Old Stove Pub

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  Borderline inedible, no permit for a/c and the hostess downing a bag of m&m's at the front of the house.  Something is awry here. If not for a waitress who tried incredibly hard, we would've left after the tarama (which btw tasted more like potato salad).

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  Posted on 07.14.13 Rachel S.

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  I ate here last weekend and I truly felt like someone was playing a practical joke on my friends and me. Sometimes you read Yelp and think "those must be tourists from Minnesota", but no, we are indeed what one would call the "core customer" of this type of establishment.
  
  Let's just walk through the facts of our dinner:
  - When we ordered, half of the things we requested were not available. No fish (of any kind),  they didn't have 4 different wines we asked for (no sauvignon blancs), and they were out of one of the Greek specialty dishes.
  - Then it took 45 minutes for our drinks to arrive.
  - When they arrived, half of the drinks were missing.
  - When those drinks finally arrived another 30 minutes later, they were literally undrinkable. I am a big negroni fan, and I almost spit out the drink. It tasted like rubbing alcohol. This wouldn't be acceptable at a drive bar, let alone at a place charging $15 per cocktail.
  - It took another 30 minutes to get our appetizers, and then another 45 minutes to get our entrees
  - Since the only entree that was available was chicken or steak, we all went for the steak. The steak was fine, but mediocre for a $90 piece of meat. Seasoning is apparently is not in this chef's artillery.
  - One of my friends doesn't eat red meat, so she ordered one of the appetizers for her main. That they then forgot to bring.
  - They ran out of the red wine that we were drinking mid-meal, so they offered to bring us another wine and only charge us half price. This was nice except that the wine that they offered us was half the price of the wine we were drinking. I thought it was very unprofessional to bring a $50 bottle to follow a $100 bottle. You don't want to go from drinking fancy wine to drinking something worse. Especially at these fancy Hamptons prices.
  - The poor waiter looked like a deer in head lights the whole night. He was obviously a 22 year old kid, not a professional waiter, who was clearly way over-worked. They didn't have enough staff for the number of patrons.
  
  My advice: run far away from this restaurant. Even though there is apparently new management, this place is just horrible. The problems are far deeper than just "working out the early summer kinks."
  The prices are crazy, the food is mediocre at best and unavailable at worst, the cocktails taste like they were mixed by an 18 year old raiding their parents liquor cabinet, the service was snail pace and frantic.
  
  Close already, Old Stove.

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  Posted on 07.11.13 Sohogal C.

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  Sometimes you look at Yelp reviews and you think, maybe they are just haters. Sometimes you should listen to the reviews. We tried the newly renovated Old Stove. The service was nonexistent. Parts of our meal never came. Other dishes came so late we were done eating when they got there. There were numerous spills during the evening, it was impossible to get water or a drink refill, and the food was at best mediocre. We were the lucky ones sitting inside. The outside tables border a gravel parking lot that spews dust every time the valets park a car.
  
  But they have a piano player. So.... Nah. We should have listened to the reviews.

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  Posted on 07.10.13 michael l.

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  We used to eat at the Old Stove Pub years ago
  Back then the steak was superb and big.
  We decided to go back last night and try it again
  with some good friends and food lovers.
  The experience was disappointing.
  I had a caesar salad to start and it was
  awful.
  It was iceberg lettuce that was soggy and way too much mediocre dressing.
  I left the whole thing over and the wait staff didn' t even notice or ask if there was something wrong.
  Two of us had steak, both were not cooked as we ordered them.
  The smaller sagaponack steak was an embarrassment for 39 dollars.
  It resembled a steak sandwich from a diner.
  It was thin and not juicy.
  The desert the cold fudge sundae was good but the portion was for children.
  We will not be rteturning anytime soon.
  Barry G

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  Posted on 07.06.13 barry g.

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  One of the worst experiences we have has. Amateur service, the sense the wait staff is trained to rip you off, recommending only the most expensive wines and food, uninspired food for outrageous prices.

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  Posted on 05.19.13 martha p.

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  I agree with everything everyone has written about how bad this place is!!! We have been driving by this place for years on our way to East Hampton, and every weekend, i say "lets Try Old Stove Pub" I will NEVER say that again. HOw are they even open? And who is going there? The food was terrible, the staff  inept and the management clueless!!! This place should not be open, and they should not be allowed to call themselves a restaurant. Everyone around us was complaining too. Just Close Old Stove Pub, it would make a cute antique shop!

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  Posted on 03.24.13 Scott S.

