The iconic River Café on the Brooklyn waterfront in DUMBO — famous for its floating-barge dining room that offers sweeping views of lower Manhattan — discriminates against Jews dressed in religious garb by requiring them to pay a minimum of $25 per person to sit at the bar, according to one current and one former employee.
DUMBO Cafe Discriminates Against Religeous Jews
The iconic River Café on the Brooklyn waterfront in DUMBO — famous for its floating-barge dining room that offers sweeping views of lower Manhattan — discriminates against Jews dressed in religious garb by requiring them to pay a minimum of $25 per person to sit at the bar, according to one current and one former employee.
The reservationists — who stand at the entrance to the popular wedding venue and tourist destination — are instructed to use code words to alert the maitre d’ if anyone wearing a yarmulke, “religious hat” or “strings” asks to be seated at the scenic bar, the workers say.
“There are several notes in a book that the reservationists use,” said a current employee at the restaurant, which opened in 1977. The book is kept at the greeting stand. New notes are added periodically by management, and employees are expected to read it before every shift, staffers said.
“The book says that if two religious Jews come in, we call ahead to the maitre d’ and say, ‘Is there space for two at the water bar?’ — in which case a minimum of $25 will be enforced that is just for Jews wearing yarmulkes or any sort of religious hat,” a staffer said. “The terminology in the book is ‘special hat’ or ‘religious hat.’ At the bar, the $25 minimum is only enforced for Jews.”
Restaurant officials denied the claim.
“The $25 minimum applies to everyone,” said Teddy Dearie, assistant manager at The River Café. “If it wasn’t applied, that is just someone not doing their job. The phrase ‘water bar’ I’ve never heard before. That phrase, or any deviation from the policy that’s been in place for several years, is not condoned by the restaurant and is indicative of an individual not performing the duties for which they have been hired.”
Images of the reservation book were provided to The Post to back up the employees’ claims.
“If they look as if they will only order water (not that we stereotype or anything) mention the minimum right away,” one note says. “If they ask for the bar and there is room, tell them there is a minimum at the bar as well.”
Another note reads: We “have decided that when people come in for the bar and are A. wearing sweat pants and B. religious top hats and strings, you must say for A. gym bar and for B. water bar. Thanks.”
On Thursday evening, The Post sent a Jewish couple to the bar. The husband, wearing a yarmulke, and the wife, dressed in a simple long skirt, were told the bar was full.
They were told they could sit on the empty terrace and pay a $25-per- person minimum.
Five minutes later, two Post reporters, wearing no religious garb, were seated on the terrace and were not required to pay a minimum. The bill for a coffee and a gin-and-tonic totaled $18.51.
The River Café — a non-kosher eatery famous for its $100 three-course prix-fixe menu featuring lobster, foie gras and rack of lamb — has become a popular date spot with Orthodox Jews, who are required by their religion to choose public places for dates.
Current and former employees said these couples come for the view and non-alcoholic beverages, and are frowned upon because they take up seats and don’t spend enough money.
Messed up my proposal
This is article so true.
I took my future wife there and had an elaborate plan for our proposal (which I wanted to to do just before shabbis so that we could go to the ohel motxei shabbis hud-aleph nissan). Lots of plans, wasn’t going to cause a fuss, my life about to change.
Then, we go there, and the guy tells me to take off my black hat, I did. Not worth fighting about and only a few hours till shabbis Then he says, “Also the other”, referring to my kippah. Everyone in the place was staring at us, midday lunch. I was so flumoxed I just tried to act tough and left.
Then has to scamble to find a place to propose. I knew then that the place was anti-semetic. First they did the cover thing, which I agreed to, then the staff whispered to each other, then they tell me to take off my hat AND kippah!
Back then they had an outside room which was empty which I was hoping to use.
I hope the whole place sinks into the river at night when no one is in it!!
Morris Ayin
Jews shouldn’t go to a non Kosher restaurant anyway, not even to use the bathroom.
mendy
I understand them
Went there on a date....
