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I went to Muramoto for my birthday dinner, and called a day in advance to reserve a table for a large group of people. Two people joined our group at the last second, but I didn't think it would be a major problem to add a chair on either end of the table. I approached our server and apologized for the inconvenience, but asked if we could get two more chairs.
I was met with a brisk, "We don't really have any more chairs." It should be noted that without moving my head, I could see at least three vacant chairs and one or two lining the wall. Not everyone had arrived yet, however, so I didn't raise the issue again until they did. The server begrudgingly made another place setting before barking, "Just sit down here, because if you move and the order gets screwed up, it's going to take me, like, fifteen minutes to fix."
This is also around the time that two of my guests mentioned that something was dripping on them. Indeed, the ceiling was dripping water. When they mentioned it to the server, he said, "Oh, yeah. The air conditioning's over you and it leaks a bit. I was going to recommend you leave that chair vacant, but since you're already short on seats now..."
I was taken aback, partially because of his rude tone, and partially because I couldn't understand how someone would be so preternaturally stupid as to 1) put a chair under a leaking air conditioner and 2) expect that all seats in the reservation wouldn't be filled.
One of my guests did not receive her soda for forty minutes, and another guest did not receive one of her plates of sushi until just before we were about ready to leave.
The two stars above are for the chef, to whom I give my compliments. Everyone was thrilled with their appetizers and the sushi itself was very well-prepared. Compliments to the bar, as well. I had a delicious drink called, "Keep Calm and Carry On." I would suggest the servers at this establishment take the drink's name as a piece of advice.
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