Megan S.
Yelp
The food here is always amazing -- we dine at Red Light regularly and usually leave impressed. Tonight, though, was different. We came to celebrate my birthday with seven friends (party of nine) and started dinner at 6:30pm. Dinner was fantastic, as usual. Everyone enjoyed two cocktails each, and by the time we closed our dinner tab around 8:30pm, everything was smooth sailing.
A few people left, leaving six of us to linger for a couple more drinks (with one designated driver). Around 8:30-9:30pm, the five of us who were still drinking ordered another round and were enjoying ourselves -- just conversation, laughter, nothing wild.
By 9:30pm, the restaurant had emptied out -- only two people at the bar and one table still seated in a booth. Despite the quiet, there were still three staff behind the bar, a couple servers, and visible kitchen staff. In other words: plenty of people working, no reason for slow service. Yet, getting anyone's attention suddenly became a challenge.
When our waitress -- the one in the black lace top -- finally came over, my husband ordered five shots for the group. I mentioned I'd prefer a cocktail, but she wouldn't let me order one "until after the shots." Odd rule, but fine. The issue? She vanished afterward and didn't return until after 10pm -- a solid half hour later.
When she finally reappeared, I asked what time they closed, even though I already knew. "Midnight," she said, "last call's at 11:30." Yet somehow, just being there a little past 10pm felt like we were crashing their staff meeting. The entire mood shifted -- cold, dismissive, and clearly done with us.
I eventually got to order my birthday cocktail, but any sense of celebration had evaporated. The waitress was short, barely made eye contact, and dropped the drink off with the check tossed on the table immediately after -- the universal signal for please leave.
For the record: not one of us was intoxicated. We'd each had about four cocktails spread over four hours, hardly excessive -- especially for grown adults, some of whom are large men and responsible drinkers. Yes, we're naturally loud talkers, but that doesn't justify being treated like an inconvenience.
By the end of the night, the service had gone from warm to ice-cold, completely killing the vibe of what had been a lovely birthday dinner. Red Light, your night staff can -- and should -- do better.
We would've happily left a 30-40% tip to make it worth their while which we have done in the past . (we've all worked in service at some point in our lives and we get it), but this time, the tip reflected the service...... and that's definitely on them. I'm sure they will bitch about us to their friends, but look in the mirror cause you could have made an hour wage off the tip and that's on you.
