I originally made reservations because it was my Father's 85th birthday. I specifically chose Girardi's because it is in Edmonds. It's a cozy little restaurant that is quite charming and has a fireplace. I made sure to mention that it was my Father's birthday and that we would be ordering dinner. There was no acknowledgment.
I called back but could not reach anyone so I left a voice message so that I could make sure dessert was delivered (after dinner) with a candle, at the very least.
No one returned my call.
I have dined multiple times at Girardi's, throughout the last two decades, and have never experienced this kind of service...or lack of. Is it the new management?
The waitress kept trying to sell us happy hour plates, telling us that we could save money and make our own meal by ordering off of the happy hour menu instead. First of all, I was a bit taken aback by this. She acted as if we were at the wrong restaurant.
Secondly, the waitress honestly did not seem to know anything about my Father's birthday so someone must have dropped the ball.
When we notified our waitress that we were not there for happy hour plates but for my Father's birthday dinner, she appeared put off, stopped smiling and responded (quite drily), "oh, so you want MEAL meals"?
....well, yes. We were celebrating a birthday with a birthday dinner.
And just to be clear, we were sitting in the restaurant, not in the bar.
...............
Nothing.
There was no response from the waitress at all.
I wish I could say that maybe the waitress was busy and that might, perhaps, be some sort of excuse for her attitude. There were three other tables in the restaurant and our waitress appeared to only be serving us and one other table. I could not understand why she was behaving in such a manner.
We ordered wine and an appetizer. The waitress had no idea which glass was which and served my Father Riesling (which he hates) and served me Sauvignon Blanc (which I am not a fan of). No worries. We motored through it. We switched and called it good. I had ordered Chardonnay and my Father had ordered Pinot Gris.
We had to specifically ask to order our main course as the waitress just walked away after we ordered our appetizers.
I ordered the crab cakes and they did not disappoint. They were prepared and cooked exceptionally.
My seashell pasta with lobster and prawns was delicious. I had ordered a side of bread to go with it (as a paid side) and had to ask for the bread mid meal. We never received our garlic bread. Instead, our waitress dropped off rosemary focaccia, which was not what we had ordered.
Our waitress never brought out the dessert. We had to inform her that we actually wanted dessert. My Father likes his after dinner martini. She nearly ran away after he ordered and we had to stop her and let her know we wanted actual dessert as well.
Our cheque was dropped off without so much as even a customary Thank you.
I wish I knew why we received this kind of treatment.
The food was wonderful, as usual, but the service makes me think that the employees must hate their jobs...and that is concerning.
As we left, my Father and I commented that we had never seen a restaurant try to "down sell"as much as our waitress did.
If the new standard is just to push $5 Happy Hour plates then why have such a detailed dinner menu?
The food is wonderful but the service
was absolutely painful. read more