Retro Bar and Grill

Came here on a groupon, BAD BAD IDEA. Food is really bad. No atmosphere. No reason to come here ever.

This is attached to the holiday Inn. We wouldn’t have eaten here if it wasn’t. Menu is limited. Service takes a long time. Seems like food wasn’t made fresh but just warmed up. Bread for the sliders was cold. A Buffalo wing was cold. Not a good deal. Not good food.

Had a great time at Retro Bar and grill tonight. Brian the bartender was absolutely Great. The beer on tap was refreshing as it was awesome. Would definitely come back here for drinks.

AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS. Go to Remedy Diner on Norfolk or Castillo de Jagua on Rivington instead.
When this place first opened in my neighborhood, I was intrigued but didn’t have a chance to step inside. Recently, Groupon had a deal and I bought two, thinking it’d be a nice family outing. Wow, did we have the worst experience ever. When we arrived, we spent 15 minutes standing at the front waiting to be hosted. No staff member was present anywhere. We sat ourselves and grabbed our own menus, moving past multiple empty tables filled with dirty dishes to find a clean one.
A lone staff member appeared finally to serve the two other families patiently waiting there but did not come to our table until 20 minutes later. She took our orders on a post it pad. They had run out of potatoes, and I had to ask what they would sub for it. She agreed to give my son one more slice of skinny bacon.
My husband asked for a coffee, which she brought without milk or sugar. It took another 20 minutes to get those. The French toast tasted okay but were small. The kids ate all their pancakes and eggs so they liked them. Mixed fruit was fresh but again overpriced for what they called a «large» serving.
Hot chocolate was disgusting, just brown water. Before I could ask to return them, she brought our check. Hilariously, they charged 18% gratuity a rate I would not have paid on my own, given the poor service. I told her I wouldn’t pay for the hot chocolate and to remove it from the bill. She said I already ordered it so she couldn’t do that. I told her she needed to find a way to get it done.
Another woman comes ten minutes later to ask about the drinks, and I tell her that I refuse to pay $ 7.50 for three hot chocolates that we didn’t drink. She says she’s just the housekeeping manager and cannot authorize the removal. I ask her why is she there then when I need someone who can authorize it. She leaves and then returns, saying they were able to remove it. Ridiculous!
Overall, we spent a miserable hour in a dirty restaurant –oh yeah, forgot about the fruit fly in my water — with lazy, slow, inattentive workers — oh right, forgot about the cook who came out of the kitchen smelling like raw weed, and left feeling anxious and angry as hell. Never ever again will we attend this poor excuse for a food establishment, and I urge you to avoid it at all costs.

Over priced. $ 6 for fries
Beer tasted like ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ water.
Service was good
Extremely small menu… Wouldn’t ever go back

I wish I could give this place no stars. Any positive reviews are written by people who work at the hotel. This place is horrible. Over priced. The guy next to us ordered the very expensive chicken parm and laughed at how bad it was. He Was staying at the hotel upstairs and had no choice. We gave him some tips on where he could eat nearby tomorrow when he has more time. We looked at his plate and decided not to order anything. So we decided to stick to drinks. There advertised special was 4 mini coronas for 15 bucks (15 originally but they don’t tell you about the tax and tip added on to reach 20). 20 bucks for 4 mini beers in a place with no atmosphere. No music. At least in a place with a retro theme put on some old tunes. Horrible. The only reason to come here ever would be if you were stuck in the hotel upstairs and didn’t have 10 minutes to walk outside and get food.

Not worth the trip. This hotel restaurant as one of the worst menus. They have a good selection of appetizers but only 4 actually entrees on the menu all of which will run you at least $ 20.
The bar does not have a happy hour and a beer will run you at least $ 8 each. Better food and drinks at the restaurants around the hotel.
Beware they add gratuity to everything but still try to get you to add more.

Had a beer, NY strip and fries. The beer was very good and poured well, the steak was cooked how I ordered it and was nice and tender and the fries were delicious. Service was good, the waiter/​bartender was very informative about the status of my food and what the beers tasted like. It was quiet and only a few other people came in which for me was a nice bonus. I would go again

This place is awful. It’s a hotel bar (attached to the holiday inn). The bartender we had knew NOTHING and was on her phone the whole time. We didn’t eat the food. Just finished our poorly poured beer (since the bartender didn’t know what Cabernet was) and got the heck out of there. Avoid this place!

Sophia was our bartender and TOTALLY took care of my friends and I! And Terry was amazing in the kitchen with our food!!! Highly recommend this place!!! Must go in the lower east side!!!

