Beth D’Addono

Good food without good service can sometimes be tolerated. Good food with abysmal service is a recipe for indigestion.   On a weekend trip to Greenpoint in Brooklyn - a.k.a. Little Poland, a neighborhood where English speakers are a rarity, we had the worst service experience at Damis (931 Manhattan Avenue Brooklyn, 718-349-7501), a non descript little Polish restaurant on the main drag. In a setting that can only be called "early Tarzan" — fake palm trees, a stuffed gorilla, a stuffed bear (do bears live in the jungle? Is there a jungle in Poland?) our party of 6 ordered Polish specialties like pierogis, kielbasa and pork cutlet with mushroom sauce.  Four of us got our food - and despite repeated attempts to get the attention of a server, it took at least 15 minutes for the owner's wife to realize our order hadn't been put in. Forty-five minutes later, the other two parties were served - and when we got the bill, we were overcharged by almost $100. The owner finally came to our table - and not only did he not apologize or try to make amends, he told us "you always have to wait for food at a good restaurant." When we informed him that we weren't leaving a tip, he actually started yelling at us. I guess this particular restaurateur hasn't figured out that, here in America, the customer is supposed to always be right.  Save yourself the heartburn and go anywhere else BUT Damis in Greenpoint.