This review isn't intended to besmirch the reputation of the concerned business or the employees who we encountered during our experience here. It is an honest review of a business and meant as no personal slander, and will be given with all respect due other human beings.
My husband and I went here for dinner on a Saturday evening. As we walked in, we were met at the door by a waitress who didn't smile, and who said that because there would be live music starting in half an hour, there was a mandatory $5 cover charge. Okay that should have been a flag for us to turn around and leave, but we like to keep our business local and support our local economy, so we wanted to give it a try anyway. My husband explained that we were only there for dinner and wouldn't be staying for the music or drinks/wine and could we please just be seated for dinner. The waitress actually had to get permission to do this. Wow.
So we were seated and a waiter came in a few minutes to get our drinks. Not once did he smile or express any friendliness. We looked over the menu but weren't ready to order when the waiter came back pretty quickly with our drinks. He seemed annoyed.
My husband asked for a Coke. He was brought one of the tiny 7 oz. cans of Coke with a glass of ice, and the soda was room temperature.
We took only a few more minutes to make our choices and we gave our order to the waiter. Within a few minutes, a manager came to our table and said, "The meat for your Reuben sandwich is spoiled and the chef doesn't want to serve it. Is there something else you would want?" Okay...... doesn't inspire confidence in the quality of food. What else is spoiled? So, I scrambled to pick something else from the menu. The sliders sounded okay but they have bacon jam on them and I asked if I got those, could they make them without the bacon jam since I don't eat pork. The manager said that was no problem and retreated to the kitchen.
In just a few minutes, my husbands' sliders came out and they were actually quite nice. They were well done and my husband commented that they tasted very good. Unfortunately the cole slaw that he requested wasn't brought with the sliders.
He didn't even get a chance to finish his food though because of the things that happened next. He asked for another soda, and was brought a second tiny can of room-temperature soda. Honestly, a food establishment really should have a soda fountain.
In just a few minutes my sliders also came out, which was suspect because it sure was quick. As I bit into one, it got pinker and less well done but I'm okay with a little less well done. But after the second bite, it was too rare for me. My husband likes rare meat, so I gave it to him and was going to try the second slider. That's when my husband tore my first slider apart and it was RAW and cool in the center. What's more, they had the bacon jam on them which I had asked not to be served on the sliders and the manager had assured me was not a problem.
We decided enough was enough and my husband flagged the waiter for our check. When we said we just wanted to go and not finish our meal, the waiter got very attitude-ish. We were just going to pay for the food and leave, and wanted to be sure we wouldn't be charged for the cover charge, but when the waiter gave us attitude about it, my husband asked to speak to the manager.
She came to our table and argued with us about the tiny sodas being warm, how she had delivered the message about spoiled meat, the cole slaw not being delivered, and then finally, my sliders being raw and served with the bacon jam that I had asked not to get; however, she acknowledged that we had had a very poor experience at her restaurant. The waiter finally brought our check minus the cost of my sliders. How kind. But surprise - the check had the $5 cover charge. My husband called the waiter over yet again, who then had to go and get the manager AGAIN. She argued AGAIN with us about removing the cover charge, saying that the live performance had already started.
Okay, heavy sigh and forehead palm smack. We were only still there because of this comedy of errors and really poor customer service. Finally we got our check minus the cost of my uneaten raw sliders and the cover charge.
We didn't even eat dinner, and we paid $17.50 for one glass of iced tea, two tiny cans of warm soda, and one uneaten order of sliders and cole slaw. The cole slaw my husband ordered was finally brought just as we were asking for the check, and he didn't even get to taste it. This experience was so awful that this restaurant manager should have comped our entire bill in embarrassment for her establishment. But alas, no. The $17.50 was more important to her than possibly salvaging a repeat customer in the tiny town of Smithville, where your return customer base is crucial.
Perhaps it was just an off night, and perhaps the crowd of customers was too much for the wait staff. All we know is that we won't return. read more