C.A.N.

Review of O'Hara's Pub

Awful, just awful. In from out of town and checke...

Awful, just awful. In from out of town and checked in late at a nearby hotel after a 5hr flight. I was looking for somewhere to unwind and get some food before bed. Decided to try here. For starters the server was not attentive at all. At first my food came out incorrectly and salad missing. I tried a french fry and actually spat it out as it tasted old and was flat out cold, not a degree above room temp. My salad came but no cutlery. I had to find someone and ask them for cutlery so I could actually eat my food. Finally when this was done I began on the sandwich. Horrendous (and I don't use that word lightly). The bun was hardened and crusty (ie old), pickles missing, and that must've been the end of the sauce because there was so little on there you couldn't taste it. I waited for the server to return to explain my disappointment....and waited.....and waited. Giving up, tired and hungry, I literally scraped the chicken and tomato out of this mess, ate that, and left everything else on my plate bun and fries incl. Like an idiot lost out at sea, I'm peering around the restaurant corner to corner looking to flag down my waitress to clear my plate. When she finally came I took the time to explain everything that was wrong with my experience so far. She didn't really have much to say but worse off not even an apology for my dissatisfaction. She was quite standoffish. Feeling defeated I just asked for my bill so I could go. It comes, with everything on there, full price. At this point feeling completely uncared for I decided to speak up and I gently explained to her that I find it a bit surprising that after I politely but clearly explained how bad I thought the food was I was still expected to just accept it and pay full price too. Her response "well you never told me there was a problem with your food until now"! So the question begs, how on earth is a customer supposed to express any concerns for their meal if their waitress NEVER COMES TO THE TABLE after getting their food! To be clear she never came once, I had to flag her down to clear everything. But flabbergasted at her response I just laughed as I suddenly realized it was like dealing with a child so I just elected to pay my cheque and go to bed, hungry I might add, without any more unnecessary conversation. On the way back to my hotel I called the restaurant and spoke with a manager. I just felt compelled that someone who had perhaps a vested interest in their business would be interested in knowing just how awful I thought there place was. To his credit, he said all the right things and apologized and invited me back to make things right. Sometimes things happen or just go wrong and that's acceptable, but it's how it's handled that makes all the difference and in my case, I'm pretty sure I won't go back even though I am frequently put up in that neighborhood. This is New York City the choices are endless.