Diners have slammed a restaurant over its 'shambolic' service on Christmas Day, with one father telling how he walked out after waiting an hour and 45 minutes for food.
Paul Millar, 53, from Whitefield, paid £276 for a set Christmas Day menu for his family-of-four at Don Giovanni in Manchester.
Writing on Facebook after the meal, Paul claimed diners were squashed into tables, staff were run off their feet, and there were other families in similar positions who walked out after being made to wait.
Other disappointed customers shared their feedback on Trip Advisor, with one saying they were only given two of the three desserts they had ordered and both had been 'inedible'.
In response, the restaurant said the accusations made by Mr Millar were 'incorrect and false' and many customers left 'extremely happy'.
Mr Millar, 53, visited the restaurant with his wife Jayne and their children Louise, 21, and Charlie, 18.
'It was absolute chaos,' he told Manchester Evening News of his experience. 'That's the only way I can describe it.
'We should have realised from the off because there was a queue out of the door when we got there because the desk was taken up with people complaining.
'When we finally got to the front of the queue they told us our table would be ready in 10 minutes and said we could have a drink in the bar. But the bar was rammed - it looked like the concourse at Old Trafford at half time - so we said we'd wait by the door.
'At 4.30pm I went back and said "Any chance we could have our table" and was told 10 minutes, I went back at 4.40pm and they said 10 minutes, eventually at 4.45pm they put us on a table between two columns that you could barely get a Rizla paper between.
'Every time we asked to be served it was '10 minutes' but 10 minutes never came.'
By 5.20pm the family still hadn't been served the food they had pre-ordered and decided to walk out.
Paul claims several other families also left the restaurant during the time his family was there.
His disappointment was shared by other diners who took to the Don Giovani Facebook and Trip Advisor pages to complain.
One critic wrote: 'The only saving grace for the shambles of a Christmas Dinner here, was that some of the staff were doing a fantastic, professional job as everything crumbled around them, with no covid precautions at all.
'We were an hour late being seated, which, I understand, was a 'short' wait, comparatively. The restaurant was obviously running out of food, as our portions appeared to be rationed.
'We received two out of three deserts (one of which was wrong, and both were inedible) and had to ask about the third twice, only to be told that they had run out and then we were not offered an alternative until we asked for one. To add insult to injury, we were then given a bill for the service charge.'
Another said: 'It was an utter disgrace! Don't think manager lifted his head once to make eye contact with anyone. Burying his head as like you say young girls ran off their feet! Doubt very much anyone will pop up on here with an apology! Also to add to the drama we got to spend £50 in useless taxi journeys.'
A third added: Shocking! Christmas Day ruined. Table booked for 3.45pm, arrived at 3.35pm. Told table will be a few minutes. Grab a seat at the bar. Which was hammered beyond belief! No masks, no covid regulations, no hand sanitiser.
'Waited 1 hour to be sat, no apology or anything. Waiting a further 20 mins, no prosecco on arrival as stated. No drinks order taken or even a waiter/waitress stopped by the table. Sat next to a pillar by the bar which you couldn't even put your coat on the chair.
'After a further 10mins, we went to get a full refund, as we had nothing and they wanted the full £69.95 each upfront! '
A spokesperson for the restaurant said: 'In response, we can confirm the accusations in the form they have been explained and voiced are incorrect and false. Many tables arrived late and with several having more people attend than were booked for, but being a special day we tried to accommodate as best we could.
'Those circumstances were relating to customers and not the restaurant, which naturally had a minor knock on effect to the service. The day was a fabulous one overall with many customers leaving extremely happy.'
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