Alexa M.
Yelp
ABSOLUTELY ZERO STARS -- AND THAT STILL FEELS TOO GENEROUS. What happened to us at this restaurant was beyond disappointing. It was disorganized, disrespectful, and honestly one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had -- and we didn't even get to eat.
We arrived at exactly 12:00pm, checked in, and clearly stated we needed a table for 10 people. The older female host told us to wait outside, so we did -- in the cold. For almost an hour. At 12:48pm, she suddenly storms outside acting irritated, telling us she had been "calling our phone several times" because our table was supposedly ready. We were surprised because none of us received a single call. I even showed her my phone, wide open, showing zero missed calls. She instantly went silent, completely dismissing the fact that she'd just tried to blame us for their lack of communication. No apology. Nothing. Just a cold "follow me."
So we walk in, expecting a proper table for the group size they knew we had been waiting nearly an hour for. Instead, she seats us at two tiny tables shoved together -- tables meant for 4 people each, maybe 6 if you squeeze. There is absolutely no universe where those two tables reasonably fit 10 adults, especially not at a restaurant that serves large plates plus additional plates of beans on the side. We've eaten here before -- we know how much space their food requires. We were literally shoulder to shoulder, elbows touching, with nowhere to put plates, drinks, menus, or anything. It was immediately obvious that it wasn't going to work.
So we politely asked our waitress -- who was actually the only considerate person there -- if we could add one more table. She said she understood, and that once another table freed up, she could bring it over. She even offered to start taking our order so that by the time the additional table was ready, the food would be coming out. She was trying to help, and we appreciated her effort. Then things took a turn.
A couple minutes later, we noticed multiple unoccupied tables just sitting there. So we asked the owner -- an older woman with short blonde/brown hair wearing a red bandana -- if we could use one of those tables. She didn't even pretend to think about it. She cut us off immediately with: "Oh no, no, no. We can't add another table."
We explained calmly that we physically could not eat like that, that 10 people do not fit at two small tables meant for 6, and that we had already waited almost an hour outside based on their assurance that they'd seat a party of 10. We reminded her that their plates are large and come with side plates -- where were we supposed to put everything?
Her response? "I can't. I already have other people waiting, you would have to wait a lot longer for an additional table."
Just "I can't," over and over, like a broken record. No logic, no apology, no attempt to accommodate the party that had already waited longer than anyone else there. She acted like we were asking for the moon when all we needed was ONE small table that was literally sitting empty right next to us.
When she walked away, another waiter passed by and we asked him if he could grab the vacant table. He looked sympathetic but said, "Did you ask someone already?" When we said yes, the owner, he immediately shut it down with: "Oh, then I can't. If she said no, we can't do anything."
At that point, the entire situation became crystal clear:
The owner simply did not want to accommodate us, despite knowing our group size, despite watching us wait outside for nearly an hour, and despite having empty tables available that would have solved everything in seconds.
So after wasting almost an hour standing in the cold, being blamed for calls we never got, being squished into a seating arrangement that made no sense, and being flat-out denied a very simple solution, we all got up and left. Ten customers -- gone -- purely because the owner refused to slide over one single table that wasn't even being used.
This experience was beyond unfair -- it was rude, unprofessional, and completely avoidable.
Never again.
