Last night I was at the Halloween party held at Refuge. I never been so disappointed that one contestant didn't even come in third with creative costume. Now I don't know who will see this email but take a look at your cameras or pictures and tell me who you think should have won or came in 2nd or 3rd place. I can't believe shit like this still happens. Rigging a contest is the lowest thing that could happen. Let me say another thing I was there with 18 people that were just as upset and all said the same thing we will never come back here. Food not great unless your drunk read more

Just off 110, large parking area, indoor and outdoor bars and seating (we were inside), loud constant rock and roll music, inattentive, inconsistent service. Will try outdoors next time. Entrees great. See below my order of "Fettuccini DeVinci" with shrimp, mushrooms, peppers and an added breaded chicken cutlet over a bed of fettuccini with delicious sauce. They serve complimentary bread for the table that's a submarine-sized, cooked loaf of pizza dough with oil and spices ... a little greasy, but good. The girls were happy with their Harvest Salad plus shrimp and the Quinoa Salmon (thick). Large portions, so we all took doggie bags home. read more

The Refuge - "Fettuccini DeVinci" shrimp, mushrooms and peppers over fettuccini and added breaded chicken cutlet - about $33 - Latin American Near Me - Melville, New York

[[HIGHLIGHT]]Food service ambiance all very good.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The guacamole is so good with there chips. the drinks and service also good read more

This place looks great, both outside and inside. It's inviting and welcoming, the service was very good, our server Joe was friendly and attentive, the food was very good, from the appetizers (although a little small IMO) to the desserts, although I thought that the flan consistency was more of a custard than a flan ,but it was very tasty, the chocolate cake was a little of a disappointment, it was just ok, the main dishes were very good, I can't wait to come back and taste more of their options read more

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Second time here in the past month and have to say best guacamole we ever had . Food and drinks were so fresh and on point . Bartender Joshua was amazing and made it a great experience. Will definitely be back soon . Must try restaurant and bar read more

The Refuge - Guacamole and chips - Latin American Near Me - Melville, New York

Love the food, and the service was great. Good experience! Our server Ashley was professional and helpful. I would definitely recommend this restaurant. read more

Apparently there is a live DJ Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. The music is so loud you feel like you're at a wedding without a dance floor. We spoke to the manager and they will not lower the music even after several people complained. A small child was covering his ears for half the time we were there. Menu doesn't know what kind of restaurant it wants to be between the weird signature cocktails, the Italian/Spanish/Seafood and hand made pizzas. They serve $14 glasses of red wine (the cheapest on the list) in a white wine glass. You want loud music, mediocre food and overpriced menu, go there or you can just go to Applebees and spend half the price... read more

Friday night hangout, it was jumping in here - almost every table full. There's a DJ playing some tunes - it's a very lively environment. We shared the Lobster Mac, Calamari, Shrimp Taco all very good. The waitress was super attentive and super sweet. Not happy they don't offer Happy Hour - but it is what it is read more

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Still the same beautiful place! The staff service was even better, Leilani was great!

Big spacious place, well appointed. Plenty of party rooms. In door and out door dining. Large selection of food and drink. Generous portions and best of all everything was delicious. Service was very friendly. Will definitely be back for more next time when I'm out in Looong Island! read more

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This is the kind of place to go to for good music, drinks at the bar, and their apps. The interior of the place is definitely stylish, spacious, with really cool seating on elevated platforms for a more secluded dining experience. Our waiter was great and helped tremendously with what we should get to eat, and was attentive and fast. Started out with the ropa vieja nachos, which were huge and delicious. Easily could have fed 5 people, and I was basically stuffed before dinner even arrived. We were offered a garlic bread which came out looking pretty good, and it was straight from the oven, but it had no flavor and was too greasy; it was completely saturated in a tasteless oil. The main dinners, aside from the farfalle with escarole, were just not good. For a restaurant to specifically specialize in only two ethnic cuisines: Latin and Italian, I would hope they'd do it right, but I have to be honest, both the pizza and the Binonna dish were just not good. The chicken cutlet and broccoli rabe pizza sounded good until it arrived on soggy dough with both watery pizza sauce AND sweet balsamic glaze. The combo is not good. The meatball in the Binonna was so odd, a texture that just mushed in your mouth, indicating very heavy breadcrumbs, and the taste was just, no. The sauce on the penne was not good either. I think it's was supposed to be vodka sauce, but like the pizza sauce, it was watery and the flavor was not there. I truly would not recommend any of the Italian food on this menu, especially if you are Italian, especially if you know quality Italian food. I think this place is fine for drinks, music, and the apps like the nachos, guac, or pretzels and cheese. read more

