Service is Awful
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 7/25/07
I made reservations for my family of six adults in May for our July 21, 2007 visit to the Candlestick Inn. The website makes this place look like it is more elegant than it is. We were celebrating a birthday while visiting Branson, so I ordered two signature cupcakes at the time I made our reservations. The prices are expensive at this place, and you would think that the service would be impeccable considering that. Since we had a party of six, our gratuity was automatically included in our bill at 18%. Our waiter (Bob) was completely surly with us---from the beginning when we sat down, he was in a constant state of anxiety and hardly greeted us. My sister ordered a plate of appetizers that she said she was going to pass around for everyone to taste. He almost sneered that it would never be enough to go around the table. He was completely rude. He left to put our drink and her appetizer order in and when he came back, my husband asked if he would take our group picture before the table got filled with our appetizers, drinks, etc. He said he had to ‘run the food’ and he would ‘if he got a chance.’ All we asked for was one picture to be taken. When he came back to take our food orders, I asked between which of two entrees that sounded good would he recommend. He was surly again and did not seem to be very informative about the menu items. We gently asked about the picture one more time, and he took it for us. When the cupcakes arrived, he did not explain anything about them and what made them the Candlestick Inn signature dessert. He definitely was not a people person! It was disappointing to look forward to an important event, willing to spend a lot on a dinner, and it flops because the server is in a bad mood. Do not spend your money at this restaurant. My sister used the restroom and embarrassingly it was out of toilet paper. She mentioned it to one of the servers who was leaning against a wall and the she said she did not know who to tell about it. My sister then told the hostess, but she did not seem to be concerned either. The website says, ‘The staff of our award-winning restaurant go out of their way to make every meal an epicurean delight’ but that did not happen during our dining experience! I believe a $407 dinner should include a server who is glad you are there. Did we add to his 18% gratuity? No way.