Greenhouse Restaurant Review
We took a party of twenty-two to this restaurant in the hopes that we would be greeted with friendly service and excellent food.
We were assigned one server who was gasping for breadth with every turn. Every time she entered the room she was carrying a different plate of food. She was constantly playing catch up with filling drinks, bussing tables and serving all at the same time. We arrived at 4:15, our party was ready to order at 4:35, the first scrap of food arrived at 5:15.
While she definitely gave it her best effort, we were ultimately unhappy with the way the meal took place ?even though we commended our server on her effort.
Upon discussing our concerns with the manager on duty we were told:
1. ?You made your reservation yesterday?. This is interesting since I would think if a restaurant couldn?t accommodate a party of twenty they should tell the customer that so they could find a different place.
2. ?It is the policy of the restaurant to only assign one server to a party of twenty people?. If this is the policy one would hope there is a caveat in case the server can?t keep up with the demand.
3. ?If you wanted more service you should ask for it?. Wow. I never knew the onus was on the customer to request additional servers. One would think the manager has the responsibility to assess how servers are handling the demand. I didn?t even know it was an option to request more servers! If I did, I would have.
4. While discussing the problem with the manager a server who had no connection to our problem or knowledge of our concerns, ADAM, chimed in with, ?she was helping to create your orders.? Not sure why other people unconcerned about our issues feel the need to contribute to things which they know nothing about.
5. There were other people in the restaurant and I was trying to keep up with the demand. Now, I would buy that argument if I didn?t take the time to walk around the restaurant and count the patrons. TEN. Yes, TEN. Ten people were in the restaurant when were there ? on a Monday early evening. That would be about how many you?d expect. However, to be told that a party of twenty-two was not more important OR EVEN as important as ten other people in the restaurant does not make much sense to me. While those groups may have dropped around fifty dollars each ? perhaps they should have considered that people dropping half a grand deserve more attention. Just a thought.
Some thing that were not addressed by the manager:
1. How can we make this up to you? I would think if someone dropped nearly half a grand on a meal the management would make an effort to ensure the customers were leaving content with service.
2. This is my fault. Perhaps the old adage the customer is always right is out of date ? but I am certainly not at fault for the bad service. It is the restaurant, the server or the management (or all three).
3. I am sorry. I did hear a lot of ?I am sorry you feel that way. ? I did also hear, ?I am sorry you had a bad experience.? However, there was never any genuine apology for bad service. There was also never accountability on the part of the manager.
The bottom line was that the best thing about the meal was the $2.99 sweet potato fries. The food was mediocre at best, the service adequate, and the manager?s response to legitimate concerns UNACCEPTABLE and dismissive. I will not be returning unless post my conversations with owner, the concerns advanced are addressed.
Cons: Manager
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