Mario's Table

Although we live right around the corner, we will most definitely not be coming back to this restaurant after our unpleasant experience last night.  As a special treat, we brought our kids in for dinner last night to celebrate my son's last day of preschool.  Despite the fact that the restaurant touts itself as a neighborhood family-friendly restaurant, Mario made it abundantly clear to us that our kids were not welcome.

As is typical for small children, my 10-month old daughter (who is still learning how to feed herself) dropped some of her food on the floor, and my 2.5 year old son started to get squirmy towards the end of the meal. So, naturally, we asked for the check, left a very generous tip, and had our food boxed up so that we wouldn't disrupt other patrons in the restaurant. Although we were clearly in the process of trying to make an exit, Mario came over and literally scolded us for bringing our kids. When he looked down and saw that my 10-month old daughter had dropped food on the floor (heaven forbid!), his exact words were "We can't have this. This isn't Chuckie Cheese. I have to have my staff clean this up now". My husband told him not to worry, we most certainly would not be coming back. Nor will any of our friends or families at my son's nearby preschool (Oh yes, Mario, I will be sure to spread the word!) Out of all of our dining experiences at other restaurants in the neighborhood (Pump Room, Carmine's, Tavern on Rush, Gibson's, LuxBar), never before has anyone ever gone out of their way to try and humiliate us the way that Mario did last night, within earshot of the entire restaurant and staff. Truly unprofessional.