Jeremy B.
Yelp
Here's a tale of being held hostage, getting screamed at by the owner and told to "get thr fvck out, also being told to go to a soup kitchen instead and much much more.
Buckle up and prepare yourselves.
It took 3 1/2 hours to get our entrees. We WERE a large party of 15. Didn't order anything in the way of apps, except for 2 that were shared.
At one point we were approached by another server and said that "management was offering a free round of drinks" for the inconvenience. Now... if you read other reviews you'll see where the owner straight up says that a normal seating time is 1.5-2 hours because at Positano's they cook everything to order. They must also butcher whole animals with every order, fetch eggs from farmhouse chickens to make the pasta and harvest tomatoes to make Grandma's Sunday sauce because even 1.5-2 hours for a normal table is an unreasonable wait time.
HOWEVER. If the food was outstandingly delicious and the side salads didn't come out 2.5hrs before the entrees... this could be overlooked.
I am a hospitality professional, I have worked in many high-end fine-dining locations across Tampa Bay for many years. I own my own small business as well and understand the struggle. I have a degree in Hospitality Management and currently work for a global company that operates restaurants in airports around the world. I have a food safety management certification as well as an FDA food processing certification. I shared none of this last night with the owner because I don't believe any of that is important and I don't throw weight around like that.
The owner was in a t-shirt and jeans, proceeded to sit at the bar all night with a group of employees and family drinking the night away. When we requested to speak with him in the middle of our dining time he came over, laughing sharing that he is very understaffed, 2 people called out in the kitchen (mind you the 2 people that called out are family members of his, but I digress), and just a laundry list of excuses. Said he was a Chef by trade, so why wasn't he assisting in the kitchen with the staff that was so clearly struggling. He said he couldn't keep cooks more than a shift or two and now I see why.
Our server Kayla was outstanding. She was empathetic to the wait times, serially apologetic despite us telling her she has no reason to apologize since she wasn't cooking the food and she did a FANTASTIC job at managing a really tough situation. So much so that we directly took her Venmo and sent her a direct tip because, reportedly, their tips are altered by management with ZERO clear communication as to how it's broken down.
At the end of the meal when we received our checks... mind you this was about 11:30pm, when I saw that all of our bills were not adjusted based on the service, attitudes, etc I again asked for the owner to discuss. When he arrived at the table we explained why we were unhappy with how the checks were handled and he just chuckled, my wife looked at him and said "do better" and he snatched the check and walked away. He then proceeded to physically touch the waitress over at the bar, and was berating her, blaming her for our experience. Overhearing this I got up and walked over to them and said to him that the only reason we were still in the restaurant is because of her and her service. If it weren't for her we would have left 2 hours ago. Two members of our party actually did leave because when they were served, they were not given the gluten free options.
Our waitress was fired, I was called a "fat piece of shit" and was told to "shut the fuck up", was told that I "take up too much space" and much much more. I don't know what's happening in this restaurant but I assure they won't be open much longer. This "man" has NO business running restaurants.
I don't care about the insults to my physical appearance. I care about staff and customers being treated with respect and not served flavorless, garbage food.
Honest... the food was very very bad. Please don't give this restaurant a DIME.
Do better.
