Sur La Table — Local services in Tampa

Signed up for a knife skills class as a former assistant chef at Sur La Table recommended it. We went together and I quickly learned (at least the store we went to in Hyde Park, Tampa) did not function as the others. Let me explain why. My expectation, per my friend’s past experiences, was that there would be an assistant chef walking around ensuring the participants were applying the skills the chef demonstrated. That’s what a class entails. Instead, the chef was demonstrating how to utilize the knife and participants followed along. The vegetables were not cleaned. The stations were missing items and I personally felt rushed because I had to finish quicker to allow the person next to me to use the utensil or even the vegetable. I’m much slower in the kitchen, therefore, I didn’t enjoy that part. Another aspect that I did not enjoy was that there were constant movement on the sides as there were kitchen employees coming in, prepping the ingredients we needed (this seemed like it could have been done earlier to avoid distractions). After the class, I walked around the store and asked two questions about two different items to a store associate. He had no clue how to answer my questions so I pulled out my phone and googled the answers. To top off the experience, another store associate came up to us and said to my friend “English is okay for you?” We laughed and said yes. She proceeded to emphasize how the “most expensive products of the store were on sale in case we wanted to shop on the sales section.” …we knew it was time to go.

Rates 2 stars for the effort it takes to create the experience and open it up for guests. But for the $70 pp tag, I was expecting a more...

Please do not sign up for a cooking class here, it is a money making scheme. I signed up with a friend for a “pasta making class” and we arrived 20 minutes early, the FIRST to arrive. We were told that we would be CALLED to the back when the class was ready so we proceeded to start shopping. We were NEVER called to the back and by the time we got called in everyone was else was already at their stations, 30 or so people! Right from the start the arrival was not warm, there was NO friendly greeting. We were the ONLY couple to bring wine, and had to ask about a wine opener and glasses. We were paired in groups of four, which was unexpected, but fine, we are super friendly. However, they only give you enough supplies for ONE couple. Unfortunately, we got paired with the pasta Mussolini, otherwise known as Pastalini; A super unfriendly couple who never even spoke a single word to us, so awkward! It was obviously someone who never learned how to share. Honestly, he wouldn’t even let his OWN girlfriend participate. We received ONE bowl of flour and eggs and were told all FOUR of us had to knead the dough which we would later share.. GROSS. The class is $100 PER PERSON!! and they can’t even provide you with a bowl of flour and two eggs per couple? We calmly told the chef how displeased we were and she said we could leave and get our money back so calm- like oh this happens all the time. I would NEVER return for a cooking class. We felt super uncomfortable and unwelcome after paying them, in my mind, top dollar. The only saving grace was an incredibly friendly staff and manager inside the store who refunded us...

Awful customer service experience. My fiancé and I received a cooking class as a gift for our engagement. We were so excited. The day before the class we received a confirmation call and said make sure to arrive early due to event traffic and to let the parking garage attendant know that we had a reservation. When we arrived 45 minutes early both available parking garages were full due to Gasparilla. I called to ask what we should do... the first employee Sarah told me to park in the Albertsons parking lot across the street... this was unacceptable as there was a tow away sign every 50 feet due to the parade. I told her I would only park there if a manager gave me a written confirmation that they would pay for my car if it got towed... I was transferred to a "manager". He advised we could reschedule so we headed home. Then the real "manager" called to explain that we could NOT reschedule as it would be lost revenue. After arguing with my fiancé, we eventually turned around so we didn't lose the gift we got. Once we finally got in we were told the class was running late. So I ran to the bathroom. While waiting in line I over heard the first employee I spoke with, Sarah... talking to another employee explaining what I had asked over the phone and she said "who does she think she is" referring to me. Little did she know, I was standing back right there. After waiting a while we went back to the kitchen to see the class had already started. They never told us it started. The cooking class was great but we will NEVER go bad due to the HORRIBLE customer service...