Jaslyn S.
Yelp
"From The Rooftop strives to bring guests to new heights through delectable eats, divine views, and a social atmosphere that provides a sense of luxury, freedom, and fun." -- From The Rooftop
CAP.
So, today was my birthday! And From The Rooftop totally killed the vibe... Like deaded it.
Yes, the view is amazing and the food was good, they did not provide a social atmosphere that provided a sense of luxury, freedom, and fun, which is the most important of a dining experience. I mean honestly, everything was cool until it was time to pay. That's when all hell broke loose...
So, we we're getting our cards out, getting ready to pay, when the waitress Alejandra, brought the check out and put everything on one check. My friend let her know that we'd like separate checks, because we're paying individually (it was 4 of us). Simple request, right? Alejandra then rudely told my friend that she couldn't because something was wrong with the system or something like that... My friend then asked, well why didn't you tell us this to begin with..? A reasonable question to ask, what? When we go to McDonald's, they have signs letting us know that it's card only or cash only and they let us know again when we reach the window. So, why weren't we notified. Alejandra then got an attitude, rolled her eyes, and asked if we wanted to talk to the manager. My friend said yes.
So, the manager comes in defense mode (because Alejandra told her that we were mad, which we weren't... We just asked to split the check and a simple question), explaining the issue with the payment system. My friend was like okay, that's understandable, but you guys didn't have a sign or let anyone know or anything beforehand (which they didn't). We weren't given to opportunity to leave if we wanted to due to the payment issue. My friend went on to state how big of an inconvenience this was because she was paying with her business card. My friend then asked if the system for those sitting at tables was the same for those sitting at the bar... She then asked if they could just ring us up at the bar. The manager made up some crap excuse on why they couldn't do that, but through all of her rambling that didn't make sense (which was about 5 mins) she slipped and said that we could split the bill and pay individually at the bar but it'd take 20 mins to process. My friend then asked, "well why didn't you just say that to begin with instead of trying to argue with me when all we were trying to do was split the check to begin with, which you had the ability to do?!" So, the manager finally gave the waitress permission to split the check. But, she did it wrong... So, we had to wait even longer for her to correct it.
FINALLY we all have our checks, and are ready to pay, but instead of Alejandra handing the mini clipboard into my friend's hand, she threw it, literally THREW it on the table and walked off! At this point, my friends and I are pissed. Like WTF My friend walks towards Alejandra to confront her and she threatens to call security on us!!! So, my friend goes back to where the manager was standing and was like yo, your waitress is buggin (my words), we're trying to pay and she threw the clipboard on the table!!! The manager is like oh, well I'd have to rewind the tapes to see if she did that or not... --___-- She didn't apologize, try to rectify the situation, or nothing... So, my friends and I are mind blown at this point! We can't believe what's happening! All of this because we asked to split the check...? Okay...
This time around, they send us another waitress, Rachelle. And Rachelle was just a breath of fresh air, we joked and asked her why she didn't wait us to begin with, she explained she just had clocked in. We let her know about everything that happened and she listened, listen to listen and not respond like the so called manager and she apologized for everything that happened. She did what the fckin manager was supposed to do! Honestly, if Rachelle didn't come when she did, the outcome would've came out worse then it did.
My friends and I honestly feel like because we're black and trying to correct an issue, we were automatically labeled as the "Angry Black Wom(e)n," and all we wanted was to split the check. There was no attitude or anything on our end, so we're confused to how all of this all came into fruition. The waitress Alejandra was rude AF and the manager was disregarding and absolutely no help!
This experience took away from this beautiful rooftop view and the food. AND my birthday celebration!!! The atmosphere was hostile, there's absolutely nothing luxurious about being labeled as an "Angry Black Woman," and this dining experience was far from fun.
Special thanks to Rachelle for leaving things on a bright note with us before our departure. If we ever decide to come back (which is a slim chance), we'll specifically ask for you and you only. Thanks again Rachelle!