M S.
Yelp
This review doesn't really pertain to the food or drinks, because.... we couldn't even get that far. We wanted to go out to dinner yesterday as a family - myself, husband and two kids (4.5 & 2). Our normal place has been Milford House because the food was good, beer was cold and the arcade was tons of fun! We tried to go to Milford House and the doors were shut for a remodel of sorts. So, we decided to try someplace new and our first thought was River's Edge.
We pull up and prepare to walk inside. Immediately, my husband notices an odd sign out front to "parents" that basically says your kids need to be still and quiet, or they get kicked out. Weird..... but, okay? So, we walk in and immediately see 3 female servers/bartenders. They look at us and don't say anything. We stand there, waiting patiently, assuming someone will greet us in a moment. Then we realize they're just standing there chatting amongst themselves. Feeling really awkward and slightly annoyed at this point, I walk to the bar where the three of them are standing and ask if we seat ourselves. They say, "yes, absolutely!", then I ask about a high chair and they point to me where they are and then carry on with their conversation. I grab one and we move outside where we felt we wouldn't disturb the place, I guess.
Server comes out and asks what she can get us. No greeting.. no introduction. I ask her if they have an additional beer menu, as in more beers than what was listed on what looked to be a "specials" menu. She again just seemed inconvenienced by my request and hands me another menu of the exact same type. So, I explain to her the miscommunication and also that we haven't ever been to this restaurant before, so we aren't aware of all their details. Shit. So, she kind of seems to act like a decent person after this, but we asked for a moment to review the menu. The menu had absolutely nothing to offer us for food, so we ultimately left. I really could not believe the lousy treatment from the second we walked up to the place. How is a place like this still in business? You need to greet people when they walk in the door. Direct them where to sit or suggest they seat themselves but do NOT just ignore a family standing in the doorway while you're 10 feet away and talking amongst yourselves. This was awkward and just unkind. Bring waters to the table, greet the guests and introduce yourself. Ask if we have ever been to the establishment before! We would have said no and you could have explained the basic concept of the place and the menus. That would have saved us all confusion and misunderstanding.
We went to Main Street Grill and we were immediately greeted with kindness and hospitality. I've been in this industry before, my husband and I both. We have both managed restaurants in the Royal Oak area that have outlasted many others, ten times over. We understand hospitality and we also understand lousy staff. This was 1,000% a case of lousy staff and honestly, lousy people.