City Winery Atlanta — Restaurant in Atlanta

First things first, I understand that technology is a beast at times and running a business is not for the faint of heart. The major problem is that there was no empathy nor hospitality offered for known issues on behalf of City Winery. Staff met the problem like I was at fault and I just had to be resolved with whatever the outcome was - that isn't behavior that is acceptable for me. I didn't get rowdy, I didn't demand anything, I didn't cause a scene, but what I thought was the best approach was to share about my experience in hopes that it would help the next person who might consider planning on enjoying a great night and spending funds at an establishment that seems to not be capable of salvaging customer retention nor creating a hospitable environment after their own company's failures impacted their patrons. Here is my story...

#1 The tickets that I purchased months before the show were double-booked and I was being accused of attempting to sneak my husband into the venue. The young lady at the front check-in desk insisted that I only purchased 1 ticket, when in fact I purchased 2 tickets - it was insulting to be accused of such a thing. To make matters worse, we arrived prior the person(s) who purchased my already booked tickets, but I was being asked to sit elsewhere? This just did not make sense. On top of everything that already happened, the Manager was called by the same young lady as she didn't seem to want to assist me and now I was approached with the first words out of the Manager's mouth, "What's the problem?" A business rule of thumb is to de-escalate situations and not elevate. Approach your customer and ask, "How can I be of assistance?" or something along those lines. Don't communicate in an aggressive manner unless you want to be met with an intense reaction. Luckily for her, I don't match energies. My reaction is: calm, calculated, and fact based.

#2 Waited for a waitress to take my order for over 25 minutes. The performance was only 45 minutes and after she took my order, she shared that she will try to track me down before I depart because the payment system is down. I barely had any time to consume my dish and then payment was just about done in a rush to avoid losing me once the performance commenced. Don't get me wrong, I tried my best to vibe and embrace the moment of being in my husband's company while being entertained, but it seemed like we were being an inconvenience to your staff. It was just another reason to dislike the experience at City Winery.

#3 While waiting for the waitress to collect our order, another couple joined our table. My husband and I overheard their conversation - their tickets were also double-booked. We engaged in a conversation with them about it and it seems that they were treated with the same lack of customer service that we experienced. Their seats sat empty while they were asked to be seated elsewhere.

In conclusion, I can't speak for everyone, but what I can do is share my distaste for the lack of respect dished out to my husband & I at a beautiful establishment like this. It ruined our experience completely.

Helpful tips for City Winery:

Please provide your staff with better customer service & de-escalation training. A course on hospitality would go a long way and promote/hire/retain the right individuals to represent your business who can uphold your core values. You knew there was a system change, how about checking in your customers using their confirmation via email - this would eliminate any confusion. When in doubt, resort to first come-first serve practices. Seat the guests who arrived first and note the date of ticket purchase. If the other guests arrive and they purchased their tickets first, profusely apologize, state the issue and do your best to have empathy while providing the best solution possible. Don't continue to ruin special occasions as time is precious and it cannot...

Ragan Whiteside, a highly regarded jazz artist, performed at City Winery in Atlanta on April 8th. Prior to attending the venue, I consulted Google and Yelp reviews, which revealed numerous customer complaints regarding venue seating, food quality and portion sizes, as well as the mandatory $25 food and beverage purchase.

Following the concert, I received an email from City Winery, in which they conveyed their appreciation for my attendance at Ragan Whiteside's performance and solicited my feedback on how they could further enhance my experience.

Here's my feedback. I am pleased to have consulted other reviews for a thorough comparison. Essentially, I also agree with the dissatisfaction regarding both the additional $25 food/drink surcharge and seating.

Apparently, food and beverage prices are established to approach or exceed $100. Consequently, concert tickets were priced at $35, which included a $14 ticket fee, totaling $91.98. What is the rationale behind imposing an additional ticket fee on customers?

We acquired two bottles of wine, Sweet & Simple Red and White, for $46 each to meet the $25 per person requirement, after initially paying $20 for a four-glass wine sample, bringing the total to $75.