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  Awful does not adequately describe the experience of eating here. Expensive, inedible food complemented by a pricey wine list (bottles up tp $2200). No end of idiots packing the place, unable to distinguish one "Greek" dish from another, as they all taste the same. To call the service abysmal would  be charitable. The saganaki appetizer came - at least half of it - halfway through the main course. And without pita bread, which they apparently had to run out to King Kullen to buy. By the time that cardboard substitute was delivered the saganaki had congealed into a solid brick.
  
  This is not the OLD Stove Pub, it is a crappy restaurant trying to live off the reputation of the classic that preceded it. Even one star is too many from this dump.

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  Posted on 02.12.13 Noah W.

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  The good - the host was friendly and the spanakopita was fantastic.
  
  The bad - they killed the cow twice. The "charred" steaks were so burnt that the bone was black and chipping in to pieces. We should have returned the steaks - but didn't - that was the second mistake - the first mistake was going there for Christmas eve dinner.
  
  When host asked us how the meal was - I told him that it was really bad and why. He did discount our bill and while I would go back for the spanakopita I would never order the steak again. I ordered a medium rare steak and it was super well done, the outside was so black I thought it was some kind of marinade. Steak is pretty easy to cook and if you can't tell the difference between medium rare and hockey puck you need to turn in your apron.
  
  I've always hated to be "that" person  that sends their food back but this was the last time I'm not "that" person.
  
  Don't waste your money - go somewhere else.

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  Posted on 01.02.13 Krystyna H.

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  Wish there was a way of giving them less than one star. This restaurant doesn't even deserve ONE star. Was there for dinner last night with 2 other couples.
  Service was abominable, and food was inedible. The piano player was OK and the room was warm while the snow fell outside.
  First the salads, how can you serve a salad that is still frozen in the center? and when it was sent back it took 20 minuets before we cancelled it because it was too late by that time (It still hadn't been delivered when it was cancelled).
  Next the steaks were overcooked we ordered two steak dinners and two fish dinners. The Rare and Med steak orders came out med-well and well done respectively (after waiting 45 minuets for them we felt it wasn't wise to send them back as the hour was already late.) The salmon was inedible there was lots of it on the plate but both people who ordered the salmon left 98% of the fish on their plates. The chicken was fair at best.
  Besides the poor service and the ill-prepared food... it took 2 hours before our food was served. and the restaurant wasn't full.
  I hate to complain like this, but I wish I knew about this place from others experiences before I went (and saved my money).
  Bottom line,
  the staff is poorly trained (if at all)
  the kitchen needs lessons in cooking and presentation
  the host or owners need to get more involved to know what's going on around them.
  when a server takes back plates full of untouched food they should learn to ask if anything was wrong with it.
  SO SAVE YOUR MONEY, There are plenty of places in this area worth a visit..  just NOT HERE

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  Posted on 12.30.12 Allan G.

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  Everything written in the previous reviews were 100% on point.  I too had the most awful experence. I've been flirting with going back in the hopes that I was there on an off night but, Burn me once shame on you, burn me twice shame on me.  
  
  First off we arrived to a pretty empty restaurant, maybe 5 tables were seated and had to wait 10 minutes for someone to acknowledge us.  The staff walked passed us but no one said anything and finally the manager came to us, offered his apology and seated us outside.  A little bump but, not a biggie.  
  
  We sat for a while before anyone came over to offer us anything so when the server did come I jumped on him and ordered Tatziki for the table.  It came and was delicious but was served with nothing but a spoon . . . no bread, no pita, nada.  OK, an oversight so I asked for bread.  Btw, before the Tatziki came, a lone lamb chop made its way to our table of 4.  We didn't order it and if we did it would have been more than 1.  
  
  We ordered our drinks and the server returned to say they only had the $25 glass of wine and not the $15 we ordered.  "Thanks . . . you can bring the $25 glass of wine for the price of the $15", which he hesitated on but, obliged.  Thank you.  
  
  The most shocking part of the night was when we asked the server what cuts of beef were on the menu since they only give you their "Sagaponack, etc." he relpied, "I'm not going to be able to answer that for you tonight."  WHAT?!!  Really?  We all looked at each other in disbelief.  We asked him if someone else could answer - pointing to another server and he replied with "she cannot either.  She doesn't know"  OK, can you please send the manager over?  He finally came over and told us there was a Ribeye, Porterhouse and Sirloin for 2.  We ordered 2 porterhouses and 1 ribeye.  When it arrived there was no Ribeye or Porterhouse to speak of, just a sirloin steak (not for 2).  We told them they must have our order wrong and 3 people and the manager told us that they were in fact our meals.  Clearly not one single person including the people cooking the steaks know what a porterhouse or ribeye are because clearly they were not.  How could we be spending all of this money on steaks we didn't order, especially since it was the manager that told us the cuts!?  Granted they did look nice and juicy.  We refused the steaks, asked for our check and told them we would be on our way.  They manager was in  huff and said don't worry about it and stormed off.  We tipped the server and went on our way to another restaurant where we had excellent service and food.  
  
