one hour wait at Mallory with tons of empty tables
 

we have gone to the Mallory almost once a week since we moved here but tonight will be the end for me for a while. there was a group of 11 of us tonight went there after being on the square we got there around 7 ish and there were tons of empty tables. we were told there was a 1 hour wait as since the snow birds are gone they cut staff. I guess those of us who live here year round and support these businesses on their off season don't matter. we turned our golf cart around went back to the square to gators and got right in. I am done with Mallory for a long while.

Got the same thing from the Colony Public's deli. I was told that half the staff leaves at 1pm. It's a business decision and Public's is a business. Just goes to show how important the snowbirds are to the support of The Villages..

In all honesty, that's a tough one for the proprietor.

If you have too many on staff, especially given the ones who depend on tips, then no one makes any money and morale goes down the toilet.

Not enough staff and you take a chance on ticking off the customers, especially if a large group shows up.

Darned if you do, darned if you don't. :shrug:

I agree.

And Mallory is too good to write off anyone's list.

I am sorry but empty tables and a one hour wait equals me moving on. There are far too many options to put up with that crap. Had to wait just as long with the place being full.

You are correct. Try Cane Gardens. Service was good today. Nothing special about Malory that you should wait 1 hour.

Please consider this. By telling you that the wait would be an hour, they did your group a great favor. They were giving you the opportunity, and the choice, to wait or to move to another place. Perhaps an unusual circumstance caused the kitchen to be unable to handle your group at the time.

Seems to me that Mallory should be thought well of, rather than poorly of.

Service & Quality--if you can get both of them, go someplace else, I will not wait online or wait @ any table for slow service.

Don't be a sucker, there are plenty of alternatives, in the villages.

I agree. They could have easily seated the group and then have them wait an hour for service. No business want to turn away customers, but unexpected circumstance's due arise at times. Giving the group a choice of waiting or leaving was the right thing to do. To many places will seat you and not give you notice of a long wait time.

Do you really think owners/managers make the decision to segregate customers by type (snowbirds, year-round, etc.) and they decide who matters and who does not?? Really??

ColdNoMore said it well.

:shrug:
After visiting this restaurant nearly every week since moving to TV, a mix-up of an hour delay(as advised), now causes the OP to not go back for a long while.
Why is it that large groups get upset when not treated like a couple?

Because according to the OP there were "tons of empty tables".
Maybe the cook was out and the club felt that they couldn't get 11 meals out at the same time. Who's knows? But if the OP doesn't want to go back then so be it.

Perhaps a call ahead to see if they can handle a large group might be in order?

Always a sane reply. And thank you for it.

The reality of the situation is that with fewer patrons, businesses here have to cut back help during the "unseason". And as my sweet daughter reminds me, We can't always have everything we want.

Excellent advice. We've found that a number of restaurants are willing to take reservations for a small group now that season is over. They don't advertise it, just ask.

Grown adults all having to sit together at the same table in the school lunchroom, before recess, is silliness from the start.

It's not like they all haven't seen each other on the golf course and in the neighborhoods and town squares here.

If you want banquet service, call the banquet manager and make a reservation so they can be properly staffed AND have the group seated where their noise doesn't make it impossible for everyone else to have a conversation.

I live in Sabal Chase and love to eat at Mallory.

I love it when people say they won't go back to a restaurant. This just means better service for the rest of us....

Any restaurant worth its salt should be able to handle a party of eleven if there are a bunch of tables empty. An hour wait is ridiculous.

///

This seems like a restaurant discussion
 

Most restaurants assign servers several tables in an area then spread customers among those areas as evenly as possible. The hostesses at Mallory are experienced and do a pretty good job of doing this. A party of eleven would require at least two large tables and more likely 3-4 tables adjacent. It is probable that even though there were many empty tables, the hostess knew from seating times that it could be an hour before they would have empty tables adjacent to one another to seat a group of eleven.

It is also interesting the OP arrived at Mallory at 7ish and was so enthralled by the company they demanded to be seated with that they traveled back to Gator's, were seated and were making the original post by 7:30ish.

Any customer worth their salt knows empty tables does not equate to the ability to handle.

I give the employees credit for being honest and letting the customer know how long it will be. If the OP was seated at an empty table and they were not served for an hour......well you can imagine.

I think you nailed it.



Good catch. :thumbup:

No excuse for not being able to handle 11 people sooner than an hour, unless the restaurant was full.

Same old group blaming the OP for daring to state their opinion.

:bigbow:

And YOU are disagreeing or challenging or stating YOUR opinion about the "same old group". I believe that is one of the purposes of this forum, to discuss and cuss and agree and disagree and talk about stuff.

I am a HUGE fan of the veteran servers in The Villages. Some of them have held their positions for years. They are amazingly good at their jobs, and patient with a bunch of folks who are too often impatient, have no bringin' up, and are demanding, especially when they have a snootfull. I would last just about five minutes at their very difficult job.


WAIT. WAIT.WAIT.............

I didn't read this OP's statement very well, thinking I was responding to yesterday's thread about Mallory, which I can't find (that's a mystery) where the OP demanded to be seated and served before the whole group arrived and said the server said that "It was his way or no way". That statement didn't ring true to me...........I remembered it quite clearly. The other thread is gone..hmmmm.

You may be right outlaw. I was thinking I was "piling on" to that thread.

I see from one of your prior complaints that you had the same experience at Orange Blossom.

Was that a large group, too?

Again........not having salt, you miss the other functions (other than tables) within a restaurant which must have capacity in order to serve people.

It's like going to the grocery store, seeing open parking places and assuming the store is open and you can go in buy bread and salt.

Are you kidding me?
 

Are you kidding me. Agree Cane is good, but it seems like it's an 45min to one hour wait whenever you go. I gave up the last 4 times I tried.

We wanted to keep Cane and Mallory and Glenview our secret....but the new folks are a smart bunch.

Coincidentally, We had lunch there today. Arrived at about 12:15, seated outside immediately, (there were tables inside and out available) got served and were out of there by about 1:15. So no, I'm not kidding you. I guess if you go there during happy hour there might be a wait?

We ate outside at Cane last week and the flies were a big problem. I think they pest at certain times. Haven't had that at Cane ever before.

I so agree. group of 11? are you all sheep? afraid to dine w/your significant other? this place has some goofy residents.

:agree:

Arrived at Cane Garden tonight around 5:20. Had a 25/30 minute wait. When left at 6:30 there was no wait. Maybe we should just eat later...��

"That place is so crowded that nobody goes there anymore." Yogi Berra

It's childish selfishness that causes problems for both servers and other customers who'd like to be able to hear their friends talking in a normal voice at the same table.

We have had great experiences at Mallory... we love the outdoor seating there and the staff are nice.