Total cost to attend the venue was $166.98 for event tickets, wine sampling, and 2 bottles of mediocre wine, excluding out-of-state travel expenses for fuel, lodging, and food.

Now moving to venue seating, the area was ridiculously spacious. The room was approximately 55% full with attendees, but it seemed like the event planners had a chair-and-table-hoarding contest, resulting in a cluster seating arrangement that was super not conducive to the number of attendees, making it tough to turn around without knocking over a chair, and basically impossible to interact with those at your table or other tables without a serious game of Twister.

I was literally squished against the stage and used it to prop my arm on, because clearly personal space is underrated, right?

The sound system was laughably bad. The drummer's monitor was the real MVP. The flutist's mic and monitor were ridiculously low. There was a keyboard player, but he was practically nonexistent. At one point, the artist initiated a sing-along, sitting right next to the monitors, I could barely hear a squeak. Because we knew the song, participation was enabled, but what a total joke.

Sadly, we will not be returning. Why? It is apparent that City Wine, despite its assertions of welcoming feedback, does not place value on or consider constructive feedback to improve its food and entertainment services, as evidenced by the previous and ongoing complaints I read and experienced personally during our visit.

My advice to management is to consider establishing multiple seating plans based on confirmed ticket sales because your cluster rats nest seating should not be the go to arrangement.

Next, I encourage you to consider fire and safety codes to ensure the safest exits in the event of an emergency. The congested cluster seating arrangement has resulted in aisle of less than one foot.

Additionally, it is essential to comply with ADA regulations, as the current seating arrangements do not accommodate wheelchairs.

Finally, ensure that the artist performs the full two hours as advertised. Although Ragan provided decent entertainment, she did not commence her performance at the advertised time of 8:00. Instead, she began at 8:10 and concluded at 9:40, which was unprofessional.

Provide professional MC.

Subsequently, the MC inquired if the audience desired an encore, to which they responded affirmatively. He then suggested we purchase her CD, laughed, and exited the stage. What kind of...

First time going to the city winery. I enjoyed the show, the food and the drinks but the customer service was horrible on Friday, August 16, 2024.

I was sent the attached coupon from inKind for $25 off but every time I went to claim it on the app I would get an error. So I asked who I could speak to so I could ask if they would honor the coupon and they told me to speak with the guest host. I spoke with Andre and he told me they would honor it and he told my waitress Jessica to take it off the check.

In the middle of the show one of the managers Jaycee comes to me and tells me Andre had no authorization to honor the discount and they could not give it to me. I told him I would speak to him after the show and by then he would not even speak with me he sent another female manager over who did not even give me the courtesy of telling me her name, to tell me the same thing and to add that it’s not her fault if someone gave me the wrong information or my app would not work.

It was not the money $25 would not break me but it was the principal I spent $171.36 on tickets and I spent $126.32 on food. The only reason I asked them if they would honor the coupon was because I thought I was in a classy place and I thought they would treat me like a valued customer, but I was mistaken. If they would’ve told me upfront, they could not honor the coupon. I would’ve accepted that and moved on.. I felt it didn’t hurt to ask but it does hurt to be misled or lied to.

I think when an establishment uses an app, they should have clear policies in place regarding the app that all of their employees should be aware of so that the answers concerning it will be consistent, and if in doubt they should direct me to the manager. I also think for goodwill and morale they could have given me the discount since it was promised to me, because the house was packed, everyone was eating and drinking and $25 was a drop in the bucket for them but it’s obvious they’re more concerned with profit than good customer service.

So although this was my first time and I thought I had found me a new venue to go to on a regular basis, I will no longer be able to patronize this establishment and I just wanted you to know why.

Atlanta City Winery you are an urban winery with the owner being from New York. I was proud of that since my husband and I are native New Yorkers from Brooklyn until I experienced your poor customer service. Please do better for the customers you have left going forward.

Respectfully...