Daniel I.
Yelp
Discriminates against party of one & does not honor reservations.
I had a reservation at 7:00 P.M. for a table. (See photo as evidence). I came in 10 minutes prior because I respect my host and restauranteurs where coming in late effects their business. The host greets me and looks up my reservation. Sees I am a party of one and nudges me to dine at the bar. I declined, said I made a reservation for a table. I understand I am a tad early but will wait, but not much past 7:00 p.m. She advised me to sit inside the restaurant in their waiting area. I already had the strange feeling my evening would be RUINED. Also to note, I am appropriately dressed, shoes, crisp dress pants and long button up shirt. More so then a couple diners already seated.
I sit inside, beautiful inside, done with taste. Almost a mesh of mesoamerican and a Speakeasy fused into one. The decor is a nice break from South Beach's neon lights. Noticed a group of 5 or so come in and one party member names drops the shift leader. Pretentious & classless. Almost everyone dining inside was well dressed, not the Versace Mansion gaudy escort crowd. When dining in south beach, this matters.
Not too long after my reservation was scheduled, I would say 7:05, the same shift leader above approaches me and says either I can sit you at the bar or put a table outside in "the court yard" I have a party of 35 coming in at 8:00 P.M. and if I sit you, you'd have to leave by then...Excuse me? I had a reservation from a TABLE at 7:00 P.M. My ideology in life is don't turn a YOU problem into a ME problem. No other parties that were already seated were given parameters! I was open to seeing this "courtyard". We walked outside the restaurant and into the lobby of the hotel or whatever establishment Como Como is located in. I have no idea on what planet a lobby is considered a courtyard, but to the shift manager that's a courtyard. The look on my face said it all and even the shift manager said "I'd hate to leave you out here by yourself"
I told him to cancel my reservation and I'd be leaving. He did ask how he could make it right and offered me a drink from the bar. I declined. I again reiterated the importance of honoring a reservation. Maybe for your patrons their respect, honor and feeling embarrassed is worth a measly cocktail, not me. I'm not that guy pal.
FYI the most renowned and respected food critics come in unknown and alone. If they faced the same treatment as I have, I promise you their review alone would lead to your restaurant's demise. Luckily, for Como Como I was not one of those people. However, they do read Yelp and they do read what us commoners write and endear during our dining experiences. I hope this will be a lesson for Como Como, unfortunately at my expense. I am a foodie when I dine alone, I order as much as a party of three will. Sorry Scott. I would have enjoyed sampling your work but I was unable to. I definitely will not recommend Como Como if being treated like a third class citizen is accepted and is the current standard.
After this experience I was disgusted and completely lost my large appetite. Last night in South Beach, not a great note to end on.