"Upon further investigation, we discovered that she had texted the wrong number! Meanwhile, part of our group was right by the hostess stand and never heard our names called. We asked to speak with the manager, who told us that the hostess did not need to call our names out loud, as they were supposed to notify us via text. We thought this would solve the issue, but in reality, we sat at our table for over 45 minutes before a cook finally arrived at our grill.
During that time, we noticed a cook preparing takeout orders and helping another customer, while their bare hands touched the food—quite unsanitary for inserting sauce! Our waitress kept assuring us that our cook would be out shortly, leaving us completely confused. It was an awful, disappointing way to treat guests! We thought about leaving, but it was too late at that point. We had traveled 30 minutes to get there, and it was our daughter's birthday, which is why we had chosen this restaurant.
After our discussion with the manager, we considered going to another restaurant because we didn't want to wait another 35 minutes; we just wanted to inform the manager about our experience. Fortunately, the chef was a saving grace; he was friendly and prepared a delicious meal for us. However, the management really needs to reassess how they handle situations like ours. If they have a party that feels mistreated, they should address it properly.
I know that restaurants struggle to find good help, but there’s no excuse for not communicating with guests who’ve had a negative experience. Additionally, two of our chairs were sticky, and the cook used his spatula to turn on the hood vent switch, which was very dirty, and then continued to cook with that same spatula."
