I work in an office close to Schatzis. Many of us have gotten together over the years to go over and have a few drinks and appetizers to celebrate various things. In the past the service and food has been good.
A few years ago, before they opened for lunch on Fridays, someone from my office contacted management to see if they would open for one Friday for a lunch for my office, a minimum of 20 covers guaranteed. They said they would call back with an answer. They didn't. So we called again and were told it would not be enough financial incentive. Ok. A few months later they started opening for lunch on Fridays.
Fast forward to this week. A co-worker is leaving the office for a new job. She requests we all get together to go to Schatzis. Cool. I call on Wednesday at 4:45 to reserve a table for 20.
I have a decade of restaurant experience, both front and back of house. I know that reservations for large parties are beautiful. A guaranteed 20 covers for a Friday at 5:00 is a great thing. So my expectations of the phone call were something like this:
Me: hi, I'd like to make a reservation for 20, please
Them: terrific. What's your name and a phone number please?
Me: so&so and the number is ....
Them: thank you for calling, we're looking forward to seeing you.
Instead, this was the conversation:
Me: hi, I'd like to make a reservation for 20 please
Them: 20? Uh, have you been here before?
Me: yes
Them: 20? Uh, that would take up the whole restaurant. We need space for our other patrons. Uh, hold on (places me on hold, not waiting for me to say ok or anything)
Uh, yeah, so I spoke to the manager and uh yeah, we'll have to seat you outside. It will be 60 degrees on Friday.
Me: outside?
Them: yes, that's the only way we can accommodate you
Me: ok. (I give him my name & number)
They hang up.
So this is supposed to be a celebration for my co-worker and I don't want to upset her, but I'm left wondering how the other patrons cash is more valuable than mine.
I tell myself to keep my mouth shut. But after I inform my co-workers that we are forced to sit outside, some decided they were not going. Then 2 other co-workers tell me how they feel like we are being treated like second class citizens.
So Friday around 2:00 a co-worker and I go over to Schatzis to speak to the manager about this.
I can certainly understand if 20 of us walked in without calling ahead of time and all of the tables are full, sure, outside is the only option. But to call ahead of time to make a reservation and be told this just doesn't seem hospitable.
So we speak to the bartender, the manager is not there. We explain we don't want to sit outside, the size of the party has dropped as there are people who don't want to go because of sitting outside. She looks at us as if we are unreasonable. She tells us that if we only have 12, and no more than 12, we can sit inside. However, she needs to run it by the manager. If it is not ok, and he says no, he'll call me.
5:00. We walk in. The seats at the bar are mostly full. There are NO tables seated. All tables are free. We are seated. We turn out to be a total of 15. Two people in our party took a two top table behind our big table to accommodate the lack of space for them. Management asks them to not sit there, that is for their other patrons. (There were no other patrons at that point in time.) We ask to add a table. They grudgingly add a table. We were there from 5:00 to 6:45. We had a minimum of 12 appetizers, 8 meals, and at least 25 drinks. We were not loud, rowdy, disrespectful or overly demanding.
Our waitress Amelia worked hard to take care of us. It is not easy to handle a table if 15 by yourself. She kept up really well and was unsupported by the management.
The food was fine. They took my favorite dish off of the menu, however it is still on the menu online. So I was disappointed about that.
We as an office will not be returning to Schatzis. For a business that is in the hospitality field, we were definitely not made to feel welcome. There are other establishments close to our office who would welcome our business.
If the owner of Schatzis wishes to address this, I am happy to hear why our business is not as valuable as "other patrons." read more