Ok, semi-rant incoming. I eat out 4–5 times a week in NYC and lately I’ve noticed a trend: restaurants act like they’re doing you a favor by letting you eat there. Chateau Royale is a prime example.
My reservation was at 5 PM, not during prime dinner hours, and I was about 20 minutes late due to an unfortunate series of events. I emailed to let them know (since they don’t have a phone number) but got no response. When I arrived, I apologized repeatedly and took full responsibility. The hostess couldn’t have cared less. No sympathy, no options, just attitude.
She said I couldn’t be seated but could eat in the bar room and that the full menu was available. Fine, I’ll take it. The bar was nearly empty with three open tables. I asked to sit at one and was told they were “reserved.” We sat at the bar, ordered, and found out it was a limited bar menu after all. Not what I was told, but whatever.
Then mid-meal, the maître d’ asked us to move down to make room for another party after telling us to “sit anywhere.”
The food was mediocre. The shrimp dish was bland, the tuna tasted off, the fries were unbearably salty, and only the escargot was decent. Portions were tiny, prices absurd. I eat out frequently in NYC and I’m used to expensive/overpriced food, but do not charge $9.00 for the most mediocre bread basket I’ve had in my life or $30.00 for 3 tiny, bland shrimp. When we left, 2/3 of the “reserved” tables were still empty.
Chateau Royale sits on the north side of Thompson St, surrounded by NYU students, but acts like it’s Carbone. Even though I don’t like Carbone, I understand what they’ve built and why people fawn over getting a table there. Chateau Royale hasn’t earned that attitude. The food and service don’t match the ego. There are thousands of restaurants in NYC, and this one isn’t worth your time or money.
UPDATE: It seems like this post has reached more people than I expected. I noticed some folks have gone to their Google page and shared their own experiences. Now it looks like management is scrambling. Five brand-new five-star reviews have popped up today, all suspiciously glowing. Owners/managers, your family’s Google accounts and fake bot reviews aren’t going to save you. Fix your staff, fix your restaurant, and maybe you’ll survive.
by gotallthejuicynews
37 Comments
agreed on all fronts, f this place!
Fries look terrible and those are some really tiny shrimp!
That shrimp is a joke.
That’s a shame. Restaurants that are hot now naturally wont be hot in 3/6/9 months time and rely on good regulars to sustain themselves in the long run. This is not how you build regulars. I wish more restauranteurs had this foresight during the opening months.
Lmao 30$ for those tiny ass shrimps. Jesus fucking christ
The whole “we do not have a phone” thing sucks so much.
The pendulum has swung too far towards anti-hospitality at some restaurants. The “customer is always right” attitude needed to be challenged but I really don’t like the preemptive hostility that is partly en vogue.
Man, that is a sad shrimp cocktail
Frankly, any place in New York City with a name like that is never going to be good. Pretty much guarantees, overpriced and tacky
When they asked you to move at the bar you should have just flat refused.
Genuinely not having a phone number you can call is crazy work.
Excuse me. $30 for THREE shrimp?!
That is aquastar shrimp ring shrimp. Those were 20 cents each for them.
Edit: this was hyperbole.
I’ve been to a couple places where it’s very difficult to get reservations and then I find that the place is not that crowded and I’m wondering if some of these places are creating artificial scarcity for marketing purposes. I don’t eat out that much but half the places I go to these days I find the food disappointing.
Per their menu those are supposed to be blue prawns. What the.
NEW CALEDONIAN BLUE PRAWNS & ESPELETTE AÏOLI $29
Hate the place – burger and fries are banging though…
that shrimp plate is pitiful, embarrassing.
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Looks mediocre
I feel so strongly about this. THEY RUINED THE BUILDING. It was this beautiful exposed brick building with skylights. They made it so dark and closed off all the natural light. I hate this place
I honestly have stopped going to any restaurant in the first six months it’s open. I’ll wait until the hype dies down. That’s when you can really see what a place is made of. And also, to your point, these places get two or three hot write-ups and then conflate being dicks with being cool. Not worth it when there are so many great places to eat that are thrilled to have you.
The table stone is giving Cheescake Factory/Grand Lux Cafe
This food looks so mid it’s hilarious.
The 3 tiny ass shrimp are taking me out
The Gen Z dining trend of steakhouse everything is really annoying anyway. I can go to a steakhouse if I want a steakhouse. I don’t need the concept grafted onto modern American fusion.
I think those pics are from Houston’s. Just go to Houston’s.
Not surprised…It is the same team as Libertine, which is kind of the same scam…bad, pricey food with no good service
Went once. Will never go back. Go to Chez Fifi instead.
This is the review I left them:
“Come here if you want to have some decent food but be treated like shit.
The food was mostly pretty great except for this one artichoke dish which was literally a single inedible husk of an artichoke paired with a bearnaise sauce. You basically peel back pieces of the husk and lick the sauce off of it since none of it is edible, not even the very center. Layer by layer we peeled it expecting something to eat until there was nothing left. My wife compared it to the breadless bread course from the movie “The Menu”. When I complained to the server, he told me that artichoke is one of those things you either love or you hate as if this was the first time I’ve ever eaten artichoke??? After asking for the bill, I did see that they at least decided to remove that dish from my bill. I paid and even tipped extra to make up for the comp’d dish.
On the way out, I told the hostess that I had a pretty great meal and was looking forward to returning for the dining room upstairs next time. I asked if I could take a quick look to see what the setup is like before I make a reservation. I was told that they don’t allow people to go up there during service???? So they won’t allow a customer who just paid for a full meal to take a quick look at the upstairs dining room before making another reservation.
I guess I won’t be returning after all. These guys need to read some books on hospitality because the way they treat paying customers here is borderline insane.”
“Chateau Royale” would only be an acceptable name if it was a high level tongue in cheek joke about dumb American restaurants with fake French names. But alas it’s just the name.
Wow I’m a chef here in NYC and I have to agree with you that shrimp dish is a joke, there is more sauce than the actual shrimp. That sliced tuna dish is plated sloppy as well for a restaurant that’s trying to be fine dining.
Did you order a bowl of ice with side of shrimp? Other menu looks okay but that shrimp is trash.
The fries look awful, I bet the McDonalds fries taste better
yeah ive noticed that too, some nyc spots really act like theyre doing you a favor just for showing up. customer service has gotten so weird lately, like they forget were literally paying them
Looks like mcd fries
Any place that touts itself as high end, gourmet, whatever and has fries on the menu is a shit show. If you need a reservation and they serve fries, that’s not the right place to be spending good money.
I’ve been twice, place sucks and correct the hospitality is worse. the “owner” is a total knob who literally breathes a sense of over entitled self worth. The kinda guy who still talks about how “my dad is a lawyer” and buys grams of weed for 60.
THESE are the reviews we need! This place is off the list for me! thanks for the heads up!
That’s straight from the grocery store ring shrimp cocktail.
You should have walked out when the front of house treated you like shit.