I had a horrifying guest experience at Milan Restaurant on NYE. The event was advertised as an upscale VIP experience for which a group of 8 guests paid $750 for VIP accommodations. The service we received was sub-par to say the least.

Our accommodations were scheduled to include a table in the VIP area for eight, hors d'oeuvres, 3 bottles of Vodka, a separate bar and DJ, and a midnight champagne toast. Attire was advertised as Ladies: Dresses and Gentlemen: Suits.

Upon check in at the restaurant we were not given Identification bracelets, etc. to differentiate between VIP guests and general admission ($20) guests nor was there anyone monitoring the VIP area entrance.

Although our accommodations were paid for beginning at 10:00pm, upon our arrival at approximately 10:55pm, I was told that our table was not ready because there were other guests seated there. We were not offered another place to sit so we sat down at another reserved table downstairs near the hostess station. At about 11:20pm a hostess collected us and led us to a different table upstairs telling us that the table was ready. It was not. The table only had seating for three so we end up milling around near and over other guests who are eating. We sit down at a third table so that we are not hovering over other guests and are offered one complimentary drink. At about 11:35, when not even the comp drink has arrived, I asked for a refund so that I could leave along with my guest. At about 11:45, we are moved to a fourth table.

Upon requesting a refund of $187.50 for two of the eight guests, I was told that there would be no problem but I needed to speak directly to the owner (known as Smittie) who was not there. I then go back to what is supposed to be the VIP area where I then find that the area was still unsecured and remained unsecured throughout the evening. What was sold to us as ?VIP' was actually general admission. General admission guests wearing jeans, athletic attires, midriff tee shirts, and ripped leggings paraded through the area and sat at what was billed as a separate bar area for VIP guests. I could not contain my embarrassment! I wanted to get my guest out of there ASAP and continued to check in to find out where the owner was. Each time I asked for him, he was mysteriously missing.

At about 11:50pm, one bottle of vodka was brought to what was now our fourth table of the night. The DJ also started around this time.

At midnight, not only was there no champagne toast (because they did not have enough glasses) but there was no countdown, no hats, no noisemakers, no nothing! The only reason I realized it was midnight was because I could see the fireworks outside!

This event was a Ghetto Nightmare! I asked that my money be refunded at least six or seven times during the next hour; each time being told that the owner could not be located. I spent the entire evening trying to get my refund. Outside the complimentary glass of wine, I did not eat or drink anything at Milan.

When I finally (accidentally) encountered Curlee Smittyie,Jr.person at about 1:15am, and asked him personally for the refund, he was rude, arrogant and would not give me his last name or business card. When I said to him that I should have taken heed to the horrifying reviews on Urban Spoon ( ), he snapped his fingers at me as if I were a dog and ordered me to leave his establishment.

He is an ignorant, deplorable, intolerable representative of LIRA and his actions do no uplift or promote the image of the Little Italy community.

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Milan

Below are other complaints copied from Urban Spoon's website:

by Lovelace (4 reviews)

December 29, 2010 - Doesn't like it

I decided to check out Milan for "Milan Mondays" to see exactly what "Food meets Fashion" entails. The contemporary upscale urban chic dcor and extremely stylish clientele proved that they have the fashion part down to a tee. However, the food and service are sub-par at best. There are simply too many rules involved with dining at Milan. When I arrived at 8pm the place was half-full but very lively and for a brief second I thought I had lucked up and would get a seat on the patio. WRONG! The very friendly hostess informed me that reservations are required for patio and indoor seating with the exception of the sushi dinning area (second level was not offered). She went on to tell me that if I decided to sit in the sushi area I could only order dinner. Seeing as how I came to partake in the happy hour specials and environment, I decided to wait for something to become available at the bar. After about a 10min wait, I was seated at a table adjacent to the bar only to be informed by my waiter that I could only take advantage of the specials if I sat at the bar. Sooooo I took a couple of deep breaths, did a silent ten count, and asked for the drink menu ASAP!

