I can honestly say that I have never left a review for a restaurant before but was so moved by my experience at the CAH that I felt that it was my obligation to do so.
Some very dear friends of ours had recommended the Craft Ale House and raved about the food and spirits there. Well, my 36th birthday snuck up on us and the opportunity presented itself to try the place out. Many of our other friends are huge beer affectionados as well, so we gathered up the troops and headed to CAH, all told there were 8 of us.
We did some research here on CAH prior to going, called ahead to get the scoop on seating and such and overall felt we did our due diligence in researching the place. Some of the reviews were less than glowing and others were packed full of superlatives. There were enough good reviews that the place deserved a look. When we called we were told that the dinner crowd died down around 8:30pm and that would be a better time to come if we wanted to get a seat and beat the rush. So, we took their advice and showed up at around 8:45pm.
Unfortunately for us, there were no tables available when we arrived. The people who were in the tables were not all dining, some were just sitting there drinking. Our friends who arrived before us were not allowed to wait at the bar area, which is directly adjacent to the dining area, as they were told that was a dining area and not a waiting area. This was a moot point in my opinion as there were no diners dining there and none in queue. This was very rude of the hostess to even say this to them, but.. this was the kind of establishment we found CAH to be.
Upon our arrival, we were treated equally as rude. We were told that our party of 8 was too large to be seated together(they only seat parties up to 6). We were told that when and if we were seated, we would not be seated near one another. They did offer picnic table seating outside, but for some odd reason the outdoor menu consisted of pizza, salad and hummus, and these were the only things offered on the outdoor menu. This was communicated to us in a rather blunt, tactless and crass fashion, almost as if they didn't need or weren't interested in anymore business that night. The hostess, and pardon my bluntness and lack of tact, was a bitch.
I have never been met nor have I ever seen other diners met with such hostility, indifference and general overall disinterest. I took the time to observe how the other diners were being treated by this woman and it was appalling. I was surprised that some of them didn't just get up and leave, but they apparently are more tolerant to that type of behavior. I am typically a very easy going and understanding person, but that type of behavior is inexcusable, especially in the restaurant business.
I also observed the rest of the staff and on the whole I couldn't say that the rest of them were as bad as the hostess. They mainly seemed to consist of young kids with some manners, although one actually pushed my wife out of the way, albeit gently, on her way outside to grab a smoke. I kind of had to laugh at that given the absurdity of it. Honestly, the whole scene was little surreal. I have never been in any establishment where the staff was so ill prepared at dealing with the public in a way that is befitting of that type of establishment.
We stayed for the obligatory beer, but did not stay for dinner and instead took our business to The Sly Fox in Royersford. I think that it is sad that the CAH lost out on business due to staff issues. The most important part of any dining experience, outside of the food itself, is the service and the CAH service was one of the worst that I have ever experienced. All told this cost the CAH close to $600 in business, which was our final bill at The Sly Fox.
Interestingly enough, I called the CAH this afternoon to inquire about who the hostess was so I could name her by name in this review. However, I was stonewalled and, not surprisingly, treated very crassly and rudely. And I quote, their response to my inquiry was " What do you need?", "What do you want?", and the ever popular "That's how most restaurants work..." in response to our issues with their demeanor towards us. Quite honestly, I have a hard time believing that they are even in business with employees like that. One thing I am quite certain of and do believe is that they won't be in business for long if they don't clean up their act. How many thousands of dollars a year can you let walk out the door? Customers are the life blood of any business and at the CAH they treated us as though they didn't need or want our business. Good luck with your dining experience if you still choose to frequent this place and, if you do and find the service less than adequate, let the manager know that you read something on the internet to that effect. Maybe they'll care then. Somehow I doubt it. Check out Scott B's review below, his is shorter and on point as far as the crappy service. read more