Luke’s Fusion Wine Bar

closed, finally!!!

Omg! This place is the pits! It took 15 minutes to make my margarita. It took so long that I went to go sit down and they had to deliver it 10 mins later. Worst bartenders, they are distracted by pretty much everything. My friend ordered mac and cheese and it took 45 mins and it came out burned and disgusting. [see picture above]
The great music from the DJ was the only thing that kept me here for the hour I was. NEVER AGAIN!

The new chef rocks! Had the sardine fillet with tomato risotto… will definitely go back for more. This place has reopened with Chopped Champion Chef Luisa Fernandes, who is now in charge of the kitchen. As the place has new staff, there are still a few quirks to take care of in the front of the house. However, I am sure they will be sorted out quickly.
Management made an excellent choice by getting such a renowned Chef.

New management. New award winning chef. Stomach wonderfully full, I can’t move. Food was amazing. Center cut lamb. Shrimp and pasta — to die for!!! John the bartender — the bestest fresh ginger punch.

Holy s*** this place sucks.

Let me just join the chorus of people who hate this place (seriously, Unilocal,consider developing a negative-​star system). Abusive, threatening staff; terrible atmosphere; probably the single worst place in the neighborhood. Inexplicable to me that they’re still in business.

This restaurant is run by pathological liars. That’s not a good start.
The owner has created a beautiful, million-​dollar space with such a poor quality of personality and service, you can’t help but pity their business acumen.
The restaurant is ALWAYS empty. The exterior gives the appearance of a closed orthodontist’s office, and there are no signs or smells of culinary anything. This is likely because they are almost never cooking. Oftentimes, when a dish is ordered, management must run to Target to purchase the ingredients. The reports of waiting an hour and a half are too many to deny.
Luke’s is destined to fail, and the sooner the better. These are not the type of floundering small business owners you want to support.

I made my BF go here… and I feel awful for doing it.
1. When we got our check, one item was charged almost double what it was on the menu. I protested and was told that the menu was ‘under construction’. The bill was not adjusted!
2. They lowered the volume to get us to come in and sit and then gradually raised it until we couldn’t speak.
3. There was NO coffee available at 2PM on a Saturday, during «brunch». What the what?
4. The oatmeal was described on the menu as coming with berries and fruit. There were no berries, no fruit, and no apologies when I inquired.
5. The burger was AWFUL. Frozen burger, doughy bun, and inexplicably salty lettuce.
6. They do not use water pitchers and instead take your glasses to the back to refill them. Only dine here with people you know very well. Better yet, do not dine here at all.

Wow… such potential ! On one of the steamiest night of the summer, my friends and I decided to stop by Lukes for drinks and finger foods. I had never been here before, but they both had very positive things to say on our way there. Keep in mind, it’s a steamy night in NYC and most people that are out are looking for a nice COOL place to spend their hard earned cash.
We were greeted by a very pleasant bartender, who was also the waitress and food runner. She was able to suggest a few of her favorite items on the menu to us, as well as a few drinks to us. This is where the problems start …
1. I ordered a glass of Riesling … I noticed the owner (who I will talk about later) bringing her 2 HOT bottles. WHY? She comes over to tell me that the Riesling was not chilled and that she can give me a glass of ICE. *sigh* There should always be atleast ONE bottle of wine chilled and ready for customers ALWAYS !
1 a — We complained several times about the air conditioner or LACK THERE OF. The owner kind of shrugged his shoulders and acted like he turned it up. He couldn’t of as we all were sitting there in sweat !
2. The bartender/​waitress/​food runner suggests the cod fish fritters and jerk chicken wings. Ok, sounds good right? NO ! One of the guests at my table, can not eat spicy foods mind you NOT the waitress said she too can not eat spicy food and recommended the jerk wings ! Well all we can say is CALL FDNY !! These were the spiciest wings EVER !! The codfish fritters. well, they were fried so hard I have no idea what they tasted like, so I can’t even review them *sigh*
3. At one point, it got a little busy. The bartender /​waitress/​food runner was in the weeds … it was quite obvious as she struggled to remember to bring the bill and as other tables waited for her to take their orders. All while the kitchen kept alerting her that there was food to pick up. I can not be mad at her, she was doing the best she could under the conditions. She never stopped smiling :-)
Last but not least … all the while the owner of this establishment, sat at the bar with the extreme sour puss face. We all wondered HOW can he sit there and NOT help her? His smugness was unacceptable and will be the main reason why I will NOT support this restaurant again.
His lack of professionalism led me to think that he is not serious about running a successful restaurant/​bar in booming neighborhood.
Oh and on our way out… we noticed that this restaurant had no DOH grade at all ???

