East Side Mario's — Restaurant in Hamilton

this was my first time coming here and i was super excited. i came with a group of friends, and one of them comes here all the time she loves the experience but we did not feel welcomed at all.

the moment we walked into the restaurant, there were 3 hosts but they all had their backs to us. they were talking and didn’t seem to notice us until a minute later. they were super nice but it was such a bad first impression, especially as someone who works at a restaurant and was a host as well. i had to say something to get a table instead of being asked because they just stared at us, so we didn’t feel greeted at all.

our server didn’t seem nice, i don’t think i saw him smile once. he was very monotone, didn’t introduce himself and kept giving one word responses as if he didn’t want to be there. “yep!” “okay!” and wouldn’t even look at us. he sounded very sarcastic and we did not feel taken care of at all. since it was our first time there, we asked questions about the menu and how the AYCE worked but he would just tell us he’d give us a few minutes to think, instead of trying to talk to us. i feel like as a server, you should’ve introduced yourself, asked how we were, and if we knew how it worked there. we didn’t get his name, but he was bald and had facial hair. kinda looked like andrew tate. i just want to mention though that this girl server at the booth section by us sat a couple and i noticed she was standing there for a good 2 minutes at least talking to her customers. she seemed like she was taking care of them well.

i get it was busy at first, but lots of tables billed out later on and he only checked up on our table once or twice the entire hour and a half we were there. didn’t even get asked for a water refill until we paid and were about to leave… at first i didn’t feel off but it all just built up from his attitude. he wasn’t very attentive at all. i always tip, even if service isn’t the best but this time i really didn’t enjoy my experience. (the food and atmosphere were great though, the place seemed pretty clean.) the last thing that really killed my mood and was the CHERRY ON TOP was when we got up and left, i heard our server talk out loud to a guy on his laptop at the bar and say something like “well i didn’t make any money today!”...

We decided to go to this location for dinner this past weekend. We had to wait about 15 minutes which was nice, since it seemed to get super busy after we arrived.

We were seated and ordered our meals-- I wanted to order the soup and salad-- and was told that the price increases for Dinner-- from the lunch menu to 16.99 I believe it was, so the waitress had suggested that I order a pasta that includes the soup and salad-- so I did that.

I ordered a soup to start-- Italian wedding-- note, they have changed their soup provider-- this was not as good as it used to be. Then after that I ordered a Cesar salad (which was basically what I came to east sides for-- soup and salad due to my dietary preferences). Just AFTER I ordered my salad, my daughter was unfortunately sick to her stomach and we had to take everything to go. As my husband was bringing my daughter out to the car, I stayed to pack everything up and pay the bill. I requested my salad to go (the salad that I had already ordered).... the waitress said that she spoke with the manager and they were unable to give me the salad to go -- THIS IS WHAT I CAME FOR.... I wouldn't have ordered the pasta meal if I knew I wouldn't have been able to get what I had intended on ordering when I got there. You would assume that this was extenuating circumstances-- it was not our intention to leave, but we were not going to stay with a 4 year old who was just sick to her stomach.

Whoever hired that "manager" should look at their decision and competence in their higher management- this was a simple fix and now we will not be returning customers to East Sides- sad because we have always had great experiences here.

Side note, the meatballs on the pasta my husband ordered were VERY dry on the top-- like they were sitting under the heat lamp for way too long....

One more note, thank you so much to the one waitress (who was not even our waitress for the evening) to take the time to talk to my daughter after she was sick. To ask her if she was ok and to help clean her up. That was super thoughtful and kind-- huge KUDOS to you!

Thanks again for the memorable meal East Sides.

Edit: the owner of this establishment offered to send me a gift card. That didn't happen. Not that I would...

I come here all the time and usually always have great service but today was horrible! I came in tonight with 3 of my friends and when I walked in, I was not greeted by any of the hosts. There were three of them at the very front and all of them had their backs to us and were chatting.

Once we were sat down (after waiting for a bit), we noticed they forgot a plate and cutlery for one of us. Our server who was this short bald guy with a moustache (didn't catch his name) was not very welcoming. His entire service consisted of a monotone voice and one word responses. Never caught him smile one time.

We received our food, but they forgot one of our pastas. It took him very long in between every request, and we were only checked up on once during the hour we were there. We did not get a water refill until the very end right before we paid.

I also want to note that the restaurant did not seem full when we first arrived, it was only until maybe 10 minutes after we were seated that the restaurant cleared out and we were one of the few tables in that section. Every time we saw him his attitude kept getting worse. We decided we were finished and paid for the bill. Right as we were walking out, we saw him talking to someone sitting at the bar and say “looks like I didn’t make any money today!” and pointed in the direction of our table.

Every time I come here, I always have a good experience. The servers are always friendly and I always tip! This guy made me feel very unwelcomed and not taken care of which I feel is the sole responsibility as a server. The food was great and the vibe of the place was nice but it is safe to say I will not be...