some of the worst service in downtown memphis. if asked to comment on the food only, i would say it's consistently good to great. however, a deliciousdinneris no price to pay for rude/nonexistent service and blatant discrimination.
mcewan's has never offered a family amosphere, per se, in that they don't cater to children and they do not offer a chldren's menu. with this i am perfectly content. the vast majority of restaurants that we frequent share the very same atmosphere. in fact, it's probably safe to say that i like few restaurants that do offer a children's menu, and we have an unspoken family rule that i won't eat anywhere that has commercials. that being said, we were not wandering tourists right off the street with a baby in tow oblivious to the inappropriateness of this dining selection for our family of three. quite the opposite really. my husband and i knew exactly what we wanted for dinner, made a reservation, and headed to mcewans.
from the moment we walked in the door the staff looked at us like we were crazy to think it appropriate to bring a one year old with us. we got seated in the back of the restaurant near the service station where waiters prepare drinks, etc. okay by me usually, although i'm certain at this point that it was no coincidence that we were seated as far away from the rest of the dining room as possible and at the closest table to the kitchen, of course.
our waiter asked if i wanted any wine before i even sat all the way down. since she was exasperated with me for not having yet made a decision she didn't come back for at least ten minutes. at least. we were about to leave when she finally took ourdinnerorder. i didn't feel like wine by that time because i was fuming, but what difference did it make becasue she didn't ask anyway. she didn't even ask if we would like something other than water. i told her mydinnerselection and wished nothing more to do with her.
our waiter stared at our baby. other waiters stared at our baby. the girl who brought us our bread rolled her eyes and sighed! our child was not acting up and my husband was holding her - not running around or screaming like i see other kids doing when we go out. i watched our waiter service every other table around us (do not make any mistake, she was not too busy or over burdened, it was a week night and not busy at all). i don't think she even came to see us about our food again until she came to get our plates. she offered once to bring a flashlight when we appeared to be looking for something my child had dropped, but this was more of an effort on her part at highlighting what a burden it is to have your customer bring children to dinner.
after everyone else around us got bills, dessert, and goodbyes, she finally came to get our remaining dishes. my husband had been sitting with a credit card in his hand for quite some time, but she looked at him and told him to hold on to it because she would be right back. she must have realized his frustration when he very close to threw it down on the table becasue she finally picked it up and took it with her. no i don't want dessert you fool.
i take my child most everywhere i go, and restaurants are always accomodating. we eat at alchemy all the time, with and without my child, (somehow affiliated with mcewan's) and they always offer excellent service. alchemy has to borrow high chairs from other restaurants and they do so willingly and graciously. and mind you it's a much less kid-friendly environment. mcewan's needs to step it up - don't tell me your middle-aged waiters have never seen kids before. geez.
bottom line: no one goes todinnerto be ignored, dismissed, and discriminated against, no matter how decent the food is.