when your bar seats maybe 8 people tops?

Oh, and on the way out, the hostess was just as unpleasant. So I have an idea for those 2 extra people behind the bar. Go work the front door, and make your customers feel welcome - even if they bring in an umbrella.