No. Just no. Unless you have the patience of a saint and are going solely to be entertained by confusion, disorganization and slow service.
I went there as part of a large group for breakfast. When we walked in, we were the only customers and set up in the back of the diner (roughly 20 of us). I will contend that getting a surprise breakfast attack from a group of 20 people in an otherwise empty restaurant may be rather jarring, but the hilarity that ensued made me question how this place is even in business.
I will start by saying the servers were very nice, so this review is not a knock against that. However, the overall slowness and disorganization was perplexing. First, they took about 20 minutes to get all of us set up with napkins, silverware and water (not to mention the endless supply of sugar and creamer). After about 25 minutes, they took our order. I will say again, there was no one else in the restaurant (yet).
So the order has been placed — great. Meanwhile, they had been bringing out our drinks, which mostly consisted of hot and iced coffees. This was done over the period of probably 15 – 20 minutes. They appeared to have a glass shortage as they started bringing out «iced» coffees in pilsner glasses and water in rocks glasses. (I put «iced» in quotes because it was actually lukewarm without ice.)
Eventually, food started coming out. This is where it got really funny. A couple of plates would come out and then nothing for 5 – 10 minutes. Then a couple more and nothing for 5 – 10 minutes. They brought out partial orders (pancakes without the sausage or «berries» that were ordered), and for some of us the food was cold. My omelette, toast and potatoes were all lukewarm at best. The «berries» for the pancakes, which finally came out after reminding them about it, ended up being melons, grapes and pineapple. Um… Cantaloupe on pancakes? Really? My wife ordered fruit and toast. It took — no lie — 1 hour to get these (and the toast was cold). My friend (who was the first person to order) was the last person to receive her food. She ordered an english muffin egg sandwich. What she received was a breakfast burrito wrap. What? Huh? What’s happening here? Where ARE WE?
Eventually, there were a few other tables of customers. They all waited a long time as well. I saw at least 1 person leave before ordering.
I could go on, but you get the point. Eventually, a manager appeared. I don’t know where he was for the first hour, but he was understanding to our complaints. He ended up giving us half off the bill, which was appreciated.
Tips for the restaurant:
— If you don’t have something (berries, english muffins), just say so.
— If you were so slow for a specific reason (short staffed), at least make it known.
— Get your kitchen in order. I can understand it’s hard to bring out all food at the same time, but trickling the food out over the course of an hour is a problem.
— Maybe just cut your losses, close and try again in some other format with different leaders.
So, in summary:
Time spent in diner: 2 hours
Cost of breakfast for 20 people: $ 107
Number of meals ordered that were delivered as requested: Maybe half
Number of sugar packets and creamers used by 1 person (you know who you are): 75
Memories of a shared experience like this with friends: priceless
If nothing else, thank you Retro Bar & Grill for a good story.

Had breakfast here on three days recently, as part of staying at the associated Holiday Inn. Service was pretty slow and required us to ask for absolutely everything. What breakfast place brings a dish involving toast without bringing along some butter?!
The food was very low quality, particularly the omelets, which made me question whether or not they actually involved any real eggs. The coffee was also very poor, like Folger’s ground two months ago and left to age in a cemetery. Since we’d already paid for breakfast along with the hotel, we kept trying this place, but we should have cut our losses and gone elsewhere.

Not worth the wait. I wanted to try something different in the neighborhood instead of our usual Comfort Diner and went ahead and bought a breakfast groupon. If it wasn’t for the groupon we would’ve gotten up and left. The service took forever. We ordered pancakes — dry and hard, french toast — uncooked, omelets — ok but the potatoes were a bit overcooked and dry. We waited forever for our coffees. The waitress was nice but oh so very slow. There weren’t too many other patrons in the restaurant so not sure why service took so long. To put it into perspective, it’s a restaurant in the basement of the Holiday Inn.

A little kitschy at first, but once you get past that, a pretty cool bar. Classic booths, checkered floors, and their beer taps are housed in a replica gas machine. Sadly, a lot of the kegs were kicked when I went (granted, it was pretty late). But nothing some whiskey couldn’t fix. They have a reasonable selection of whiskey/​Scotch.

This place is getting better and better. I ate here long time ago and I didn’t think I will ever come back. Those huge window banners attract me and I decided to come in and see what is going on. The service is awesome and food so delicious. This is my new to go place.

I stopped by on a Friday night, and found out they had a Live DJ! I was just going in for a quick bite but ended up staying for several hours, the music was awesome, I even danced with some other folks at the restaurant! Its true what the other reviews say, the restaurant turns into like a dance space, club spot. The staff was wonderful, they were genuinely nice. It showed that they love what they do, and most importantly were very attentive. I will definitely be back and please never change the .50 Cent Wings especially your Happy Hour!

Ate breakfast here several times recently.
The food was always good, sometimes great. Had the strawberry French toast, which had fresh strawberries, the choc chip pancakes & the basic egg, potatoes, bacon & toast breakfasts. The potatoes were a little too oily & there were few of them on the plate.
The waiters, on the other hand were robotic, unsmiling zombies who move really slooow! Wonder where they found these guys. Inexperienced waiters who got overwhelmed when it got busy. Weird.
Get here early & it’s not busy.

