"The party of eight was seated, followed by the parties of five and six. Then, a large group of over 20 people arrived. The chef/owner came out to greet them; it turned out they were his wife’s family, the Shulers. They seated the entire group of 20 ahead of us, even though we had been waiting for an hour and a half by that time. I acknowledged it was his restaurant and he could manage it as he saw fit, but it felt unfair.
Next, the party of seven, who had arrived after us, was also seated. They were from out of town and had been waiting a long time, too. About 15 minutes later, I decided to check on our table. The hostess told me her ‘boss’ had instructed her to seat the party of seven, even though we should have been next as the next largest group. By then, we had been waiting for two hours. Despite our longer wait and our clearly hungry kids, they showed no empathy or explanation. I was baffled by the way we were treated and why we were continually overlooked.
As an elementary teacher, I can say we’re a nice family with well-behaved kids. It felt like we were being dismissed simply because we were out-of-town visitors, with the restaurant catering only to locals. That’s their choice, of course, but I’ve felt wronged ever since. We ultimately left and went to CJ’s instead. I’m sure the food at Pasqualino’s is good, but I couldn’t support a business that so clearly didn’t value our presence.
By the way, I rarely write reviews, especially negative ones, but my family’s experience was genuinely disappointing. I hope yours is better."
