Worst Dining Experience of a Lifetime!
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 3/1/06
Trying to fit all the reasons that I will never go back to Ajax Tavern into 250 - 500 words is proving difficult. My first attempt had 800+ so I will keep it brief.
To begin they changed our reservations to 7pm - our reservations were confirmed at 8pm. They gave no reason for the need for change but we compromised to arrive at 7:45pm. We arrived to an empty restaurant (aside from four tables at which all but one had their food) and assumed that they had changed our reservation to accomodate a late seating.
Following our salads; which were the only edible portion of our meals, we waited for 15minutes for our food to arrive. Upon arrival only three meals were delivered; there was a "problem in the kitchen" so two of the meals would be delayed. The Bison Burgers which two of our party ordered were delivered first. The menu lists the burgers as served on a foccacia bun with buffalo mozzarella and mixed greens; the individuals had ordered them medium and medium rare. They arrived on regular hamburger buns with chips, no cheese, and raw. The chicken is the only meal that came as promised. They individuals with the burgers sent them back and the burgers returned cold to the touch, still raw, and with a slad of cold cheese. The final two meals arrived 15 minutes later.But the extra time did not do anything for the quality of the food. The salmon was cooked but also cold. The elk loin itself was delicious although the 1oz. thinly sliced in five pieces on the plate was not worth the nearly $30 price on the menu. The side for the elk was supposed to be a special potato au gratin. However it arrived uncooked; cold and raw; it was sickening.
The meal ended with our waiter trying to apologize for the horrible meal. He offered dessert to which one in our party requested vanilla ice cream; our waiter stated that they only had vanilla goat cheese. The individual expressed that she would not want goat cheese so no thank you. One individual ordered coffee. Our waiter came back with coffee that was cold and "vanilla ice cream" the kitchen had gotten especially for the one individual in our party. It ended up being the goat cheese ice cream to which the waiter said that he was going to "kill someone in the kitchen" for all the mistakes they continued to make.
After two hours of horrible food our bill arrived. There were still no individuals in the restaurant and in fact the entire time we were eating we could see the kitchen staff packing up. We concluded that the real chef must have called in sick; nothing else could explain the terrible food and empty restaurant. So upon our departure we asked the hostess if that was the case. She state that, "Tuesday is the Head Chef's day off but that the Sous chef is usually good". When we inquired why they would not take our reservation at 8pm the hostess stated that they usually try to be out of there by 9pm the latest on Tuesdays (even though everything they have says that they are open to 10pm, seven days a week).
Even after the deductions we spent over $200. It was a waste of money and our time. We will not be returning to Ajax Tavern and wanted to share our story so that no one else would have to go through the same dreadful experience.