Grace G.
Yelp
We found metered parking at Hermosa at 3:10 p.m. on Monday, 5/27/24. We walked down Pier Avenue to American Junkie. The sign said to seat yourself and we found a nice outdoor table. Our server, Jessica came to wait on us and we ordered drinks first and a little while later we ordered our meal. Our drinks arrived at a bit before 4 p.m. An hour after being seated, I complained to the manager in the white and blue check shirt that our table and the table next to us had been waiting an hour for our food. He said they were really busy and it would be another 20 minutes before our food would be served. I said to him that's unacceptable and we needed to be comped. Then he said there's nothing he could do. I responded if that's the case, then he needed to tell people it will be an hour before their food is served, to manage their expectations, and that it's not okay to just make us wait without anything being comped. He offered to get us a round of drinks. When drinks were served just to my husband and myself and not our friend at the next table, I went up to him and he said he wasn't going to do anything for our friend but he was making sure our order was served. Upon returning to the table, our friend, who was previously in the band Stray Cats and Talking Heads, I told him what was shared with me and after having a conversation with the manager, the same story was repeated and he was left with no comped drink or comped meal. Our appetizer arrived at 4:53. My husband's bowl arrived at 4:56. My order with the incorrect side dish arrived at 5:03. My tater tots arrived at 5:08. After dinner, I sought out the manager who was a different manager due to a change in shifts. I spoke to the dinner manager and reiterated the importance of communicating to the customers that it would be an hour to receive their food. He again repeated what the afternoon manager said, that it was a holiday weekend, that they were busy, that they told their host (nonexistent since it was self seating) and the servers to communicate the delay to the customers. I once again said that didn't happen which is the reason why I am coming out of Yelp Elite retirement to share this with all who want to read the truth and either ask the manager, not the nonexistent host, and to make sure to get a photo of the manager's face and name tag for accountability and also your server to know exactly how long the food will take to be served and to screenshot the time of arrival and order vs arrival of food and report to Yelp and any other restaurant review sites. Also, we asked for a to go box for the incorrect fries and the tater tots and no box arrived. For obvious reasons, we will never eat here again and encourage others to follow suit. If you can't have transparency from a restaurant, there's no need to give them your hard earned money. It's not Michelin starred quality food and Hermosa has far better restaurants with much better service who will actually serve you decent food in a timely manner.