"F" for Service

For the first time in seven years...seven years...all three of my children were having a sleepover with their Aunt Julie, so my husband and I joined some friends for dinner at Mezze in Fells Point this evening. We looked forward to this night with great anticipation on so many levels. One our children felt comfortable enough to be without us...big...we don't have to pay a babysitter $100...huge...and we are avid foodies who had heard so many good things about one of the hottest restaurants in Baltimore. Good food. Good friends.


We were escorted upstairs to a little table in the corner surrounded by what seemed to be an authentically boisterous Greek family celebrating some occasion. The mood was festive and the night looked promising...until the waiter approached our table with just a hint of disdain in his eyes. He inquired as to whether we were ready to order after being seated for all of thirty seconds. Usually, that would inspire confidence, in this case arrogance. We begged just a few extra minutes to review the menu and with a little roll of his eyes, he left us for another five minutes. Never a smile, never an interest in our questions or concerns.

Watered down Sangria arrived at our table and even though we mentioned the inadequacy of the house favorite, the waiter was neither interested nor respectful. Food ordered, we enjoyed one another's company. Seventeen tapas later, which included a mouth-watering Spinach pie, stewed lima beans, tuna carpaccio and leg of lamb, just to name a few, we were satiated and lost interest in our waiter's disinterest.

Finally, the check arrived and when we noticed that we were paying $18 for two sodas and a few refills, we decided to test our waiter’s patience one last time. His reply, "This is a high-class place, not a fast food restaurant. We don't have fountain soda; we have to use a bottle of soda for each refill. Sorry." Comically insulted, my friend, calmly summoned the manager over to discuss the cost of the soda. She very graciously charged us for two sodas, and we ended the evening with the memory of great food, great company and exceedingly horrendous service. Food "A+." Service "F."