Old Man Drew — Restaurant in Melbourne

I took my Aunty (85yrs young) there for brunch last month. Was almost bowled over by one of staff lunging forward to stop a lady with her pram from entering and asked them to enter through the garden area access in Moonee St. I then went to walk my Aunty up the step through the front door and again he steps in front of us to ask the people behind the pram if they has a reservation. Clearly he didn't care we arrived before any of them and were ignored. Once inside we were seated (yes we had a reservation for 3 at 11am) at the table and staff took our order. We could not have a conversation as there was a table with about 5-6 ladies screaming in conversation and laughter. Great they were having a good time, but very dramatic in the screaming. We noticed slowly surrounding tables one by one complained to their wait staff, yet nothing changed so people started to leave. Not being able to handle the table making all the noise anymore, my cousin got up to go pay and let us know there was no hurry to finish our meal/drink, she was just fixing the bill. Before she returned to the table, a waiter came over and abruptly told us we had to get up and leave. We explained we were finishing our brunch, he rudely interrupted and said we had to leave as the table was reserved and walked off. My cousin arrived back at the table, saw I had now reached my limit, asked me what happened, and I replied "don't worry I'm done with place today, I will just leave a review" to which a waitress was passing and took off back to the front counter. We put on our jackets to leave and then a lady arrives (i think a manager) and asks what's happened. My cousin explains it all and she replies ït's just you paid and I cleared the table". My cousin then repeats, that's why i told them, my mother is not finished, I'm just fixing the bill cause it's too loud to talk in that room. Manager then apologises and says she had no idea that table of ladies were so loud and that it not been brought to her attention. The table we were on was reserved, and we can go sit outside and have a coffee. I said how can it be reserved it we had a reservation at 11am and it is now 11.40am and we haven't finished our meal! So clearly it was ok for us to go sit outside in the cold and finish our meal but not the younger crowd who had now walked in to sit at the table. I have been here a few times prior to this day and haven't had an issue, but this experience from arriving to leaving has put me off from booking anything here in the future. This was meant to be a special occasion for my Aunty and we thought this place would have been great, but clearly...

I have never been so hurt in my life. This cafe was so important to us, it was a lot of “firsts” for me - first cafe we went to when we moved to the CBD, first place I went outside to after major surgery. We were so delighted to be reaching out to organise our engagement party with this cafe, given we had so many happy memories here. We met with Dario to discuss our budget and were very clear that we are young and have a small budget, but wanted to make it work as best we could. Dario assured us that we could work something out and that he was happy to go ahead with the event and would confirm a quote via email.

We then received a quote more than double our budget and I tried calling the cafe numerous times to discuss how we might rework the budget. We were met with radio silence for weeks, before we spoke to a lovely staff member Emma who I had a long conversation with on the phone and she assured me we could reduce the budget slightly, or at least see what they could do. A fortnight later I still hadn’t heard anything, but went ahead to order invitations given the deadline is fast approaching.

I sent an email this morning following up and received an email immediately from Dario saying “ Unfortunately we can not reduce our price to suit your budget. We hold the date till Friday 12th”, to which I was extremely shocked given he was more than reassuring when we met in person that we could work something out. I called the cafe again to be answered by an exasperated Dario who “did not have time” for me and that it’s “not his problem if we can’t afford it”. He spoke so harshly I was crying on the phone, just asking for his time to even reduce things like decorations and the bar tab, to which he said “you can’t go to the grocery store and ask to reduce the price of milk, you are wasting my time”. He then proceeded to put words in my partners mouth, claiming that when we met he said our family would cover any additional costs, which he never said. I was literally pleading on the phone to even meet somewhere in the middle, as I understand the rising costs of everything. I said we could reduce the time of the event, do it during the cafes open hours, but he simply would not have it. I have never been treated so poorly and I’m still crying as I write this. Dario, you have soiled every happy memory I had of this place, and I hope no other customers fall victim to your blatant rudeness...

Over the past five days, I’ve made two visits and had two phone calls trying to make a reservation for approximately 20 people. Each time I spoke with someone, I received either inconsistent or unclear answers, so I decided to visit the café in person to clarify the details. They assured me that I would have the Winter Garden area exclusively for our group. I called later that day and confirmed the reservation with a male manager, only to later receive a call from another male manager asking for the same details and introducing a new condition about a minimum spend requirement, which had never been discussed before. I agreed to it happily, understanding their need to secure a profit from the reservation.

Today, I returned to pay the deposit to secure the area as requested. One of the male managers reconfirmed the details, and we double-checked everything, including the minimum spend and the exclusive booking of the Winter Garden for our group. However, just as I was about to pay the deposit, another male manager approached me, asking for the same details I had already provided multiple times over the last few days. He then changed the terms, demanding an additional payment to book the Winter Garden for ourselves, which had never been mentioned before. He was not willing to help resolve the situation in any way.

I’m still unsure why two different managers needed to be involved in confirming a reservation, making me repeat all the details repeatedly over five days, only to change the conditions again. When I tried to explain the details I had already confirmed during my visit to the café, the second manager was dismissive and uncooperative. I’ve never been so frustrated with a café staff member before. They wasted so much of my time trying to make a simple group booking for my cousin’s birthday.

Now, I feel betrayed, as one of my fond memories has been tarnished. I sincerely hope that there is an improvement in the level of service and hospitality soon, and that this experience doesn’t happen to anyone else.

I would not go back and I would not recommend to anyone.

Previous Review: Love the space and love the food. ♡♡♡♡♡ One of my favorite...