Michele H.
Yelp
AN AWFUL EXPERIENCE
After seeing the good reviews, my daughter, her friend visiting from out of town, the friend's toddler, and I decided to give it a try. This turned out to be a bad mistake.
I arrived first and asked for a table for three with a high-chair. When my party arrived I was happy to see that my son-in-law had accompanied them. The restaurant was very busy and there were a few people before me so we settled in for a wait. That is when the issues began.
ISSUES:
- Similarly sized groups who arrived after us were seated first. Initially, I thought it was because they had reservations and we were walk-ins. However, a review of the website revealed that Byrd's is supposed to be "walk-on only".
- The manager refused the seat my son-in-law. As stated, upon entering I asked for three seats and a high chair, which admittedly turned out to be wrong since my son-in-law joined us. The manager (Christina) who seated us was clearly non-plussed and annoyed about his unexpected addition and said adding another chair was not possible. Being that the miscount was my mistake, we said we'd be okay with either letting the baby sit with her mother or waiting for another table. Christina told us neither was AN OPTION. My son-in-law is a gentleman and offered to sit in the car so we could be seated. We were stunned, but acquiesced because we'd been waiting so long that we just wanted to eat (especially for the baby's sake). Ultimately, we ordered a meal for my son-in-law which he ate in his car. What we had hoped would be an opportunity to catchup up with a family friend and her new to us baby over a meal had turned into a disappointing experience.
- The manager had trouble processing my payment. Ordinarily I wouldn't mention this because annoying things can happen at any business. However, after such a disheartening experience, this was the cherry on top.
GOOD FEATURES:
Despite the overall awful experience, I gave the restaurant one star for the following:
- A very pleasant waitress who commiserated with our poor treatment, but didn't feel empowered to do anything about it.
- Adequate food. No one complained about it.
- Decent ambiance. Despite Christina's refusal to add a chair or otherwise accommodate us, I have to admit the restaurant had ample space. This should have been a plus, but ended up being even more galling!