We were two people out celebrating a birthday and found Nagel by accident.
We went in, but no chairs were available besides two 6 persons tables.
I asked the waiter but he denied that we could sit at one of the tables and were referred to another table where people already sat and talked in private.
We went back to the entrance to wait for an available table and finally some two people left and a table was available.
We sat down. After some time a waiter came and we ordered something to eat.
While we were waiting, another couple came and sat down at one of the 6 person tables while the white bearded waiter was in the kitchen. He greeted them and took their orders. There was no "reserved" sign.
We then got the food and started to eat. Then another innocent looking couple came in and sat down at the second
6 person table. The waiter went straight to them, took the "6 person table sign" and slammed it onto the table and first showed the description to the man and then turned it around to the woman. He pointed his finger at us and the other people and his gestures said that they were full. In the meantime some other people were done
eating, but this couple seemed shocked because of the treatment and quickly decided to leave.
When they were leaving the waiter mockingly goodbye to them.
I got eye contact with a German woman who looked at me and rolled her eyes.
The waiter we had wasn't any better. There was no communicating with him at all, and he did not look at people when he talked to them.
Almost done eating, another couple came in and went for the 6 person table.
Our waiter yelled at them and pointed to a small table that was now available.
The young waiter mockingly smiled and almost clapped because he had managed to stop them from sitting at that "magic" 6 person table.
While we don't think that the customer service was warm and welcoming, the witnessing of how other guests were treated was absolutely disgusting and created a gloomy atmosphere you don't want to be part of when you are out and try
to have a good time.
We decided to not give any tip in protest.
We asked our waiter for the bill.
He leaned across the table where other people were eating and handed me the bill. I looked at it: 29,60 Euro in total and he had personally written "thanks for tip" with a giant smiley.
I gave him 50 Euro and told him I wanted 20 back. When he heard it his face froze and he threw 20 Euro on the table, looked further in his wallet and threw another 50 Cent.
We then got up and headed out and left the depressing Nagel behind us.
While I didn't have one for the waiter, I sure do have a tip for you: with so many terrific places to eat in Hamburg and with great customer care, spare yourself the
trouble of either experiencing or witnessing this type of customer service at close range. read more