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| - First of all, this has nothing to do with Tapino's food or service. It may be great. In fact, that's what we were hoping.
Secondly, we are big fans of what Chef Porter is trying to do. We have great respect for them advocating the locavore movement & using local farms & vendors. We're huge fans of local farmers markets & buy all our produce there. We're also huge fans of local independent restaurants & business and patronize them as much as possible.
So the birthday fail begins...
One more thing. Birthdays in my family are a big deal. Food is a big deal. We all grew up working in my dad's restaurant (the Glass Door) & food is hugely important to us. For birthdays, we do a fancy dinner & a family dinner. This was a family dinner. Lots of thought goes into choosing the place for each occasion. This was also my wife's birthday. Kind of a big deal for me.
For family dinner, we all go so we need a place that isn't too hard on the budget & that suits different dietary needs (some vegetarians, some food allergies). Looked at a ton of places & figured that we should try Tapino as they had a great food/drink special & we were into what they are doing. Figured it would be a gateway meal to us coming back a great deal more.
Ok, very last thing, kids... So we brought our kids. We've brought our kids out to eat since they were born & they know & appreciate good food. They've been places like Sea Saw, Nobu, Bouchon, etc. They know how to behave & are always expected to behave.
So to the story...
Called Tapino yesterday & spoke to the manager & asked if they could take a party of 12 for happy hour. She said they normally don't take reservations for happy hour but would be ready for us. Asked if they had 2 high chairs for the kids. She said no but they had low chairs & low tables on the patio that would work great. So we're in good shape, right?
Well today, I walk in myself (without kids) & say that we are here for the party of 12 w/kids. The hostess said no kids allowed in bar nor on patio (as they allow smoking on the patio) & they don't serve happy hour in the restaurant & just lets it sit at that. Pretty weird. Was almost as if they'd were ready for us.
Ok, so if you don't want kids in your place...at least tell us. I dragged 12 people out & set their expectations & was excited to have the perfect place to celebrate my wife's birthday. Then we get there & you say sorry, nope?
Also, there wasn't a single person in the restaurant at this time. It was about 5:45. Not one.
I'm like in shock so I tell her I spoke with someone yesterday & she understood our situation & that we were coming in. She said that she was right there when I spoke with her manager & they don't allow kids in the bar or on the patio & they don't do happy hour in the resturant. Ok, I get it. Probably heard this 7 times when I was there.
Might as well have said go away, leave, we don't want you here.
She eventually said that the manager was there & she'd have her come talk with me.
During the wait, I asked about last night's locavore dinner & told her we were excited to be there as we'd been following them on Chowhound & the Phoenix Hound Gathering group. Also told her I'd been talking with one of the farmers that was in for the previous night's event. Basically I let her know we know what they did & were into it. Might have factored in a bit? Nope.
Eventually, the manager came out & they chatted.
The manager then came over & changed the story & said we could sit in the bar at a couple of benches but kept reiterating that the kids couldn't make any noise nor move around at all. Ok, fine. First of all, we expect the kids to behave. If she'd left it with one mention, maybe we'd have just sat down. But with repeated mentions of no noise, no moving around, it was obvious they didn't want us there. I told her I felt that way & she said that wasn't the case but it rang quite hollow.
I went outside to talk with the family & figured we'd probably go elsewhere as we really weren't wanted. Went in to tell the hostess (manager was nowhere around) & got a perfunctory sorry.
Just seems like such a customer service failure. If they'd wanted us there, they could have refrained from making us feel unwelcome. Or if they were uncomfortable with kids being in the bar or on the patio, they could have easily set us up in the empty restaurant & offered us the same food/drink.
Or they could have told us their mantra "no kids in the bar or on the patio, no happy hour in the restaurant" on the phone.
Maybe it was a bad situation for them but if it were me, I would have tried a little bit harder to find a solution that wouldn't have so alienated us.
I don't know. I'm epxecting to see Chef Porter at OTFM & am friends with people who work with him & maybe we'll come back (sans kids of course) but right now it sure doesn't feel like it & it's a major bummer as Tapino seems like a place that is doing excactly what we love & we could have been huge fans.
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