The O.
Yelp
A friend recommended this place and I was excited to try it out.
Phone call 1: I called to make a reservation for my birthday dinner for a party of 13. The lady was super nice and asked several questions about the type of event it was, etc. I was impressed with the customer service.
Phone call 2: I called the night before our RSVP and asked if I could add 2 more people to the table. I immediately said, if it's a problem, don't worry... it's a friend wanting to bring their two kids and I'm fine if they can't make it fit.
She replied rudely, stating that the place isn't that big and we can't fit in the bar area (didn't request a bar area) so the dining room is the only option. She said we're already taking up too much space since they're not that big. I said I had never been there but since it sounds like a big deal, then just keep it at 13.. she said "it won't make a difference so I'll just put 15 down." We hung up.
If it wasn't the night before the birthday dinner, I would've just said to cancel it due to her horrible customer service and took our money elsewhere.
Phone call 3: after talking to my friend, she said don't worry about adding the 2 kids and just keep it at 13. So, I called back and the same lady answered. I told her to just keep it at 13 because my friend's not bringing the 2 kids since it sounds like they won't fit. The lady rudely asked if I was sure and I said yes just keep it at 13, thank you. Then she replied, well it's whatever you want and hung up the phone.
Event day: we arrived and did not have a wait time. We noticed there was another large party taking up a couple of tables. But there were still empty tables. Throughout the 2 ish hours that were there, there were 2 tables (that hold 4-6 people) that remained empty.
We ordered our meals and it took about an hour to get the food... very long wait time for any restaurant but especially for one that's not at capacity.
Appetizers came first. There weren't any complaints with the appetizers except the mozzarella sticks on the platter were hollow inside. Tiniest amount of cheese on one end. Someone said that's what happens when they're overcooked. For a positive, friends said the minestrone soup was really good. Oh, and the garlic bread was good.
Then approx an hour later, when the entrees arrived, the order for me (BIRTHDAY GIRL) was the only wrong order.
The server said she'd get it fixed and it'd be out in about 4-5 minutes. Approx 15 mins went by and still no food.
Finally, the plate was brought to the table... THE ORDER WAS WRONG... AGAIN. My husband went to address this with the staff but i decided to just keep the food because i didn't want to wait any longer. My mother-in-law didn't want to eat her meal until i had my food so she ended up eating her food cold due to the wait. :(
After all that, most of our party was dissatisfied. Almost all agreed that the tri-tip was way too dry and not worth it. It was tough and extra well done. Definitely not how tri-tip should be cooked. The few people that for mushrooms all said they couldn't eat them because they weren't good (for whatever reason).
The exterior and interior of the building go with the theme and style. The outside patio/dining area is nice. So those are positives. But they need to work on their customer service, the time it takes from placing order to getting food to the customer, correct orders, and not overcooking the tri-tip. And at the very least, comp the meal that was delayed and still wrong.
(Side note/ideas for restaurant: we ate at Hard Rock recently and it took an hour to get the food. The manager took 50% off our bill. It went from 360 to 180... and we didn't even ask for it. They said they aim to have food on the table in less than 20 mins.
And another restaurant knew that it would take a while to get adult entrees but said they always bring the little kids meals out first so kids are getting too hungry/cranky while waiting.)
Due to this experience, all adults in our party said that they wouldn't return to the House of Beef.
