We came here to celebrate my dad's 75th birthday while watching the World Cup final. Our family had five separate reservations for six people each, all booked through the reservation system under different names. My mom made two of the reservations, and three of her friends each booked one under their own names. Each reservation was intended to be its own table, and each table planned to pay separately.
When I arrived with my 5-year-old son, I found most of our group outside. From what I understood, they had not been allowed to remain inside near the tables we believed had been reserved for us. I was confused, so I went to see what was happening. Instead of calmly explaining the situation, the manager immediately spoke to me in a condescending and aggressive tone, saying, "What we're not going to do is put more tables together. I told him we had 5 tables reserved, but he dismissed it, saying no one had booked it through him, and repeatedly shouted that they couldn't accommodate "a party of 30."
The problem is, we never asked for one table of 30 people. We had five legitimate reservations under different names, five separate tables, and planned to pay separately. If the restaurant doesn't want multiple reservations arriving at the same time for the same celebration, that's understandable--but then the reservation system should prevent that from happening. We simply booked the reservation times that were available through the reservation system.
What made the interaction even more disappointing was that the manager spoke to me that way in front of my 5-year-old son. He also spoke in the same aggressive manner to several women in our group who are in their 70s. None of us were raising our voices or being disrespectful. We were simply trying to understand what the issue was.
Once our table was finally seated, our server initially seemed frustrated by everything that had happened. She repeatedly asked if we were "the party of 30," rolled her eyes during the conversation, and initially insisted that everyone had to pay together. I explained that we were simply our table of six and were happy to do whatever made things easiest for the staff. After that, things improved. She let us know our food would take about 30 minutes, which I really appreciated. Since we were there to watch the match, we weren't in a rush at all. From that point on, she was professional, even if she wasn't particularly warm or friendly, which I completely understood given how busy they were.
Unfortunately, the atmosphere had already been affected. I overheard staff referring to us as "the party of 30" while talking to other tables, and it felt like we had been labeled as a problem before we had even sat down. That seemed to stem directly from how the manager handled the situation.
Later, my mom--the person coordinating my dad's birthday celebration--went to speak with the manager herself. She calmly told him she wasn't looking for an argument and even acknowledged that he seemed stressed. Rather than listening, he talked over her, raised his voice, and repeatedly told her that she knew she was in the wrong. She simply tried to explain that our group had booked five separate reservations through the reservation system under different names and had shown up exactly as the reservation system allowed.
The most disappointing part of the experience wasn't the wait, the confusion, or even being told the food would take longer. We completely understood that it was a busy day and that the World Cup final brought large crowds. It was the manager's behavior. He chose confrontation over communication and repeatedly treated multiple members of our family with disrespect during what was supposed to be a joyful celebration of my dad's 75th birthday.
It's especially unfortunate because there were so many positives. The food was good, the drinks were good, and it was a great place to watch the game. The gentleman in the pro shop was incredibly kind to my son.
I understand restaurants get busy and stressful during major events. I genuinely have empathy for that. But professionalism matters, especially from management. A calm explanation would have solved everything. Instead, the manager's behavior set the tone for the entire staff and ultimately overshadowed what should have been a wonderful family celebration. read more