Palm Tree Kitchen — Restaurant in Halifax

When me and my friends first entered the place one of our friends was already there. We waited at the front for the manager. We got no response he continued to clean. We waited I am a server and a bartender myself so I know restaurant etiquette. He never came and greeted, mind you we were the only ones in there. Our friend had to come and get us and we sat down. We decided what we wanted and waited from him to approach us. He never did so we gave him a friendly hail. He then decides to tell us that we have to come up to the bar to order. We were like okay. The menu was very limited but as a fellow Bahamian me and my friends wanted to support so we came back after 8 for the larger menu. When we arrived we were finally greeted by a different server not the manager meech. Everything was well and good the only thing were the tables were very small and shaky. I undestand it’s a new business so funds might be low for new tables. That’s understandable. My friend ended up spilling her drink. She acknowledged that it was her fault. She asked for another drink and the server told us it would be a while because they had a table with 8 people. My friend ordered her new drink at exactly 9:30 she received the drinks exactly 30 mins later. As a server and bartender who takes multiple ordered sometimes tables of 20 people that is totally unacceptable for a drink to take that long. However it was one bartender so we understood. I want to make it clear that we were NEVER EVER informed of that they do not have containers for us to take our food home. Since the drink came at 10 and they close at 10 we just asked for containers. The server informed us earlier that the wings were extremely spicy and they were, so she did not want to rush them. We were told to that there is no containers or foil we can take the food in. We were instructed to hurry up finish the wings or get out.We were baffled by this because we did understand what went wrong. I went up to the manager and asked him if you do not have containers then why did the server fail to mention this at first. I asked him do you marinate the wings overnight and he said yes. I then asked him so how do you cover the wings if you have no wrap or foil or do you leave it open to be contaminated.By the way they did have foil as I saw it in their toaster oven which is way the issue was pressed. Why are you lying ? He proceeds to Avoid the question and tell me there is no way to take the food that we ordered home. I felt threatened and vulnerable as a women as they were very aggressive and I felt unsafe so we left. They energy from the first time we entered the bar was unpleasant but being the people that we are we decided to come back and give it another try. The lies and false accusations were disrespectful especially since we felt so unsafe around them. As a fellow server and bartender I am appalled because there are certain server etiquette that everyone in the industry should uphold and it was not upheld in this instance. My bad advice is more patience and the manager should do yoga as to relieve stress. Maybe that’s why he’s always cleaning. I’m aware that the a response is coming from the restaurant so I would like to ask you. What specifically did we say that was out of line or rude to you? And tell the truth because I can name many specific example from you guys such as when you told us to wrap the hot spicy chicken in paper tissues and get out or when you told us we don’t deserve respect. Some people aren’t meant to own businesses and be servers. My advice is to get a better loan from the bank and get better tables. Wings were fire tho literally ‼️ if you go here DO NOT ENGAGE too heavily with staff never know when they are going to pop off. And do not ordered the pina colada they bartender hates making it and probably won’t. And I want to emphasize WE WERE NEVER told that they do not have container before we ordered we were told this at 10 pm when closing. Maybe come to my restaurant and I’ll show guys how servers and mangers are suppose to act. Bring your own...

Read about this place in The Coast and was excited to read that a Caribbean shop opened in my area and thought I would try it since I love Jamaican Patties. Went there at 12noon one day to grab one and was surprised to find it closed. I thought it was strange. Did I get my dates wrong? Maybe they haven't had their grand opening yet? Googled it and found they open at 12:30pm. VERY unusual hours if someone wants to eat at lunchtime. I had some more errands to run in the area so I circled back at 12:30pm to find another couple waiting. Doors were still locked. We see someone in the kitchen who ignored us. I went to my car while the other couple walked away annoyed and complaining about their hours. I was texting my friend that the shop was still closed and couldn't get any patties for us. I see someone come out about 5 minutes later to put out the umbrella at the entrance. I asked him what time they open. His reply was "around 12:30" I told him it was past 12:30pm now and wanted to know if they were open yet. He said NO and continued putting up his umbrella clearly not bothered by my annoyance that they were not open on time. I decided to go home and make lunch instead. They obviously did not care about keeping to their posted hours or customer service.

I decided to give it another try the other day because of my love for Jamaican patties. It was after 1pm, I walked past and it was dark inside. I held my breath as I tried the door. It was open. I went inside and went to the counter and asked for two Jamaican patties. I was shocked to hear that it is "EAT IN ONLY". I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I asked him again. "I can't take these now and go home?" The reply "We don't do take-out". I was truly shocked. I've traveled to many Caribbean islands and this is unheard of, that you cannot order a pattie and go about your business. This is street food, not dine-in food. I walked out and will NEVER GO BACK. Sometimes people just want to order food and take it back to the office or eat at home. Especially since their menu has a selection of sandwiches. This place will not last long. It's too bad, because I love Caribbean food. I'll take my...

WORST EXPERIENCE of my life. I can not believe I got told that I don’t deserve respect because I asked for a to go box. First of all my drink spilled at 9:14, requested for a replacement and this came out at 10:00pm (closing hours). I couldn’t finish up the spicy jerk wings in time and requested a to go box then all hell broke loose, I got reminded “I spilled my drink”. The tables are so small and wobbly, how won’t you spill a drink(?), I was returning to my seat and the table wobbled and my drink spilled. They have a “no takeout rule” which makes no sense with the long wait times 💀

Got the most dehumanizing experience ever, got shushed by the owner, and I don’t think the owner cares about the customer experience (or maybe he doesn’t care how black women are treated in his establishment), he literally confirmed that to me, I asked if he thought we didn’t deserve his respect and he said “you don’t”.

I didn’t try the food because Meech (the owner) snatched it from me and trashed it (all because he didn’t want to break his “rules”).

Also 4 plantains for $6?? Come on lmao

Update: the owner responded, you can all see his response which are lies. First of all, no one informed us you didn’t have to go boxes, your server got loud and aggressive first, after we requested for the boxes. My friend was literally shaking after speaking to you both. You didn’t ask us to leave, we said good bye after you thrashed the food and my friend said she felt really unsafe.

I should add that he was showing me small plastic containers from his kitchen, I asked why we couldn’t get those and he said he re-uses them for food prep. The restaurant is literally right across the superstore so you know he didn’t care how we felt in his space. The blatant disregard is what was surprising, the staff all decided we weren’t deserving of basic decency at all. Very scary.

One thing is for sure, I see him responding to all the old google reviews, he might actually start giving better service to prove my friends and I wrong, and that’s works out great for...