Jonathan D.
Yelp
The reason I'm giving them three stars is because the food itself was by and large anywhere from OK to solid and they did the right thing by taking care of my check. However, service was disastrous--if they hadn't done the right thing, the meal would have been a single star.
I came around 5:40, slightly before the end of their happy hour. Accordingly, I ordered a pair of rolls (half price) and a margarita. While the drink arrived fairly quickly--as did some bread--I had to wait for the rolls. And wait some more. At one point the server thought it would be another 10 minutes. It wasn't. I think it was probably about 40-45 minutes from when I ordered them. The rolls themselves were fine. Not spectacular--I didn't get a ton of flavor--but fresh enough and decent. They were, not, however, worth waiting all that time for.
Having waited that long, my appetite had waned a little--I was tired--but I was still a bit hungry, so I ordered the bacon-wrapped shrimp, which I was told was not a heavy dish. The server told me this would be out faster. It wasn't, though a salad appeared at one point. And then I waited for the shimp.
Somewhere in the middle of this--I think before the shrimp arrived--another service miscue: a manager (I believe) came by, picked up my mostly finished but not empty margarita, asking if I wanted another--the answer was no--and whisking it off before I even knew what hit me. He did not ask me if I was finished with it. I wasn't quite.
By the time the shrimp arrived, I'd been at the restaurant for an hour and a half. I ate a little, but having had the margarita as well as plenty of water, the inevitable happened: I had to go to the bathroom. I was clearly not finished, but when I came back, the check was sitting at my place next to my less-than-half-eaten shrimp platter. You just don't do that, especially when you've already had a conversation with the guest about dessert.
Seeing my dismay, a female manager who seemed to be the person most in charge and with whom I had interacted a bit earlier, came over and checked on me, at which point I explained everything that had happened. She offered to have them refire the shrimp dish--I thanked her for the offer, but I didn't want to waste food--and she also made it clear that dinner would be on them, which was the right thing to do.
The server came over and apologized after--which I appreciated. I definitely don't believe she intended to push me out the door, and ultimately I finished most of the rest of the shrimp and had a slice of their pumpkin cheesecake (which was tasty for not being in my wheelhouse), and the manager assured me that she'd looked at my ticket times and would be addressing the various issues with staff.
So...Water Street, if you're reading this:
1. I'm not sure if you were understaffed that night at the sushi bar or in the kitchen, but if that happens, I'd recommend being upfront with people about the potential wait. Having said that, if it takes 40 minutes to get two rolls out, something's wrong. Either there need to be more chefs or better chefs, or people need to be retrained.
2. Don't remove someone's drink or plate without asking unless they're absolutely empty. It only takes a few seconds to ask, "May I clear that for you?" or "Are you all finished with that?" and it prevents any kind of misunderstanding.
3. Standard protocol is to ask the guest if there's anything else you can get for them before you bring the check. You never just drop it on the table, especially if the guest may not even be finished their main course.
In any case, I hope the restaurant gets things sorted out. I will likely be back in Corpus next year for the same conference, and I'd be happy to pay for a meal that makes me happy. Whether I would risk it here, we'll see...