Katie C.
Yelp
We have come to the Chart House for holiday brunches before and have always been extremely impressed with the spread, quality and service, this time however...not so much. Outside of the beautiful decor, it was a complete let down.
We were seated and we were "fortunate" enough to get the most unfriendly waitress on staff. I understand it's a holiday and you may not want to be there, but it's Mother's Day and I'm excited to be out to brunch without my 4 kids, so being treated like an absolute burden was not expected.
We order our drinks and head up to the brunch line. I was so excited as I LOVE Brianno's and I was aware the owner had taken over The Chart House. Brianno's is in Eagan and hands down best pizza/Italian you can find in the burbs.
So, we get up there and it was actually pretty underwhelming. I love protein and fresh veggies. I'm GF not by choice, I LOVE ALL GLUTEN! And they had gluten free pasta which was awesome, but where were the veggies? Crab legs were good, but a lot of work when they were over cooked and half the meat was dried up/gone. Hash browns were mind blowing good. I would have just made that my meal if it wasn't $60. Prime rib was pretty good, but everything was so decadent and no "healthier" options outside of a straight up romain lettuce bowl and fresh fruit.
Sitting down to eat our waitress was not friendly in the least. Friend asked if there was butter/dipping oil...anything for bread as there was nothing at the line. Waitress let her know it was up there and she must have just missed it. Friend had to ask for butter and waitress (not happy about it) went and retrieved a couple from the kitchen. When she left I ran over and looked and there was nothing. After she came out I saw staff run a bowl out to the line. It wouldn't have been a big deal if the waitress (Lisa) wouldn't have made her feel like dirt for asking.
Friend is eating and looks up and points out staff standing on the side with a tooth pick hanging out of his mouth and messing with it while he talked to other staff. Taking it in and out and handling silverware etc. not appetizing. People at carving station were also eating on the line. She points it out several times so I finally say something to a manager walking by and she takes care of it. People at table next to us lean over and thank me as they have noticed it as well.
At this point we are out of water and friend flags a young employee down to see if we can get water. He is super sweet and makes sure to fill both of our glasses
Waitress brings carafe of water over and doesn't fill glasses, just leaves it on table and glares at us. It's ok, I can fill my own, I'm not that person. But, I want to mention it was NOT busy at this point at all.
Friend points out man at crab leg station eating again and I'm just like palming my face as I recommended this place. She goes up to get dessert, I'm not a sweets person so I'm just enjoying my entire carafe of water and she comes back with three different options. She takes a bite and is like, this tastes really old and dried out, I poke at it and it's completely dried out.
We sit there waiting for our ticket to pay. I signal for the waitress and she makes direct eye contact with me and ignored me repeatedly. My friend wants to yell for her at this point because it's not busy. I decide to just ask another staff member and she was so sweet, but as soon as Lisa sees me talking to another staff member she runs over and asks if we need something. She brings it back and doesn't say anything, just kind drops it on the table. We immediately put our cards in it but she doesn't take it. We wait for 5 mins, yes..I timed it. She stands up by the kitchen and just watches the dining room and talking to the other younger staff. Finally I just grab it and ask another staff to grab it to which she runs over and grabs it out of the girls hands. This waitress was seriously petty and I'm wondering if I know her from some time in the past and have upset her? Friend is dying because we NEVER have this issue. We are the table you want to get. We are easy going and just excited to be out without kids. Bring her butter and fill my water glass and we are content. Waitress comes back with cards and walks away. We fill out the checks and go to walk out, I see the manager and went to ask her a question while friend was walking towards me and she busts out laughing because as I look over, here comes Lisa running towards me talking to the manager. Like, what is going on here? I know this is epically long, but I'm so confused at this point.
To sum it up, we paid $120 to get treated like dirt by our waitress and watch the staff be unhygienic. I'm still embarrassed as I'm the one who picked this place. We went to Starbucks and I bought my friend coffee and a cake pop to make up for it though!