never again. i celebrated my 30th birthday at craig's restaurant on thursday, february 5th, 2015. it was my first experience as well as my party of ten. i had made reservations a month in advance. frank, the host, called me two hours before my reservation to stress how imperative it was to be on time. i left from the south bay area 40 minutes prior to my reservation, which was set for 5:30 pm. while en route to the restaurant the traffic was awful. i called because i knew we were going to be late. my boyfriend notified frank we'd might be 10 minutes late. he replied with a snippy attitude, "well, i guess. you can't be any later than that."
we arrived at 6:15 pm. i spoke to frank and i apologized for being 30 minutes late. with disdain in his voice he replied, "no, your 45 minutes late. we can seat you but you have to be out by 7:30 pm." i obliged but the entire time we were there he kept checking our table to see how far along we were. my boyfriend observed another gentleman who appeared to be the manager roll his eyes at my party. we ordered our food at 6:30 pm and we were not served until 7:00 pm. before my mother was finished eating her cake frank sent the staffers to clear our table. overall, it was a horrible experience. i understand i was late but i would've respected frank more if he was honest and said you're late and we cannot accommodate your party. i would've went to sur or mastro's. instead, he acted like he did me a favor by seating my party but having a piss poor attitude from beginning to end. i'm sure we weren't the only party late but i observe how gracious the staff was when seating everyone else. our waitress was nice but frank and other staffers had this air about them as if we didn't belong there nor did they want to serve us. i guess our "urban vibe" was too much for them and we unfortunately fell into the stereotypical idea of "they're always late." either way, i will never eat at craig's. the food was mediocre at best. frank and his staffers behavior was flat out rude and unacceptable. to be honest, the only reason i went to craig's was because i usually go to mastro's but i wanted to try a new restaurant for my birthday. now i know how imperative it is to stick with what i like and know. i've been to several different mastro's and i've been late but they've always treated me with the upmost respect and courtesy.