The Refuge - Garlic bread - Latin American Near Me - Melville, New York

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I was here for a job Christmas Party. It's a large venue with parking. We were in a private room, which was great. The appetizers were really good, I liked them better than the buffet. The waiters/waitresses were very good and accommodating. We will be returning next year. read more

Very good food, not the best I have ever had, but perfectly fine. Why 5 stars? Well they got everything else right. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Pretty location, great service and atmosphere.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]We were having an office party there and they sat us in a nice private nook.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Finally, value for the money. That really gets the 5 stars. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The year prior we went to a different place and it ran $1,000, plus it was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]This year, same number of people, much nicer atmosphere and the bill was $400.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The food might have been a little better at the $1,000 place, but it wasn't that much better. read more

Back after a year... and mehhh I really don't see the popularity of this place other than the great music that makes you wanna dance while eating lol Unable to have any type of table conversation though. The drinks are not it at all.... The foods ok, check out pics and prices. I don't care for the table set ups. Anyways... I appreciate the vegan menu but I ordered the same plate I had last time and it was completely different lol crazy !! There was NO ravioli at all, I mean you guys can compare the pics. They just tossed a vegan dish together & past it off as if was what I ordered. Have fun !! read more

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This place is awesome. My wife and I loved our meals. She had the quinoa crusted salmon and I had the brisket bowl. [[HIGHLIGHT]]If you don't mind the noise, you will love the atmosphere.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Lastly, the service was good and fairly attentive. read more

[[HIGHLIGHT]]Great food, great crowd and really fun bartenders.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Always a good night at the Refuge!

Anytime I go out with people who like bland food or are picky eaters, they suggest this place...that's all I'm going to say.

Great experience, stopped in for a couple beers n quick bite. The bartender was great ,helpful , quick , friendly !

The food was amazing, although there was a slight hiccup. The service was impeccable!! Gabriella is my favorite worker here, she was so kind and understanding. Not to mention, they were very generous in making up for the "issue" with the food. The ambiance is very relax but also date night style. Definitely can't wait to come back. read more

The Refuge - Brown Sugar Lemonade, Apple Cinnamon Mulé, and Truffle Cream Gomiti - Latin American Near Me - Melville, New York

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[[HIGHLIGHT]]Service, atmosphere, and meal were outstanding.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Joey was our great waiter. We recommend our shared appetizer called The Bomb, which excellent. read more

I liked this place. Was in town for a work trip. Had a pizza. Great crust. Great flavor. Service was great. I think our server was named Gabriela, if I remember correctly. Good ambience. Lived up to its name for this road warrior. read more

Recommended For lunch and dinner and a live music was amazing food was delicious I will be coming back again read more

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I came here at 5:15 on a Thursday. When I first got there were very few people. By the time I left at 6:15 it was absolutely packed. It was the waitress' first day and she did a great job! She did a really good job of explaining to me what did and did not have dairy in it. We started with a chips and guacamole appetizer. The guacamole is made fresh and the chips are huge. It tasted great. I then ordered the chicken paillard. The balsamic dressing on the salad was delicious and very enjoyable. The chicken was just okay. It was a little dry. I would definitely go back but would order a different entree. read more

The Refuge - Chicken Paillard - Latin American Near Me - Melville, New York

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When for my wife's birthday and had an amazing time. The service was great and the food was really good. We had the Salmon, Calamari and paella. All was delicious and recommended by the waiter. They also have DJ Robbie Love who played amazing music. Make a reservation for the weekend and expect a good time. PS. If your going to order the Paella it takes about half an hour which is ok because it means it's being made fresh. read more

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Super close to home, amazing esthetic and atmosphere, the music is always pumping. I will choose the Ref every single time. read more

The Refuge - Latin American Near Me - Melville, New York

I always seem to forget why I don't go here -- until I go back a few years later. Unfortunately, last night was another reminder. For the price, it's just underwhelming. We spent $350 for a family of five, and the food was not great -- not terrible, but definitely not worth what we paid. Service was slow; we never even got drink refills. Our dinners came out in two parts: three meals were served first, then no server in sight. I had to ask a busboy for help, and eventually the other two meals were brought over. My wife's dinner was barely touched because it wasn't good. When the server came to clear the plates and asked if we needed a box, we said no -- she could clearly see the plate was untouched but just shrugged and walked away. No manager ever checked in, and no one running the place seemed to care. The venue itself is beautifully designed, but the service is lacking, and the food is just not worth the cost. To top it off, we had leftover mussels packed up -- but the server didn't seal the container properly, and on the way home, it spilled all over my car and my wife's clothes. Sadly, another disappointing visit. read more

