koemc133 | Nov. 7, 2012

DO NOT EAT HERE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE A GILT VOUCHER.

First off, the service is slow. There's only one lady working as hostess, waitress, and bus boy for the entire restaurant. She was nice enough, so we didn't mind waiting for the food, or having incorrect food delivered to our table that was meant for others. But here's where the problem was....

It started with finding a rock in one of the pasta entrees about a third of the way in. Luckily, my fiancee didn't break a tooth when she bit it. When we alerted the waitress, there was no offer to make something else, or to remedy the situation. There was not even a sorry. The waitress brought it back to the chef, and the waitress said the chef didn't care to remedy our situation because we were using a Gilt voucher and were getting more than what we paid already. Isn't that the point of buying a Gilt Voucher, Groupon, Livingsocial, etc.? It's so we can try out a new place at a discount, and want to come back again.

We skipped dessert and just asked for the check to get out of the restaurant. The restaurant charged us tax, which is fine, but charged us tax on the pasta with a rock in it. We asked the waitress why we're paying tax on the pasta with a rock, as we felt it was ridiculous for us to pay it. The $1.80 isn't such a big deal, but it was more the principle of paying for food that was unsafe to eat. The waitress was trying to be nice, but clearly had no authority to do anything. After it was clear that she wasn't going to do anything, the chef came outside to drop off food to someone else's table and when the waitress told him we'd like to speak with him, he said "Pay the tax and GET OUT!" and walked away. Other customers next to us were there with Gilt City vouchers as well and were shocked, and one of the customers stopped him to ask how he could handle the situation that way (thank you whoever you are), as I was completely shocked. The chef went on a argumentative diatribe with the gentleman about how he's a small business and customers like us who complain about little things are not welcome at his restaurant and should get out. Given that this is a rock in the food, and potentially thousands of dollars of dental work, it was not a "little thing". We understand that things happen, but if you're a restauranteur that cares about your business, don't you think you should handle this type of situation better?

We walked out while the two continued to argue, and the other 4 tables in this small restaurant were uncomfortable and shaken by the head chef lashing out at us. I don't know if Chef Rodriguez is completely in the red at his restaurant, or if he had some sort of traumatic experience as a child, but the whole debacle was handled unprofessionally.

I urge you to return your Gilt voucher and avoid this restaurant at all costs. It ruined our dining experience and all of those in the restaurant.