Patti Smith Was ‘Rude’ to Waitstaff, New York City Restaurateur Keith McNally Claims

Keith McNally revealed that his waitstaff had a negative experience with Patti Smith at one of his New York City restaurants.

In an excerpt of McNally’s upcoming memoir, Regret Almost Everything, obtained by New York magazine’s Grub Street and published on Thursday, April 17, McNally, now 73, recalled how Smith, now 78, frequently visited his establishment One Fifth in the ‘70s. The singer would be joined by her then-boyfriend Robert Mapplethorpe.

“Smith and Mapplethorpe could be very difficult to wait on,” McNally wrote per the outlet. “Smith, unfortunately, was incredibly rude to the servers.”

McNally shared that he has a hard time listening to Smith’s music when recalling an alleged incident.

“It’s impossible for me to listen to a Patti Smith song today without remembering her reducing a waitress to tears because she forgot to put bread on the table,” he claimed.

McNally alleged that Smith would “belittle” his staff while Mapplethorpe “could be terse with the servers.”

Us Weekly has reached out to Smith for comment.

This is not the first time McNally has publicly called out a celebrity who has patronized one of his restaurants. In October 2022, he sparked a feud with James Corden after accusing the former late night host, 46, of mistreating the staff at his establishment Balthazar.

“James Corden is a Hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man,” McNally wrote via his Instagram Story at the time. “And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.”

According to McNally, one of his managers told him that Corden sent back an egg yolk omelette because it included “a little bit of egg white.” After the kitchen remade the dish and a waiter delivered it with the wrong side, Corden allegedly began “yelling like crazy” at the staffer.

McNally shared that he banned Corden from his restaurant following the incident.

Hours after McNally’s post made headlines, he announced that he’d decided to “rescind” Corden’s ban after the actor reached out to apologize.

“James Corden just called me and apologized profusely. Having f***ed up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances. So if James Corden lets me host his Late Late Show for 9 months, I’ll immediately rescind his ban from Balthazar,” he wrote via Instagram . “No, of course not. But … anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar. So Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Corden, Jimmy Corden. All is Forgiven. xx.”