"When we arrived for our reservation, we were informed of this policy. We asked if we could still sit at the bar with our son, but the hostess went to ask the bartender for clarification. The response we received was surprising. The bartender refused our request, explaining that since our son wouldn’t be drinking alcohol, he wouldn’t make a sufficient tip and that wasting a seat on him was not worth it.
While I understand the economic reasoning behind this decision, given my background as the child of a restaurant manager and my years of experience waiting tables and bartending, I still found it troubling. It made me wonder how the bartender could decide our drinking habits or how much we might tip. This approach doesn’t reflect well on the business, and we weren’t provided with any alternative options.
I genuinely hope you can improve your reservation system and better train your staff on how to treat customers. I attempted to resolve this issue by emailing the restaurant before sharing my experience on social media, but after five days of no response, I felt compelled to share my thoughts publicly.
On a positive note, we ended up having a fantastic meal at City Park Grill, where the service was exemplary. We left a 30% tip on our bill, which included drinks, appetizers, meals, and desserts."