  Other issues:  
  
  1.Our table was littered with glasses that not one single person  working (which there were quite a few) thought to clear our table.  I had to hunt down people for water.  One server filled my glass half way before running out, went to get more water and never returned to my table.  She did come back with water but, she forgot about us.  We looked around at neighboring tables and they too were littered with Glasses.  
  
  2. We ordered the burger (on a Friday night) and they were out of them forcing us to order something else.  
  
  3.  Just before our food arrived they served us one piece of random something in a dish that looked like a pig ear.  It was most likely one strip of fried bacon.  Weird.  
  
  4.  The service was horrendous!  There were a couple really nice food runners/bus people and they were trying their best.  I would blame all of the mishaps on the management and not training their staff.  I was told by the server that he was on lease from Savannah's in Southampton which explains why he knew nothing.  How can you open and not have your staff in place with food knowledge or even basic serving knowledge.  We tipped the server despite our experience bc his lack of knowledge can only be blamed on management.  
  
  5.  The table of 8 next to us said their desserts were awful!  They were totally disgusted.  They too said the service was awful.  
  
  I know I'm missing stuff but, I think you get it and if you decide not to head our warnings, good luck to you.  If you have a good experience I'd like to know.

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  Posted on 10.11.12 Hampton E.

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  I wish there was a choice of zero stars. This restaurant...if you can call it that...is beyond BAD.  So terrible that I can't begin to explain how and why.  But I'll try.  First, management has zero idea what they're doing.  They are completely disorganized and so RUDE that even if the food was amazing, I would never go back.  I could write a review paragraphs long, but I'll hit the main points:
  
  1. We waited a bit before we were told our table was ready and were then lead to an 8 person table (there were four of us)...the manager told us there was something wrong and it would be awkward if we sat there, and left us standing in the middle of a crowded restaurant with zero explanation or further instruction.  He didn't come back. So we wandered back to the bar.
  
  2. 40 minutes and 3 check-ins (by us) later, his colleague sat us at a table.  We immediately ordered appetizers and were told that our steaks would take at least 45 minutes, so we should order now.  So we did, and I ordered the filet special, specifically asking if there was any risk of it running out and was told absolutely no.
  
  3. 1 of our four appetizers arrived about 20 minutes later.  Mind you, it was 9pm at this point.  15 minutes after, we asked where the other three appetizers were and our server ran off as if she'd forgotten about them. They arrived about 10 minutes later.
  
  4. Once we'd eaten our appetizers, our server returned to inform me that they didn't have filet.  She then tried to tell me that the Sagaponack Steak was a better cut than the filet.  I wasn't thrilled, but ordered it.  Then the manager came and offered 25% off of the steak, as "We don't have filet"...arms and voice raised, zero apology in sight.  Money's not the issue but I'll take your measly offer (more on that later, see below).  
  
  5. One hour later, steaks arrived.  We also received the veggie side dish smothered in parsley, after our dinner mate had very clearly told the server that we had a major parsley allergy at the table and that we'd like the veggies without.  Fun times.
  
  6. The steak I received, which I was told was a better cut than the filet, was almost inedible.  
  
  7. We received dessert complimentary, which was also inedible.  Nice gesture, really poor execution.
  
  8. The bill came.  My steak was retail (see above, number 4).  We inquired about the discount (fully on principal).  We were then told by the server "You wouldn't have liked the Sagaponack steak, so our manager gave you the more expensive steak for the price of the Sagaponack"....he came over to reiterate and we explained to him that this isn't how service works.  How on earth does a restaurant ask you to order and offer a discount due to their error and then bring you something that they deem a better quality, but then charge you the full price of what you ordered...BEYOND NOT OK!!!!!!
  
  This restaurant is extremely disorganized, full of fruit flies and not worth the trip.  Skip it at all costs, it is truly a DISAPPOINTMENT and frankly a disgrace to the former owners and to the Hamptons.  I hope they go out of business quickly, as an abandoned old house is much easier on the eyes (and purse strings) than this terrible wreck of a dining hall.

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  Posted on 09.22.12 Lisa H.

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