Lorna K.
Yelp
I had made a group reservation over the phone for 20-24 guests four weeks prior to dining there. Upon arrival, I find that our choices were very limited to a preset option menu. Are you frigging kidding me (was my PG response)? Noone told me this would have been my ONLY OPTION and THEY DON'T ALLOW SPLITTING THE BILL, also NOT SOMETHING TOLD TO ME AT THE TIME OF RESERVATION!!!!
Luckily, my husband and I are fortunate enough to be able and pay for everyone using our credit card. My friends knew they were getting a free slice of pie on us as it was our treat, but if they ordered any food, they would need to pay for it. My guests understood our situation and we worked out a plan of how to get reimbursed for food orders. We were happy to pay for the pie slices for our guests. What got me mad is that the assistant manager thought I lied about having made the actual reservation. That is, until he was told by his boss that I was telling the truth, and my reservation was logged in their books. I was also told that whoever took my reservation over the phone, should have also charged me a $100 deposit. ALSO SOMETHING I WASN'T AWARE OF.
Poor server was overwhelmed with NO HELP FROM HER FELLOW STAFF. Because of this, service was slow. To ease my stress, the onsite manager allowed a bunch of exceptions to their rule, so my guests were able to get soup and cornbread options, and other regular menu items, plus various pie selection options (the group menu ONLY ALLOWED CHOICE OF APPLE, CHOCOLATE CREAM, AND LEMON MERINGUE!!!! WT# (censored)!!!
Finally, after every calms down (management staff AND me), the management realizes I was right all along! I DID make this reservation four weeks ago (at first they thought I was a "walk-in"), and NOONE told me about: 1) the slim menu options for large groups, 2) didn't charge me a $100 deposit, 3) didn't tell me no splitting of checks.
My guests were mostly college students and senior citizens. They were understanding about it, but I still felt bad about the whole situation.
Because it is not the server's fault, we did tip an additional amount to the automatic 20% gratuity they tack on for large groups. She (I wish I got the server's name) deserved the additional tips since she worked her butt off.
What am I trying to say? It is a shame that this company has gone down hill in training their staff properly. I am not a "Karen" or a person who resorts to violence, because it could have been an even uglier situation if this happened to someone else.
DON'T BOOK LARGE EVENTS HERE! Save yourself the embarrassment and stress. Next time we will go elsewhere like a Denny's or Norm's where you get to choose your own meal off their full menu AND they WILL split the bill.