Horrifying, rude, racist experience. I was in Bern for medical research for the month, and had some friends (equally as brown and Muslim-looking) come visit.
This was their FIRST day in Switzerland, and my FIRST time coming to this place. After being forced to wait 45 minutes for our reservation (we had come 5 minutes early) even though there were waiters and tables aplenty, we were seated.
We waited another hour + for the SINGLE chocolate fondue we ordered. Since my friends were starving, I thought it best to find out waiter and excuse ourselves politely, and say that we had not realized how long the fondue would take. We kept trying to get our waiter's attention to no avail. I finally caught his eye when he was in the kitchen, and motioned "Sorry, we have to go." I waited for him to come talk to me, but instead he rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen. Rude, but maybe he was having a bad day.
We were stopped from leaving by a young woman with a lip-ring who appeared to be the manager. "Ah," I thought, "they want to make things right." Instead, she crossed her arms and told me their chocolate fondue takes 20 minutes to make, and they had already started making it. I apologized (me and 4 of my friends still standing at the door, with other guests watching) and said it's far too late. I had made the reservation at 7:30pm and it was almost 9:30pm. She said that we could not make reservations and then just get up and leave. Now I'm confused. "Okay?" And then, she said that I've done this before.
Now we're pissed. Not only did these confused, lazy people make us wait 2 hours for a simple dessert despite us making a reservation, now they're confronting us AND saying we had done this before. "I'm sorry," I said, "this is my FIRST time here." The waiter and the man who seated us shook their heads with attitude and the lip-ring girl said, "No, we recognize you all." My friends said "WE LITERALLY CAME TO THIS COUNTRY TODAY," and I said, "Yes, and I have never come here before." She refused to believe us? I said quietly that it was a little bit racist that she could not tell me apart from some other brown girl who must have been dissatisfied with the ugly, slow service these people offered. I wasn't sure what these employees wanted, to humiliate us in front of their other patrons? For us to pay them for their shitty service? For them to feel slightly better about the ignorant, vapid expanse that is their lives?
You Swiss folk might enjoy this place. AMERICANS and COLORED-PEOPLE should AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS. Good riddance. read more