My first visit to Orcas Island will be forever marred by my experience at the Madrona Bar & Grill. We arrived at the restaurant around 2pm and asked the waiter Marc D the approximate wait for a window-side table. He said it could be anywhere from "5min to an hour b/c unfortunately the human nature is very real in the restaurant industry." I wanted to be added to the wait-list, and there was 1 table in front of us for the wait-list. Because I was hungry, we decided to be seated based on the information Marc gave us.
However, within 5min, 2 tables opened up, so I asked another waitress (no name tag) if we could be seated by the window, but I was told that "b/c you have been seated, it's policy to stay seated b/c it would take too much time to clean" (though I only observed a casual wiping down of tables, chairs and condiments -- not anything above and beyond usual cleaning).
I was so upset at this time, so my friend approached our waiter again and asked to be seated by the window. By this time, another table had been assigned for the window, so he said if another table opened up, we would be seated by the table. He also added that he "gave us a choice to be seated at the window by being on the wait list or be seated at an available table, and you've made your choice," indicating we've sealed our fate by choosing an available table, which in retrospect, we were first offered the bar and not the next-to-the-window-table section. I did not see any posted policy indicating that once seated, we must remain seated.
What upset me was within 10min from our initial seating, and within 5min of our request to be re-seated, not 2 but ALL 6 window-side tables opened up, and Marc NEVER came back to offer to re-seat us. Instead, I felt trapped by his placing our food down on the table.
The rest of the meal, our waiter never checked in on how our food was (fries were over-salted so we had to chase him down to request new fries, the chewy-tendon-filled $18 steak was barely 3.5in x 1.5in, so not enough to share; I was still hungry but by then wouldn't want to spend another penny on this place!), if we needed any thing (which we did, we had informed that we are eating family style when we ordered, meaning to share all food, but we had to get up to ask for extra plates and steak knife), and Marc had assumed that we wanted our salad, an appetizer, to be served with our steak entree instead of asking us our preference.
The sad part was, I observed the two waiter and waitress behavior throughout our meal, being chatty and friendly with other patrons, asking about their day, their views on sports and the weather, and we never got so much as a what brings you in today? or how's your visit to Orcas been?
Toward the end of the meal, our waiter even said, "I'm very good with the COVID cues, you guys must be wanting your checks." No, actually, we were being considerate to don back our masks after we finished consuming our food and wanted to sit and chat. Why Marc couldn't have applied his awesome skills and knowledge of his patrons and helped us with a clearer answer when we asked how long he estimates the wait would be? We didn't even have time to marvel how quickly he evolved from the mansplaining about human nature to exalting himself to a connoisseur of human behavior in restaurant settings. He was that quick with the check!
So either I've just met a very complicated man that I myself might have misinterpreted or misunderstood, or I forgot to bring my glasses to see invisible ink or hidden posted policies, or I've just had my first racist experience at the Madrona Bar & Grill.
I've requested to be contacted by someone from management, and while their website promised someone would get back to me within 48 hours, it's been 6 days. This place doesn't care that you're treated badly! read more