I’m not surprised. My husband took me on a date to River Cafe when we were dating and only he ordered something to drink. We took up a very lovely table on the terrace, we sat for over 2 hours, and our bill was less then $20. We took up a table where they could have had customers sitting and ordering expensive meals. We were not the only Jews on a date there that night. I do not blame management at all for enforcing a minimum. However, this minimum should be enforced for everyone dining. A lot of bars do this in the city. It’s not completely unheard of.
Milhouse
#4, There’s no need to impose a minimum on normal customers. They know that on average they make good money from normal customers, so if once in a while a bill comes to $20 instead of $25 it makes sense to let it go, rather than demand they buy something else. But when they know that customers fitting a certain profile will only spend an average of $10 or $15, it makes sense to impose a minimum of $25 on anyone fitting that profile.
Isaac
If the bill is below $20.00… is it criminal to tip at least 50% of the bill?!???? I would be embarrassed to go to a place like this… only order water and soda, and leave no tip!
ya
They make sense… But there should be a general rule regarding it, so that its not necessary to say, yalmuka, strings or anything that makes it specific to one group
awacs
“But when they know that customers fitting a certain profile …”
But they can’t *do* that, Milhouse. Not in the People’s Republic of New York, they can’t.
Law’s a wonderful thing when it’s on your side, isn’t it?
Good business advice
Smart business would be to cater to the clientele rather than imposing unfair minimums and rules that apply only to certain people. If they know that lots of frum people use their premises, why not cater to their needs? If they had a selection of kosher packaged snacks, sandwiches and a list of kosher drinks available – surely the frum crowd would order. They should take ADVANTAGE of the situation in a business manner rather than exhibit discriminatory policies.
Lets take our business elsewhere
I sensed anti semitism when I showed up on a date wearing a coat and a black hat. The hostess at the entrance asked to take my wool coat and when she saw that I had no jacket underneath, told me that I can’t enter without a blazer. After reading this article, this makes sense–I highly doubt that they would kick out a non religious looking guy for wearing a wool coat, button down shirt, but no jacket.
With all the dating spots in NYC,why not just go somewhere else instead of being discriminated and paying $25 over there.
Levi
From my experience, this is not the only place in the NYC area that shows blatant discrimination towards religious Jews. I’ve experienced it quite a bit over many years of dating and going out. Sometimes it’s subtle and less obvious but it’s fairly common…
The restaraunt did NOTHING wrong!
Number 1, the restaurant did nothing wrong. They are running a business, i know i wouldn’t like people to come for hours and not buy food. The religious couple can go somewhere else on a date if they don’t like it.
Hay Genius!!!
There is an expression that many people, who ever they are, do not understand, and that is, “When in Rome, do as the Romans”. Frum yidden don’t realize how they ‘blow people away’ by the way they dress. One reason is because that people who ‘look’ different, make people ‘feel’ uncomfortable. That’s just normal life. (I’m not saying we should dress as goyim C.V.) But have some common sense, when you go to a bar, yes a bar, it is not a bais medrish, so leave your hat in the car! Other wise go propose in a shule! Second reason is that frum yidden have made for themselves a ‘reputation’ of being rude, not polite and down right nasty!! Congratulate ourselves people, but THAT is the reality of this. By the way, did she say yes? Great! Another genius, that are going to make genius children!!!
Lemisah
Solve the problem, have a female singer every so often, that will keep the dates out
BS !
i have gone there for years and when you call in they say the same thing.
Lost In NY
Ok, while we are on the subject of dating, does anyone care to list some great venues to take a date besides for hotel lounges?
yaniv
why in the world are religous jews going to bars
To 9
It’s NOT good business for a fancy restaurant to serve potato chips.
They designed the business in a certain way, not to cater to shiduch dates. This is not anti semetic, it’s them not wanting their classy restauran to become a shidduch date house.
Everyone used to date there.
I went there, many years ago, with someone I didn’t marry and he used to order banana or strawberry dacaris I found out later that they put cream in it. Be carefull when going to a trief place.
