I had three house guests coming for the weekend to our home in Galveston. We are full time residents. We dine at the Porch Cafe on a regular basis and have attended the Sunday wine dinner as well. I have an allergy to fish, and...have requested no fish, to which they have been more than happy to accommodate.
I made the reservation for the four of us a week before the event. I assumed everything was fine, and my guests were excited about attending. At 4:30 PM, the day of the dinner, I received a call from the restaurant saying that we would not be able to be seated for the wine dinner because of our reservation time of 6:45 PM, but we could order off the normal menu if we would like. They said that the wine dinner was only at 6:30 PM. I told them that we would be happy to make it by 6:30, as we had planned on this for a week. Then I was told that actually they were short staffed and they could not accommodate us for the wine dinner now as it was all full. This was confusing as I had a reservation that was obviously being ignored.
My guests still wanted to eat at the Porch Cafe, so we continued on as planned against my better judgement. On the way to the restaurant we called and spoke to the same female hostess and told her we were on our way. Two of our party went up to secure our table as the other two parked the car. Basically, the two who entered the restaurant were initially ignored. When the hostess finally greeted them, she told them that they could sit outside. This was unacceptable as the weather was very hot. Then she told them that they were simply overbooked and could not serve us at all.
She was not at all apologetic, and when the other two members of our party arrived, she ignored them as well. We were forced t try and find some restaurant who would seat us, which was no easy task.
I do not know what the problem is with the Porch Cafe, but clearly customer service is very low on the priority list. The food and service there has never been particularly stellar, but the ambiance is nice so we have enjoyed going there in the past. I will never go there again unless the management changes and they begin to value their customers-especially the local ones who are their bread and butter during the winter months.More