Loi Restaurant

We have dinned here for many years while it was Compass, particularly because the fish was superb! The only changes made for former Compass was the landscape wall art and appalling food. We are big foodies and were extremely excited for the grand opening! Mainly because, it’s just blocks away from Lincoln Center! We were so grateful for the reopening since we constantly go to viewings. My first time was the first week of opening, it was a bit disappointing when half their menu was not available but they presented the full menu anyway. I would rate my dinner that night at a star and a half. The second time around we decided to celebrate my mother’s birthday since she’s a huge fan of Greek food! We figured it’s been a few months since opening and they are up to speed, unfortunately were we wrong. We personally went in a week in advance and pointed out which table we wanted for this special evening, we even spoke with the chef and event coordinator who tried pushing us to rent a private dining room. We declined the private room as my mother has an issue with closed tight spaces and would rather be in the center of the room to enjoy the ambiance. We specifically requested (according to the chef) the only large round table for eight in the main dining room; we were told it will be reserved for us. Upon arrival the hostesses were very kind in taking our coats and gift bags. We were then told to wait in the lounge area till our table was ready (we waited 20 minutes before a staff member approached us to let us know our table was ready. We were all very annoyed being that we booked this a week in advance. My main concern was my mother, at her old age she could barely stand and there were no seats available in the very crowded and noisy lounge. The hostess then escorted us to the main dining; to our surprise our table was already being occupied! Ms. Loi being one of the occupants, we were in shock! The hostess led us to the back where a few small tables put together in a rectangular shape right next to the bathroom. We complained this isn’t what we were promised by the chef and event planner, the host informed Maria Loi and she came over to greet us reeking of liquor, had no recollection of meeting with me and my husband just a week ago, said she will take care of us next time and nothing else was done to fix the issue. At this point we were so deeply disturbed that we let it go. Our waiter had no knowledge of the menu or the English language! Everyone’s order was wrong another disappointment. Our third time here we were invited by a dear friends. We arrived 15 minutes late and were told our group has not arrived yet and to be seated in the lounge to wait for our whole party of five. After a long wait I decided to call one of the members of our party to see what was holding them up. Surprise, surprise all 3 members of our party were already seated and arrived on time! We explained to our friend we were told he wasn’t there yet by the host and were waiting in the lounge the whole time. Shocked he asked his waiter to send over the chef. Our friend seemed to have a superior affiliation with Maria Loi and told her of the inexcusable incident. She then apologized and stormed off furiously and we didn’t see her again till the end of our dinner. Sadly, Ms. Loi still did not remember us from the two previous times we dined there. We overlooked it in hopes to enjoy the rest of our evening. Surprisingly our dinner was fair compared to all the other dinners we didn’t enjoy so much on previous occasions. Upon leaving Ms. Loi escorted us to the exit and stated to our friend “Are they Jewish too?! I Love Jews! Bring all you Jewish friends here! “We were all deeply offended by her racist remarks we didn’t even say goodbye and walked out! My friends and I will definitely NEVER return to this chauvinistic, wretched quality food and service.

Never have I witnessed such a horrendous experience.