Esty B
If the minimum is applied to everyone, I see no problem with this. However, it sounds like they’re using Jewish-looking dress to single out Jewish people for a mandatory fees that don’t apply to others. Can’t think of a better reason to give my business to Kosher establishments…even if it’s just for drinks.
berel
they are right to charge the 25.00 minimum i remember when i went to the Pierre i think there minimum was 35.00 i didnt mind as i looked at it i was rented the atmosphere.
imagine all the snags all the chasidish olam that abuse their restaurant. i dont think there being biased just practical…what would you do in their shoes.
To clarify
It is 25 a person, so it would be 50 for a date
Thinkster
The joke’s on them. I went there once. Just once. The place is so not worth the $25 per person! I never returned.
There are so many classier, nicer, more intimate places in New York to take someone. I hope the orthodox community boycotts the place.
It-s okay to charge a minimum.
It’s a chutzpa to sit there for 4 hours and order two cokes. However, they should enforce the minimum on all, because racial profiling is illegal in this country.
To #13
You sound sad. Hope life treats you better!
Also hope it dawns on you that a jew shouldn’t be made to take off his kippah in order to order drinks in a bar.
MJ
In 1985, I took my (later to be) wife on a shidduch date to Windows on the World at the top of the WTC. The receptionist asked me to remove my hat. I asked why and she said it was “like wearing blue jeans.) So I removed me hat (not my yarmulka) and paid $7 each for two Cokes (which everyone else paid, since it was the price on the menu.) Our first date had been in the lounge at the Vista Hotel in the WTC. That Saturday night, several minyanim could have been formed from young men there on shidduchim. Alas, I cannot take my wife back there nor to Windows on the World for old times sake.
commun sense
it is fair to charge 25 per person minimum, otherwise they loose money,( rent, workers etc) I dont see anti semitism on this, If a jew gos on a date and spends 4 hours with a glass of water taking a table, they have to close,commun sense
With a non jew they know how much money they get average per hour,per table, so there is no reason to charge minimum
just a little bit of seichel
The restaraunt should have used a much smarter tactic instead of looking like they’re anti semitic. They can make a rule that each tablehas a $25/$30 sitting fee which gets waived should your order bbe greater than that amount
To number thirteen
I hate to tell you, you sound like you landed off a time machine dating back from czarist Russia. And your comments sre no less then antisemitic. The world lets the arabs dress with what they like where they like, the Amish too. Till Islam became a normal phenomenon in the USA every Jew was embarrassed of his or her name. Now that mustafa and shaniqua are common names all of a sudden ‘avrohom’ became popular.
My point is that when a yid goes on a date, and he wants to dress like a yid, it is his right.
And if you are talking about congratulating ourselves, the only thing I congratulate you is possessing and spreading the Jewish guilt.
Us Jews never hurt a fly as a group, and we ought to stop being apologetic and feeling bad about our Jewish identity. Even in a bar!
# 15
They should inforce a cover charge.
To #13
That’s what Moses mendelson said when he began the reform movement. Just for history sake; his children all became apostates….
TT
racism and discrimination is illigal period
Bochur
cover charge is fair, uneven enforcement is not.
that said, I’ve had worse;
at the peninsula in the city (55th &5th) any bochur comes in will be aggressively discouraged from staying, between stories about event that night to being almost pushed out physically, same discrimination.
The Kitchen Manager
When I worked at a high end, GLATT KOSHER, CHASSIDISHE SHECHITA Restaurant we realized that a certain element of the FRUM community was draining us dry — Young people on Shidduch dates. They would come, eat the “free” assorted dinner rolls with compound margarine, the “free” crudités (vegetable plate), sit for hours, and only order dessert, if that. Some of them, after fressing the “free” food, said, “We aren’t hungry,” and didn’t order anything. We put down a fresh tablecloth and fresh cloth napkin for every sitting. So never mind that they took up the table from paying customers, that they took the waiter’s, busboy’s, and dishwasher’s time, the restaurant also had to dry clean the linen. The owner literally lost money on every single one of these customers. Plus they were usually the last to leave, many of them giving us a hassle to get out at closing time. In the beginning we even would wait for them so it cost extra time in salaries. Eventually, we PROFILED anyone on a Shidduch date and told them there was a $15 minimum per person, and OY how they complained. A restaurant is a private business that runs on tight profit margins. They don’t have to support the Shidduch Industry, and they don’t deserve the horrible treatment of “Anti-Semite” when they make a reasonable business move. It’s not as if they said NO JEWS. So stop making a Chillul Hashem.
well, yeah....
if bochurim tipped or ordered something other than water, might not be an issue…. just sayin….
