East Side Mario's — Restaurant in Woodstock

My husband and I have had lunch at this location on a few occasions and really enjoyed the food and service. Our last experience as a family was the worst we have ever had eating out. As a person who worked in the service industry for 20 years this is saying a lot. When entering the restaurant we were not greeted by the host staff. They asked how many, without saying hi, and sat us in a booth that we could barely get into because of the location of the table beside us. The seating felt unsafe in the case of an emergency. This was mentioned to the server and they did not seem to care about the atmosphere created. It took almost 10 minutes for drink orders to be taken. A member of our party asked for a lime in the drink and it was never received. We did not have cutlery for about five minutes after our salads had been delivered. We asked a passing server if we could have cutlery and they seemed irritated by that request. At one point a larger chunk of cheese dropped from the grater to the salad, the sever used his dirty hands to pick out the large chunk of Parmesan and the threw it on the table. Our food was very slow, however it was all adequate. No complaints about food quality. We had empty drinks many times in the experience and had to hand plates and cups to the server in order for dirty dishes to be cleared. Once we had completed our meal, we waited 25 minutes for our bill. Our dinner plates were never cleared and the children in the party never received the dessert requested. We used a card to pay and it was approved during the transaction but the printer ran out of paper before the receipt could be printed. The server insisted that the bill was not paid and wanted us to pay twice. It was offensive that he would assume we did not want to pay our bill. Especially when we waited almost half an hour for them to bring it. We had to call a card company to prove to the server that the payment had been completed. Sadly, this was when the server was suddenly most interested. In total, we were at the restaurant for two hours. We asked to see a manager to discuss our experience but the server did not bring over the manager as requested. I can see from reviews that this is not a typical experience however, it was the experience we had. I will never return to...

I will never eat here again. This was a while ago but me and my boyfriend sat in the bar. The service was casual and overall underwhelming. I’m a server myself at casual upscale restaurant and I guess we are just trained to do more. But hey, I’ve been serving for 8 years and regardless of where I was working, I would not of done what this server did. Me and my boyfriend have some visible tattoos, not uncommon for people in Woodstock. He works close by and was in his work uniform that features his company name/logo. He wanted to go out to vape and I went to keep him company. I left my purse in full display on the table, as our server was not around to let her know we’d be stepping out. As we stepped out to stand near our vehicles we were chased out by the server, like she’s some cop or something, to stop us from running out on the bill, which is hilarious. Just because people have tattoos doesn’t make them crooks. People step out for a smoke/vape all the time. I could have just been getting something from my car. Was I going to leave without my purse and phone? Clearly your bartender had some prejudices. Usually managers pick bartenders based on merit. Maybe you should pick better. You go out to feel at home, for hospitality and a warm meal. Not to be made to feel like a criminal while spending over 100$ plus tip, because as a server I can’t leave anything less than 15%. Train your staff better. My boyfriend tried to message you about this and got some piss poor response. Genius concept: if someone leaves their purse on the table, they are probably coming back. The food as well was mediocre, no where near as good as it once was. I would always get the seafood linguine and for what it costs it was not to standard. Hope this place goes...

If you are looking for a family friendly experience with wonderful food, great atmosphere and even better staff look no further than East Side Mario’s!!! We have been to East side Mario’s many times over the years… but tonight’s experience took things to the “next level”! We had the pleasure of be served by the most amazing server named: Chris! It was my daughters birthday and she was having a “grumpy moment “ shortly after arriving… my husband and I were struggling with “do we stay or do we go” as most parents would with a grumpy tween… then we had Chris come over to our table with a huge smile and great suggestions… we explained that we hadn’t had much time to look at the menu as we were dealing with some “grumpy behaviour “…. CHRIS TO THE RESCUE! This man…. Took a tense situation…. And made the girls smile and laugh … my husband and I smile and laugh… and turned all of our frowns upside down! Not only did he have the very best energy with smiles, humour and attentive behaviour but he also made wonderful suggestions and as to a meal upgrade for my husband which he absolutely loved! After taking a moment and speaking with the most wonderful warm manager who was unbelievable as well… I quickly see the staff environment that she is fostering! If you are looking for…. GREAT FOOD AND EVEN BETTER SERVICE please ask for the superstar named Chris that is sure to put a big bright smile on your face! Thanks Chris and Staff for making my daughter’s birthday dinner unforgettable in the...