Casa Mono

07/27/09

Appalling Service and "Rules"

by ascioni

If you want to be treated like terribly go to Casa Mono. I went last Friday night at 6:00 pm (in the summer!). There were very few tables taken and the bar was completely empty. I was told by the rude hostess that you had to eat a full dinner in order to sit at the bar. I was intending to eat dinner so that was not a problem. I went to sit down and she informed me that I could only sit if my full party was here. I was waiting for one friend that would be there in 10 minutes. I was not allowed to sit at the bar and have a glass of wine until she arrived. The bar was completely empty! As I was walking out I heard the hostess telling another party of 2 that they would have to leave their table by 7:30 because they had another reservation. Appalling service. No food is worth being treated like this. I had similar treatment at babbo so sadly, I guest this is how Mario operates his restaurants. Fortunately the night was saved...I walked just a few yards down Irving to The House and met my friend for a lovely dinning experience.

• Pros: Terrible service
• Cons: Horrible attitude of staff

07/11/09

bad experiance on a nice friday afternoon

by 201delta

The hostess actually was threatening to call the police on my friend, who asked to be moved to another table. The ventilation system did not work properly. The smoke and the smell was charging into our face. The hostess actually kicked us out after we sat down for 15 min and we were stupid enough to pay and tip the poor waiters. She does not deserve to be employed by any place that interact with people.

Please get rid of her!!!!!

• Cons: Very bad service

07/10/09

Hostess should be fired

by mika68

I have been to Casa Mono many times and every time after having enjoyed great food and a nice bottle of wine, I would walk away with an aftertaste left by outrageously rude hostess. Last time I decided that I would not set the foot in this restaurant until I see that monster fired.

Regardless of the fact that the reservation was in place and we were going to have an early dinner, the hostess made us feel that she was doing us a huge favor. When we walked at 5:30pm (which is NOT a prime time for sure), we were offered a table that is surrounded by the all greasy air from the kitchen. It would be impossible to eat there since the smell gets into you nose, clothes, hair immediately.

Most of the tables were free and we asked if we could be seated at some other table. For that we were given an ultimatum that we will have to leave by 8pm.

Despite there were still several tables available, the hostess approached us at 7:45pm and said that we should leave..which made me feel that I was homeless and she graciously throw me a bone for free and now the party is over.

I hope management of Casa Mono reads reviews that seem to be very consistent and would make something out of it in the near future.

• Pros: Great, creative food
• Cons: HOSTESS, bad ventilation

07/09/09

I have to agree with the consensus: rude service (7/9/09)

by SKafta

After a wonderful dinner which we very much enjoyed, our evening was nearly ruined by the unfortunately juvenile behavior of our server and hostess. We had been given a table with the understanding that we could only stay an hour, as a party with a reservation would be arriving at that time. However, after one hour, our server informed us that the reservation had been cancelled. With the time restraint now gone, we went on to order more drinks and dessert. However, after an hour had passed, we were informed that the party with the original reservation had come after all, and we had to leave - immediately. With our desserts still on the table and our drinks still half full (and a $200 bill already paid), we felt it our right to at least finish what we had paid for. When our server saw that we were not willing to leave immediately, the hostess came and very rudely repeated the server's previous instructions. When we tried to explain the situation, she rudely accused us of lying, saying that we had been told that we would have only one additional hour - which was not the case.

In any case, I worked in customer service for many years and these individuals broke so many rules, I can't list them all! As we were leaving the restaurant, the hostess couldn't help but add that we were not welcome back!

• Pros: Good food
• Cons: Very rude hostess ,servers

06/27/09

Excellent Atmosphere, Excellent Food.

by NYCGuy

My girlfriend and I made a trip to Casa Mono for lunch one Saturday afternoon. It wasn't crowded yet, but quickly filled up. The Hostess (Jenna or Jenny?) was very friendly and knowledgeable about menu items and helped us both make our selections. The food was excellent. I highly recommended the Patatas Bravas. Although it is small, it has a nice atmosphere. Casa Mono is well worth the visit.

• Pros: Food, Service, Atmosphere
• Cons: Very Small Space

06/03/09

Worst service ever and way overpriced

by grubstreetqueen

What a nasty and bitter old hostess they have here. I have never been treated so poorly than I was tonight at Casa Mono. After we ran a $350 bill, we were kicked out of our table because they had a reservation waiting. She could have politely asked us to finish up, but instead this sour lemon of a hostess was incredibly rude and practically pulled a glass of wine out of my friend's hand. I dine out quite often and have never experienced anything like this...still in shock actually. They should be embarrassed and ashamed of their rude staff (hostess specifically). The food was nothing special. I do not recommend this place. As a loyal Lupa, Babbo and Otto regular, your money and time are better spent at these other Batali establishments, not Casa Mono. This place stinks!