To #23
can you list some of those places? thanks!
Don-t Shidduch date in a restaurant
Regardless of whether the restaurant was right or wrong–I think the lesson we need to learn is that we as frum Jews need to be a light on the world, and be careful to only make a kiddush Hashem even in subtle aspects of things. I think now that this story has come out in the media, –we need to think to ourselves: is it right to go to a restaurant, take up a table for hours, and not order hardly anything at the expense of the restaurant? Probably not. There are so many other types of public places people can meet for a Shidduch to talk for a few hours. It need not be a restaurant. Usually restaurants are intended for people to come in, eat a meal (or have a few drinks) and then leave. On a Shidduch a person usually wants a place to just sit and talk for several hours. Lets not impose ourselves on businesses that are not intended for these purposes. Find nice, quiet public places to talk for several hours that are not restaurants. If you look you will find plenty of them.
this is done for a reason
obviously, religious jews are not welcome there because the place is treif and we just take up room, i would do the same thing. the real question is why are so many religious ppl going to a treif place???? today’s day and age there are plenty of high class and 4 star kosher restaurants…truly pathetic that this is an issue, because there is nothing here…
Nothing compares to the river Cafe
Sorry Number 37. NOTHING compares to the river Cafe! I’m a Kippa wearing Jew. I’ve taken dates there. I always tip very generously to make up for the lack of meal… They are very professional and nice to me.
Devorah
Ditto number 37. I agree completely.
Treat others (that includes non kosher businesses) as you would want to be treated.
Chefke - Seriously?
the reason is because they come and take a seat for four hours and pnly order one drink! They are taking away their buisness! Also, me and my husband went on our first date there and they were kind and courteous the whole time. Obviously, if you are not dressed up to par and are not willing to pay the price of the restaurant, then you should not go.
Yehuda Venice Ca.
This is Very Silly!
You go there and have a drink and stay long,. that is Gnivas das, the torah prohibits it!
yocham
39 Thank you! you are a mentch and understand!
shlomo as always with bad English
we should support this discrimination. 100% that someone, who enter to such place not frumm at allso why kipa? for what? for you grandma?. we can’t even paarcipiate such people in minian.
trachtgut
This is old news about the River Cafe. In 1993, the Jewish holiday of Purim was on Monday, March 8th. As the then President of the Rotary Club of Brooklyn, I attended to Rotary’s Annual Gift of Life Dinner, after the traditional reading of the Megillah of Esther. Following the Dinner, my wife and I went to the River Cafe to continuing celebrating Purim. I had rented a limo for the night (to avoid DUI). We were both in formal attire, with my wife wearing $50K of diamonds, which she had borrowed from work. We went to the bar and ordered our usual – a single malt for my wife, and a double shot of vodka for me. Before we could partake of our drinks, the manager came over, and told the bar tender to clear our drinks. I asked why? The manager said that I would have to take my hat off. I told him that I am an Orthodox Jew, and will not take my hat off. There was an Asian lady sitting and drinking at the bar, who had a hat on her head. We then left. A local Brooklyn Heights newspaper carried the story with this quote from the manager at the River Cafe: “We don’t want them and their big black hats in here”. I contacted an attorney, who spoke with the River Cafe’s owner. The owner said that this an isolated incident, and we welcome Orthodox Jews. So after all these years they still are discriminating against Orthodox Jews. Hopefully with enough publicity they will adopt a proper approach.
shlomo as always with bad English
TO 45# TAVALTA KELIM? OW YOU CAN DRINK IN SUCH PLASE? YOU WIFE, WEARING 50K DIAMONDS, DRINK FROM THE BOTTLE???? GOOD FAMILY((((((((((((