Apres Diem — Restaurant in Atlanta

Last Saturday (10/4/14) my friend and I decided to grab a bite before our 7:30 p.m movie. It was around 6:15 p.m. when we arrived at Apres Diem. We went straight to the launch area. All the spots seemed to be reserved, as they all had the little paper reserved sign. We asked one of the lady servers if there was anything available at the launch. She said that one of the spots was reserved for a party at 7:30 p.m. She said that we should have plenty of time and she didn't think there would be a problem for us to sit there as long as we were gone before 7:30 p.m. Fair enough.

I have to say that the lady serving us was great. She recommended good dishes and good drinks. No complaints about her.

So around 7:00 p.m. we were closed to be done with our meals when the server showed up. She looked somewhat worry and she explained that the party had arrived early and they had requested that table. She asked us if it was O.K. for us to move to another table. I asked her if we could have just 5 more minutes so we could finish with our meals and drinks. She let us know that her manager had told her to move us to another table. She was very nice and she mentioned that she was embarrassed to put us in that situation. I totally understand her position. I was a server for several years and we follow order form our managers regardless if we agree with their decisions or not.

So we moved to another table but I asked the server that I needed to speak to the manager before leaving. Minutes later the manager came to our table and I expressed my disappointment. I understand that the table was reserved, but we could have been given 5 minutes to finish our drinks. He explained that he was doing the best he could to make everyone happy, BUT there were 15 people at the party. In other words, they were priority.

I asked him if numbers was more important than the quality of service, which he replied YES. In the hospitality and restaurant serve, managers are, or should be, trained to make every single guest comfortable. To tell a guest that he/she is not a priority for the restaurant, it's not acceptable.

I cannot complain about the service provided by the waitress. She was great. The food from Apres Diem is less than average. The cleanliness of the restaurant is also disappointing; and the management, at least the manager we dealt with, should not be in the industry. I will NOT go back to the place and I will make sure to let everyone I know of the way Apres Diem run...

I must say I was very excited to spend my Father's Day brunch at Apres Diem as a surprise by my wife because of the ratings she saw, but my experience left an everlasting bad taste in my mouth. As my wife, my son, and I chatted while waiting on the waitress my 2 yr old son decides to do what he ALWAYS does which is take the sugar packets and line them up in order and match them with the color which keeps him calm and busy. We allow this because it sooths him, so we continue to indulge in our conversation when the waitress, whose name is Flavia, came by and took our drink order which seemed like an ordinary action. Immediately aftet she finished taking the drink order, for no reason at all, she reached in front of my wife and began to take the sugar packets from my son as he was playing and lining the them up. And when she didn't get the rest she went behind my wife and grabbed the rest leaving my son with only 3 of the packets left in his hand. He began to be sad and looked at us with confusion! In the moment of that event we were in shock as to what Flavia was doing!! Our son was bothering no one, he wasn't loud, he was in his comfort place. As she took the sugar packets and container away we thought she was probably bring new ones or something,...No, she returned to take our order not replacing our sugar packets. Now that the event has been explained I want to express my COMPLETE and utter DISGUST for Flavia's actions! You DO NOT take ANYTHING from my kid without CONSULTING me or his mother!! And it is rude to reach in front of my wife or ANYONE to commit such a cruel act towards a 2 yr old. Apres Diem, is the level I am to expect??? I mean seriously!!! Each and every person that works there is a representative of Apres Diem and when one person performs bad it reflects on the establishment because its the only experience that patron will have. They don't get see the manager, the cook, or the mixologist, they see only the waiter or waitress!!! I am still angry and upset at what was done to my kid and in front of us!! Needless to say I will NOT return to this establishment ever. While my experience was less than desired I want other patrons to read my review and experience the place for themselves, but be conscience of how service is provided to you and your family because you all deserve a level of respect and courtesy especially when you spend your money and time...

It was my Grandmother’s 85th birthday and I asked discreetly, do you guys do anything for birthdays ? The waitress said yes. As time goes by another waitress came out and brought a bill for a piece of apple pie and ice cream. This is after we just paid for our meals. Plus she ruined the surprise for my grandmother by telling her the piece of apple by was burnt and to remake it. I had no idea that the piece apple pie plus the additional fee for ice cream was a cost. I simply asked what do you do for someone’s birthday. It could have been easily communicated to me that it was a fee. Most restaurants offer complimentary treats for someone’s birthday and that did not happened. In the process of looking for the 2 waitresses that came to the table to correct the error I talked to another waitress who was very rude and nasty. Trying to make a point that didn’t make sense. Then I talked with the original waitress and said since it was a miscommunication she was going to discount it for me. She had to get the approval from the manager and the manager Isabella came back and was no help at all. She was very rude and didn’t care I was a 1st time customer and that her staff had a communication error. So instead of paying nothing, to half , to finally paying for the whole thing. I really felt it should’ve been comped because the staff drop the ball and had no communication plus the whole surprise was ruined for my 85 year old Grandmother. This is my first time out in months since the pandemic and I was really excited about going out to spend with my family but ended up a nightmare. The whole issue I have is the principal. People need to know if they are paying extra for something. It is a pandemic going on and I am paying customer that is helping your business stay afloat and I shouldn’t have been treated that way. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. The staff especially the manager on duty and one of the waitresses was very rude and...