Our "Thirsty Thursday" group decided to meet at 1906 recently on a Thursday. There were 10 of us…read morethat showed up. One of our friends and his wife arrived a little early and got us a table. As soon as we sat down, they warned us that service was already pretty slow and that it had taken quite a while just to get his beer and her mixed drink.
We all thought, okay, maybe they're just getting started and things will get better...trying to be optimistic.
Unfortunately, they didn't.
We ordered our food, and it took forever to come out. Most of us eventually got our food and were probably halfway through our meals when we realized one person's fish dish still hadn't made it out. When he asked about it, they told him it was still being made, which seemed a little odd considering it was a pretty simple dish and most of the table was already well into their meals. At that point, he wasn't happy and just told them to cancel the order. A few people also ordered mixed drinks, and according to them, the drinks didn't taste as expected based on what they had ordered.
Then came the check. There was an automatic gratuity added because of the size of our group. We don't have a problem with an automatic gratuity for a large party, but nobody/ not even the waitress told us about it beforehand, and we didn't see it posted or noted anywhere. Given the level of service we received, that obviously didn't sit particularly well with some members of our group.
There was also an odd situation with one of our friends, who is 86. She didn't want a large meal, so she ordered something from the children's menu. When the bill arrived, she had been charged for a full adult portion. When they questioned it, they were told adults aren't allowed to order from the children's menu. We had to laugh a little at that one. We can walk into McDonald's and order a Happy Meal, but apparently we can't order a kids' meal here...LOL. If that's the policy, fine, but tell the customer when they order rather than when the bill arrives.
Things eventually got a little tense. One couple asked to speak with the manager and was pretty direct about the automatic gratuity, the meal that never arrived, the drinks and the overall service.
The other oddity I have to mention about the automatic gratuity. When we brought it up to the manager, she told us it was up to the waitress whether or not to apply an automatic gratuity based on the size of the group. We had never heard of that being an "option"... LOL. Usually, a restaurant either has an automatic gratuity policy for larger parties or it doesn't, and if it does, it's clearly stated somewhere. So that left us wondering...what exactly is the criteria at 1906? Apply the gratuity if the group is giving you a hard time, but don't apply it if you like them..... LOL....? Who knows. We certainly didn't. A little consistency and transparency on that policy would probably go a long way.
My wife and I have been to 1906 before, and we've experienced slow service there in the past, but this evening was way slow.
The unfortunate part is that the food is actually good, and I do recommend giving the place a try. But based on our experiences, the service and mixed drinks can be a bit of a crapshoot, so go in prepared.
Will our Thirsty Thursday group be back? Nope. There's probably a better chance of buying swampland in Barstow than getting the whole group to agree to give the place another try....LOL.
Will my wife and I go back on our own? Most likely. We'll give it another shot and hope for the best. But if we continue to get the same slow service and iffy mixed drinks, at some point we may just stop going. But it won't be because we didn't give 1906 enough chances. It'll be because 1906 continued to give us reasons not to come back.