The interior of this place is vast, funky and interesting to look at. I don't think I fully understand the theme but it's unique for sure. That's where my interest in the Refuge ended. Like OG Long Island yelper Franco said " Well, ya can't eat the decorations".. Returned after a few year hiatus (thanks COVID) and was completely underwhelmed. Service was all over, we relied on bussers and the manager on the floor to get us the very basics. Salt, cutlery, gosh even 2 plates to share the salad, pretty please? The pulpo appetizer made us feel more robbed than Laura Curran did in the last election. I'm not being a dramatic Karen when I tell you it was a single, 7 inch piece of octopus. I shared it with my gal pal and we had 3 bites each, all for a whopping $19. The mama mia pizza sounded incredible until we realized all the ingredients did not work together and the chicken was ... old tasting. We picked it apart and ate half. The boys liked their burgers and the goat cheese salad was pretty darn tasty once we were able to get cutlery to enjoy it. Avoid this spot any Friday night with a DJ if you don't want to shout over the speakers and have a sore throat the following day. Brunch would probably be a better experience, but I doubt I'll be back for a long time. read more

We came this Sunday without any reservations, and we're just squeezed in to the already busy restaurant. We were extremely lucky, but we know for next time to try to book in advance because it may not happen next time. We were seated inside but then asked to move to the outside. Regan, our server, was phenomenal and never seemed annoyed at any of our requests. She was calm, collected, offered suggestions when asked and was very polite and professional. Huge shout out to her great service as it added to our wonderful experience with the Refuge. We ordered various plates, and everything was delivered fast, hot and delicious. We had the Mama Mia appetizer, chicken sofrito quesadilla, steak and egg burrito and lobster Mac and cheese. For drinks we ordered espresso yourself, Bellini, watermelon mojito and a rainbow cookie Martini. The Bellini was good, the espresso was ok, but the rainbow cookie martini was very tasty. Despite it being busy, the ambiance was dark, but inviting. Everywhere you looked, there was a piece of decorative art that entertained the eyes while waiting for food. We are definitely coming back to keep trying more things in the menu. read more

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We ordered dinner and I ordered a Titos's on the rocks. Everything was fine until I got the bill. I don't normally examine the bill, but I did this time. I couldn't believe what I saw. There was the charge for Tito's and a $3.00 charge for ICE! Needless to say I was upset but waited till the next day and went in to Refuge to speak to the manager. I asked him why I was charged for ICE!! He came back with a half-assed answer which I can't remember because it was so preposterous. So I won't ever go back there and I hope anyone reading this will not go there either. read more

Everything was perfect!! The food was delicious, the drinks were great and our server was perfect! Ayanna was her name and she was so in tune to our needs ! I would highly recommend read more

The Refuge - Short rib Mac and cheese - Latin American Near Me - Melville, New York

Very cute place to pop in! Had the grilled churrasco and it was delicious, would definitely recommend this entree. Had the "wanna peach of me?" drink and that was really good if you like something sweet. Service took a bit long, maybe because we came at a busy time but overall it was not too bad of a wait for the food. read more

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Nice spot for lunch and after work drinks. Great food, above average drink and exceptional friendly service read more

The Refuge - Abuelita Salad with steak - Latin American Near Me - Melville, New York

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The night started with very low expectations. Having a great time a kpacho I wanted a great experience for my friends birthday. But when making a reservation I couldn't even get the basics from the hostess like confirming she understood my request or even worse her my response to my saying thank you have a good night was "yep". So when I showed up later I expected much of the same. We were seated in a nice table outside. Our waitress Alyssa S was attentive right away which seemed ok and my mood stated to change. Food stated coming out. It was good. Nachos are exceptional. Very layered. Rest of the good is good, not great but better than you would expect. But the service got better and better. With Alyssa checking in often and asking asking everyone individually for their experience it seemed they she genuinely cared. I would sit in her section anytime. read more

