Never going BACK!!!
So here's what happened to my wife and I tonight at di Gusto Restaurant on Regent Street in Sudbury. My wife and I decided this morning while on a mini vacay in Toronto to have our New Year's Eve dinner at this restaurant. Calling the restaurant this morning at 10am, I spoke with a very nice man who took my information, phone number and booked us for a table at 6pm tonight. We left the Embassy Suites, on Dixon, in Toronto feeling rather satisfied that we had made the right decision. There are so many other good restaurants in the Sudbury area yet we decided upon this one.
We arrived at the restaurant at 5:55pm and checked in with the hostess at the main entrance. We announced ourselves, she found our reservation, and advised us that it would be about a 5 to 10 minute wait. I joined my wife in waiting on the pew by the "Fill the Cradle" display and observed other patrons who had made reservations get called for their tables.
I then observed two women come into the restaurant who approached the hostess station and spoke directly with who I will call "the tall woman" as she appeared to either be the owner or a supervisor. These two WALK INS were asked if they had reservations to which they replied "No, we tried this afternoon, but couldn't make any". The young hostess advised them that there would be a wait. Just then, the tall woman inquired to what was going on and the 2 WALK INS advised her of their predicament. She countered with "you will be on a FIRST COME FIRST SERVED list but the wait for a table could be anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes". The 2 women then sat on the other pew and began their wait. I told my wife to watch what is going to happen next as I knew exactly what was to happen.
About 4 minutes later the tall woman came back and spoke with the other hostesses and then told the 2 waiting WALK INS that their table was READY. Knowing full well what had just occurred and the fact that I am an Indigenous person and treated many times like a second class citizen, I calmly approached the hostess station to speak to the tall woman.
I said "I called this morning at 10am and made reservations for my wife and I and arrived here at 5:55pm and was told I would be seated promptly within 5 to 10 minutes. Those 2 woman just walked in here without reservations and have now been seated before my wife and I who made RESERVATIONS this morning. What in the world do you think you are doing?" The tall woman was at a loss for words, knowing full well what she had just done and getting caught for doing it. She mumbled and stuttered for the words but couldn't find anything.
I went back to sit down with my wife who was furious as was I. I did try to contain my expletives as best I could as there were people around.
Finally, after waiting for 15 minutes to be seated, the tall woman called my name. My wife and I followed and were seated whilst the tall woman quipped off, "Have a nice night".
Being Indigenous is hard, yet what is harder for me to grasp is the true ignorance some people demonstrate towards others while attempting to satisfy their white privilege counterparts at our expense, time and embarrassment.
Di Gusto, you should be ashamed of yourself. You must strive for better understanding of your restaurant patrons, revise your reservation policy (and enforce it) and treat the Indigenous people of this great country with a little bit more respect.
Stanley Michael read more