I decided to take everyone out for a family dinner to celebrate Liz turning 17. We went to the Boathouse right on the river- Liz chose as she had never been there before. That and the fact that PF Chang's had an hour + wait.
We drove down and were parked by the valet- mandatory on weekends, apparently, and headed inside.
We were seated in the high- traffic area just outside the kitchen, beside the steps, and I should have requested a different table as soon as I saw it. We sat down, drinks arrived and the waitress took our order, and that was the last we saw of her till our dinners arrived. Another server saw our drinks were empty and reported this to her, but she did not seem too bothered.
Did I mention the Boathouse is pricey and usually has amazing service? I was stunned by the server we had.
The high traffic zone was a little like trying to have fine dining in the middle of Grand Central Station. The food was, as always, delicious, but the servers, well, not a good showing, quite frankly. I said nothing about the first server who bumped my chair, accidents happen, but the second one actually moved me, without so much as a "sorry". When the server asked how things were, I told her- in no uncertain terms- in a tone and volume that got her attention...and that of the manager.
They took off my dinner from the bill, and we boxed our leftovers. I had planned on doing a Birthday dessert, but was not willing to stay. I only tipped 10%- the server was poor and didn't deserve 20%.
We go outside to get the cars and Liz takes off in the Land Rover, which arrives right away. We wait and after 10 other couples got their cars before us, even though we were the first outside, the valet came back to ask what kind of car we had, as it was mis-marked on the ticket...seriously. The valet lost my car.
Talk about bad karma on an evening.
I don't see going back to the Boathouse. The food may be excellent, but at that price, the service needs to be as well. They clearly missed the mark on what was meant to be a happy occasion.
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