We had heard very good things about this local Cos Cob restaurant with it's good food and pub-like, rustic atmosphere, but our first time dining there may be our last. We are a couple in our 50s, and with all of our not-so-pleasant dining experiences, this one ranks among the worst. It wasn't the food, or the waitstaff, or the hostess, or the boisterous and packed atmosphere--it was the maitre d' (Nadim (sp?) who spoiled the entire dining experience for us. We had a 7:45 dinner reservation, arrived on time, and then proceeded to wait at the bar for well over an hour for a table!! Clearly the restaurant was overbooked for a Saturday evening, and as we discovered from talking to Nadim the maitre d', his policy of seating people who arrive 20 or 30 minutes past their reservation time at the next available table (or holding a table for them for that period of time) thus pushing back the rest of us who do arrive on time, is an unfair and unreasonable protocol. At some point after about 45 minutes, the hostess informed us that they were setting up a table for us only to be left hanging at the bar with no follow-up or explanation as to why the table was given to someone else! Obviously we complained to the maitre d' several times, but did so in a very civil manner. His responses were brusque and very rude, as if he couldn't care less about the situation. And to add insult-to-injury, the maitre d', feeling put upon, asked us to leave after we waited over an hour, stating that he had no table for us!! Fortunately the hostess intervened and said that a table was finally available, and so starving at this point, we took the table. The meal was generally very good, but my special entree, the veal chop, was not good--not much meat on the bone, and it was smothered in a very rich sauce. Naturally at the end of the meal, we wanted some compensation for our ridiculously long wait, asked the maitre d' (Nadim) to come to our table, but he did not! Instead, he did everything he could to avoid us and fled to the kitchen! A restaurant of this caliber should have a maitre d' that treats his customers with respect, but Nadim has a very serious attitude problem. I have seen on-line reviews where it is mentioned that the maitre d' is rude, and unfortunately we experienced this ourselves as well. It is time for the management to replace this man. There is no excuse for his behavior.
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