I'm not prone to over-emphasis, but I firmly believe that my dinner at Woodland restaurant was the worst dining experience I've ever had.
It started when the server took our orders. She had an attitude, just in her movements and the way she spoke - there was no smile on her face, she didn't ask how our day was or give us any greeting. She walked up and said, verbatim, "what do you want?" I chose to ignore the attitude, and we placed our orders - a caesar salad and sauteed mushrooms for me, tortellini and a Shirley Temple for him with a side of garlic bread to share. They brought out the salad with bacon - I don't eat meat, my fault, I should have asked. However to describe the server's attitude as indignant would be an understatement. She started telling me about all the hassle it caused her to bring it back, and how I should know better than to assume it didn't have bacon, and couldn't I just pick it off? I've been in the industry for a few years and know that it doesn't matter - the customer is always right, she shouldn't have picked the fight.
The food was underwhelming. I was vomiting in the bathroom from my sauteed mushrooms which were not just poorly cooked but were clearly no longer fresh. The salad was bland, along with my boyfriend's meat sauce. When the server came back to check on how our food was tasting we were open with her. We told her that everything but the garlic bread was pretty awful. And then she walked away. She didn't ask how she could fix the problem (as any good server should have) nor did she sympathize or ask us to explain what was wrong. She didn't even acknowledge us. She just walked off to the next table without words nor utterances. When I eventually managed to call her back after what was literally five or ten minutes of her ignoring me I informed her that because the food left me throwing up in the bathroom I would like my meal to be taken off the bill. And that's where she lost it.
"What? Oh no no, I can't do that." She turned away to leave again. "Excuse me," I said, "It's made me sick." She looked at me like I was stupid "Well I can't just TAKE IT OFF, oh no, of course not. If you're not happy with your meal I can grab the manager or call the police." I can't invent that. She threatened to CALL THE POLICE because we were unhappy with the food. I asked to speak to the manager and she said she'd grab him in a few minutes as he was busy. We spent about twenty or twenty five minutes (my boyfriend checked his watch!) waiting for him while I was huddled into my booth, trying to make my stomachache go away. Eventually she just dropped off the bill (without a word, of course) and left. Naturally, we didn't tip. When she returned she saw the bill and counted out the bills and coins we'd left for her. "Wow, thanks," she said, sarcastically "don't feel like you have to come back here again." I'm not joking. She actually said that.
To their credit, our experience seemed to be an uncommon one. It seems like their pizza is pretty good, but unfortunately the server didn't exactly want us coming back. read more