had the most disappointing and shocking dining experience of my life at Alimento last night and cannot in good conscience recommend this place to anyone, but especially a group of Black or Brown people.
i was there in a group of 5 people (3 of us black/brown) and we all were having normal conversation, enjoying our meal and wine. we were the only large group in the restaurant, everyone else was sitting in small groups (they were also all old and white.)
At one point, we all laughed loudly. the manager was behind us taking another table’s order, stopped taking the order and came over to us. She was like “i’m so glad you guys are having fun but we need to ask you to keep your volume down”.
there’s no real way to bounce back from being told to be quiet while you’re at a group dinner, especially after you’ve made ONE loud noise. we were anxious about making any noise at all so we decided we just wanted to leave. the comment made us feel weird and the rest of the meal would have been miserable. we asked for our check and one girl i was w asked the waitress for the managers name. no one was planning on anything sinister but when we’re made to feel THAT gross (especially in a room full of white people), we have to collect all of the information we can.
then the manager came over and was like “why are you asking for my name”. which is a very bizarre reaction to this situation. just accept that we are unhappy, complain about us in the back room and keep it moving. instead she came at us talking about “we are a fine dining establishment and we have to make sure everyone can enjoy their meal etc etc etc.” ok fine, but we don’t have to stay in this environment.
this manager came over to us a total of 3 times to explain herself and tell us why we were in the wrong. she told us we were welcome to go across the street to a bar (L&E) as if we were dancing on tables and ruining everyone’s night. she also told us that if we complained to the owners they would agree with her.
ok so then why would it matter if we complained to them?? 🥲
each time she came over we tried to get her to stop talking to us. it was taking them FOREVER to get our check wrapped up… they also had to make sure the pastas hadn’t been fired yet and told us we were lucky that the kitchen hadn’t started that course as if we wouldn’t have just paid for that and left. again, it felt like it was taking FOREVER.
one of the people in my group went over to the register with our cards to try and expedite the process and the manager got into it with her there too. asking if we’ve ever worked in the service industry (yes most of us had) and continuing to escalate the situation.
while STILL waiting to get everything wrapped up she stormed over AGAIN and said “i can hear you talking about me.“ yeah duh????? we’re stuck at this table desperate to leave and in complete shock over how we’ve been treated. accept that we’re not happy and avoid us. I BEG.
by the third time she came over to berate us we were literally saying to her “please just stop talking to us. let us pay this bill and leave. you are making this so much worse.” and she STORMED OFF.
if alimento seats parties of 5, they should expect the volume to go with it. and they should teach their staff how to appropriately de-escalate a tense situation. she could have apologized when she heard we were upset at that first interaction, she could have offered to seat us outside, she could have LEFT US ALONE when we wanted her name and the check. but nope she had to make herself the victim and make sure we all felt even worse.
never ever going here again.
