Looking for a meal on a Friday night we decided to head down to Union. Its a cute spot just north of Queen on Ossington.
The place is packed full of pretty people. We squeeze in through the door. The atmosphere is warm and comfortable, the sounds of eating float through the air. In the back, the open kitchen affords a view of the Chef banging out plates.
There are four of us and we stand awkwardly by the door waiting for a greeting that never comes. It becomes quite clear that we are not a priority.
The host(?) slides along the wall and addresses one of our party in hushed tones. For the rest of us left out of the conversation, there is more awkward standing around. It turns out that they are fully booked for the evening but, there is a chance, a small chance, that one of the tables will be a no show. If, we could find room at the bar, we would be welcome to try our luck and wait it out.
We step over to the bar, which is literally right next to the door. The bartender, only feet from us, a whirlwind of activity continues to ignore us as she had been doing since we arived. We are still clearly not a priority.
When drinks arrive they do the trick and mellow the mood a bit. Our thoughts turn to food. We could stay at the bar, but it is small and tough to sit at, so a table is our only real choice. Maybe apps at the bar then head else where? I ask the bartender about other decent places along Ossington. Any favorites? Any places worth eating at?
Her answer: ‘Not really.’
One of us gets evicted from their bar stool because a reso needs the seat.
We decide its time to leave, mostly because its not fun anymore.
After paying the bill, the bartender copped a whole bunch of attitude over the amount of the tip (23%), rolled her eyes at us and turned her back on us without a thank you or goodbye.
There are several things wrong with this picture. It can happen in any restaurant, but it happened to us at Union. (Forgive me for getting a little preachy here.)
First off, we are customers, we want to pay to take in the experience at Union. While I understand that being busy makes life a little more complicated and stressful in a restaurant environment, its far better then being slow. We were seen and treated as an annoyance from the moment we walked in the door. No one greeted us, no one acknowledge we were there, and we were left waiting for a good 10 min before anything happened. I can’t think of a more damning environment in a restaurant then one that starts the dining experience off by alienating their clients- welcoming and warm wins every time.
I get it, the place is busy, its trendy and its hot right now. But it may not always be that way. It seems to make sense that, as a restaurant owner, if I can’t serve a client that day, I should do what I can to make sure that they come back so I can serve them again another time. To do this is pretty much free:
“Hey guys, we’re really busy, and by the looks of it, there probably won’t be a table. We would love to have you back, but in the mean time, why not check out place x, y, z. They have great food and you can tell them we sent you…”
No biggie, a few sentences and away we go, still hungry, but dazzled over the service, the opposite of pissed off, and craving the opportunity to try the food…
Instead, we head out into the night hungry and pissed off.