Aaron A.
Yelp
To witness so much initial admiration and excitement for this restaurant become so quickly perverted and twisted by the disrespect and hostility we encountered that night is so disheartening.
I came here for dinner for the first time with friends for a holiday reunion after hearing so many fond memories of their previous dinner experience at Tavola. We arrived promptly at 5pm for dinner service and were welcomed with enthusiasm and pleasantries and started our meal off well with cocktails and appetizers. Our waiter was kind enough to also ensure our order was tree nut free due to my allergy.
Unfortunately, this is where any kindness or understanding ended.
We did not receive our entrees until after 2 hours of waiting. We did not receive a proper explanation or apology. We did not receive an ounce of respect when trying to voice our complaints to both our waiter, Dallas, and the owner Michael.
Instead we were met with jarring hostility by both Dallas and Michael. Dallas was dismissive of my friends complaints, taking our upset as personal attacks on his character when we were only just trying to hear a clear explanation. Michael refused to properly listen or attempt to understand our perspectives, and instead chose to talk over us and ignore the issue at hand, saying things like "but at least you have your food now" and didn't even introduce themself as the owner until we had to ask several times for them to even give us a name. Defending their actions and service style is fine but there was no reason to ever diminish or ignore our perspectives.
We were offered weak excuses for slow service: first that our ticket was last to be fired even though we were one of the first parties in the restaurant, second they claimed they needed to wait for our appetizers to be cleared before firing our entrees when we were clearly done and waiting, having even stacked our dishes to help with the process of clearing them away. We could clearly see several tables who arrived later than us, including a party of 8+, getting served their whole meal, paying and leaving as we continued to wait.
All we wanted was a genuine apology and acknowledgment of why we were upset and to see them take ownership and responsibility of the miscommunication rather than be talked down to and offered free dessert as if we were children. Whatever miscommunication that occurred either in the kitchen or about how they run their service could have been clarified and should have been acknowledged immediately rather than dancing around the issue. Only now after a day of our complaints on yelp did Michael acknowledge it to be an "internal miscommunication". To be talked to in such a demeaning and offensive manner shocked us considering how well the night had started.
Both Dallas and Michael claimed their years of experience in the industry to justify their behavior and actions. I am sure the staff at Tavola work hard at their craft, as we all do in our respective fields, and I understand the hardships and stress of working in the industry as a former barista, but to me it seems they still need several decades more experience if this is how they chose to "professionally" handle our situation.
No amount of success nor experience nor age nor ethnicity should ever excuse someone from simple human decency. We deserved better.
I hope they learn from this and understand that even if they did not intend it, their behavior and the manner by which Michael and Dallas chose to handle situation placed some of the only minorities in the room in what felt like a hostile and alienating environment, one where we did not feel safe nor comfortable.
Tavola clearly has an unfortunate and almost decade long history of prejudice it has failed to acknowledge or address in its service to POC. Please see reviews by yelpers of color like Jing L. (8 years ago), Harris W. (8 years ago) Dominique J. (4 years ago), and the many recent reviews. Having gone through a similar experience as a UVa student years ago, I truly truly hoped to see some growth in Cville as an alum.
P.S. To the owner, Michael, I'll do you the favor of copy and pasting your empty words for you, so please take that time instead to reflect and try to realize the effect this night had on me and my friends.
"Please accept our apology for the delay of your entrees as a result of an internal miscommunication around your desired dining pace.
We believe what we do at tavola is an enjoyable, quality experience, and when we make mistakes we engage, listen, and strive to have a constructive dialogue.
In this particular situation, we were met with anger and accusations that we take very seriously. Discrimination of, or by anyone, is not tolerated at this restaurant.
This was an honest mistake, with no intention other than to allow you time to enjoy your evening."