My Strawberry Mojito, which only added insult to injury, tasted more like a gin and tonic with a splash of grenadine for color. I decided to have the Risotto Capasanta (Scallop and wild mushroom Risotto) for my entre. The presentation was very nice and the scallops and risotto were well cooked however, the entire dish was under seasoned and the wild mushrooms gave the meal some kind of funky zesty after taste. After an extremely disappointing meal, I lost my usual social butterfly spirit and decided to call it a night. "Everything that glitters aint gold", and while Milan might be the new place to be seen among the urban chic, it's definitely not where the party's at.

Star Rating: 2

Parking: Limited Street and Valet ($10)

Price Range: $15-$35

Biggest Disappointment: Use of space and the food

Good for: Small groups (3 or less), imitate dinners, drinks with the girls or guys, and networking

Bad for: Large groups (4 or more), birthday parties ($25 cake cutting fee), and walk in dinning

Randomness: The prices on the menu are in Euros and Dollars. I'm not sure if this is to solidify the whole "upscale" experience but it seemed kind of pointless since they only accept American currency. What I like to call a "Who the hell cares" feature.

Suggestions for Management: Since the space is large enough to be upscale but still small enough to be intimate/personal, you may want to consider engaging your guests. I mean if the manager at TGI Friday's can greet his/her customers then it would stand to reason that an upscale establishment can offer the same level of customer interaction

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Worst Restaurant Ever!!!!!

by Ash (1 review)

December 21, 2010

Still pissed about my horrifying experience @ Milan. I do not support pretentious establishments. Customer service is everything and that is something they do not specialize in. Alll they offer is a "cute" establishment/venue and that's not enough for me. At 6:30 there were no seats @ the bar, but there were plenty other seats. We were told we could not sit in any of them b/c you had to buy a $100 bottle. I'm thinking it's 6:30 pm on a Monday night are you kidding me. Our only option was to go upstairs and you had to buy an entre. We were there for a charity event/ happy hour not dinner. It took 2 hours NOT to get food. Waiter didn't have a clue. I had to go get the manager. The manager said all they could do was bring the food and take a percent...age off (smh). We gave her a blank stare. She then asked "well what else do you want me to do." I'm thinking ummm @ this point you need to be doing anything possible to keep me here and have me come back (smh). I work too damn hard to go to dinner @ a wanna be NY/LA venue that's half empty to wait 2 hours for mediocre food on a Monday night. My sister spoke with the owner @ the end of the night and he could care less. That is unacceptable!!!!!

The worst service I've ever received, and terrible food to boot.

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by Courtney (1 review)

December 20, 2010 - Doesn't like it

I made a reservation for 13 guests at Milan. When we arrived, we were accosted by a bouncer at the door demanding to see ID, because to get to the restaurant you had to pass through a bar/lounge.

When we arrived upstairs, the table was only set for 11. The staff made us help move an additional table to complete our set-up.

We had a 5 month old infant with us, and asked if there were any child seats. The hostess laughed at us, and said she would "ask." She never returned. We were not offered even a regular adult seat to place the car seat on. Therefore, we all held the infant throughout dinner.

The service was a disaster. We did not receive menus until we asked. We were asked to place drink orders without being given a wine list or drink menu. When I asked for a drink menu before placing my order, I was given one, but no one returned to inquire about what I wanted to order.

The service was beyond slow; it took nearly an hour to receive our appetizers, and another 45 minutes to receive our entrees. During the wait, we were given extra water, but the server never brought bread to the table, although tables around us had received it. No apology was made for the slow service.

When the appetizers arrived, they brought the wrong salad to one woman. When she pointed this out, she was told that since it had touched the table, they would have to throw it out. When it became apparent that she was not willing to be guilt-tripped into accepting a salad she did not order, the waiter brought the appropriate salad out, saying it was "on the house." However, that salad still appeared on our final bill.

The entrees were themselves a disaster. The server had no idea who had ordered what food item. Three people ordered the braised lamb risotto. Apparently Milan needs to be educated that braising is a style of cooking meat, while barbecue sauce is a condiment. The lamb risotto featured grilled lamb chops smothered in barbecue sauce, which was absolutely not the description written on the menu.

We were never offered coffee or dessert menus.

Two members of the group had to leave early (perhaps because their arms were tired from holding their infant throughout the meal). They arranged to pay their bill separately before leaving.

