Marker Seven Coastal Grill — Restaurant in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

My friends and I went to here to celebrate two of our friends birthdays. We had reservations and were seated promptly. The experience started off fine until 45 minutes after ordering we still didn't have our food and a table of four who had been seated after us where almost done eating their food. We asked our waitress where our food was at and their manager came over to tell us that it was being plaited right now. She also decided it was necessary to say that the cooking time stamp was 30 minutes. So either she was lying to us or our waitress had put in our order 15 minutes late. Either way our food was not being plaited right then cause we didn't get it until 15 minutes later. On top of that our food was not hot in fact most of it was barely warm. We ate fast since we where trying to make a 9 show and it was already 8:45 by this point, even though we got there at 7:30. We had decided to let it go since it was our friends' birthday and it wasn't worth causing a fuss over. But when we got our checks there was an applied gratuity of 18%! We where a table of 6 so we were not a large party and the tip was the only way we wished to express our displeasure. We understood that this was not all the waitress's fault but she wasn't an amazing server so she'd didn't deserve an 18% tip to begin with. One of our friends went to complain and this is where the experience went from a bad dinner to the worst restaurant experience of my life. The manager basically wrote my friend off, tried to guilt us into giving the full tip and was out right rude and disrespectful to us. We were not demanding free food or any kind of compensation for the late and cold food, we just didn't want to pay an 18% tip. The manager also tried to tell us that at 7:30 on a Friday night it's normal for people to be here for an hour and a half. Yeah if at least 40 of those minutes is spent eating. We spent maybe 10 minutes eating as I said earlier. She finally said she would take off the tip and she would cover whatever we didn't pay, which was fine, we actually admired the fact that she wanted to take care of her wait staff but what we didn't appreciate was her attitude to us. A little later she comes over and tells us that the system won't allow them to remove the tip so here is the tip in cash, she's paying it for us and proceeds to through the money down on the table and stomp off. I have never been treated worse at a restaurant and will never be...

Ok I made a review right after eating here Thursday and after almost a week I just had to rewrite my review because the food and the service is still standing out in my mind almost an entire week later! To start with I chose this place because it was in the area of the YMCA and would be open earlier than most seafood places in the area giving me time to eat there with my work out buddy and get to work on time. I felt welcome even before I stepped foot in the door thanks to the host. He asked if we wanted indoor seating or outdoor and me and my friend spoke about it for a second and after I mentioned to my friend that surprisingly since losing weight and exercising I sweated more than before so indoor would probably be best the host smiled and said "oh yeah because your metabolism is picking up!" Not only did it feel good to have someone notice that connection but it let me know he was paying attention and was offering service accordingly. Sitting down I remember remarking to my friend that I liked that the theme was nautical but not overly so to the point of being cheap and gimmicky. Our food was absolutely delicious, the kitchen staff know what they are doing for real! I remember being disappointed at first that the grouper filets were so thin because I thought they would be dry, but I was wrong they were crispy yet juicy! That was a pleasant surprise to say the least! And to top it all of our server was very polite and helpful and went above and beyond! I love that he gathered dishes while we finished up the current part of our conversation before asking if we were doing ok or needed anything. I could tell he respected my time with my loved ones yet also made sure we were taken care of and as a food service worker myself I know just how hard of a balance that is to strike. This will now be one of my regular spots and thank you for making me and my friend feel not only welcome but...

Where to even begin with how horrible my experience here was... We waited an hour for our food and watched another table come, order, and leave before we even got our food. When we did finally get our food, it was lukewarm. My grilled fish was overcooked and my broccoli was basically raw. The flavor was fine, it was edible enough but it wasn't worth 20+ dollars. To top if off, when the bill came, they had added an automatic 18% gratuity. We were a low-maintenance table of six and frankly that waitress didn't do anything to earn that kind of tip. We had been there for an hour and a half, of which only 10 minutes was spent eating. So I went up and asked to talk to the manager. I wasn't happy with the wait time, the food or the service, but all I asked is that she remove the automatic gratuity. She acted extremely defensively and started guilt tripping me saying that her poor wait staff was working hard and didn't I know that an hour and half turn around on a table is normal at a "nice" restaurant (it's a grill with paper napkins). I tried to explain the situation, that we had only spent all of 10 minutes eating during that hour and a half, the food wasn't hot, we had watched a table come and go. She basically repeated her argument again without paying attention to what I had said and said since we wouldn't pay for our waitress, she would. By the end of her tirade she was downright rude and belligerent and although, she did return the tip charged to our cards, she slapped the money down on the table when she did so. So in all, the food was subpar and overpriced, and the manager is...