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!
Yes, its still a «hotel restaurant» but we ate there the other night and it was pretty good. Our server said they really switched up their menu, and it showed. I ate here a few months back and it was not very good, but it looks like they have definitely changed the way they do business.
Its a decent spot in the neighborhood if you are looking for a quick bite before you go out or breakfast the day after your big night out. I will be returning.

The first two reviews are spot-​on and consistent with my experience.
I am a resident of the Lower East Side and thought it would be good to take the kids out for breakfast and try out the new Retro Bar & Restaurant in the basement of the new Holiday Inn.
The waitresses were nice, but the kitchen seemed to be a hot mess. They were out of the turkey sausage that was the cornerstone of my chosen item, so I ordered something else. My substitute dish didn’t come with the ham substitute I ordered and they must’ve been out of the broccoli too because they gave me green bell peppers instead. I also overheard that they were out of English Muffins. What?!! Go buy some at the Fine Fare across the street. The kids’ «strawberry pancakes» were regular pancakes with strawberry jam pressed into the top. They hated them.
While our service was slow, it was glacially slow for the other tables who all happened to need to catch flights. One table had to have their French toast to go. Another cancelled altogether while the third table was very irate and frustrated, especially after our food came before theirs. They would’ve been even more upset had the pancakes come 5 minutes before when the waitress said they were already done, but instead of asking if I wanted them then or wait, she had decided for me and I had to inquire where they were 5 minutes later.
I’d say they have to get their kitchen together or it will be closed in a month or two. But really, the ambiance is so sad that even if the kitchen rocked it may not save this place. There are way too many good restaurants in this neighborhood to allow for this quality of food or service.

It’s a hotel restaurant. … in a Holiday Inn.
… still reading? OK well I’m not sure how to start off other than saying that expecting the weird and strange never prepares you for it. I was reminded of this last weekend when I finally gave in to my curiosity. I’ve lived on the same block as this place for 14 years and the building it’s in didn’t exist until a year ago. There are no storefronts on this new hotel on my block, except for this one tiny little staircase with the logo of this restaurant above it, the health department rating, a rainbow sticker, and a table with a few takeout menus on it. You almost feel sorry for them, like you wanna go down there and eat out of sheer sympathy. They have all this space on the street level where they could have put a restaurant, which is what most hotels do, but no, they’re waiting to sell that space to … um. no one apparently.
OK so I finally give in and decide I’d rather be let down than live forever with the mystery haunting me. I walk down the rather creepy staircase, bare white glossy walls interrupted even more creepily by a big exposed plumbing apparatus or uncontained fire hose. I forget which, all I remember is pipes. Beyond the Freddy Krueger entrance, I’m welcomed by a very perky waiter who says I can sit anywhere — mainly because there’s noone there but me and two other people. The blank glossy white walls are lit far too brightly in some parts, decorated sparsely with hubcaps and old 8×11 adverts from random eras including this one. The booths were more like something in Odessa or some greasy spoon soup n salad diner than any kind of theme restaurant. It’s as half hearted as it is clueless.
I can’t really complain about the waiter, he was courteous and attentive. If he’s worried about where he’s going to be working in the next 2 months he was containing it very well. I order the bacon cheeseburger (I forget the name they gave it) medium rare. It arrives timely, but in a tiny wire basket no bigger than a box of Q-​Tips. It looked like something you would deep-​fry fries in, but not deep enough to be practical. The burger was rare but ok, however the bacon seemed a bit undercooked. Not quite dangerously but it might as well have been. Glad I took the waiter’s advice and got the nice solid «pretzel bun» for what I was about to experience.
So I take a bite and about 10 or so ounces of juices start pouring out, down to the thin paper resting on the criss cross wires, creating a red puddle under my miniature deep fryer basket. It’s about as raw as you can serve food and not be shut down by the health department. I didn’t want to return the food only to sit waiting in front of my blood puddle, so I slowly devour this red mess of almost raw burger, almost raw bacon, and velveeta cheese before it starts running down the table and soaking my pants. I didn’t mind it being undercooked as much as I was disturbed by how salty it is. And I’m someone who uses way more Adobo than I should when cooking, so when I think something is salty, that’s saying something.
Once I was done, the waiter took the tennis racket away, then promptly took care of the murder scene beneath. I thought to myself the only way this could be worse is if I was sitting in one of the dimly lit portions of the restaurant. I mean if the whole place was dimly lit, that would have made sense, but there are no lighting fixtures in ¹⁄₃ of the place, so it’s like that dark area is where they put bad customers to be punished.
I left, giving a decent tip for the waiter, who was probably the only good thing about that place beyond the bottomless sodas.
Honestly, I’m glad I went and found out for myself what a weird creepy inexplicable place that is for myself. Would I recommend it? um … not if you’re trying to impress anyone. … unless you’re trying to impress them in a Tommy Wiseau, Amy’s Baking Company sort of way, in which case, go for it.