Angela H.
Yelp
Not a great experience.
We often visit Rohnert Park for business. Made a reservation for 10, then immediately called back to advise it might only be 5-8. Reservation was secured with a credit card, but no other terms or conditions were provided.
When we arrived, we informed the hostess we would be 4-5 and asked for a smaller table downstairs. She refused and insisted we stay at the large table upstairs.
The menu highlights multiple crab items, but none of them are actually crab. They are fake "krab" (Pollock and food dye), and nowhere on the menu is this disclosed. No asterisk, no clarification. Misleading, at best.
Thirty minutes into our meal, the manager approached and announced he would have to charge us $50 per empty seat (six total). I stated that I was not informed of that policy, and made the reservations on speakerphone, which my colleagues attested to. I also further advised that we had called and also informed the hostess upon arrival that we would be a much smaller party of 4-5. The hostess insisted we were sat at the table for 10 when we preferred a smaller table and asked for one. Instead of addressing this reasonably, the manger proceeded to stand over us and then crouch next to the table, lecturing us for five minutes--during a business meeting. He scolded, admonished, and warned us about "next time." (There will not be a next time.)
He acted as though we should be grateful that he "decided not to charge us" in a restaurant that wasn't even full on a Saturday night. If my card had been charged for so-called "no shows," it would have been disputed and charged back immediately.
The biggest mistake, however, was this: he chose to threaten and harass me in front of business colleagues, in the middle of our meeting. That crossed the line. I bit my tongue, but it took everything not to walk out on the spot. And yes, we noticed--had our group been men, I suspect the treatment would have been very different.
After finally leaving us alone, the focus of our meeting was ruined and shifted to discussing the manager's behavior. We left feeling harassed, embarrassed, and unimpressed--both with the food (fake krab) and with the service. Our waiter was fine, even though he got a drink order wrong; he corrected it immediately.
Never again. Congratulations on alienating a professional group of 60 people who meet monthly in Rohnert Park. They will hear about this experience, especially the colleague who recommended your restaurant.