I don't normally write reviews but I feel compelled to warn others about this experience and I certainly hope that Cuisine's owner takes heed.
I noticed that others have had a similar experience. . .
It's Detroit Restaurant week! DRW is an event I look forward to and advertise greatly. A bunch of my friends and I LOVE going. It's a great way to splurge a bit and try new places without spending a fortune. I am a big supporter of Detroit and Detroit business. . . that being said, I wish I could rave about my experience at Cuisine and I regret that I have to report otherwise.
So many things were wrong I almost don't know where to begin. . .
Our waitress didn't greet us or acknowledge us until we had already been sitting there for 20 min.
When she did finally stop by our table, she seemed exasperated, referred to DRW as "this shindig" and mentioned that she and the other staff were trying to "get people out of there" for the show. Her entire demeanor was off-putting, as it was very apparent she was irritated with the entire situation. She then disappeared without taking our orders.
Thankfully, Ashley, who appeared to be in charge of bread and water, noticed us sitting there, and offered to take our drink orders. . .
One member of our party ordered a beer from the menu, and it was reported back that the bartender had never heard of the beer before and that they didn't have it.
IT WAS ON THE MENU! Ok. . . Eyebrows are raised and skeptical glances were exchanged among our group, but we laughed and anxiously awaited the opportunity to place our orders.
Ashley brought bread. Refilled our waters.
Finally, what seemed like an eternity later, our waitress comes by and says Hi to us. Apparently she still wasn't ready to take our orders because she zipped away again. When she comes back, she is unapologetic and hurriedly she takes our orders.
Meanwhile Ashley, the water girl whom I now adore, seems to be the only person in that place smiling, being professional and courteous.
She keeps stopping by to check on us and our drinks, recognizing that it had been a long while and we still were sitting there without food, she brings more bread. . . and seeing our pained faces, assures us that our food is coming soon.
It's at this time that I look around the restaurant and start connecting the dots. . . and starting to worry. All of the staff were running around, obviously stressed or irritated, tables were left uncleared, I noticed a few wine glasses carelessly left at random places around the dining room, towels on the floor. . . . all things that should NOT be acceptable in an upscale restaurant.
Suddenly it begins to make sense as to why we had our choice of openings for reservations there, when everywhere else was booked.
We are all starving at this point, and beginning to panic that the food is going to be as disappointing as the service. Realizing that we have been there for OVER AN HOUR and have not yet received our appetizers (soup and salad?!), and we haven't seen our waitress since she took our orders (probably a half hour ago?), we start discussing other dinner options.
Finally as a group we decide that we have had enough and we don't care where we eat, we just don't want to spend our money there.
We prepare to leave and request our bill from Ashley, who is again apologetic, and obviously sympathizing with our situation.
It's then that our waitress shows up with soup, and plops it down in front of me as we inform her that it has been over an hour and we are leaving, she responds with "OK!" and whisks it away almost spilling it on me. No apologies, No explanation for the delay. The waitress was extremely rude, unprofessional, and didn't seem to give a s. . .
We as a group are all very understanding of what stresses are present in the service industry, and understanding that the popularity of DRW might have added to that. . . but the service (or lack thereof) was inexcusable.
We paid for our drinks and went out of our way to tip Ashley. We thanked her profusely for her understanding and all of her efforts. She seemed to be the only one holding it together at that place.
Anyway, I unfortunately cannot comment on or review the food at Cuisine. However, based on other reviews, it seems we escaped in time to avoid further disappointment.
After a very enjoyable dinner elsewhere, I realized that I had forgotten my jacket at Cuisine and had to return to get it. Thankfully, it was still exactly as I had left it, on the corner of my chair. . . but over an hour later, our table was left exactly as we had left it also. . . Still uncleared.
I certainly hope that these issues get addressed, and Cuisine re-emerges as the note-worthy restaurant it was reported to be a few years ago.
I however, won't be back to Cuisine anytime soon!! read more