We came in expecting a pleasant restaurant experience but left feeling entirely unwelcome for no reason. To start, there was no host or hostess greeting people at the door. Instead there was a poster with a QR code allegedly for a waitlist that unfortunately did not work properly at the time.
I had tried calling earlier; the line said Leonia and no one answered. This restaurant is in Fort Lee. So like I was saying earlier, when we arrived inside, there was no staff/host/hostess at the front the way most restaurants have. We waited a few minutes trying to get someone's attention about the broken QR code poster, then watched the line behind us pick up, then saw other people walk right past us and cut the line into the dining room. There were open tables.
I walked in farther and respectfully tried to flag anyone to explain the QR wasn't working and ask about a seat or at least to get in a wait list or something. I approached a male staff member within proximity and said "excuse me, your QR code waitlist isn't working, I was wondering if we could.. ".. then all of a sudden he snapped at me, raised his voice, and yells something like "alright alright whatever how many people." And I say 2. He's like "alright couple minutes wait right here." Or something to that effect.
He was around middle to late aged, wearing a face mask, uniformed dark attire. It was the aggressive tone and the way he yelled it at us so angrily and the look he gave us that made it clear we were not welcome. It was very abrupt like telling me to shut up, it was dismissive, and it was extremely rude that I was taken aback. That interaction set the tone for the rest of the meal. Like I get that maybe they were short staffed or whatever but welcome to 2026. I'm a physician myself and if I ever behaved this way in any decorum, then that would be an instant write-up.
Even if I was overworked and short staffed, it's no way to behave to someone in any capacity.. maybe a polite "hold on please, just 1 second,"or" I'm busy just a moment please". Like basic common courtesy and manners. Even before practicing medicine, I used to be a waiter myself and this is no way to behave in any capacity even when feeling overworked and under pressure. On top of that he wasn't even a millenial or Gen Z. He was definitely pushing past unc status and by then you would expect some sense of decency and manners to be developed by then.
The food itself was above average and the prices were fair. We got the galbi set. The waitress who cooked our food was genuinely nice and I appreciated that she could sense something was off. A complimentary pancake was a small bright spot. But the beer I ordered was out (yet still on the menu), and the white rice I asked for never arrived. There was a small parking downstairs, and the upstairs café was a decent backup for more food, but none of that fixed the front-end problems. The entrance experience and the other staff member's attitude ruined what could have been a good meal at a nice location. Mind you, I'm 35 years old and frequent nearly all the restaurants in Fort Lee, Edgewater, Pal Park, north jersey, nyc, etc, and I never get talked down to like that. Between the non-working waitlist system, the unanswered phone, the lack of anyone managing the front end/ door, and the incredibly rude staff that made us feel unwelcome.. the visit felt overall disorganized and off-putting. The saving grace is that the food was actually tasty and came quick; so it's a real shame because first impressions really say a lot. Our waitress that we got was actually super nice too so I had a hard time justifying this publication because we really liked her, I think her name on the receipt says Mia- she's fantastic.
But yeah, this has been on my mind oddly enough the whole day that I had to write about it.. as one would be for any disappointing encounter overall. read more