Mia G.
Yelp
Having eaten at Back Porch a handful of times during previous visits to Ocracoke over the last 5 years, and always leaving satisfied, my sister and I agreed that this would be a good place to have my brother in law's birthday dinner while we vacationed on the island the week leading up to Labor Day. Unfortunately, we left the restaurant regretting that decision...
There were 20 in our group - 18 adults & 2 small children - so my sister contacted the restaurant in advance (2 weeks prior) and worked with Lisa regarding the reservation. She was very nice. They exchanged emails back and forth about the best place to seat our group--at one point a private room was mentioned--and we felt like we were in good hands. (Dun, dun, dun...)
The morning of our reservation (a Wednesday) Lisa emailed to let us know that they were lacking the floorspace to seat our group at one large table (not sure what happened to that private room) so they were going to seat us at two tables near each other BUT that this arrangement would be "better for conversation" anyway. Sounded good to us.
Upon arriving to the restaurant though we saw immediately that the arrangement of the tables was such that conversation was impossible between the tables, and our group was effectively split into two; especially awkward considering we were all there to celebrate the birthday boy, yet those not sitting at the table with him may as well have been eating in a different restaurant.
Before any food was ordered, one of our group members went to speak to the hostess about moving the two tables together. This request seemed easy enough to accommodate, and the decision to split them to begin with even more confounding as we surveyed the space. The hostess wouldn't consider the request and replied brusquely that the tables were arranged as they were to provide us "with the best service possible."
Well, we all agreed that being served by two completely different waitresses, receiving our courses, meals and checks at different times, and the hostess's unwillingness to work with or accommodate us was in no way providing us the best service possible, so I'm not sure what was gained by their insistence on maintaining this awkward table arrangement.
Despite the table setup though, the food was enjoyable with the exception of the steak and the dragon bowl. Our only other complaint concerning the dinner was the lack of music in the section of the restaurant where we were seated, which though we mentioned to our server, was never addressed.
After we'd finished eating and had ordered over $1200 worth of food and drinks, we would have been happy to sit and enjoy the evening and the screened in back porch where we were seated, but as one of our tables had already been given and paid their checks, and the one dessert we'd decided to order was delivered in a to-go box, the point had been made and the other table was effectively rushed to also settle up. We'd barely finished signing the receipts before the hostess appeared to collect the credit card books.
Taking the hint, we made our way out of the restaurant and received neither a goodbye or a thank you from the hostess (who only seconds before had been primping in front of the mirror at the entrance). Not sure if she was in a hurry to get to a square dance, or if the staff at the back porch in general was just suffering from post-season fatigue, but one thing we do know? Next year when the 20 of us return for another week on Ocracoke, we will not be returning to the Back Porch Restaurant.