Nancy S.
Yelp
We had high hopes, but service ruined this place for us. 3 of us were celebrating my husband's birthday on our last night in Bozeman. After almost 20 minutes from being seated, our server, Alice, approached. She seemed pleasant and they were busy, so that was fine. Orders were placed and wine brought out. Poured out a taste and when we approved, she put the bottle down and walked away. Apparently serving the wine isn't part of her job description. First courses came out (shishito peppers and pastas) and they were good! We were encouraged! And that was the last we saw of Alice or any other food for almost an hour. Dirty starter dishes sat on our table, wine went unpoured, had to flag someone down for water refills. No check-in or update on our entrees. Finally, my husband got up to find her and ask that if the entrees weren't fired yet, to just cancel them and we'll take the check and go as it was well after 9pm. Turns out they were just up - we wish we had been able to cancel. The beef kebabs were so overdone my teenage son, who eats everything and was starving at this point, declared them almost inedible. The butter chicken, however, felt underdone and rubbery. And for $39, expected more than 1 chicken thigh strategically cut into 4 slices and spread over a large quantity of white rice (though the sauce underneath was good). Alice never checked in after the entrees came so we had no opportunity to share this - but I don't think she/they would have cared as they cleared half-eaten plates of food w/out any comment or concern. The kicker was when she then walked by and, literally, tossed the bill on our table w/out a word. I was shocked at how rude that was. I went to pay the bill at the hostess stand, because who knew when we'd see our server again. I voiced frustration about the service to Maia, and rather than empathizing, she seemed surprised that we would complain and quickly rang up our card w/out further comment. I tried to give them a chance to acknowledge, apologize, justify...anything. I understand kitchens get backed up on busy nights which is when customer service can make all the difference, but they were just so smug and rude about it. It ruined a birthday celebration and our last night w/our son. There are many better options in Bozeman - Little Star Diner isn't nearly as good as they seem to think they are.