I have no words for what happened tonight. My poor brother - who has generalized anxiety disorder -…read morewhich already makes me protective, was basically verbally abused by a waiter this evening. I really don't have the energy to talk about this anymore, just spending some time with my brother right now, but here is what he wrote:
From my traumatized older brother:
To say I'm disappointed, let down, deshevelt, in this mario's franchise, would be an understatement. I came for a nice dinner with my younger sister after a nice day at the plaza, no stress, enjoying family, and that inner zen was eternally burned upon entering Mario's at approximately 06:54PM EST april 19, 2026 - we were sitting at the first booth to the right of the entrance. To preface this, I have only heard good things about this place from family and friends, so this was supposed to be nice and fun. However, upon entry, after we were kindly seated by the hostess, we were served by a man who I could only describe as a schoolyard bully. As a new customer, I was new to coming to a place like this - which should be exciting. but i was rudely approached with what i wanted to order without the all you can eat style of things, and in fact ridiculed from the get-go. First, he examined my little sister BEFORE SHE EVEN ORDERED ANYTHING, and preemptively told her that she couldn't order from the kids menu. "We are going to have to charge extra for that" was the most commonly heard thing that was yelled at in my face without anything properly being described. This then led to our first dish, caesar salad, which I very kindly ordered, along with (and this next part is very important) FETTUCINE ALFREDO, but at this point, only the caesar salad came. however, it came with bacon - honest mistake, could happen to anyone - so i kindly asked the waiter from hell if he could kindly remove the bacon, which i felt bad for even asking. he came and was incredibly rude, told me that "i should have read the menu" and for the record, the menu did not clarify the ingredients of anything on the menu. so, now, after making me feel incredibly guilty and dumb for not knowing something that wasn't even indicated, the caesar salad was switched. I was incredibly anxious, on edge, and felt horrible already at this point. but we aren't even at the worst part. Remember earlier, I ordered fettucine alfredo very clearly, and we both had an understanding of that order... so I thought. I was gravely mistaken. Server from hell, J, then brought what looked like large strips of CHICKEN over some pasta and alfredo sauce. Yes, there was chicken, which as clearly mentioned before, I did not order and was not even on the menu. then i was really anxious and nervous, at this point, kind of intimidated to even say anything, but i finally got it together to really kindly tell him that this was not what i ordered, and what i got in response was a full blown melt down. he started yelling at me "sir, it is your responsibility to know what you are ordering" effectively calling me stupid or ignorant, claiming "you clearly didn't point to that on the menu, i just brought you what you pointed to" becoming less and less clear seemingly just had something against me personally at this point. I remember that my little sister was with me the entire time. He yelled at me for about 5 minutes and told me basically how stupid I am, and then rudely said "just so you know, we are charging you for the chicken too". I NEVER ASKED FOR THE CHICKEN, and he yelled at me, and downright humiliated me in front of my little sister, which really triggered both of us, as i have generalized anxiety disorder, so this was incredibly difficult for me, and even worse to have my amazing little sister sit through it all.
After this, I really hadn't felt this backed into a corner since 2nd grade, so I mustered up the courage to tell him, and he barely responded.
Then, we ordered a lasagne to go - which he also was sticky about - about 20 minutes before we got the bill. 20 minutes passed and we got the bill, where he still charged me for the chicken I never ordered. Finally, he took another 20 minutes after paying the bill (because I really didn't even have the mental strength to fight this anymore) to bring the lasagna.
After that, we were drained from what should have been a lovely dinner with my little sister.