I made dinner reservations for 8:30 PM on Friday several weeks in advance for a special trip celebrating my husband's birthday. I even noted the occasion in the reservation. Since we live over four hours away, this was something we had really been looking forward to.
Earlier that day, I called about five hours ahead to ask if it would be possible to arrive slightly earlier (between 8:00-8:15). I made it clear right away that it wasn't a big deal if that wasn't possible--I just wanted to check since I got off earlier than expected. Unfortunately, the response I received was unprofessional. The person on the phone laughed and said, "yeahhh, nooo," and then hung up without even saying goodbye. While I found this off-putting, I chose to brush it off, assuming it may have just been a misunderstanding.
When we arrived at 8:20 to check in, there was no one at the host stand, and several other couples were waiting around the entrance. We asked if people were being checked in and were told they were only taking reservations. Since we had one, we waited at the desk.
After a few minutes, two hostesses came up. One of them (a blonde woman with green/blue highlights and glasses, possibly named Gretchen) greeted us in a very unwelcoming manner. She said, "I hope y'all have a reservation." I confirmed that we did, for 8:30. She then gestured to the other guests and said, "Well, you see all those people standing there--you're after them. Maybe 15-20 minutes," and walked away.
The tone and delivery were unnecessarily harsh and honestly quite embarrassing. It left me feeling uncomfortable and unwelcome, especially given that this was meant to be a special birthday dinner.
Thankfully, after about 15 minutes, we were seated by another hostess (I believe her name was Khadija--apologies if I misspelled it), who was warm, kind, and professional. Her demeanor made a big difference and helped turn the experience around.
I'm sharing this feedback because first impressions matter. The host/hostess is often the first point of contact, and a respectful, welcoming attitude goes a long way--even during busy or stressful times. I hope this can be used as a learning opportunity moving forward.
I also thought it was a bit odd we were seated in the bar area even though we had reservations. We didnt even get a "happy birthday" acknowledgement which also was kind of a let down. Luckily my husband doesnt care about birthday celebrations as much as I do, but a mere gesture of a happy birthday could have meant alot.
The food was great aside from the "moscow mules", which were clearly made with sweet and sour mix as opposed to anything close to ginger beer. Very tart and sour. Also it took over 40 mins for our steaks to come out and they gave us the wrong steaks. My husband ordered medium and i ordered medium rare, so we had to do an easy switcharoo, which isnt a huge deal but when you are paying that much, service really should be top tier. read more