Hudson Table Philadelphia — Local services in Philadelphia

BEWARE!!

Over the summer booked a date for my wife and I at Hudson Table but, unfortunately, 4 weeks before the date we ended up having a conflict. So I reached out to the Hudson Table team to see if there is a way to rebook another event as there were a number of other events (including ours) that had not been sold out yet. I figure 4 weeks notice would be enough time to make alternate reservations. That way we get to still experience Hudson Table, they still receive the revenue, etc. However, the staff would not accommodate any changes to the reservation. So we ended up eating $300.

At first they claimed it was due to using the reservations to purchase adequate/correct amounts of food for the specific event, which I then questioned why food being purchased so far in advance? They then back tracked and said it's actually similar to purchasing a ticket to a Broadway play. If I had to cancel a Broadway Play, would I dare reach out to the staff to cancel? Unfortunately, I had to remind the owner that for a Broadway Play I would have a ticket(s) to a seat and would have the ability to resell the ticket online, as well as, dictate the price. In this scenario I have no ticket, just a reservation, and cannot resell this online. In fact, this may be more similar of a scenario to purchasing an airline flight. In which case, yes, 4 weeks out - I would reach out to the airline if I had a conflict and would ask to make alternate arrangements.

My advice is only book this place if you know you won't miss it. From reading the reviews, if you attend the event it sounds like a blast. However, if for any reason you can't make the event, no matter how far in advance, I would not purchase anything here. As many of the reviews below mention, there is no Customer Service here. They'll make you eat the cost. Obviously, I would never advise doing business here because of my bad experience, but if you do decide to move forward, just proceed...

PLEASE read the reviews about how terrible their customer service is before you support this place. I bought 4 tickets to take my dad for his birthday. Shortly after his friends asked to come and asked if I could grab 4 more so they don’t sell out. Cool I do so. After getting $1200 from us I get a text demanding an extra 20% and them accusing me of not wanting to pay gratuity for a large party. First of all this isn’t a sit down restaurant literally nothing changes by adding more to my party since they plan for like 20 people every night. So demanding an extra 20% because I ordered someone else’s tickets is just greedy. When I questioned the policy and told them that seems unreasonable they canceled our entire order and tried to argue over text about not wanting us there anyway and trying to scam them. Yikes. I could’ve easily used someone else’s info if I want to scam them. I have brought several people here for special occasions despite the fact that the food is usually pretty mid the experience was fun. So if you want to support terrible customer service and lack luster food by all means go for it. Most of the chefs are pretty nice so it’s disappointing that their management is so unprofessional....

Think twice before booking --

Last night, my boyfriend and I had scheduled a date night at Hudson Table. While on the way to the cooking class we parked where my car had been, only to realize it was stolen and pinging off in North Philly (total freak incident). Keeping in mind the poor reviews regarding refunds, we scrambled over to HT and explained our situation to head chef (needed to locate car, file police report, etc).

The chef and all staff were very empathetic, encouraging us to take care of business and urging us to reach out to owner (Allen) to reschedule. The chef even noted he had texted the head chef and said everything would be handled if we reached out.

This was countered by a blunt email from the owner indicating that the chef was in no position to allow this and that we'd be eating the cost of our class --- no rescheduling, discount, or credit was offered. The conditions of the class cancellation fees were understood prior, but the handling by the owner was dissatisfactory and disheartening.

Staff seems nice; management needs to work...