Oh, Yelp, how I hate thee.

Came across this review after searching a restaurant that someone referred me to. I use Yelp to see what people say about restaurants, but the things that reviewers write are just so, for a lack of better words, stupid. Just thought I'd copy and paste this review...and give the restaurant some defense even though I've never even been there. The way people write reviews only goes to explain who they are and not too much about what actually matters. When reading keep in mind that the person hardly talks about the food or drinks, and only the service. While service is an important component for any dining experience, they call it "going out to eat" because you're doing just that-- going out to eat. We don't say "I'm going out to service", do we? My comments in bold =]:


The service and food here are worlds apart. The food is delicious. I ordered the crab cakes Benedict and they were fantastic. The potatoes and fruit served with them were unimaginative, yet tasty.

The service was odd. Our waiter was very nice. It seemed he had tables both inside and out, so I would recommend that to expedite service, the person handling the patio only handle the patio.

The manager, (I think she called herself the floor manager) provided some of the worst service I've seen in quite some time. Here's how our morning went.
9:50ish: first of the 6 shows up and seats herself on the patio. The restaurant doesn't open till 10, yet 3 other patio tables had already seated themselves. NEVER, ever, should a diner seat themselves. Explanation to follow.
9:58-10:05: three others show up and we seat ourselves with our friend. We're happy she's claimed a nice patio table for us. Monkey see, monkey do? Apparently so.
10:05: man in a beige button down comes out and asks if we are Hart. We say no. He says, ok, I think they have a reservation but let me figure things out.
10:08: menus are brought out and mimosas are ordered. Who has the time to record the time of all this shit?
10:35: Manager lady comes out. Tells us she is the floor manager, and we'll probably need to move since there's a reservation. People always seat themselves and it causes a problem all the time. (Her words). Because it does, Asswipe! Whether this restaurant or another, it does.
Our response? Have you ever thought about bringing in your host 30 minutes early to organize seating? Oh shut the fuck up. Have YOU ever worked in a restaurant?Or having the little "reserved" cards on the table right when the sugar packets are set out? Do YOU want to provide the "reserved" signs at every restaurant you dine at so that they can tell you that they're reserved? When you ASSume, you make an ass out of yourself.Or just locking the patio gate so patrons can't get in? Yeah, so that the next guest can complain that there isn't seating for before the restaurant opens? Complaint after complaint.
Her response: this never happens. I've been here 4 (omigod 4 months, you're such a veteran) months and haven't seen this. Plus it's restaurant week and we've been really busy! Restaurant Week is a great opportunity for people to dine on a budget. HOWEVER, since it is restaurant week restaurants are overbooked and overworked. Yes, it comes with the job, but the quality of just about everything goes down BECAUSE of the volume of customers and food they are putting out. Want quality service and food? Consider spending what it's actually worth, duh.

You're a restaurant manager. I would think you'd love to be busy. I certainly wouldn't think you'd complain about it to a table full of people anxious to spend money at your restaurant!

In the end, the "reservation" opted to eat indoors, away from the heat, and at 10:45AM, a full 45 minutes after opening, we were served our first mimosas. If a reservation requests to sit outside, they have priority of the table ESPECIALLY since you sat yourself. It's obvious that you didn't have a reservation requesting for outside, so shut up.

The manager woman never apologized and I actually thought the server was quite friendly and rather smart to just stay out of the whole mess. He comp'ed the beverages without a word and did a very nice job. Comping your drinks was an apology, so move on with your life.
The one woman (who we actually saw leaving less than 10 minutes after telling us we could stay on the patio) really set a bad taste for the restaurant.

I was hoping for a fantastic experience since I'd heard such great things, but it was mediocre at best.