09/26/09

Great place, bad service

by chemao

The floor plan is open, yet recessed so it doesn't feel like a cafe. The bar needs room for making orders, bc the entire bar is blocked by chairs so you either squeeze between others or wave your hands wildly to get the bartender's attention.

The system they're using to manage songs is great. You have an LCD panel and keypad at each table so you can browse the database easily. I read and write Chinese, but I'm sure the lack of a cryptic Chinese remote is great for the English-speaking crowd. The songs are played table by table, with 2 songs per table max before the next table gets a song. It's a fair system and with 6 stations, a typical wait time would be about 20 minutes -- not bad.

The sound system is good. It is pretty clear and reading the lyrics was easy bc in addition to a large projection, there are 32in screens suspended over the tables. One thing to note is that the mics have a problem with feedback even though if speakers are far away. To combat the problem, the dj turns the mic volume down to almost nothing so the only way to hear yourself is holding the mic against your lips. You see everyone constantly tapping the mic to see if it's on. BINY could benefit from investing in better mics / receiver. I had a Heineken ($6). My girl had mixed drinks ($8) This is definitely MOTR. Not cheap; not expensive. Her 'secks on the beach' was missing juice and had a strong alcohol flavor to it. At least it wasn’t weak.

The snack menu is limited. I ordered fries and chicken wings. The fries were fresh and crunchy, and so were the wings. The food is expensive for what you get, though. An order of fries comparable in size to just a medium fry at fast food is $6. You get 8 unflavored wings (just the 2-boned part, without drumettes) for $8.

Regarding the service, what can I say; there wasn't any. There were 3 people behind the bar [chatting], there were only 2 guys working tables and rooms. These guys were running around like mad bc it's just too much work to manage. It wasn't even that busy, with open rooms and tables in the commons. It was clear they were trying to keep up but the mgr needs to assign another wait staff. We had 5 drinks and not once were we able to order at our table. Calling the waiter is not only difficult – but you feel reluctant to even ask when you see they’re so busy. In the end you have to go to the bar yourself and fight your way through to make an order.

• Pros: Great karaoke software; Open floorplan; reasonable prices
• Cons: Lack of table service; poor microphone setup

10/02/08

Terrible Customer Service, O.K. drinks

by akimbo321

This place is a NIGHTMARE!

I attempted to host a birthday party at BINY last week. I called up and reserved a private room for a minimum of 150 dollars an hour for a minimum of 3 hours. The reservation taker told me the card would be used to ensure that at least 450 dollars would be charged to the room through the course of the evening. However, when I called to confirm my reservation 2 hours prior to the event I was told that the card will be charged 450 plus 20% tip and tax for a grand total of $600!!! After I tried to explain several times this was contrary to what I had originally agreed to I was yelled at and demanded to cancel my reservation. I told them it was not an option since I had over 30 people arriving at their bar too soon to cancel. They said we just gave away your room dont show up here. This is all just hours before a big party! I spoke to several people on the phone and all were rude and unable to be reasoned with. This place is an absolute nightmare!

Needless to say I went anyway and figured I would go to the common area. When I arrived all the karoake was in Japanese in the common area. The drinks were unusually weak although not as absurdly expensive as other karoake places. The wait staff was unattentive and I had to routinely go and find someone to take orders from us and when they did the staff acted like it was a chore to serve us. This is by far the worst customer service I have had in a NYC bar and that is saying a lot.

• Pros: Not too crowded
• Cons: Rude staff, poor service, weak drinks, Japanese Music

08/06/08

Good Music Bad Pitcher Prices

by newyorkcitywoof

My friends and I have been regular Biny fans for the past yr. Pretty much any cocktail for 8 bucks. Beers are 6 bucks. Private room at 50 dollar min. per hour. HOWEVER, we got screwed this last time when no one told us, and it wasn't posted on the menu that the pitcher of beer is 40 BUCKS!!! WTF!!>!> I've NEVER been anywhere in the city that charges that much for a pitcher. Not to mention its a SUPER smalll pitcher served with high ball glasses, not even beer glasses (so when you argue about the price they can say "oh well you get 6 beers out of it" at which time i added that you get 3-4 beers in draft glasses and 6 in HIGH BALL glasses...they didn't seem to know the difference. Anyhow, we were just really upset with the over charges that no one let us know before hand. It was uncharacteristic of the rest of the menu prices...so BEWARE and NEVER get pitchers. It's cheaper to just oder them by glass (you get the beer in draft glasses when you go one by one) which is WAY more for your money.

• Pros: Good Karaoke
• Cons: Unlisted prices of some drinks like the 40 dollar pitcher of cheap beer