Sunday Surprise -- Voice your concerns to those who can do something about them

Two weeks ago my old roommate came back into town. We both took our sons, ages 14 mons and 22 months, to The Carlyle Grande in Shirlington. The food was fantastic and the service was swift, but without getting into all the blow by blow details, the service was bad. Very bad. It was clear this service was as a result of our little guys, despite the fact they were amazingly well behaved, we were seated in the back away from most others, and came early so as not to take up tables during prime time. Judy, who had worked in fine dining restaurants before, was irate.
She complained to manager when we left and we thought that was it. She was going to write a letter later, after she returned home. But when she got back to her hotel, she told her husband who was even more irate. He returned to Carlyle to talk to manager, who in turn refunded the cost of our dinner and pledged to have another manager call Judy in the morning.

Sure enough, at 10 am, the other manager called, and offered to treat us all (4 adults, 2 kids) to dinner the following Sunday to use as a teaching experience. They were very apologetic that we were treated so poorly and wanted to make it up to us.

I will say from the get go they went above and beyond. This second time around the food was just as good, but the service was nothing short of spectacular. I noticed also there were several other families in there with young children. Two of the managers stopped by our table to check on us and the waitress (different from week before) was spot on. Ironically our boys were more fidgety this week, but luckily the Dads were there this time to help us take them outside.

I wanted to write this to you women because in these challenging times we are all looking to stretch our dollars as far as we can, and aren't going to waste a dime on something that isn't entirely worth it. I can't say for sure if our first waitress was just having a bad day or was just all around poor, but everything, and I mean everything about their response indicates to me that they want and welcome children in their restaurant. My husband and I (both of us are currently unemployed) don't go out hardly at all anymore, but would return there in a heartbeat if the chance came about.

The lesson learned from this is twofold: 1) Carlyle is a good place to take young children, and is also a nice place for adults and 2) if there is a problem with service, make sure to bring it to the attention of those who have the power to change it. I am not sure I would have gone back there, if things had been left how they were when we first walked out. But now that I know they take parents and service seriously, I look forward to it (not to mention getting the crab appetizers, and filet specials....yummy!)