‘Something weird is going on here’: NYC woman says server told her sushi restaurant doesn’t sell alcohol. Then she takes one look around
Have you ever had such a bad experience with a server that you wonder if you did something wrong?
That’s what recently happened to TikTok user Livee DeVita (@liveedevita). In a video with over 10,000 views, DeVita recounts “the strangest experience” she says she recently had in a New York City sushi restaurant.
According to DeVita, she planned to meet friends at the restaurant. When she arrived, she says the hostess looked at her “like I have no business being in this restaurant.”
“She’s like, ‘Can I help you?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I have a reservation with my friends. I’m the first one here. It’s under this name,’” DeVita explains. “She obviously sees the name in the computer, looks over at a girl at the bar, and goes, ‘Is that her?’”
“I’m like, ‘No. Like I just said, I’m the first one here,’—but what the [expletive]?” DeVita continues.
Things Get Confusing
After DeVita was seated, she spotted two people at the bar sharing a glass of wine. Knowing that her friends were running late, she asked for a drink menu. The server returned with a drink menu, telling DeVita that the restaurant “just [has] cocktails.”
“Whatever. Maybe they’re out of wine. But I literally see two people drinking wine,” she says.
After looking over the menu, DeVita says she was unable to locate any cocktails, as the menu only had mocktails.
“So I go, ‘Sorry, where are the cocktails?’” DeVita says. “She grabs the menu from me, like I’m stupid, and points and goes, ‘They’re right here.’”
“And I go, ‘Those all say mocktails,’” she continues. “And I kid you not, she looks at me and she goes, ‘Oh, yeah, we don’t sell alcohol here.’”
This whole experience put DeVita off from eating at the restaurant.
“I text my friends. I’m like, ‘Dude, this restaurant is, like, wacko. We’re either in a money laundering front or something weird is going on here. So, I never ended up eating there,” she explains. She later adds, “Genuinely one of the strangest experiences of my life. I felt like it was either that girl’s first day on earth or she thought it was my first day on earth.”
What’s Going On Here?
The Mary Sue was unable to find any sushi restaurants in New York that match this description. All sushi restaurants on Google Maps in the Lower East Side of Manhattan appear to offer alcohol, and the ones that offer mocktails seem to do so on the same menu in which the cocktails are offered.
Given this, it’s difficult to verify DeVita’s story and figure out the restaurant’s exact policy on alcohol. That said, there are some reasons why this could have happened.
First, the server could have been correct that the restaurant genuinely does not serve alcohol. While DeVita says she saw people drinking a glass of wine, she could have simply misidentified the drink.
Second, it could be that the server was simply unaware of the restaurant’s alcohol offerings. Although unlikely, it’s possible that the server was new to the job and was unaware of a separate menu containing alcoholic drinks.
What Else Could It Be?
Finally, this could be a quirk of the restaurant’s liquor licensing. Liquor licensing can get fairly complex, and it’s possible that the server simply didn’t understand what the restaurant’s licensing allowed. For example, some restaurants with street dining may not have permission to serve alcohol in their outdoor area.
While some commenters suggested that the restaurant was simply BYOB, New York does not allow unlicensed BYOB restaurants. This means that, if a restaurant is BYOB, it also has a license to serve alcohol (and likely does so).
@liveedevita like what was this genuinely about
♬ original sound – Livee DeVita
Commenters Are Confused
In the comments section, users were equally stunned by DeVita’s story.
“Power trip final boss is a hostess in a nyc restaurant,” wrote a user.
“Idk why but like what if she’s just new and doesn’t know the menu (granted these are the vibes of a ton of people in this role like giving bouncer energy),” suggested another.
“She out here just bored and causing havoc,” stated a third.
The Mary Sue reached out to DeVita via email.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
