So disappointing that the restaurant that leased this space is so absolutely clueless in providing an atmosphere you would want to be part of. Other than the amazing location and oceanfront location, they have got pretty much everything wrong. When I go out for a meal I don't want to be encouraged to mess around on a phone. But to order food or drinks at Mattones those are your choices: Lineup and pay at the bar, or scan the bar code and use an awkward phone app, where again, you have to pay each time. Restaurants, I believe, ought to encourage human interaction and a customer experience, which is not people spending the entire meal lost on their phone ordering a drink, food, etc. I don't mind paying $19 for an average glass of wine (before tax and tip), but I'd just like some human interraction that doesn't involve lining up. And if you are going to charge premium food and drink prices, table service is a must.
What else: terrible sound design, it's like a cafeteria, you can hear the cutlery being bounced around from every corner of the restaurant. What else: rude, flippant, & inconsistent greeting staff giving inaccurate communication on who gets to sit outside and who does not. I suspect they get so much negative feedback that the greeting staff have given up on trying to be helpful.
This was our second attempt to support this restaurant, but so many things went wrong, and in the months since our first attempt we had hoped maybe they would have improved. Sadly that was not the case. As people who live nearby, we whole heartedly want to support a business in this location. The location is really stunning, so stunning that we could deal with the so so staff and bad sound. The actual food and drinks are decent..but until such a point that Mattone's ditches the self serve line up at the bar and order from your phone options, we will not be back. read more