The bill we finally received included the two appetizers and two entrees ordered by the people who left early. When we asked about this, we were told that the meals had been removed from the final price, but that the restaurant did not split checks. We pointed out that the items were still on our bill, and our server replied rather curtly that the mealshad been removed from the bill.

We all calculated what we owed, and then spent nearly 45 minutes tallying and retallying our count because it did not mesh with the total written on our bill. Throughout this time, the server was very pushy about us paying the bill. If he had been that on top of things during the meal, it would have been less disastrous. When we sorted out the check so it matched the total on our bill, the server informed us that the restaurant system "would crash" if we used more than 6 cards to pay the bill. Of course, he couldn't have told us this while we were very apparently attempting to pay the bill.

We finally agreed to put the bill on one card, which took nearly 15 minutes for the server to process. When the receipt came back, the total was nearly 80 dollars less than what had been on the bill we were given. Apparently the meals paid for by the two people who left early hadnot been removed from our total, as the server told us. The inability of the server to appropriately explain what had been done to our bill led to a tremendous waste of time.

Overall, the food was not particularly good, and certainly not worth the amount paid per person. I would not recommend this restaurant to a friend, a colleague, or my worst enemy. The entire experience, start to finish, was dreadful.

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Stay Away

by Cynthia Marcus-Simmons (2 reviews)

November 15, 2010 - Doesn't like it

Donot go to Milan for a special occasion. They ruined my 35th birthday party celebration in every way that you could possibly imagine. For starters we had dinner reservations for 9:30 pm and they did not seat us until after 11 pm. Not only did they not seat us, but they had 25 guests standing in the lobby, they didn't even offer a place to sit. They could have easily put us on a few sofas and ordered us some appetizers, but instead they were rude, unorganized and kept lying to us that it would be just 10 more minutes. Around 10:30 pm I was so hungry I was about to pass out, I asked a bartender if I could order an appetizer to hold me until our table was ready, and she refused me stating that if I was waiting for a table upstairs I was not allowed to order food downstairs because they can't tell how long it is going to take. Ridiculous. Then once seated upstairs after waiting in the lobby for almost 2 hours we are greeted by noone. We complain 3 times that noone has been to the table and finally a server arrives after about 15 minutes. We order drinks and appetizers and after about 30 minutes we began to receive some water at half of the table (guess we were supposed to share) and eventually some bread. Our non-water drinks took over an hour to be served (even though there is a bar upstairs that apparently cannot be used even for water) and they arrived in trifling dirty crusted glasses with no apologies. Appetizers took over an hour. Around 12:30 am we began receiving cold incomplete food and again nothing was done to try and make us happy. Needless to say by now I am just ready to leave. I go downstairs and tell the bar manager how unhappy and dissatisfied we are and that we want to leave. He replies that the owner has left the building and we need to wait for him to return. What kind of owner leaves when he has 25 furious guests. I have worked in the restaurant industry for over 10 years and when you have a party that had to wait for almost 2 hours past their reservation you first try and make them comfortable while they are waiting, then once seated you greet them with bread and water immediately, then you hop in the kitchen and make sure that their food comes out fast, hot and correct. None of these things were done to any degree. By 1:00 am we are tired, hungry and totally through with this joke of a place and just want to go home. We beg the server to get whatever he needs to get together so we can go home. He replies that the owner has left the building and he is the only one with a manager card. After waiting for over an hour for the check we finally leave because we are starving, tired and utterly disappointed. The owner refused to take any of the food off the check that was never delivered to the table and/or never eaten because it was cold, burnt, or just plain gross. He threatened to have us arrested if we didn't pay for the food even though it wasn't eaten. He said that he has a baby to feed and that he doesn't care that we didn't have a good time all he cared about was getting his money. I would like to warn everyone, Milan may be pretty to look at, but it is run by an immature, inexperienced boy who cares nothing about customer service or satisfied guests. I have heard about other special occasions that had similar bad experiences there, I just only wish I had heard about them sooner. I just hope I can save at least one person from having their hopes of a decent night crushed, whatever you do stay away from Milanand you might have a good time