let customers leave with half full restaurant. my family and i went to laurienzo's last night at around 7pm. when we arrived, we noticed that the restaurant was about half full. the outdoor seating area had 3 tables open (all four tops) and numerous open tables inside, including two 6 tops. we were greeted by the hostess and advised that we had four people in our party. the hostess then informed us that it was going to be a 20-25 minute wait. i then questioned all of the open tables. the hostess responded that they are not seating anyone to allow for the servers to catch up from the dinner service. i advised that it was only 7pm and the dinner service was not over and she reiterated that it was still going to be 20-25 minutes. i then advised that was a very difficult excuse to accept and that i would have to take my business elsewhere and she stated that i should do what i have to do and let me walk out the door.
what??? i have never seen a restaurant allow customers to walk out the door, prior to being seating, with a half full restaurant. if this is how this restaurant does business they will not be successful for very long. being a former chef, i know a great deal about the ins and outs of running a restaurant. there are many issues that arise during a dinner service. i can accept that. just being up front with the customer is important. tell me you are behind and that thefoodis food/service is slow. tell me that you just got slammed, your understaffed, your chef just walked out. i'm ok with that, just be honest. just offer us a seat and take our drink order and let us know things are running slow. telling me that you are allowing your servers to catch up from dinner service is either complete b.s or a major issue in management. either way it is unacceptable. my family eats out quite frequently in mt. airy and laurienzo's has lost a potential long term customer for life.
in the end, my family drove a mile down the road, saw the mt. airy inn and decided to give it a try. to our surprise they also have a brick oven. wow, what a correct decision. the inside of the restaurant was inviting and the service was even more so. while thefoodwas a little simpler than what was described by the menu of laurienzo's it was excellently executed. they also have one of the best beer lists i have seen in years!