Dachenglee ..
Yelp
The experience was far below expectations -- especially for a JW Marriott restaurant. The food quality was poor, the chef's attitude was terrible, the dining area was unclean, and the restaurant was clearly short-staffed. I honestly couldn't believe I was dining at a JW Marriott.
When I called the day before to make a reservation, I was told that the buffet was served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., so we booked for 10:30. On Sunday, we arrived at 10:40. There was only one host at the front desk, and since she was on the phone with another guest, we waited about five minutes to be seated. During that time, she completely ignored us -- no greeting, no acknowledgment, not even eye contact. That set the tone for the rest of the meal: the entire staff, including the chefs, gave off an "I don't care" attitude.
The restaurant was less than a quarter full, yet the floor had crumbs and bits of food scattered around, and the tables still had bread pieces from previous guests. Some of the buffet trays were already empty, and no one was refilling them. Since this was supposed to be a buffet, I expected the food to be replenished -- but it never was. We had to go directly to the only chef on duty to ask for food, but he looked upset, expressionless, and indifferent. I even saw him scrape food waste off the grill into a trash can, and when some missed and fell onto the floor, he simply ignored it.
When I asked if there were gluten-free waffles, the chef said yes but that I had to order through my server. Finding a server was another challenge -- there were so few of them, and they were impossible to reach. When I finally found ours and asked for a gluten-free waffle, she told me to ask the chef. After I explained that the chef had told me to ask her, she reluctantly placed the order. When the waffle finally arrived, I wanted some honey, but again, I couldn't find any server. I went back to the chef, and he told me I had to ask my server. The problem was that I could only reach our server about once every ten minutes.
During the meal, two or three flies kept hovering around our table, occasionally landing on our food. I had to keep waving them away while trying to flag down a server. My two kids stopped eating after just a few bites. We were all still hungry but just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Even paying the bill took forever because we couldn't find anyone to help.
There seemed to be only one host, one server taking orders, and two people delivering food. None of them worked as a team. No one cleared dishes, cleaned tables, or swept up the food on the floor. Several empty tables were littered with bread crumbs, fruit pieces, and other leftovers -- especially under tables where families with small children had been seated. From the time we arrived until the time we left, no one ever cleaned the floors.
Ten years ago, when my wife and I lived in Phoenix, we often went to JW Marriott's Rita's Kitchen for their legendary Sunday brunch buffet. We loved the relaxing atmosphere, endless champagne, crab legs, seafood, carved prime rib, made-to-order crepes, omelets, waffles, fresh fruit, and strawberry chocolate fondue. We have many wonderful memories from those visits.
Now, ten years later, we returned to Arizona and were so excited to bring our kids to experience the same Sunday brunch we had always talked about. We even called on Saturday to confirm that Rita's Kitchen still had a Sunday brunch buffet. The person on the phone enthusiastically said yes -- that the "Sunday brunch and buffet" were back -- so we made a reservation immediately and drove an hour the next morning.
But what a shock. Maybe there was a misunderstanding -- perhaps the "buffet" she mentioned was just a breakfast buffet, and the "Sunday brunch" was something else entirely. Still, if the buffet ended at 10:30 or 11:00, when I arrived at 10:45 and told the host that we weren't hotel guests but wanted to pay $41 per person for the buffet, shouldn't she at least have informed me that the buffet was already over?
I have stayed at and dined in many Marriott properties around the world and have never experienced such poor food quality and service. Although I already felt unwelcome when we entered the restaurant, I still naïvely believed in the JW Marriott brand. This visit was completely disappointing.