Charlotte's Bistro

On a hot July 5th, we decided to get a quick bite at this restaurant.  I've never been here before but have passed it many times on our way to the harbor and while shopping in the tons of interesting, small, eclectic and overpriced little shops of this town.  Besides, Cold Spring Harbor does not offer much in the variety of places to eat and this is one in a handful of them that do offer a light lunch menu without the 'white table cloth' option...

We walked in and the first thing I noticed is that the bar area has no alcohol in display...  do they have a liquor license????  We sat down and both of our tables wiggled and we had one broken chair which my friend had to change with the table next to ours.

It is past 3pm and we were given the lunch menu.  We start going over it and it did look good.  A selection of oysters as appetizers, a selection of wraps and sandwiches and a handful of entrees... ok... we like this...  we ordered iced tea for our party of 4.  

Looking around, the place is quite bare with bright yellow decor.  "Outside" (sidewalk) seating is offered but bring your suntan lotion as the sun shines right on the tables unless you are under the small umbrella that covers part of it.

Enjoy the conversation that transpired between the server and us:

Us:       We would like to order the oysters to start with...
Server: oh, no oysters... we ran out...
Us:       Ok... I am going to order the salmon wrap...
Server: oh, no salmon wrap... we ran out...
Us:       ok then... how about the pulled pork sandwich...
Server: We don't have pulled pork...
Us:       Why don't you tell us what you have???
Server: We ran out of wraps, so the wraps will come in a hamburguer
            bun.  We ran out of the Foccacia bread so all sandwiches will
            also come in a bun, no oysters and none of cheese appetizers
            plates either.  Do you need a few minutes to decide???

That's half of the menu not served properly in a restaurant...

After a small conversation, we decided to leave the bistro.  We told the server that we would finish our iced teas and leave.  Another server came by and explained that they got more people than expected and they ran out of food... Lady, there is something called "planning"!

Finally, to add insult to injury, the server gave us a $10 check for our four iced teas.  What?

The Final Verdict and Final Comment:

Half of the menu not available because of poor planning, charged $10 for just having an iced tea, no bar, tables that wiggled, a broken chair, and all of it put together is a place that makes me wonder if it is even a restaurant to go back and try eating at again...