Way too much in fact.
Unfortunately it seems bad dining experiences and I have a habit of finding one another.
Tonight Matt and I attended a birthday dinner at a new Italian restaurant here in Ames. I really had high hopes for the place as there have not been any good Italian places in the city.
The night began very favorably as we were well taken care of in the lounge area. Unfortunately once we moved to the dining area things did not go as well.
After ordering our food, I felt as though I was invisible to the waiter. While I watched our waiter ask other members of our party (about 15 people) if they would be interested in another drink from the bar, I sat with an empty gin & tonic glass in front of me then entire meal, never being asked if I would like another, which I would have if I had been asked.
I also did not have a water glass, so I went without something to drink during the meal. I know I could have attempted to get the waiter's attention, but when I observed other's being taken care of and then the waiter passing by, directly seeing my empty glass and kept on walking, it just frustrated me further.
In addition, I also took note that our party's plates were cleared before dessert except mine. It wasn't until well after dessert that the plate was cleared and no one asked if I would have liked the pasta leftover boxed up. All of this was occurred while I also observed members of the wait staff, including our waiter, eating and drinking at the service window in full view of the dining room guests.
I truly felt ignored as a customer for the better part of the evening. I had high hopes for the restaurant and while the food was good, the service soured my evening. I consciously chose not to say something during dinner as I didn't want to ruin my friend's birthday celebration.
I really hate being "that guy". The one who complains in a restaurant about the food or service, or whatever. But I feel like if I'm going to pay good money for a meal, that there are some basics that should be attended to.
Oh and the Caprese salad was nothing short of disappointing - $9 for a few small chunks of cheese, sun-dried tomato and basil pesto. I think I priced it at $1.13 a bite!
Sigh.
cheese louise! I would say something to management and never go back.
ReplyDeletejust a thought - was the server ignoring you because you're gay? or the server doesn't like larger persons (of which I am one)? in any case, that sux. :(
Well, considering our 14 of our 15 party members are gay, I don't think it was that. LOL I did email the owner last night so we'll see what happens.
DeleteWe have a lot of bad private owned restaurant experiences. ...and people wonder why we prefer chains sometimes. We always give a local restaurant SEVERAL chances. Maybe that server sucked. Maybe I didn't care for that particular dish. It's annoying.
ReplyDeleteI did email the owner, so we'll see what he says. We're willing the give the place another chance as the food was good (save for the Caprese salad which was not worth the $9). The owner's response (if I get one) will dictate if we give the place another shot.
DeleteJust going by what you wrote, it seems like the others of your party got fair to good service? I used to 'test' servers until I learned it didn't get me anything but frustrated. Once i started simply requesting what I wanted when it wasn't offered in a timely manor, my service improved. I'm also a very good customer - having been a server once (and that was enough).
ReplyDeleteYeah, everyone else got good service. And honestly, early on I would have tried to get his attention, but as soon as he was finished getting a drink order from one of our group, he was off without ever giving anyone a chance to get his attention. As the night went on, I realized if I did get his attention, my mouth was gonna get me in trouble and ruin the night for the rest of our party and the birthday boy.
DeleteI definitely would have said something.
ReplyDeleteIf a server DARE make me sit there drink-less, DRINK-LESS, there would have been a scene.
If it had just been Matt and I, I would have. But since we were with a group, I didn't want to make a scene in front of the group that would have distracted from the birthday guest. We've actually walked out of restaurants where we've waited longer than 5 minutes to even have our drink order taken.
DeleteJim and I have left for the same reason. We did that very recently at a Fridays. First we let the manager know, then we walked.
DeleteNot to put the rest of your party on the spot, but if I witnessed a friend of mine being blatantly ignored I would of come to their defense. Did anyone else notice the bad service?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, No. When stuff like this happens, especially with a large group, I tend to internalize everything and shut down. Is it the healthiest way to deal with it, probably not, it's how I manage.
DeleteMatt did notice and felt very bad for me. He had water and didn't really need to be waited on, but he also noticed how the waiter NEVER came by to simply ask how our food was of if there was anything else we needed.