"When we arrived, we mentioned our earlier conversation, and they seated us fairly quickly, but reiterated that we would be outside. That was fine by us. Most of the table was shaded, but three spots were directly in the sun. We accepted that, understanding that we had chosen this option. After a while, we saw one of the waitresses moving an umbrella for another table, so we asked another waitress if we could do the same. She said she would check with the manager.
After 20 minutes without any response and no visit from our waitress, we saw another waitress move another umbrella for yet another table. There were a few empty tables with umbrellas, and we decided to move one closer to us. This apparently broke some unspoken rule at Manuel’s, as the waitstaff—especially the hostess—clearly expressed their dissatisfaction with our actions, although never directly to us. Our server took at least 20 minutes to come back to us each time, and it took over an hour for our food to arrive. The mimosas were not up to their usual standard and seemed to just be a mix of mango syrup at the bottom—left unstirred.
The food itself was decent but not up to the high standards we normally expect from Manuel’s. The Eggs Benedict, though hard to mess up, was also lacking. My friend’s shrimp and grits were just okay. The only time our waitress came back in less than 20 minutes was when she brought the checks, and she managed to get them all wrong. I understand that four separate checks for eight people can be complicated, but it felt like she was having an off day. While she was cordial enough, her attentiveness and timing left a lot to be desired.
As we were getting ready to leave and packing up, the hostess noticed that my three-year-old had picked a flower from one of the plants up front. You would have thought the world was ending—she practically yelled, “AND NOW THEY’RE PICKING MY FLOWERS!” to the other staff, then scolded us for letting our child pick flowers. No harm done, really. A three-year-old can't be expected to know when that's acceptable or not.
Overall, I left this visit to Manuel’s feeling very disappointed. Normally, it’s a wonderful experience that I rave about, but this time, the hostess’s attitude marred our time there, and the service didn’t help either. I hope the staff receives some guidance on how to better handle such situations because her lack of patience made us feel uncomfortable throughout our meal."
Red Pepper Hummus
