393247 Wed Apr 18 21:59:52 -0700 2007 0 18 Manhattan 0 2494828 I had a late lunch at Fred's at Barney's last Saturday with two friends. We should have known better. The service was just awful. The place was more than half-empty and our waiter was far from on the ball. He was slow with bringing us refills on iced-tea (perhaps giving someone more than six ounces would cut down on this problem); slow with refilling water; rushed us through the ordering process; never brought us our coffee; and, amazingly slow in bringing our bill. To top things off, the bill was wrong. The food was fine, but way overpriced. I don't eat often above 14th St. with the exception of business meals, so I guess I should have expected this. Nonetheless, considering the awful service, we got ripped off. When we finished eating, we all bemoaned the fact that we could have hopped in a cab and gone down to Madison Square Park and grabbed a burger at Shake Shack on a nice day. We would have saved ourselves a lot of time, annoyance and money. Wed Apr 18 21:59:52 -0700 2007 68244 benmeddle