{PREFACE: I must begin this post by saying, sometimes people have bad days, bad days are forgivable and rude people having bad days should be forgiven. I do believe The Blue Haired Manager was having a bad day because there is just no other reason for the way she treated us, and girl I've been there. I hope this experience is something you reflect on and do not repeat in the future.}
Seated on the patio at Coppa Osteria, albeit cold, but wrapped in complimentary pashminas, surrounded by patio heaters, good food, empty glasses and sweet friends.
Last night was a night all nine of us were looking forward to as we changed out of our mommy uniforms and into our skinny jeans and high heel booties. We left the kids at home with daddy or sitters and all headed in town for a nice dinner, good drinks and lots of good conversation filled with comedic relief, thanks to Tennessee L's stories about Emmi the cat.
Cook & Collins is a well known restaurant in #HTX. The restaurant is located in Midtown and offers an indoor dining room decorated with trendy tufted booths, Eddison lights and urban embellishments, an enclosed outdoor patio and a second floor terrace, which is not open during the winter months. The menu looks delicious, boasting a modern spin on American comfort food and the restaurant receives rave reviews holding 4.5 stars from patrons on trip Advisor and Open Table. It's been on my list for nine months and last night was finally the night to try it out; sadly we didn't get the chance.
We called earlier in the week for a reservation and were told there were none available but we could arrive as early as possible and grab a table on the enclosed patio, because it is first-come first-serve. {There were ten of us in our party, which we know is a big table; that is the reason we made certain to call ahead about seating.} Three of us arrived at 6:45 p.m. and approached the hostess stand. When my friend gave our name for the reservation I reminded her we had none and the hostess' face dropped. I explained we were told to come early and be seated on the enclosed patio (two words I will say a lot in this post so please bear with me). The sweet girl was clearly shocked we had no reservation for a party of ten, but was still polite and excused herself as she went to consult her manager. {The Blue Haired Manager, all together now...dun..dun...dunnnnnn....} We looked around as we waited to see the restaurant wasn't even half full AND the enclosed patio had only a four-top seated on it. The rest of the seats were vacant.
Our hostess returned with The Blue Haired Manager walking stride for I'm-too-busy-for-you-whom-have-no-reservation stride. She didn't greet us...didn't smile...nada. She stood at the computer and pressed buttons on the screen looking annoyed and self-righteous with her gorgeous and insanely cute bob haircut in a lovely shade of blue. My kind-hearted-yet-not-afraid-of-confrontation-friend genuinely complimented her hair to which we finally we received a brief smile. Oh wait, there it went. Dang it. I hate-hate-hate awkward lulls in conversation and so I spoke up and mentioned that we had called that week, and we were told no reservations were available but to get here as early as possible and we could be seated on the enclosed patio. She didn't like what I said and asked if we had spoken to their reservation specialist, whom she named by name, but I had no idea who my friend had spoken to and so I politely conveyed that to her. She left. Annoyed. Silent. We stood their perplexed as to where exactly we had gone wrong. I mean we get it, you have a full list of reservations but there is a polite way to greet us and speak to us without treating us like outcasts and urchins taking up space in your glorified enclosed patio.
I asked the kind hostess if the enclosed patio was first-come first-serve and she said yes so I asked why we couldn't sit in the 12 vacant seats located just behind her station. She pointed to a table behind us and said they were arranging a table for us but we could not sit at it until our entire party had arrived. What? No one is here. No one is in line behind us waiting for a table. The restaurant is over half empty and there are four people on the patio, but we can't sit at our table? Okay. My thirsty friend asked "where is the bar?" The night could still be salvaged and we could look beyond the rude Blue Haired Manager, because we wanted to eat at Cook & Collins and we were the patrons with money to spend on good food and good drinks. So we marched our high heeled booties to the bar for a cocktail, because bad days and rude people are forgivable. {This is where it gets really good.}
As we were greeted by the bartenders (all of them b/c NO ONE else was sitting at the bar), the Blue Haired Manager walked in front of us and my Kind-Hearted-Yet-Not-Afraid-of-Confrontation-Friend politely asked for her to come over to answer a question, because she truly had not spoken to us much at all. {The conversation went something like this, although paraphrase is used b/c it's all kinda blurry in this moment}:
My Kind-Hearted-Yet-Not-Afraid-of-Confrontation-Friend: Excuse me Blue Haired Manager, we were told our table is available on the patio, so why are we not allowed to be seated until our entire party is here?
Blue Haired Manager: Yes. Because that is our policy.
Me: But the hostess said the enclosed patio is first-come first-serve and we are here.
Blue Haired Manager: (waving arms to and fro) This entire restaurant is seated by reservation.
Me: Even the enclosed patio?
Blue Haired Manager: Okay. I want you to listen as I speak very simply. and. very. con.cise.ly...
Me: {in my head...oh no she didn't...let me just cut you off right there Miss Blue Haired Manager - I turned to my thirsty friend who was in the midst of ordering her cocktail, grabbed her arm and said aloud "Uh No. Do NOT order anything. We are not staying here."
Blue Haired Manager: "OK." {turns pointedly without speaking to us and walks, actually heatedly stomps, ahead of me to the hostess stand where she once again taps with an annoyed frenzy on the screen and doesn't bother to bid us farewell. Because she is annoyed with us. We, the patrons, who called ahead earlier in the week to see if there was a place available to seat us and were told to come early and sit on the enclosed patio.}
We requested our car from the valet, tipped the valet because it wasn't his fault we had just received the most condescending and rude service ever in our history of eating out in cities across the world and drove ourselves to Coppa in Rice Village. At Coppa the manager greeted us at our patio table for ten upon arrival rocking his adorable bow tie, the server brought us each a complimentary pashmina to battle the chill in the air and the server surrounded us with four outdoor heaters. Our tabletop of nine moms on a girls night out spent our $500+ dollars at the restaurant that treated us with respect and courtesy, and much to my disappointment it was not Cook & Collins.
{NOTE: Both the hostess and the bartenders at Cook and Collins were all very polite and greeted us kindly. As previously stated...I believe the Blue Haired Manager was simply and concisely having a bad day.}