Yikes! I just read the other reviews and that is banana pants though I don’t think it’s that far fetched. I think this is managed by the same owners of En. In an earlier review I mentioned that it got a little crazy one night there with the staff arguing nose to nose so I can only imagine that the madness continues. Assigning a restaurant a new name and rearranging the furniture doesn’t mean that things will automatically improve.
This review is only for the drinks since we didn’t have dinner here. Drinks were just ok and the bar tender was nice enough. You can tell that the wait staff are working hard to change the reputation and improve the service. So who knows. Time will tell. I do hope that no one else has to go through what the previous reviewers mentioned!

STAY AWAY! I am an easy patron with little needs when dining out. I understand the demands of a busy establishment and I am rather patient when it comes to service. This restaurant has pushed the boundaries of poor service and a disrespectful owner. My friends and I waited almost two hours for our food. After nearly an hour and a half, we decided to cancel the order and asked for the check. After another 30 minutes the check was brought to us twice, with incorrect charges for food we never received. When we approached the host to discuss the bill, the owner accused us of lying. The service was poor, and most importantly, the owner is rude, disrespectful, arrogant, and lacks any professional etiquette in a service oriented business. Fort Greene has MANY other restaurants where your money will be welcomed. STAY AWAY!

This business is the WORST OF THE WORST. It only gets one star b/​c of the good looking crowd it brings in and for the DJ’s that play there on the weekends.
–The Service is THE WORST I’ve EVER experienced. The waiters are slow and not attentive at all. I’ve been to this place three times.
The first time– I came with two friends. The food took over an hour and a half to get to the table. The owner came over and apologized saying the cook didn’t show up because of an accident. (Then who was in the back cooking???)…He promised we would eat gratis if we would just pay the bill and comeback for a meal in the future. As he was making his apologies over 75% of the patrons got up and left the restaurant without paying because they NEVER got their food… Never seen anything like a mass exodus like that.
The second time– I came back with two new friends b/​c the other ones didn’t want to to back. I had faith that the restaurant would get their act together.. Boy was I wrong… The owner recognized me and said I could would have one drink for free and that’s it. He said he never said there would be any meal gratis… «Total surprise from me b/​c he practically begged us to come back.»…
–I was done with his establishment.
The third time was July 2^nd… and I did not mean to go back but was out voted 5 to 1 by friends that said it would be a «great experience»… smh. some people just don’t listen. as I recounted my earlier experiences… they said it couldn’t be that bad…
We got to the restaurant early (only two other tables seated) and ordered. The food came out in parts and the fish, the easiest entrée to cook, did not come out after almost an hour and a half. One person was missing a side and they spilled one of someone elses sides onto her chair and never brought out a replacement. When the orders for the bar started to come out before one friends fish entrée, orders that were put in an hour after she had ordered, she decided to cancel the order and leave. Our check was wrong, charged for food we never received, and was given to us a second time with items still charged. When someone went to speak to the hostess about the incorrect bill, the owner blatantly called her a liar. This of course, comes after we complained and the owner was disrespectful to the entire table. The two people that finally got a correct bill, paid for their bill, but after calling one of our party a liar without speaking to the waitress we were all done and we walked out. The owner came after us saying all kinds of craziness, «you people always do this» (We are African American and the owner is African). need I say more.(if you don’t know please reference the movie *Sugar Hill* and threatening to call the police. We told him to feel free to do so and he proceeded to follow us out to our car and argue with one of the ladies through the car window. He then got bold and opened door of the car we were in and tried to pull out one of our friends. After finally closing the door and getting out of there. They FINALLY AGREED WITH ME… NEVER AGAIN!
At no point did the owner ever apologize or try to mend the situation. He kept denying all of his issues with the restaurant which happens every weekend.
LUKE’S SUCKS!!!

I wish you could actually give less stars because this establishment is horrible. STAY AWAY!
I paid my tab and never received my change. You always bring back the change. The owner of this place doesn’t understand that fish only takes seconds to prepare and my friend never got her food.
The venue itself is nice and goes downhill from there. Take my advice and keep driving to place that values their customers. I guarantee that if you go there, you will either walk out unsatisfied or stand up and throw punches at the owner when he calls you a liar or grabs you.
STAY AWAY. Worst place I have ever been to.