I took my wife and two kids to Tryst today for Mother's Day brunch. More than a week ago, I reserved a table for 10:15 am; on Tryst's website, when you reserve a table, you're given a choice of "High tops," "low tables," and "outdoor." I reserved a "low table" due to the fact that I have two young children (I've included a screenshot of my reservation). When we arrived, we were promptly seated - at a high top table. I advised the hostess that we had reserved a low table; she indicated she could change our table, but that we would have to wait. This despite the fact that the restaurant was 90% empty.
Fine. We stayed at the high top table - which, in addition to being elevated, had the disadvantage of being very small. Not a great fit, in short, for young kids. After a surprisingly long time, we finally ordered. Tryst was offering a 2-course prix fixe Mother's Day brunch menu; my wife and I ordered from this menu, while the kids ordered from the children's menu. We asked the waiter if my daughter could have a fruit bowl; he said 'sure, would strawberries and blueberries be ok.' Yes, indeed they would. At 10:50, the kids' meals and my first course were brought to the table - including a small bowl of just blueberries for my daughter (not a single strawberry). Nothing for my wife - a.k.a. "mom," the honoree of today's festivities. At 10:55, I asked the waiter when my wife's food would arrive. He said it was on its way. At 11:03 - nearly 15 minutes after everyone else had been served - my wife's first course - avocado toast w/ salmon - finally arrived. At 11:04, the 2nd courses were also served. Now we're stuck on a very small high top table with all our courses (since I had refrained from eating my first course while waiting for my wife's to be served), all at once.
I asked to speak to a manager. After 5-10 minutes, he came out. I noted how we had been seated at the wrong type of table, how my daughter had been offered (!) a fruit cup with blueberries and strawberries but received only the former and - most importantly - how my wife's main course was now cold before she even had a chance to start it. He apologized, had some strawberries brought out and offered to bring out a new main course for my wife. We declined. Why? Well, because our two young children had finished eating 20 minutes earlier, and certainly wouldn't have the patience to wait another who-knows-how-long for another main course to be brought out (I remind you: it's is now ~ 11:15 and we have now been at the restaurant for a full hour). My wife also had no desire to be the only one eating at the table. The manager indicated he would remedy the situation otherwise - but no other remedy was offered or received (so: no comps, no discount, nothing).
To be clear: I would never have complained - never mind bothered to write a review! - if it was simply a matter of the wrong table and strawberry-less fruit cups. I mention these only because they're both examples of the same unforced error: setting an expectation that Tryst then fails to meet. I would, however, normally have given them a pass on this; after all, we all have bad days. What I can't pass over, however, is that, through sheer incompetence, my wife was effectively asked to dine alone, on Mother's Day - something anathema to the whole idea of a Mother's Day Brunch - and neither the staff nor the manager seemed to consider this a real problem.
Whence this review.
My wife and I have been patronizing Tryst for, I think, more than 10 years. We will not be going back. read more