Two-Nineteen Restaurant

October 3rd, 2014
Dear [redacted],The customer who made the complaint, who we will refer to as [redacted] per your privacy request, came in for dinner at our restaurant on August 30th, 2014. He and his wife were the first to arrive for his reservation, However, the rest of his guests...

sporadically arrived throughout the night. Some guests did not arrive until 30-45 minutes after the reservation time. Therefore, as proper service etiquette dictates, we did not take their orders until the entire party had arrived. This may be the “over an hour” time period before the appetizers were served to which [redacted] refers. On average, our appetizers take no more than 10-15 minutes to prepare, Had the entire party arrived all at once, their appetizer and salad choices would not have taken more than that time frame to be served.[redacted] also states that most of his entrees took at least another 30 minutes to be served after the appetizers were served. This is typical of any fine-dining restaurant. Clearly we would wait for the customers to finish their appetizers before serving their entrees. The entrees themselves would take at least 10-15 minutes to prepare, depending on the requested temperature of certain proteins, We are not a cheap establishment that resorts to simply microwaving all the meals we serve and we cook all our entrees to order. Depending on how long it takes the customers to finish their appetizers, which is something that is completely out of our control, this time period could easily be 30 minutes.
[redacted] claims “virtually all of the entrees had to be sent back...”, but the truth is only 2 dishes were sent back. We accept that one of the guest’s crab cakes were cold and another's steak was cooked incorrectly. We apologized for the mistakes and sent them new corrected entrees as soon as we could, We also offered to take $30 off their bill for the mistake.[redacted] claims that his daughter had arranged for a 10% discount from us. This is simply not true. It was never said or promised that a 10% discount would be given. Although it is unfortunate that [redacted] was dissatisfied with his meal at our restaurant, we reserve the right to handle discounts as we see fit. At the end of the day we are a business, and to completely dispute the entire charge of his bill is unreasonable. Negotiations with [redacted] may have gone smoother had he and his daughter not behaved inappropriately. They caused a scene by raising their voices to a point that everybody in the dining room could hear, They were both also very condescending and self-righteous in the way they spoke to the manager, perhaps because she is not a native of the U.S.A. [redacted] went so far as to claim he would write a letter to the mayor about such a petty matter and his daughter threatened us with a bad online review.
Aside from his unreasonable request for a full refund of his check, [redacted] treated his server unfairly by not leaving a tip. Although [redacted] was dissatisfied with the food, he declared that the “service was excellent”. Yet, he did not leave even a single dollar tip for his server, who should have received 20% of his over $600 tab. As we are sure you know, many servers rely on tips for their livelihood. Honestly, we are surprised [redacted] is causing such a commotion over $60 and we certainly feel that he is not entitled to a full refund. He is most likely just angry that he did not get his way and is lying about facts to support his story.Please feel free to contact us with any questions and we appreciate that you reached out to us for our side of the story.Best Regards,Two Nineteen Restaurant

Review: This past weekend I was in [redacted] to attend a family wedding. I asked my daughter, [redacted], to make a reservation for dinner for 13 family members who were in town for the wedding for Saturday night, August 30th. She made a reservation at the 219 Restaurant. 11 of us actually showed up. The eventual dining experience was probably the WORST I have ever experienced in my life! It took over an hour for them to serve us our salads and appetizers and then took another half hour at least for them to serve (most) of the entrees. Virtually all of the entrees had to be sent back because they were either cold or not prepared right. One of the guests didn't even receive her entre until about 15 minutes AFTER all the entrees that were returned had been re-served! IT was cold and had to be returned! My daughter was obviously very upset since she had chosen the restaurant and discussed the situation with the lady who indicated she was "the one in charge." After discussing the issue, the lady said she'd reduce the total bill by "10%." When I went to pay the bill, also registered a complaint and noticed she only gave a "5%" credit.Desired Settlement: The total bill I paid to include the credit came to $626.98. I want, as a minimum, the full "!0%" credit that was promised; however, in view of the experience I honestly think I am entitled to more than the approximate $60 this would come to and think I am entitled to a much more significant amount than that!

Business

Response:

October 3rd, 2014Dear [redacted],The customer who made the complaint, who we will refer to as [redacted] per your privacy request, came in for dinner at our restaurant on August 30th, 2014. He and his wife were the first to arrive for his reservation, However, the rest of his guests sporadically arrived throughout the night. Some guests did not arrive until 30-45 minutes after the reservation time. Therefore, as proper service etiquette dictates, we did not take their orders until the entire party had arrived. This may be the “over an hour” time period before the appetizers were served to which [redacted] refers. On average, our appetizers take no more than 10-15 minutes to prepare, Had the entire party arrived all at once, their appetizer and salad choices would not have taken more than that time frame to be served.[redacted] also states that most of his entrees took at least another 30 minutes to be served after the appetizers were served. This is typical of any fine-dining restaurant. Clearly we would wait for the customers to finish their appetizers before serving their entrees. The entrees themselves would take at least 10-15 minutes to prepare, depending on the requested temperature of certain proteins, We are not a cheap establishment that resorts to simply microwaving all the meals we serve and we cook all our entrees to order. Depending on how long it takes the customers to finish their appetizers, which is something that is completely out of our control, this time period could easily be 30 minutes.[redacted] claims “virtually all of the entrees had to be sent back...”, but the truth is only 2 dishes were sent back. We accept that one of the guest’s crab cakes were cold and another's steak was cooked incorrectly. We apologized for the mistakes and sent them new corrected entrees as soon as we could, We also offered to take $30 off their bill for the mistake.[redacted] claims that his daughter had arranged for a 10% discount from us. This is simply not true. It was never said or promised that a 10% discount would be given. Although it is unfortunate that [redacted] was dissatisfied with his meal at our restaurant, we reserve the right to handle discounts as we see fit. At the end of the day we are a business, and to completely dispute the entire charge of his bill is unreasonable. Negotiations with [redacted] may have gone smoother had he and his daughter not behaved inappropriately. They caused a scene by raising their voices to a point that everybody in the dining room could hear, They were both also very condescending and self-righteous in the way they spoke to the manager, perhaps because she is not a native of the U.S.A. [redacted] went so far as to claim he would write a letter to the mayor about such a petty matter and his daughter threatened us with a bad online review.Aside from his unreasonable request for a full refund of his check, [redacted] treated his server unfairly by not leaving a tip. Although [redacted] was dissatisfied with the food, he declared that the “service was excellent”. Yet, he did not leave even a single dollar tip for his server, who should have received 20% of his over $600 tab. As we are sure you know, many servers rely on tips for their livelihood. Honestly, we are surprised [redacted] is causing such a commotion over $60 and we certainly feel that he is not entitled to a full refund. He is most likely just angry that he did not get his way and is lying about facts to support his story.Please feel free to contact us with any questions and we appreciate that you reached out to us for our side of the story.Best Regards,Two Nineteen Restaurant