Casey Lang
Our waiter, David, saved the day and really made the night an enjoyable and adventurous Omakase experience. He was friendly, accommodating, down to earth and very knowledgeable on the menu items and their history. BUT —-
We almost pivoted and left before we sat down - here’s why:
The girl at the hostess desk, who I don’t think was actually the hostess for the night (black dress vs. white uniform of the hostess that was up front most of the night), decided to give my wife a hard time about her sandals. “We have a dress code and we don’t allow flip flops” was what she told us, followed by an uncomfortable pause as we figured out what the heck to do about the feedback. First, see the screenshot with this post where ChatGPT defines flip flops vs. what my wife was wearing (with her long, Tei-an suitable dress for the night). Sandals aren’t flip flops, so, there’s that. We landed somewhere on “Next time please wear more suitable footwear”, but the fact that she chose to make an issue of this and cause uncomfortable and unnecessarily rude engagement with a customer was very off putting.
Feedback: Teach your staff to have some situational awareness, and understand your own policies. Look at the bigger picture - It was obvious we weren’t underdressed, and at least half the other women in the restaurant were wearing sandals.
Also a little surprised that Tei-An only engages with positive reviews and does not appear to give any attention to critical feedback.
3 Reviews