Red Sauce in Sumter? Never Again!
 

I had the weirdest restaurant experience I can remember, at Red Sauce last night.

A friend drove down from Lecanto, to see a singer he knew, who was singing at Red Sauce last night.

We were seated at a table, without a view of the "stage" area. Before ordering, we noticed the table next to us was empty and had been, for 30+ minutes. As that table had a view of the entertainment, we asked our server if we could move to that table. After checking the Reservation List, he came back and told us the table was available and moved us.

1/2 way through our meal (45 minutes after we had sat down), the "host" came over to us and insisted we move from the table, as it was "reserved". We were 1/2 way through our meals. He didn't even do the "moving", we did.

In what universe is that acceptable hospitality service in a restaurant?

As an aside to the incompetent management, my friend's steak dinner was OK, my Chicken Piccata tasted like a "Stouffer's Frozen Dinner", not fully microwaved. I sent it back once, but when they still couldn't manage to do any better, I gave up.

Strange , yes, but my guess is the waiter should not have moved you in the first place. Sorry you did not like your meals. Redsauce is one of our favorite restaurants and is ranked very high on review sites. Hope you find another restaurant to your liking.

I would have insisted on speaking to the manager before moving.

Possibly some political overtones were overheard to warrant the seating & service disruption? Just saying

Could be but could also be that the "host" decided he was all powerful.

We have only been to LSL RedSauce a few times, but each time we have enjoyed the food, the drinks, the vey helpful staff, and been impressed with the value and quality of what we ordered and how it was priced.

Sorry your experience was dampened. Clearly there was a comms issue somewhere - either the wait staff accommodating your request when they should not have, or management reversing it when they should have let it go.

Either way, I hope you'll try it again sometime and have a better experience.

Wonder what would have happened if you just said; NO, Not moving???

Did you tell the host that the server had allowed you to change tables? If so, I would have refused to move. Is it possible that the host wasn't aware that the server had allowed you to move, and assumed that you had moved on your own?

Why sure, a new conspiracy theory to be aware of while eating out in TV.:censored:

no matter how flat the pancake is, there's always two sides to it....

I bused tables while going to school for years and have a little insight into the challenges that a host/hostess faces

the OP's description sounded like it may have been just him/her and a friend...so, did they ask to move from a table for two over to a table set for 4 or 6? (that's never going to green lighted if the restaurant is busy, or expecting to be)

It's difficult to believe that the waitstaff had actually talked to the host and received an okay to move the couple and then quite a while later, the host decided to reverse their decision and ask them to move in the middle of eating...that just doesn't happen...I suspect that the table shift may have been made without the Host's specific knowledge...and they assumed the table was still available when a reservation came in.

I've been to Red Sauce, can't say that I'm a big fan, but it's run by professionals, IMHO, there's a lot more to this story than we were told by the OP

Actually, almost anything is possible. Waiter may have gotten the ok to move the party, and the reservation was made after the move was made. We may likely never know what actually happened, but reserved or not, it was improper for the host to ask a party to move while they are eating. Many are the times I have been told that the previous party is still occupying the table and we could wait or be seated elsewhere. Somewhere in this scenario there was a break in communication. The host job is to try and accommodate all parties, not turn out parties in the middle of their meal.

More likely the host was the recipient of steady gratuities, from the "regulars" he gave our table to. (BTW, both parties were twosomes. We were eating dinner, the other twosome was having drinks.)

Thanks for the info. Regardless of the "gratuity" comment, the manager should have been called for a ruling as to you being removed from the table. If manager says leave the table, then also would leave the restaurant and not pay the bill. Manager's other option would be to leave us to finish the meal and offer something for the interruption and inconvenience.
If any of the original post is true (no reason to doubt it), then the host failed to handle the situation in a proper and gracious manner so both parties felt appreciated and enjoyed their experience.
Better luck at your next dinner out.

You're 100% right. I oversee a couple of restaurants that are in our company's portfolio and our policy is; if a food item is returned to kitchen for any reason or a guest has to be inconvenienced for any reason at all, the Manager visits the table to make amends. To do anything less than that, is simply poor service and in general, that's what restaurants have to sell ... service.

I would have refused to move. If they insist they can tear up the bill