Cirque Daiquiri Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Atlanta

I believe my two-star rating is very generous but I will explain my reasoning. Instead of taking them to the normal place I'd go, I decided to take them to Cirque expecting a decent experience. I've eaten here before and hated it but I was hopeful things would've improved. When I arrived at the valet, I paid, and the gentleman asked me If I wanted him to park my car. I simply parked it myself. When we entered the door there was a sign that said please seat yourself. Because we had a party of 9 there weren't any tables arranged for a large party. I spoke to one of the bartenders and he advised me to stand at the door and wait to be helped. After realizing I was not going to be greeted by anyone I went back to the same bartender and asked if we could move the tables ourselves and he said yes. I noticed there were only two servers on the floor. When we sat, our server stopped by and took drink orders. She was obviously very overwhelmed. There was a woman who I perceived to be the manager and she was working very diligently. For this reason, I have given two stars and not one. I will say, mostly everyone was doing their best. However, the rest of my party arrived and things took a downward turn. We waited over an hour for drinks. We ended up walking to the bar to get our own drinks and purchase more. The managers stopped at our table 11 times (I counted). We didn't eat for nearly three hours and other tables had come and gone while we waited. When food finally arrived, only three of nine orders came out and I asked to speak with the manager again. I explained to her how we had slow and practically no service, we asked for silverware for the entire table because only three people received silverware, they returned with brand new silverware that had not been washed, I explained that only a third of us had food. She quickly replied that had the server told her, she would've ensured that we had everything and walked away. At this point, everyone in our party was upset. We watched the server work the entire floor with only one person to assist and as more staff members poured in, instead of assisting the two opening servers, they began serving their own guests and the opening servers, with more tables than anyone could handle, were in the weeds for hours. I was disappointed to hear the manager blame the server instead of taking responsibility for what seemed to be an operations and management issue. When our food finally came, of course it was cold and many plates were incomplete. I asked to speak with the other male manager and he was completely aloof. I learned that he was in training and I assumed he was doing the best he could. Again, he was working and I noticed that many tables were upset and they tried their hardest to be pleasant and provide solutions. However, at this point many of us didn't eat our food and after waiting three hours we were upset and ready to leave. I asked for checks and other guests asked to speak with the manager again. The gentleman came over and made matters worse. He advised that he would comp the food and we told him we were more than welcome to pay for drinks and alcohol. He came back and told us the bill was $300 and asked if it was fair that we came up with $100. I said no its not fair but we don't have a problem paying for drinks and tipping our server more (I had already tipped her over a third of the bill). He retorted with "you all ate food" and I replied many of us actually didn't eat food and if you can actually determine who did and didn't we will pay for it and leave. At this point, there are only four of us waiting to pay. He finally says "at this point I think there's nothing else left for us to do and we will take care of the food." Overall piss poor management. I'd be embarrassed to work here and have provided this type of experience to anyone. I have been a General Manager for years and opened five restaurants last year so, this perspective isn't a limited one. I will NEVER eat here again and I will be sure everyone I know doesn't eat...

Quick Read: The overall message of the review below is that Cirque has become an establishment with poor customer service, poor communication, and poor attitudes combined with an unhygienic environment.

Long Read: I went to Cirque on a Saturday night. As usual, I expected to be charged for parking and was charged $10 cash only – this was not a big deal. However, after paying to park, I entered the establishment to pay for the $10 cash only cover charge, to be even offered a table or a place to sit. Paying a cover charge was new to me as I have patron here multiple times over the years without a cover charge; however, paying was not a big deal either. When I paid to park and entered the building, and one of the employees (who I thought was a hostess, however, claimed to be a manager) told me there was a wait, I had a problem. After paying, the hostess/manager said that I would have to wait OUTSIDE the establishment IN THE RAIN for a seat or table. When I asked how long the wait would be, the hostess/manager would not give me a time frame. Being told that there was not only an unforeseen waiting period but also that there was no defined time associated with the wait, AND the wait had to be outside in the rain, was utterly unacceptable after taking payment in the parking lot and at the door. I asked the hostess why no one communicated there would be a wait and the wait would have to be outside in the rain when I pulled in to pay to park. The hostess/manager told me the parking attendants are not a part of the Cirque management establishment; however, when I asked the parking attendant the same question, the parking attendant told me that parking did indeed fall under Cirque management. So not only does Cirque have terrible customer service, communication, and attitudes, but the employees are also liars. I asked for a refund, as I refused to wait in an unpleasant environment I was not privy to before paying, and the manager refused. I am not sure what has happened to the establishment over the years, but this is an unfortunate first, and I will not be back. Advice for those who have frequented here in the past, do not return! There are other establishments with daiquiris and better integrity than the employees currently...

Came here on a Friday night around 9/10pm with a party of 4. There was a line and we waited about 20 minutes or so. Expected, it’s the weekend. They were allowing people who wanted to sit at the bar or patio to skip the line which we did not want so we chose to wait. When we got in we were asked for ID and had to pay a $20 cover charge. Felt this was a bit odd being it’s more so gives restaurant vibes than a bar/lounge. We were seated and our waitress came to take our drink orders and food. I used to visit The Daquiri Factory years ago and heard that it was closed and moved to Cirque so I came with the same expectations as far as drinks and the menu. It was definitely very similar to what I remember. They were out of the drink that I originally ordered which was a bummer and after I ordered an appetizer about 10 mins later she came back to tell me they were out of that as well. However, the food came out VERY fast! I was soo shocked because I anticipated waiting forever bc of how busy and packed they were! I ordered grilled shrimp tacos which was the same thing i use to get back at The Daquiri Factory. My order was wrong, as they gave me fried shrimp tacos so it had to be sent back but she was apologetic and it came back out within a reasonable time. the tacos were good however they only gave me 4 pieces of shrimp on each taco, and they were cut up pieces not whole shrimps. The tacos I remember were loaded with shrimp. I know we’re in a different time now and the cost of food have increased but the taste of it was very good and just like how i remember. No one in my party had any complaints about the taste and quality of their food. The only downside with the establishment was how loud the music was! I’m usually fine with loud music I like clubs and going out but I’m not sure if we were just seated in the wrong spot or what but when we left none of us could hear for the rest of the night! I know the workers will need hearing aids by the time they’re 30 . So that’s why I took off 1 star as well as the small issue with my order. Overall, great spot and will be back when I’m in...