The night started with a quick call about a large party coming in. They do handle this and were ready for us to arrive. The man who seats us does give us warning that our party would be split amongst 2 tables and 2 waitresses which I saw as a wise move. "I'm not giving out free food," he says about orders not being right/cold or whatever happens when there are large parties. I get that.
I had been here several times, but not in years before tonight. I do remember my previous experiences were much better than this so here goes:
First, the waitstaff was confused and over-burdened, tried to pass off that the restaurant, which was quiet and sparsely full when we arrived was actually very busy. Several orders were confused, namely for their substitutions, which actually were taken care of in one form or fashion. Turns out that Brittany (waitress) grabbed the wrong plate
What I did find confusing in this instance was since the party was broken up amongst two tables, there was a significant time difference between when half of the party arrived (served by Brittany) and when the second half arrived. The table that came later and was served later managed to have their orders completed much sooner than the table served by Brittany. Not sure how that worked, maybe they ordered immediately considering their later arrival, I'm not sure.
What seriously ended the night for us was a sad confusion. For starters, I am a vegetarian and have been for 20 years. My reasons for being so are not important, nor is whether I'm totally committed to it in question in this context (my point is here, any response that what I was ordering wasn't vegetarian/vegan-friendly anyway do not apply here). Upon ordering their entrees, you get a vegetable, pasta, and soup; substituting a salad is $1 extra. I order the eggplant parmesan, ask for primavera vegetables instead of corn, and (this is why I point out the $1 upcharge for something that essentially costs less) since I can't have the soup, a salad. The issue that I do not eat meat was brought up 3 times upon ordering. I understand that's not the waitress' problem, but it was stated more than once and in multiple ways. When two other dishes were confused, I ask if my plate was, in fact, the eggplant I had ordered, I was assured they were. Essentially these things looked like they would be served at a Coney Island judging from the grease, over-reliance on cheese globbed on and dependence on deep-frying; there was no way to judge if they were anything that I ordered by sight alone. So, trusting that Brittney knew what she had presented me (my mistake there), I dig into it. It's dry, it's tough, it really tastes bland. A few bites in, I'm still trying to figure out why this is wrong thinking there was no reason to doubt I had anything else..... how would they confuse eggplant? Turns out that's exactly what they did as I cut into another piece, and see that they had given me veal.
Upon pointing this out, Brittany responded as if she was defeated. This was a serious blow. She did take the plate and ask if there was anything I wanted to replace it. At that point, it was too late, and I said I didn't want anything else. She did come back and say that she felt bad and took my order off the bill, and asked if I wanted anything else as a consolation, like a dessert. I said no as I was basically trying to contain my rage and the stability of my stomach from either dealing with trying to digest red meat for the first time in many many years and balance the reality that it's all possibly psychosomatic. Essentially, this is below what the restaurant should have done for this but was probably all that Brittany could do without bringing her manager into the situation. There was never a manager involved, which I ultimately wanted to do, but really was trying not to lose control over myself for this. At this point, I just wanted to leave.
So, for the guy who seated us who didn't want to just give away free food, just be rest assured that the plate of veal parmesan that I did not pay for was not fully consumed by me. Maybe you have a dog you can feed it to. I had never had veal before tonight, and if the over-cooked, over fried, dry slab of indistinguishable breaded blandness with cheese was a true indication of what veal is, I never want to have it again. read more