ELMO'S — Restaurant in Waitematā

Me and my friends attended a bottomless brunch at Elmo’s Ponsonby yesterday. While the food and drinks were good and most of the staff were lovely, we had a disappointing experience with one server that really put a damper on the day.

When it came time to order, one of my friends (who is on a diet) asked to opt out of the bottomless brunch and order from the normal menu instead. Instead of handling this politely, the server argued with her before finally agreeing — but not without condescendingly emphasizing that she “couldn’t drink our drinks.” It was an unnecessary and uncomfortable interaction.

Later, when serving drinks, she singled me out and asked for ID — but did not ask anyone else at the table. I’m 25, seven years over the legal drinking age, and I rarely get ID’d. I didn’t have my physical ID on me, but showed a digital copy — and then she bizarrely asked me for my star sign to “confirm” it was me. It felt very inappropriate and unprofessional.

When one of my friends asked for another bottle of Prosecco, the same server proceeded to stand at our table explaining, multiple times, how to make a mimosa — talking down to us as if we didn’t know. It felt very patronizing.

To top it all off, they asked for payment mid-meal, which felt rushed and strange, especially considering no other tables around us were treated the same way.

We had been excited for a fun day out, but unfortunately the service from this particular staff member made the experience feel uncomfortable and unfair. Hopefully management will address this so future customers can enjoy the great food and atmosphere without being made to feel...

We booked for the bottomless brunch from 1-3pm last Sunday. Service was pretty bad. We didn’t get served for about 40 minutes - not even drinks. The food was okay, despite the wait. Mimosas seemed pretty watered down, and staff weren’t very attentive with empty drinks and plates. As soon as it hit 3pm we were told the bottomless drinks had ended. We explained we had only had 1 hour 20 rather than the 2 hours that we paid for, and managed to get 1 more drink after the waitress spoke to the Manager. No apology regarding the wait. I understand that there are labour shortages, and would definitely have sympathised with the situation, had the wait been explained, or we were provided some sort of compensation but it seemed like they didn’t really care. Our server was clearly very new to the job, no fault to her, but one of us accidentally got served mortadella ham on a plate instead of the mortadella pizza. You would think that the chefs or someone more senior would have realised that was a bit odd? Our friend then had to wait for his pizza, by that point we had finished our meals. Not much of an apology for that either. Also as an aside - the bathrooms were up quite a few stairs - I really hope there is a separate accessible bathroom for those in wheelchairs/mobility impaired? Won’t be coming here again or be recommending it to anyone else. Look after your...

Super disappointing service - Elmo’s has gone down hill significantly. We booked weeks in advance via email (confirmed by the restaurant) only to be told once we came that there was no booking and no table. Not a single apology for this - however the team did come through and sort a table for us. Not a great start to the evening as we came specifically for a special birthday and the disco hour… more on that below. Once we ordered they were out of multiple things on the menu - so had to choose alternatives. Calamari starter came out and was maybe about 6/7 rings for $25….. We then got wanted to order cocktails and wanted to get the disco special as we looked up on their website - only to be told they had now changed the time…. Initially they were not interested in honouring what was on the website saying that they didn’t have access to it?! The team decided to honour what was on the website - went to order drinks, and again out of basic ingredients for the drink….To top it off they charged a “cakage” fee for a birthday cake, never heard a restaurant do that especially a large group spending a fair amount. All round disappointing, I understand times are tough in hospo and restaurants but this is a great example of how not to attract and...