This star rating is so low based entirely on the service that we received. My 3 coworkers and I walked in at 2:50 pm on a Wednesday and there were only a handful of tables seated for meals. We were greeted pleasantly by several people at the door and we let them know that we were all just going to grab a dessert from the to-go counter. The gentleman behind the counter smiled, but there were 2 people in front of us, with a third person being helped. As we looked at the selection of treats, we noticed that there were several employees staffed at the time, but it appeared as if only one was assigned to the to-go counter. We didn't mind waiting and he said he'd be with us shortly.
However, as we stood there and waited, we realized that the hostesses/servers who had greeted us were just standing around chatting with each other. We continued to wait, and wait, and wait. There was quite a bit of movement behind the counter, with people bustling about, but no one seemed to be assisting the gentleman working the counter. As we continued to wait, the group by the front door continued to stand around and chat, and two of the girls got onto one of their phones and were laughing loudly about something on the screen. One of the diners at the table approached them at that time and appeared to ask for help at his table, to which they both responded and walked away from him, into the kitchen to retrieve whatever he had asked about.
It was obvious that the 4 of us were getting a bit annoyed at the wait, and as we stood there another 3 groups came in behind us. Still, no one assisted the lone worker, who was pleasant and friendly, but could have used some help. Two employees appeared to just come on their shifts as we were waiting, as they sat right in front of us and began counting money for their registers. The gentlemen working let them know that we'd been waiting, I believe in an attempt to get some help. By this point, the serving staff / hostesses could tell that many of us in line were growing impatient, so they moved from the front area to just behind the counter, inside the kitchen. However, they still just stood around in a group chatting. At that point I counted 10 visible employees and 2 kitchen staff.
Once the register was counted, a very polite employee began to help us. She was very kind and friendly, but you could tell she was a bit flustered at the line at the beginning of her shift (not to mention that counting money on the front counter and then not washing your hands before helping people added to my irritation). She did a fantastic job in assisting us all, as the 4 of us ordered and paid separately. However, as we were leaving, I glanced again at the large group just standing around in the kitchen and one of them gave us a wave...I felt it was a sarcastic response to our obvious sideways glances, though I guess you could interpret it as a "thanks for coming" wave...highly unlikely though.
If I were rating on the desserts themselves, I would give 4 stars. We ordered a raspberry croissant, chocolate cookie, blueberry scone, cannoli, macaroons and the eclair bites. We all shared with others in the office and agreed they were all delicious, other than the eclairs being almost frozen.
If I could rate the two employees behind the counter, I'd give them 4 stars. However, the incredibly unprofessional group and the fact that it appears they are far overstaffed for servers and not enough help for the to-go counter, would justify a 0 or 1 star if possible. We didn't get back to our car until 3:22, 32 minutes after we walked to in grab a quick treat. read more