My husband’s thing about eating out is the service. He is a huge proponent of good service musing that if he is bothering to leave the house (when, to be honest, he can cook better than most restaurants do) he wants to be treated well. This doesn’t mean being catered to like you are a baller at North 44 but more just like, friendly, nice and attentive people. He hates lines and the “we are too cool for reservations” policy and despises pretension in dining.
I could care less. Be pretentious, make me wait just as long as when I sit down, the food is wicked and the server is polite. I am not hard to please when it comes to service.
Which is why I felt the need to voice my complaint about not one but 2 Toronto dining establishments that I encountered this past weekend. Now, I need to reiterate- I am so easy to please like, if you smile and bring me a water, that’s cool by me.
What isn't cool?
Saturday night I had reservations at the Drake hotel for dinner to celebrate my friend’s birthday. Made the reservations weeks prior and although I had not been there for dinner in 7 years (which I don’t remember fondly at all), I was looking forward to a fun night out with my girls. When they called me to confirm the reservation, they noted in the voicemail that we would have a 2 hour sitting and then we could move to the bar. When we arrived, the rude man host informed us that we would actually be “kicked out” in 1 hour and 20 minutes because they were without as much space as usual due to some water damage.
Ok, so first of all who tells patrons that they will be kicked out? Those were his words- not like, “sorry ladies, but we MAY have to ask you to move at 10 due to blah blah blah”. Not like, sorry for this total inconvenience- just a flat “you will be kicked out”.
Drake hotel, you suck so bad. How incredibly annoying and frustrating is that? Why wouldn’t you call us to tell us this before we arrived? What if we had come special from out of the city to have dinner at your establishment and further to that, what makes you think that someone needs our space at 10? We obviously left and headed elsewhere (to Delux on Ossington where the service was phenomenal and the food was even better thanks to our adorbs waiter and some wicked steak frites).
Not that they probably care much and not that I go out all that much anyways but you could literally not pay me to ever go to the Drake again. My bad memories from years ago there were solidified and this plantain gives you a super thumbs down. Oh, and the foyer smelled like mold and the rude host had food in his teeth and bad breath.
Onward.
So Sunday morning I went to meet my cousin and her bro’s GF for some brunch at Hogtown Vegan. She is vegan and I personally don’t mind eating vegan. I actually usually really like it and find it tasty. Case in point. My Ranchero breakfast was awesome! Sure, my tofu eggs were weird and there was about 4000 too many tasteless black beans on my plate- but since my expectations are usually not sky high, I was impressed. Then, the bill came. Then it was 15 minutes later and we were still sitting there as the waitress walked by looking at all of us holding our cards ready to pay and leave. Then it was 20 minutes later and we asked on of the other waitresses if perhaps we were meant to pay up at the counter to which she replied “no- you just sit here and wait until she has some time to come take your cards- we are not in any rush here so she will be around when she gets to it”. OR REALLY? Sorry my fair vegan but do you not like money? Don’t feel like getting paid?? The staff may not have been in a rush but a) we were and b) I hardly consider waiting for 20 minutes to pay a bill making her “rush” so thanks for the attitude missy.
We finally did go up to pay at the counter where the waitress told us (without making eye contact or smiling) that we could not pay separately- all of the money had to go on one card. Ok 1999. You can have your system back now. Who does that? Why can’t I put the desired amount on one card and share it with another?
The waitress literally rolled her eyes at us about 400 times and all I can deduce from this is that she was probably smelled that we were not all true vegans and got vegan mad on our asses. Otherwise, I don’t get it.
So dear you- it is pretty simple to just be a polite person and smile. My suggestion would be that if you cant muster that kind of normal human engagement, don’t go into customer service and save us all the eye rolls and headache.
Thanks,
J
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