I was very much looking forward to taking my mom to celebrate her 66th birthday with dinner at Rosetta's on 12/29. It was me, my mom, and my 3 year old toddler. As it was our first time at Rosetta's, we took our time to review the menu. I noticed the patrons in front of us were told it would be about a 35 minute wait for food. We were OK with that as my mom was excited about the meal. The lady that took our order seemed, hmmm, I guess the best way to describe it would be "disinterested" but friendly customer service isn't everyone's forte. My name IS Rosetta but sometimes I go by Rose. I shared that bit of information with her, just to try to make the experience a little bit more personable, at least for me. It fell flat. No worries. At this point, I got the impression that people came here strictly for the vegan fare, not for any type of friendly dining experience. We placed our order and sat at the table. After about 45 minutes of waiting, and my 3 year old getting very restless, the waitress came out with food. She called the name "Rose" and I waved my hand. She was not at all polite in letting me know the food was NOT mine. She said "Your order was more complicated. This isn't yours." She walked to the table behind us and gave the food to them. The two people behind us ordered after us. I'm still not sure what made my order complicated. Also, I wasn't sure if she put "Rose" or "Rosetta" in the system for my order. How was I to know that someone else shared my name and was sitting right next to us?? She went back in the kitchen and when we had waited more than an hour, I went to the front to inquire about the food. I asked the guy behind the counter if he could at least get the food for my toddler as he was beyond restless. He asked what order my name was under. I tried to explain to him that I wasn't sure if she put it under Rose or Rosetta. He was BEYOND rude! He went and talked with someone in the kitchen and then came back and said our order was second in the stack. No apology. No concern. And the worst attitude! As I went to sit back at my seat, my 3 year old whined that he would like to stay up front and see the people making the food so I stood and held him so he could watch the food prep. The guy behind the counter leaned over and said "Standing there won't make your food come out any faster!" I was appalled. I was shocked. I was embarrassed. I was upset! I went back to the table and told my mom what happened and she agreed we should leave. Even the two people seated behind us were shocked and said they were sorry that happened and they can't believe our food wasn't ready. I went back to the counter and told them to give the food they were supposedly cooking for us to a needy person. They offered no recompense or apology. I went downstairs and asked for a manager. Someone said "There is no manager on duty but I'm the bartender so I'm basically like the manager." I relayed what happened but was met with indifference and told that somebody would speak to somebody about it. I tried to call over the next few days to speak with a manager but most time the phone went to voicemail. Rosetta's might be the best vegan fare in Asheville but vegan dining options are becoming more popular and we won't visit there again. Also, in an environment that I thought would be liberal with inclusion, I am shocked that with us being the only black family in the restaurant, we felt absolutely excluded and mistreated. People have bad days but we have been in this pandemic for a long time and attitudes should have adjusted to the chaos of our new normal. On our drive back home to Charlotte, we stopped in Morganton to eat and were met with the friendliest of attitudes at another restaurant that was also short staffed and overcrowded. We were treated with respect and they went out of their way to advise us the status of our order. So Rosetta's Kitchen won't be hurt at all because THIS Rosetta will never dine there again, but perhaps there might be a future patron that appreciates a friendly environment ALONG with...
Read moreRosetta's Kitchen is a very cute vegetarian & vegan restaurant located right off highway 40 in downtown Ashville. The atmosphere was very urban and upbeat.. i really enjoy the effort this place puts into their food to make it as eco-friendly as possible.
Aside from the atmosphere, our food wasn't that great at all. I left this evening feeling less than satisfied for the price i had spent on dinner. I ordered the coconut curry (which also comes with salad) for $11. When it was served to me, i immediately took a bite but the food was not fully warm. The meal was not "hot" by any means, but rather barely warm at all. The salad came with it was fresh and had a variety of veggies but the dressing which i got on the side (balsamic) was less than fantastic. My boyfriend ordered the wings (which was also recommended to us by the cashier) but i asked in advance about the serving dive because they are a whooping $10.50 on the menu! Come to find out there are only three wings to the whole meal in which the employees assured us were large and would be enough food, but we could add ONE more wing for another $2.50. The wings can be filling, but the sauce on the outside isn't the best and the taste of these becomes bland very quickly. the "ranch" dip that comes with this dish is awesome! Too bad the things we enjoyed eating most with it were the carrots that came on the side. We both ordered drinks: sweet peppermint tea & lemonade. My peppermint tea was very strong and minty in which i enjoyed, but it was also barely sweet at all. The lemonade wasn't good at all, it tasted very watered down and was also not sweet in the slightest. We ordered a side of fries in which is can say you DO get your money's worth for, and the seasoning in them is fantastic! All together the experience was okay. i have no issue with the restaurant employees or the atmosphere, but the food (or what was recommended to us) could really use some work. I was very unsettled at paying over $32 for two meals that were less than satisfying and certainly not worth as much as its menu price. I'm unsure if i will visit this...
Read moreFirst time going to this highly reviewed, mostly vegan restaurant in Asheville. I dont think we'll be back. My partner and I ordered two special drinks of the day, and only received one. We figured they were busy so we waited to see if they would send it with our food. Nope. Asked the server when she brought out the food about our drink, explaining we would be happy to pay for it if it was missed or something when originally ordering.. she charged us for an additional entree. When I brought it back confused and a little irritated that we paid for another meal, the server and staff behind the counter just looked confused. I reiterated I just wanted the other drink we had originally ordered, gave them back the entree, and went back out to finish eating. The staff behind the counter came back out to confirm one more time what drink I wanted, and then finally the server came back with our other drink and slammed it down. No apologies at any time, no refund on the additional meal we paid for.
Outside of this mess, the food was just mediocre. Ordered the peanut butter tofu, mashed potatoes w gravy, and kale. Tofu was kinda bland and dry, potatoes were porridge consistency, and the super salty gravy was both the only saving grace and the flavor that washed out everything else.
It was busy and towards the end of their night so maybe it was all just bad timing.. but I don't see a reason to go back. I still can't believe they didn't even refund us for the third entree that we sent back.
The 2 stars is really for the ambiance which would've been incredibly nice and romantic, if everything else...
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