I don't usually leave reviews (good or bad) but feel the need to let the owners of Wild Ginger know about my experience tonight.
It was Christmas Day and my girlfriend and I were looking for somewhere to get takeout for friends hosting us in Morro Bay on our drive over. We called around And Wild Ginger was one of the few places that was open and looked good. We parked and as we were walking in a guy was walking out clearly perturbed after having waited an hour without receiving his order. Not a great sign, but pickins were slim and we figured we'd go in and find out how long an order would take. We walked in and they were clearly busy and clearly understaffed (4 people total, 2 in the kitchen and 2 on the floor). People weren't getting their orders or weren't getting their orders taken. It was a bit of a mess.
I approached the counter and had to grab the attention of one of the staff. I asked her how long a takeout order would take. That moment was the turning point for us. It was right then that we were told an untruth -- that our order would take about 30 minutes. Still long, but we decided to go for it. We put in the order: two tofu dishes, an eggplant dish, pad Thai and a soup. Grand total: $73. Not cheap, but again, pickins were slim. We went for a walk and came back 30 minutes later. I asked the lady at the register how much longer it would be. "A couple of minutes," she said. I waited. 20 minutes pass. I ask her again and she tells me it will be seven minutes. I wait another 15 minutes. I can see that our order had not been started in the kitchen. I ask we if that is true, she checks, let's the manager know that we've been waiting for over an hour and that our order hadn't been started yet. Manager says they are starting it now. No apology, no comp, nada.
10 minutes later, I uncomfortably hint to the manager that this would be a good time to comp us some food and let her know that a samosa would help tide us over for the hour and 15 minutes we'd been waiting and the half hour drive we have ahead of us. She doesn't get it and rings us up for a samosa. Our order arrives at that moment and I let her know we don't want the samosa, thank her and leave. She looks annoyed that we cancelled the samosa.
Since giving you all feedback at that moment was not feasible, I am providing it to you via yelp. I understand that it was Christmas and that you were slammed, but the very worst thing to do as an establishment is to give your guests untruths. All we needed to hear from the get-go was that it would take an hour, or that you are so busy you're not sure how long it would take. Then we would be able to make an informed decision about whether to place an order and wait. And it wasn't only us -- most people in there were waiting over an hour and were frustrated and the lack of communication. You would have been better off being straightforward with your guests and letting them know how busy and back logged you were.
Oh, and the soup spilled in the bag because it wasn't securely fastened. And the food, it was mediocre.
There is a part of me that feels bad leaving this review because the place is cute and the owners seemed sweet and hard-working. I hope you find this to be constructive criticism and an opportunity to improve communication with guests and managing busy nights. read more