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Cookshop - you've been warned.

Four us went for dinner and were immediated seated. Everything was downhill from there. As a group, we agreed food was solid. Decent porkchops, suckling pig, whole fish. The wait service was bordering on pathetic. After sitting down, we didn't get menus or water for 15 minutes. The first waiter dropped my friend's wine on her after mistakenly picking up her half-full glass to clear away (and turning it upside down!). He did not mop up the puddle of wine left on the floor and did not comp her drink. I'm not even sure he apologized. At the time serving the starters, the sommelier and the waiter knocked over a tall glass of ice water on the same friend, this time drenching her pants. "We'll pay for your drycleaning" was the response. Well, my friend didn't want drycleaning. She wanted to be dry and certainly comped for something. No offer to comp anything, and no manager appeared to apologize or try to rectify the situation. I had to take it upon myself to speak to the manager and tell him the situation - nothing done in response except some sympathetic head-shaking. This restaurant is pathetic. It's pretty, but the service is pathetic and abysmal and we won't be back. My friend is a former chef/owner of an East Village restaurant and she has never witnessed this kind of incompetency.

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  1. I agree. Food was OK, service was horrible. I was there a few months ago with a group of 5... one of the people in our party had to ask repetedly for her food after all of the rest of us were served. We waited, and waited, and waited... finally, the dish came out after all of the rest of us were finished. Not even an apology from the server, although they did take the dish off of the bill... That was only one of the many problems with the service. It's a shame since their other restaurant, Five Points, is so great.

    1. That is pretty ridiculous.

      We had a completely different experience back in February!

      We'd heard negative things about the staff but were seated right away in a friendly manner. Our server was outgoing and helpful and never stopped smiling. And the Sommelier recommended a very good wine.

      I don't know how long they can last with inconsistent service.

      I often think restaurant owners would be well served by reading these boards.

      Some of them are so cocky they just don't care.

      1. It's such a shame about Cookshop--I'm a Five Points devotee, and probably dine there once a week. I went to Cookshop for dinner once, with 3 friends. The food was very good, but our waiter had just not been trained properly. She was far too casual with us throughout the meal and, after we paid the check, she came back and very aggressively asked why we had left her such a small tip. When we pointed out her math was wrong (she was $50 off), she basically said, "oops" and tried to laugh it off. We weren't laughing. Realizing how pissed we were, she sent the hostess over (now, isn't that what she should have done in the first place?). The hostess didn't apologize (neither had the waiter), but told us "how bad" the waiter felt about her mistake. She then offered to buy us a round of drinks (frankly, an apology would have been better) but, by then, we just wanted to leave. None of us have been back since. Five Points is run extremely well--good management, excellent staff--but it seems like they just didn't put in that effort with Cookshop.

        1. I agree with you all about Five Points...I wrote a scathing letter to Cookshop and stated that this kind of incompetence and unprofessionalism would never happen at Five Points. We'll see if I get any response.

          1. I ate at Cookshop for lunch last week and I found the service quite scattered and familiar. In addition, the menu was much smaller than on the site - there were appetizers, mostly salads w/one soup, four salads with meat, and three sandwiches. there were no entrees, and instead of fries, potato chips! and no burger! it is a pleasant room and I might try dinner at some point but I won't go back for lunch.