My best friend and I spent a week in the Rockies on vacation. A day in Vail was a highlight of the trip. Research led us to this restaurant for a special evening. We splurged and reserved a gondola dinner. We arrived 10 minutes early...and asked if there was a place to wait. The hostess, who we later learned is the owner, was quite annoyed that we were early. We waited and were then led to the gondola. Our server arrived, very harried. She quickly went through the basics of the fondue dinner which included only a broth fondue. We asked if cheese fondue was included and received a lecture about this expectation. We were happy to order cheese fondue, and eventually did, after getting a defensive response. We ordered a drink which arrived 10 minutes later and that is the last we saw of our server. The food badly needed salt; we wanted a second drink; and our small table was filled with empty glasses, menus, and empty plates. No one ever came to clean up or ask if we needed anything. We finally flagged down a busboy for salt. Our server delivered it and left so quickly, we didn’t have time to order a drink or ask her to clean away some items. We finally flagged down another server and asked for the manager. Our server appeared 15 minutes later and asked if everything was okay. We have her our honest feedback about how neglectful our service was. She apologized and offered us a schnapps on the house. She seemed quite embarrassed by the poor service, but blamed the fact that the restaurant was so busy. When we left, we felt we needed to inform the manager about our experience - a $350 meal deserves better attention. We asked the bartender if the manger was available. He informed us, rather rudely, that he and his sister are the manager/owners. We asked if he had a moment and he said NO and pointed to his sister, who was the annoyed hostess we encountered when we arrived. We approached her and asked if we might offer some feedback. I wish I had a photo of the expression on her face! She was ready to be defensive. We first told her that food was delicious. She gave no response. It was as if she had encountered many unhappy customers and just didn’t want to hear it. We described the service; her response was that 1) they were very busy in a tone that implied we should just understand that; 2) our server was very experienced so we must be wrong; 3) she would ask the server to confirm our feedback. In other words, we were totally dismissed and she was not in the least interested in our comments. We chose to walk out at that point (after paying our bill, of course). This restaurant’s food is good (not extraordinary). The interior is charming. This brother/sister owners (whose father purchased the restaurant from the founder for them) are not equipped to run a restaurant on a busy night. They seem completely uninterested in customer experience only in turning tables and closing checks. I would not waste my time or money on this restaurant since there are many good ones in Vail!More
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