Over-priced, mediocre food served with free humiliation of its paying customers
I went here on St Patrick's Day with a group of friends. Manager Jess (at least that's what we were told her name was after the fact-- red head with bangs) was extremely rude. She first approached us because one friend popped into the booth behind ours, leaning over the back of the bench to talk to us. Right out of the gate Jess was sarcastic, rude, and condescending. Apparently she was working at the booth my friend was in. She came over "Hi yeah I'm working in this booth and I really don't want to be staring at your---" she stopped herself. My friend said "Oh you are?". Jess replied sarcastically, "yeah, you know, you see that laptop? That's mine. I'm working". So my friend obliged and went to pull a chair up to our booth instead (you know, since Jess needed the ENTIRE booth to herself to work, instead of letting paying customers sit there). When my friend was about to pull up a chair, Jess jumped in again, nasty, insisting she'd take up the entire aisle. Scoffing "How am I supposed to get by if you sit there?". Jess condescendingly demonstrated how much room my friend would supposedly take up, exaggerating, pulling the chair 3ft away from the table. My friend is self-conscious about her weight, and this was extremely offensive and out-of-line. MY FRIEND WAS IN TEARS because of how humiliated JESS made her feel. That is not okay.
Right after this happened, we watched her walk over to two of the waiters and complain to them, telling her version of the story-- all within our eye sight. Completely unprofessional.
Had she just asked nicely for us to move to the 6-top (which had just become available, but was taken when we walked in), all of this could have been avoided.
As a manager myself, I understand the pressure and stress of the job. I understand maybe she was having a rough day. That being said, there is NEVER an excuse to talk to customers the way she spoke to my friend and the rest of us. There is NEVER a good enough excuse to have a customer in tears because of a manager's words.
I will say, the reason we stayed was because we were able to move to another table and be served by Heather, who was nothing but kind, attentive, and lovely. She clearly didn't want to speak badly about her manager (THAT is how to be professional!). Judging by the reaction of the other staff there, they seemed completely unphased by her drama-- as if this is something that happens often. "She can be sassy" one of the staff members admitted.
I will not be returning to Birdsall unless Jess is fired. And I've convinced many friends (and friends of friends) to do the same. She has no place being the manager when she completely lacks problem-solving and inter-personal skills. For the sake of your employees and customers, I seriously hope you consider finding a new manager-- someone more level-headed, like Heather! read more