Buenos Aires
New York, NY 10009
Phone: (212) 228-2775
08/15/2007 Posted by peater
I dined at Buenos Aires recently for the first time. Finishing my solid appetizer of serrano ham w/ mozzarella and tomatoes, I looked down to discover a very large coc*roach crawling up the side of my shirt. After the initial freak-out, the "manager" came over to my seat and in an obvious attempt to perform damage control, urged me to return to my seat so as not to upset the other diners (he gave me a quick shoulder rub and told me to "relax"). I did so, figuring it was the right thing to do and that it was an unfortunate occurrence that could happen to anyone anywhere in NYC. Despite my girlfriend's disgust and her urging us to leave, I said I was fine and that we should stay. The owner came over to the table and, instead of apologizing or offering a free drink, dessert, or meal (which, according to my chef friends, would've been the only thing to do if you have any shred of class and respect for your customers), he said "Sir, take a look at my basement, it's clean." No offer of anything on the house, not even an apology (I turned down the basement inspection offer). I'm not looking for any hand-outs, but given my decision to play it cool for them after a pretty unpleasant and disgusting experience, I felt wronged. We finished the meal and the food was pretty good. When we walked out, the "manager" ran after us and apologized again and said he "hoped to see us soon." I told him I was disappointed in the way the situation was handled and that no, I would not come back despite the pretty good food. He said "I totally agree, but it's not my call; it's the owner's." I've never met a "manager" who was less adept at managing, it was an absurd representation from a place that could use a little injection of class.
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