I don't often take time to write reviews but this one must be written to protect the future consumer but more importantly to help the restaurant. We just got back from a Mother's Day brunch that was disappointing on every level. I'm not a food snob and my regular eat out staples are Noodles and Company, Jimmy John's, and other $12 fare. For Mother's Day, we expect something nice, of course. So, when the experience is much worse that a Noodles and Company (and I mean much worse) but I pay 5x more, then, I have to let others know.
The simple things were missed and as you will read, it made for a laughably bad experience. I got worried as soon as we arrived. The white entrance door had "stuff" on it that had been there a while. We arrived at 12:45pm for a 1pm reservation and were greeted gruffly, barely looking up at us, with "We aren't ready for you yet and need to setup your table" instead of a polite greeting, such as, "Welcome, please take a seat in our lounge area and we will notify you when your table is ready."
We were seated by a noisy service table with a phone that kept ringing. The chatter between staff was in our ear the whole time. When we got up to get our food, we didn't know where to go as there was a door open to a buffet, but there was no food in that room. So we meandered until we found the food. Waiter, please tell us where to go.
The presentation wasn't pleasant (get the fruit flies away from the browning bananas please) and some of the food was not available on our first pass (I would have liked some eggs). As we sat down to eat, we were greeted with the lovely sound of a vacuum cleaner as a man was vacuuming the stairs just 20 feet from us for a good 10 minutes.
Waiters missed their cue or were clueless. My wife kept busing our plates and glasses off our table. The staff asked how we were enjoying our meal as they kept walking past our table (folks, if you mean it, stop and give us 5 seconds to answer). Waiters on their mobile phones, not a good idea. Waiters huffing impatiently behind people who are walking slowly, doesn't it make us feel wanted. Most of the wait staff looked as if they didn't want to be there.
Midway through the meal I gave in an apologized to my wife. I shouldn't have to apologize to my wife when I'm spending $200 for a meal (family of five with one kid free). FYI, the bloody mary was good but I had (needed) two because I could have spent $200 for a brunch at the Jefferson. This is money lost.
Regarding the "view" - unless you are right next to the windows, there is no view. The food was okay, overall, the meats weren't especially tender but they weren't bad. The vegetables lacked flavor. It the quality of meal I would expect to get at an Applebees but at least at Applebees the staff would have been more friendly and less in a rush.
So, I write this only so that the restaurant will hopefully read it to their staff and ask the honest question of, "What do we need to do to take care of those who are trusting us for a nice dining experience?" If that happens, I will be so happy that I spared any other family the experience we just had. read more
