Wow... what a BEAUTIFUL restaurant.
At first glance, as I…read morearrived at valet, I was genuinely proud to see this Black-owned brick-and-mortar in person for the first time. Unfortunately, I did not anticipate that it would also be the last.
The valet attendant was attentive and professional, and the host staff greeted me as I walked in. So far, so good! The bar wasn't busy, but I figured it was still kind of early and things could liven up.
I was meeting friends for a birthday toast, and they were already seated at the bar. When I approached, we were very excited to see one another, so naturally, we took a moment to catch up. I noticed there was one bartender in the service well who was busy making drinks and therefore understandably unable to greet me.
There was another bartender conversing with patrons standing next to my barstool and another bartender on the far end.
Now, as someone with a background in food & beverage, I naturally exercise patience in casual dining atmospheres because service can be a little laxed--which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm not expecting the bartender to teleport across the room because I walked in.
However, in this case, after greeting my friends, we wanted to do a round of shots in honor of the birthday girl. After several minutes, we still had not been approached by a bartender.
Not to mention, the bartender conversing just to my right was STILL carrying on with the same gentlemen patrons.
After a continued wait, the birthday girl decided to flag down the bartender, who acknowledged us with eye contact...
...and then continued her conversation.
Ma'am.
That was very unprofessional, but we were in such great spirits that we decided to overlook it and try to get the attention of a different bartender.
Now, hindsight being 20/20, we should've left right then.
This same bartender, standing not even 3 feet away from us, eventually finished her conversation and walked away. She actually ended up standing at the service well in plain sight of us, where she then pulled out her cellphone to devote some obviously much-needed quality screen time.
We were in utter shock.
Within a few moments, the bartender originally on the far end of the bar had made her way to our side to take a new set of patrons' order who had just appeared to my right.
Once again, the birthday girl calls out and asks if it would be possible for her to assist us when she was done.
To our dismay, the lady looks at us with absolutely ZERO emotion and simply states, "Yea."
Not exactly the response we expected, but hey... it's Detroit. We are natives, although I no longer live locally, so we know customer service isn't necessarily the city's strongest suit.
After Ms. Dead Emotions prepared drinks for the new set of patrons, she followed suit with the previous bartender and walked over to the service well for some R&R with Screen Time Girl.
And THAT was the moment we realized these bartenders did not come to work...
They came to clock in.
At this point, I decided to ask for a manager.
The nice woman I approached asked me what it was regarding, and I explained what we had experienced and told her it was disappointing, to say the least.
She seemed rational and understanding and offered to send a waitress to the bar to serve us. I thanked her and went back to my seat.
It was obvious that the bartenders had been made aware of my grievances because their demeanors and facial expressions suddenly had a LOT to say.
At that point, we realized training, support, and customer service may be an unrecognized area of opportunity by upper management.
The server was busy with tables but eventually made her way over. She seemed very nice. However, by that point, we had decided we would leave.
As we sat there conversing about this unbelievable experience and discussing other bars we could go to instead, a few patrons walked up to our side of the bar to introduce themselves and ask about our plans and whether we would stick around to have a drink with them.
When we informed them we were leaving, they asked why.
We gave them the short version as we prepared to leave.
Sadly, they weren't surprised--but they offered AGAIN to make it right.
Imagine customers offering to make it right.
Just before leaving, one of our group stepped away to the restroom. At that point, Screen Time finally walked up and, exasperatedly, asked if we wanted anything.
IKYFL.
The birthday girl, who is sweet-natured, was understandably disappointed, so I decided, you know what? We'll take a shot for the road.
A simple Don Julio Repo shot took longer than it should have...
...but the bill came IMMEDIATELY.
And, of course, an automatic 20% gratuity was the cherry on top.
At this point, all I could do was laugh.
Beautiful restaurant. Great first impression. Unfortunately, the actual experience was a completely different story.
WE WILL NOT BE BACK.
