Jason R.
Yelp
Not pleased, whatsoever!
On Wednesday, I made a reservation for three people. The reason for the visit was to celebrate a friends birthday; they both had been here prior, but I had not. During the course of the reservation I was asked the date of the birthday person's birthday and received an e-mail conforming the reservation. I noticed that the birthday person eats free here but it surely was not that big of a deal (I'll get back into this later).
I realized I made a mistake on the reservation (listed only two guests instead of three and put the incorrect time). I called the restaurant and explained the error and was told "don't worry, we don't even honor reservations) on my head, I'm wondering so why are you even offering them online? But whatever, it is a difficult period Covid-19 and many places don't do reservation, only walk-ins. However, I was still troubled at how dismissive she was--that's going to be a continuous theme here at Suede.
Upon arrival, the birthday girl was running late--I inquired whether we could potentially be seated, but I was quickly rebuffed. When she finally did arrive, we were immediately seated and told someone would be right over. Yea right, we sat about ten minutes before anyone came over--when she did come over, it was to take out drink order. It was very warm, so we wanted some water first. That took another ten minutes, then my friend asked for straws and that probably took another ten.
As we started to catch on to the theme that every request takes quite awhile, we ordered our food and drink at the same time. I asked for a frozen colada, I was quickly denied and told they had no frozen drinks or coladas but in a dismissive tone and typically they don't focus on what they don't have, but maybe a decent alternative, we were offered none. She saw we were taking awhile because several of their options were off the list--so she asked us if we wanted her to return. Upon her return, I had the adult lemonade (very strong).my friend went with a non-alcoholic drink and my other friend had a mango drink which tasted like guava to me. As the girl departed, my friend inquired about the "free birthday meal" she was again dismissive and didn't even give eye contact and informed her, "they don't do that anymore" . So why did request the date of her birthday, why is it on their website, why does it mention it on their reservation" not a good whatsoever to run a business--I don't need a free meal or handout, but they advertise it.
In terms of the food, I didn't not to over eat and decided to simply have the macaroni and cheese, plantains and the seasoned French fries. Also, my two friends collectively had roti, grits and macaroni and cheese. I wanted eggs but it was $11 for scrambled eggs, which I found to be ridiculous. My food came out, but my two friends didn't have anything--I've never had that happen before, where only one person got their food and everyone else had nothing. The server wasn't very friendly or courteous, so we opted not to ask for much of anything. After five or ten minutes, they had their food, too. My friend said she enjoyed her roti, the macaroni and cheese was okay, but nothing exceptional. Plantains were fine but cold. The grits looked horrid (please see the photos) my friend said it was cold but he opted to eat it anyway. The grits looked like cole slaw--I'd definitely suggest you pass on this.
Lastly, we ordered cheesecake and red velvet for the birthday girl. We were pleased with our desserts, it probably was the most enjoyable part of our meal.
I wouldn't come back here. I didn't like the attitude of the host, the cavalier attitude of the server, how dismissive she was at every turn, aside from the birthday cake, she was nice about that, but that's not enough. I expected much better service and quality of food for what we paid. They won't fool me twice... I rather take my business elsewhere, where we are appreciated.
