Second visit to Gymkhana -- and unfortunately, may be our last.
Gymkhana is a high-end, expensive restaurant, and when you're paying premium prices for what is supposed to be an elevated dining experience, you expect the hospitality and service to match.
We were especially excited about this visit because it was my birthday, and we had made our reservation over a month in advance. Sadly, what should have been a special evening turned into an incredibly disappointing experience.
We arrived at 8:50 PM for our 9:00 PM reservation and simply checked in with the hostess so she knew we were there. Her response was unnecessarily rude: "We're not going to see you until 9." I wasn't asking to be seated early -- I was simply checking in. A little courtesy would have gone a long way.
By 9:10 PM, we were still sitting right in front of the hostess stand watching multiple parties, including other parties of four, being seated ahead of us. My husband went up to ask about our table and was again met with a dismissive attitude: "We're working on your table. It's been cleaned."
Apparently, our table needed considerably more preparation than everyone else's.
We were finally seated around 9:20 PM -- and that's when we discovered they had put us in the middle of the most congested, loud area of the restaurant, directly beside a party of approximately 13 people celebrating a birthday.
They were extremely intoxicated, yelling, dancing, getting up repeatedly and making speeches. It was chaotic.
We politely asked the maître d' if we could be moved. His response was even more disappointing than the hostess's. He basically explained that this was a "supper club," that it was supposed to be loud and have a particular "vibe," and that the atmosphere was mostly geared toward younger people.
As four people in our 60s, we couldn't help but wonder if that last comment was meant to tell us we weren't the demographic they cared about.
Honestly, we should have left right then.
Instead, we stayed and ordered the tasting menu.
Our first round of drinks didn't arrive until 10:00 PM -- an entire hour after our reservation time.
To give credit where it's due: the food was good. The lamb chops in particular were excellent, and our waiter, Ernesto, was wonderful. He was professional, attentive and genuinely seemed to care about our experience. He was probably the biggest reason we didn't simply walk out.
Unfortunately, the evening took an even worse turn.
The large party began doing the Tomahawk Chop gesture while making stereotypical Native American yelling noises, apparently as a joke. It was offensive, inappropriate and completely unnecessary.
What bothered us almost as much was the fact that management appeared perfectly comfortable continuing to entertain and accommodate the group while this was happening.
There is a huge difference between a lively supper-club atmosphere and allowing a loud, intoxicated group to behave offensively at the expense of everyone around them.
And let's be clear: we understand the concept. We didn't expect a quiet restaurant. We expected a fun, sophisticated atmosphere, good food and a birthday celebration where we were treated with basic courtesy.
This is Gymkhana, not a casual neighborhood bar. At these prices, guests should not have to accept being treated dismissively, waiting well past their reservation time, being seated in a chaotic location, and then being made to feel as though they're somehow the problem for asking to be moved.
The irony is that the food was good enough that we wanted to enjoy ourselves. The lamb chops were excellent. Ernesto was great. But a high-end dining experience isn't just about what's on the plate.
It's also about how your guests are treated.
And on this particular night, we felt dismissed, disrespected and, frankly, unwelcome.
I deeply regret not getting the maître d's name because his attitude was one of the most unpleasant parts of the evening. Telling customers in their 60s that the restaurant is primarily about a younger "vibe" is not the way to make loyal customers feel valued.
We came back because we enjoyed our first visit. We came to celebrate my birthday. We left wishing we had celebrated somewhere else.
Great lamb chops. Great waiter.
But at a restaurant this expensive, great food cannot compensate for terrible hospitality. read more