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The inside atmosphere is very trendy--a bit dark, cool decorations, open set up. We made a reservation on a Sunday evening and was seated immediately. The establishment needs more wait staff as it took forever to get service and our small water glasses were only refilled once upon us asking for it. The complementary table bread came after our appetizer but it tasted great! It was like an elongated soft pizza filled with cheese and topped with herbs. The calamari were wonderfully toasted and light but crunchy breading. The pork osso bucco was fall off the bone tender, seasoned well, and went perfectly from the creamy risotto. The Bisnonna had a large serving and everything was seasoned wonderfully. The breaded chicken had a great crunch, meatball was flavorful, and the penne sauce just right. I didn't remember the food being this good when I had dined almost 2 years ago. Although I didn't have much of the tuna poke bowl to try, it didn't seem like it was worth the cost and tasted only okay. Our table also ordered churro fries that were lightly sugared but had a great crunch. The tiramisu was airy but a bit too sweet. I thought the coffee espresso flavor could have been more pronounced! Otherwise, both very good. Would definitely come back again. read more

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nice place, good quality food. would come back again. Brunch time is recommended i went at dinner and staff didn't seem to know which tables were their tables read more

Visited this restaurant for the first time we made an 9:30pm reservation and walked in about 9:20pm and waited about 5 minutes before we were seated. Since the mask mandate has been lifted everyone here really didn't have on a mask and that goes for customers to staff.. We were asked whether we wanted to be seated indoors or outdoor and we chose indoor since it was expected to rain. We sat down and waited for our server for about 15-20 minutes. When he did come over it was very brief and only to tell us that he would be right with us. So he came back after some time and we placed our drink order, I asked for a sucker punch which was good had good flavor but yes has a lot of ice! I ended up ordering another which was much stronger than my first I didn't finish it but it was whewwwww! My boyfriend got half lemonade half iced tea which he asked if it was sweet and it wasn't. My drink came out before his and we were told it's not finished yet.... Totally not our servers fault... However as a bartender soft drinks or 1 soft drink for that matter doesn't take that much time to arrive to a table. Honestly our server tried however he was overwhelmed from what I could see he had over 4 tables excluding ours and their parties were definitely larger than ours. I had to flag him down to order an appetizer and our entree For Appetizer we ordered Guacamole which came out in 2 minutes! It was good chunky and seasoned well with warm nice sized chips! For our entree I ordered shrimp tacos Which came with 3 tacos on flour which is my personal preference with a slaw and corn yummmm it was good! It also comes with rice and beans and a few plantains. The rice has good flavor and the plantains were sweet and cooked well also. He ordered off the vegan menu Sweet pea ravioli which was a good portion and it had very good taste seasoned well. read more

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Went for a 730 dinner, after we were seated it took fifteen minutes for a waiter to take our drinks. The place was incredibly loud - that didn't bother us, but would likely bother some. We ordered appetizers, including the cheese dip. Those were brought out and we were halfway through before we even ordered mains. Service was a little slow, but the waiter was nice. However both me and my husband woke up at 4am with horrible stomach issues. The only thing we both ate in the past 48 hours was the cheese dip, and 8 hours after we ate it, symptoms hit like a freight train. It's a shame because we overall liked the place, but we won't go back now. read more

We came to this restaurant after Hubby keeps mentioning it over and over. He goes here because he does a lot of business deals in the area. This restaurant is huge and offers plenty of parking spaces. You could be walking a lot before and after the food just to get to the car. Good exercise! We ordered octopus appetizer. That was ok. I ordered mahi-mahi sandwich. It came with fries and on a burger bread. I only ate mahi-mahi without the bread. It was very good. Hubby had a shrimp po'boy sandwich. The magic-mahi was very good. I saw that they have a big menu. Next time I'll try to order something else. I know their salad is good because Hubby packed it to go once for me before. That salad that I couldn't remember the name was superb! The manager Tanya and waitress Lacey were very professional and very good. We enjoyed the meals and the ambiance and the service. read more

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This is great restaurant for good food and meetings. They have indoor and outdoor seating so it is big enough for everyone. They also have plenty of events and parking which is definitely nice; also vegan options! read more

The Refuge - Guac and chips - Latin American Near Me - Melville, New York

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Refuge is always a great choice, I have been here so many times I can't count. Every entree excellent, our party of 4 last night enjoyed every bite. The paella is a must have. Our apps were also excellent. The service is top notch. But truly, the music, and by the way Excellent Fun Music, Kudos to the DJ, is LOUD, I mean night club loud. Makes it difficult to have a conversation. I'd give 5 stars if the music was toned down a few decibels. I'll stick with the outdoor seating when weather permits for my next visit. read more