"Had an unfortunate experience here last night. I wanted to do something special for my 50th birthday, especially because I also have a 6 month old son, and it 's the first birthday of mine with him. I remember celebrating my Dad 's 80th birthday at Mistral and sitting at a beautiful table outside by the water. I wanted to recreate that experience for my family for my 50th. I called Mistral over a month in advance to ask if they could arrange for a table by the water. They said they don 't typically put tables out there anymore, but for my party of 10, they would accommodate provided the weather was cooperative. I called twice after that to confirm, and both times was told it would be no problem. Of course, upon arriving at the restaurant, there was no table set by the water. The table, which was in the outdoor patio, wasn 't even on the water side, and half the table couldn 't even see the water. I told the host that I had confirmed it three times, and he rudely replied that the table is in the patio and that IS outside, and they don 't sit people by the water. He finally agreed, reluctantly, to set a table by the water, but said that they don 't have heat lamps and don 't have lights, so we 'd be sitting in the cold and dark. Given the fact that my elderly parents were there, we decided to just stay where we were. Of course it was loud and cramped, and a few minutes later, the lights by the water went on! Clearly, the host lied to try to dissuade us from a table there. To me, the worst part of this experience was the rude host who didn 't even try to be apologetic or accommodating. Had he been respectful and honest, I would have been less annoyed. I also found out later that when my 76 year old mother brought in the cake and asked him to have it cut and served on plates, his response to her was we know how to do cake service. The rude treatment we received was uncalled for, and certainly put a damper on what should have been a pleasant and celebratory evening."
