Chris Carr
This "meh" experience began when I walked in the door, yesterday. The host was seating another party, and while I was waiting for him to return to the host station, I watched a group of 4 men enter in the side door and go sit in the main dining room at the only table for 7 that was open. I was hyper aware because I was part of a party of seven. When the host returned, he looked out at the dining room and said he could offer me a high top table at the back by the bar, or else it would be an hour wait. I pointed out that the party of four had just gone and sat down, and that I was here first. He looked at me blankly and repeated that he had a high top available. We took the high top, which we all came to regret.
The high top table was by a huge window with glaring diffused sunlight streaming in. Those of us facing the window tried to use our menus to shade us so we could see the rest of our group. It didnt work, was painful, and we all ended up with headaches.
But wait, there's more! The server took our order, which we placed as soon as we got our drinks because we know how slow the kitchen is at apparently all Mellow Mushroom locations. I ordered a side salad that arrived first, and we were given some plates and 5 napkins for a table of 7 people, but no silverware. 15 minutes later, I still had no silverware. I could see silverware rolled up behind the bar, and there was a dishwasher rack of silverware on the table behind us, that, in addition to adding to the classy ambience, was a constant reminder of what we didn't have. When the entrees began arriving, a food runner brought a Cobb salad for another of our party. I looked her right in the eyes and said, "We need silverware." She looked at me blankly, because apparently she got the same training as the host, and then walked away without saying a word! After another 10 minutes of not being able to flag anyone down, our server returned and, to her credit, brought silverware very quickly at that point.
But wait, there's more! The pizzas arrived, but no one had ordered the Merry Prankster that a different food runner was holding along with a Karma. It should have been 2 Kosmic Karmas, instead. Before I could say I'd just eat that instead (because, you'll recall they're slow in the kitchen at MMs), she spirited it away.
Things that could have happened at that point, but didn't include: the runner could have informed the kitchen of the error, or informed our server, but she did not. Perhaps they were all distracteded and eating a Merry Prankster pizza in the back. I wouldn't know, I never saw them again. I guess the prank was on me. Note to staff, if you bring the food, you aren't done until you've brought silverware and you've let someone now when the order wasn't right!
Also, our server could have stopped by to see if our order was complete, or how our food was. She did not. Finally, after more than 10 minutes, I got up and found her. She didn't know about the lack of a Kosmic Karma. She did apologize and she came back 5 minutes later to let me know it was being made. It did finally come, long after we were boxing our leftovers and asking for the check, and still squinting into the core of the sun. To her credit, she brought a box along with it, and she easily split our check 6 ways without batting an eye. She was very nice, but I still probably over-tipped at 22 percent given all the other issues.
Now, you might wonder if a manager would come apologize, or if one Kosmic Karma would be comped off the bill. The answer is no. And, we were on the way home from a weekend youth event, with hours left to drive, so I just didn't have the wherewithal to ask for the manager myself, or wait any longer. As we left, we saw the party of 4 who had taken the table for 7, also getting up to leave. I hope they had a better experience.
Even after a bad experience last year, we stopped here because they can make a good gluten-free pizza without cross-contamination of wheat. And, because Chik-fil-A is closed on Sundays.
I guess the only Karma we had was bad karma.
Accommodating Gluten-Free