• Pros: The pumpkin goat cheese puffs are tasty
• Cons: Service is beyond horrible. Don't give them your money...

04/16/09

Has gone downhill

by enuktnyc

Was there last Friday for lunch with my husband and incredibly disappointed. Usually it is one of our favorite places in NY but Friday it was terrible. Either they have a less talented crew at lunch (which wasn't true in past as have been there for both lunch & dinner before) or have gone downhill in general. Dishes were poorly timed, overly oily and not so great looking. For example the cockles & egg special (which was one of our favorites when on regular menu) had grey soupy eggs. Also razor clams seemed off, and even tomatoe bruschetta (hard to screw up) was off its form. Was sad to see it as no longer feel comfortable either going back or recommending to friends. Sent them email to provide feedback and all they said was thank you for contacting us. Probably won't even be reflected to people that might care there. Too many great restaurants in NY to waste a higher priced meal here.

• Pros: Good wine
• Cons: Food no longer worth price, quite small

04/06/09

not recommended

by tantza

Watch out!! If you intending to have a beautiful Friday night out, that's NOT THE PLACE TO BE!!!! You will be rushed from the moment you sit down until the moment you get out. My girlfriends and I choose to go to "Casa Mono" on Friday, April 3, sitting at the bar. We ordered a bottle wine and diner, talking and having good time overall. Unfortunately the bartender working in that night, was not really a wine connasaire and because was so focused to rush us up, he didn't mention that they usual cook the meet MR, so here we are 20 minutes later with a piece of cold almost raw meet, served as steak and three almost raw lamp chops.

Of course we have to send it back, , when we explain him why?, he replay: oo, "this is the way we cook meet here" yes but you didn't mention this, lousy servant. So, we finished the bottle wine, my friend decided to order on more glass. While she and I had half glass wine left,the bartender drop the check on the bar saying the manager asked him to tell us to leave because because she( the manager) has a waiting list of 40 people-LIE, was nobody at the door, but nobody, but this is beside the point- we didn't finish the wine. I said "what do you mean? to leave?" the bartender replayed: " we can move you next door at the wine bar" which actually was packed( because is very small (10X10feet), so basically was not room, he just said it to get rid of us. UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Disgusting! So disgusting that I couldn't even argued.We paid and left. I will make sure though, everyone I know will learn this experience. And maybe the owner of the place, would read this review and remember why is not always busy like other places: because the service is just "diner" service, in the meantime the prices not..

• Pros: cozy
• Cons: bad service

04/05/09

Terrible Service

by miaunika

Casa Mono was such a big disappointment, definitely the worst service I have ever experienced in New York City…The bartender was in a rush to take the order and get us out in no time; for a place that has an extensive and quite overpriced wine list, you would imagine you can go there and enjoy a nice wine and meal, but this is not the place. At Casa Mono, you need to go, eat, pay and leave as fast as possible. As we were finishing our meal, the bartender dropped the check and insisted we pay and we could go finish our wine and coffees standing at their very crowded next door bar…We were even considering to go there, except that one would need to go outside (it was raining) and around the corner to a bar so small and crowded you could not even find a counter corner to rest your glass…The food was ok, except we had to send it back to be cooked a little more; I guess their policy of “we always cook the meat rare” and “don’t ask you how you want your meat cooked” is part of the strategy to rotate tables faster…

I will definitely not go back to Casa Mono; I just find it hard to believe that one venue can allow such rude service and management practices, considering the number of places in the city where you can go and enjoy a meal, without having to put up with such rude attitude…

• Pros: Wine List
• Cons: Rude servers

03/22/09

So glad we treated ourselves...

by DTbonvivant

...to some of the most savory food we've had in a while. 3 of my friends were visiting me from out of town and I decided to take them to Casa. I hadn't been there in a while and now don't know why I haven't been going more. I don't know what is up with the previous comments, but we didn't have any problems whatsoever with service, on the contrary they were pretty helpful in describing to my friends the wide range of tapas flavors (like the cock'scombs!). I actually love the fact that it's a "cozy" sized restaurant. Yes, it's a squeeze, but it's so much more intimate than being at a mega-club-style resto that has so much fake hype. I'm glad it's kind of small so that it weeds out the customers who are gonna be annoying and gripe all the time... leaves more food for us who want to enjoy! I'm definitely gonna go back soon!

• Pros: Great menu
• Cons: could get pricey