Stacey A.
Yelp
I've been a fan of Cafe Vida for years. The nice outdoor patio, the healthy and delicious menu, the relaxed ambience - what's not to love?
I'll tell you what's not to love: Putting your name in for Sunday brunch (party of three), waiting 45 minutes to be seated, and then.... being escorted to a two-top. For three people.
That's right: A table that was designed to allow only two people to be seated comfortably (hence the term "two top") had been presented to us with a third chair shoved up against one of the sides.... With no apology or explanation. As if this was a completely reasonable table to offer three people hoping for a relaxing brunch.
Here's a hypothetical: Should a restaurant care more about optimizing seating capacity, or about fostering a relaxing, comfortable customer experience? If your answer was the former, congratulations: That must mean that you own Cafe Vida.
Now, this isn't the first time this has happened when I've shown up with a party of three. On the first occasion, the (male) host was outright rude - rolling their eyes and snickering - when I asked for a non-two-top table that would comfortably fit our entire party. At least on this - the second - occasion, our female hostess was a little more polite.
But, c'mon guys: Enough is enough.
And then there was another recent visit: A happy hour on a Friday afternoon. This time, the patio was sparsely populated, so it didn't take too long to get seated, However, it took my friend and I around ten minutes to flag down someone - anyone - who seemed to work there so that we could place our order.
"I'm not your server, he's on break, but I'll be happy to take your order," our guy replied. He explained that the wait staff was on rotation or some such because the restaurant was close to closing time.
I ask you again: What's more important --promoting a comfortable and enjoyable customer experience, or having as few staff on the clock as possible to save in labor costs.... customer experience be damned? Again, if you chose the latter, you must own Cafe Vida.
On the bright side, today's unpleasant experience at Cafe Vida finally led us to abandon ship, trying out the nearby Meet in Paris' brunch instead. And I'm so glad we did! The owner, Sebastian, was extra friendly and polite, the food was very good, and the ambiance was much more chill.
When I said "please, whatever you do, just don't seat us at a two-top," Sebastian smiled reassuringly. "Our smallest table here is a four-top."
Sold, mon ami!