more than 16 people? look elsewhere!. short review: do not attend this restaurant if you have a group containing more than 12 people, unless you don’t care whether you’re seated together.
long review: i was incredibly disappointed with our experience at the st.paulgrill last night. we went there to celebrate my in-laws’ 50th wedding anniversary. i’d made reservations in mid-april for 16 people, which they said would be no problem to accommodate in the main dining room. they also called the day before our dinner to confirm the reservations, which was great since i’d been planning to do that anyway.
when we arrived at the restaurant, we were brought to two adjacent tables, each with eight chairs. i was completely taken off guard, since these arrangements were never mentioned either time i spoke with them on the phone. it never occurred to me that i had to specify our party wanted to be seated all together at one table.
i went back up to the host stand to express my displeasure, and one of the girls apologized in what seemed to be a sincere tone, but then the other one suggested it was our fault when she said we’d originally booked the table for 12 people and later increased the count. this was never the case (it was 16 from the beginning), and i told her so before returning to my table. they said they were sorry, but there was nothing else they could do about it.
we decided to try making the best of things and pressed forward with our dinner. one of our tables ordered appetizers, and we shared them with our other table. but because they hadn’t ordered anything themselves, their server took the dinner orders right away while ours waited until the apps were almost gone. due to the difference in timing, one of the tables ended up being completely finished with their meals for quite a while before the dinners even arrived at the other table.
that’s when my husband went to complain directly to the manager, who said he could understand why we were upset and would “take care of us.” he sent the two servers over to speak with us, and i told them that we were not unhappy with them but rather how the manager had handled things so far. (both of the servers did a nice job, especially the more experienced one.)
shortly after our second table was served dinner, the manager stopped by our table and asked if “everything was okay.” my mother-in-law’s filet was undercooked, and my husband’s lobster was covered with tomalley (which i understand is a delicacy to some, but it looked very unappealing to us, as both halves and even the tail were bathed in the greenish black substance). but we didn’t say anything because we already felt rushed to finish our meals so that both tables could then order dessert.
afterward, on his way out, my husband walked past the manager, who asked if “things turned out okay.” my husband indicated that he wasn’t sure how we’d been “taken care of,” and the manager seemed surprised that our desserts had not been comped. he ended up removing a dessert and an appetizer from one of our bills (the others had already been paid), and giving us $80 in gift cards toward a future visit. as we were taking a few family photos in the lobby, he came over to offer a round of drinks as well. by that time, everyone was ready to leave and we thanked him but declined. for me, at least, it was a case of “too little, too late.”
our family members are wonderful, and everyone put on a happy face despite the less-than-ideal circumstances. but since i’d made the reservations, i felt responsible for our ruined evening. my in-laws just wanted to enjoy seeing their children and grandchildren around the table at a nice dinner, and it didn’t turn out that way at all. hopefully they will use the gift cards later this year. as for me and my husband, we will never return to this establishment again.