St. Cecilia — Restaurant in Atlanta

I recently went to dinner here to celebrate my birthday with a couple of good friends (one black and his spouse white - this will become relevant shortly) Reservations were made ahead of time and it was a week night so no real wait. Upon walking in you notice the style and aesthetic of the restaurant which is very nice. We didn’t really get to enjoy this as much as we would have liked as we were ushered to the very back of the restaurant, near the restrooms, storage, stacked chairs and seated behind a very large pillar.  This pillar obstructed the view of most of the restaurant. As we walked through we all noticed there were several empty tables, but just assumed they were reserved. We didn’t think much of it and we initially brushed it off.

To let you know that I am completely unbiased here, I will let you know the waiter came out and he was exceptional. He was very knowledgeable and attentive throughout the whole evening.  A++ and kudos for our server Richard! The entire staff was very accommodating. All of our appetizers and meals were absolutely delicious. The signature cocktails and wine were top tier as well.

Here is my issue and where I see an area of opportunity for St. Celia. We initially joked about being sat in the back of the restaurant as two of us in the party are people of color.  We really didn't think about it any further as we enjoyed our drinks.  However, as our meals came out another Black couple was seated in the back directly behind us.  Once again we joked about it and brushed it off. Clearly at this point we were already puzzled why we were seated in the back of the restaurant with so many available tables in the main seating area. We wondered if it was our attire, however many other people were wearing clothing far less casual than ours including T shirts, shorts, sneakers. As we continued our meal a 3rd Black couple was seated in the back behind us and next to the other couple. This couple was dressed in evening wear and looked amazing.  At this time we decided to walk through the restaurant and to our suspicion there were several open tables in the front and main areas of the restaurant. However, there were no people of color sitting in those areas.  What we had hoped wasn't true was now very evident. It still amazes me that in 2022 a restaurant in Buckhead would still consciously or subconsciously still have these practices. It was a very disappointing conclusion to our evening.

As a side note, we decided to casually speak with a couple of the service staff out of curiosity.  They reluctantly confirmed this wasn't the first time they've seen this practice. We didn't speak with management about it, because we didn't want to come across as a "stereotypical" minority pulling the race card. We did feel however, this needed to be shared. I am writing this review only to tell you about MY experience. Hopefully, St. Cecilia will see this as an opportunity to improve and those guests who choose to go in the future will find it a different experience.

Unfortunately, this put a huge damper on the ambiance of the evening for us. Given that Atlanta is a city with so many prominent and affluent minorities, this apparent display of discriminatory practices to non-caucasian dining guests is unacceptable and should be modified. While the food, drinks, and service were great, I cannot in good faith recommend St Cecilia for people of color or any guests...

I could have given this Ford Fry restaurant a 5 but here's where they missed: Valet - 5 🌟 from the time we pulled over 2 valet drivers quickly opened our doors and greeted us. Gave clear directions. Pick up was a breeze. We didn't have to wait in a 20 F temp. Reception - 1 🌟 because this is where they went downhill right away. Our reservation was at 615. We were there at 6 so we knew we have to wait a bit. Two ladies were upfront and told us they will call us in once it's 615. I saw several tables that are all set and one table for 4 by the register with plates under it caught my eye and hoped that we will not be seated in that high traffic area. There were a couple of empty tables that are still available so my thought was that its such a bummer if we end up there. We also have kids with us so I assumed they will keep us away from that area. 615 came and I approached the reception lady and she quickly told me that they will let us know once the table is all set, because they are preparing the table for us now. I kept my eyes on that table the whole time and no one made changes to it since we got there. Liars!oh well when they lead us to the table it was exactly the same table that we are dreading to get. My husband was not happy at all and he told her to move us away from the register. The other lady looks new and was startled. She asked us to wait again for 3 mins before she assigned us a new table. Service - 3 🌟 the waiter seemed tired but was kind. Didn't introduced himself. He did not asked us if it's our first time but offered to help understand the menu. He even suggested a simpler menu for the kids. He offered to make sweet tea for my daughter. But does not constantly checks. We had to ask for the dessert menu. Food - 4 star its good as expected and it's smaller portion. We ordered squid ink pasta , penne, swordfish, rice balls appetizer was great and so foccacia bread. Dessert were limited. The sorbet was too sour. The lemon cake was great. Ambience - 5 🌟 we loved the coziness , the high ceiling, music and not being too loud. There were guests as early as 5 but did not get crowded until 8 which is still pretty good cuz every one is still distant not rubbing elbows. The waiters were wearing masks and majority of the guests walks in with masks. We will definitely go back , just hoping that they will improve the service at the reception after all they should set the bar high for this. Pls be more hospitable and attentive. We felt that chikfila does a great job than they did....

Rude waiter, long wait for drinks and food, not worth the hype.

Our group of seven arrived on time for our reservation. Nice atmosphere, but the service was very disappointing. They left us waiting in between each order for a very long time. And our waiter (Will?) was a bit off the cuff with a couple of us on different occasions. He spoke to one of our party like she was an impertinent child.

Our water took about 15 minutes to arrive. Our bar orders? Took a good 30+ minutes and the prices were exorbitant. Another 20 or so minute and bread service finally arrived. One sweet lady in our party asked our waiter if he would mind taking a picture of us and he told her to be patient and walked away. Our dinner order took a long time to come out. I ordered the beef cheek ravioli and was disappointed. It was very salty, and the middle was like beef flavored baby food. Unpalatably soft and bizarre. I only ate a couple of pieces and gave up on it.

Around the two hour mark of us being there, the waiter came by (we were all clearly done and were just visiting) and he did a quick check on us and went to leave again. I spoke up and asked if we could see the dessert menus (hello, cue the “we’re all done here” vibe). He turned to me and said that he would return with the dessert menus when the table was finished and could be cleared, then turned and walked away.

Excuse me? Never in my life have I asked a wait staff for something and had them tell me that I’ll get to have that on their time table. We had all clearly been finished for some time. However, instead of then asking the table if we were finished and ready to clear the table he basically just told me no.

He had us sit around with our finished food and dishes in front of us for another 15-20 minutes, before clearing things and bringing out the dessert menus. At this point we were all ready to go home. It had been a very long, prolonged dinner (going on 2.5 hours). None of us ordered dessert.

When it came to our checks, one of the ladies asked how he wanted us to do our checks and if it was possible for him to split everyone into their own check. He kind of sighed then shrugged and said he COULD but it would take a really long time and be messy. How!?! We all ordered entres and sides for our selves? It’s not like we were asking to split one item three ways? Is that not standard? To offer each guest a check for the meal and items they ordered? What an “experience”.

Colletta at Avalon blows this place out of the water in every aspect. I won’t...