My boyfriend and I dined at your restaurant (Metairie, Louisiana location) around 6:45-7:00 p.m. on Monday, August 24th. We were greeted promptly at the host stand and brought to our table. The restaurant was fairly empty, but we completely understood that it was a Monday evening. We both work in the service industry ourselves, so we understand what a slower Monday night can look like.
Our server came to the table, and the first thing he said to us was, "Y'all been here long?" We laughed and told him no, since it had only been about 30 seconds since we were seated. He did introduce himself, although unfortunately I don't remember his name. He took our drink order, went over the menu with us, and even told us about a secret menu of older items that they can still make. At that point, we were actually looking forward to our experience.
Unfortunately, that's where things started to go downhill.
Our appetizers arrived, but we had no napkins or silverware at the table. We asked our server for some, and he said he would be right back. Instead, he proceeded to bus a large table across from us and then do a birthday celebration for that same table. We ultimately ended up getting silverware from a nearby unused table ourselves.
When our other appetizer arrived, we asked another server for plates, and she did return with them. I also asked our server for a refill, but he disappeared for quite some time before eventually bringing me another water.
Our entrées arrived, and I asked our server if the sushi we had ordered was still coming. His response was, "It should be," which made it seem as though he wasn't even sure if it had been rung in. We were only checked on once during the entire entrée portion of our meal. Meanwhile, the other servers were attending to the three other tables in the restaurant, boxing up food and doing birthday celebrations. Our server seemed to disappear, and my boyfriend and I were honestly left in disbelief. Anytime we needed something, it took a very long time to get his attention.
Another thing that really stood out to us was that our table was never pre-bussed. Every dish we had from the beginning of our meal through the end was left on the table, including our empty drink glasses. When we asked for boxes, our server simply brought them out and set them in the middle of the table. We then had to box our own food. What made this particularly noticeable was that we watched the servers box the food for the other tables around us. I genuinely don't understand why our experience was so different.
Lastly, it was my birthday, and we were never asked if we were celebrating anything. I had really been looking forward to getting dessert, specifically the peanut butter chocolate pie, but after sitting there for so long without anyone coming back to our table, I ultimately decided against it.
The service started off "funny" and unfortunately just continued to decline throughout the meal. I don't expect every server to be perfect or to provide top-notch service every second, but I did expect a reasonable level of attentiveness, especially considering the restaurant was nearly empty. Our server did become noticeably more attentive when the bill was brought out. We did still leave a tip, although it was less than what we would normally leave.
Overall, the food was good, but the experience we expected to have was unfortunately absent. I'm still especially curious as to why we were expected to box our own food when every other table appeared to have their food boxed by their server.
I would genuinely like to come back again someday because we enjoyed the food. However, this experience has left me hesitant about returning, and I wanted to share this feedback because I hope it was an isolated experience and not representative of the service you strive to provide. read more