Tesserae — Restaurant in Atlanta

This was my first time visiting this hotel bar so I was excited to go. Valet were nice and even the host and hostess was nice. The atmosphere is nice. Great views and the dj was jamming. However our waiter Desmond did not match the atmosphere.

He gave the impression that he did not want to be there or he was tired. Either way, his energy did not match the vibe.

Since it was our first time, we asked Desmond for some recommendations. I finally one of their entrees that came with a salad. I asked Desmond what dressing was offered and he said just ceasar so I said I don’t want it then, however he really was persistent in keeping my original order and said he will check on the dressing. Meanwhile, my friend and I ordered a bottle of wine. It took about 10 minutes for our bottle to arrive. Another server brought the wine and just placed on the table with no ice bucket or anything. When Desmond finally came by our table, I had to ask for an ice bucket. I asked Desmond what the the kitchen say about the dressing and he forgot. I said cancel it because he was gone for a long time only to come back with no answer. So I reordered another entree which was a cheeseburger. I did not know that it came with fries because it does not say that on the menu. So I order a baked potato. My friend ordered an appetizer and her entree.

As we sat and waited, we saw Desmond at other tables beside ours. A table that sat next to us came way later and their food came before ours. As we were looking for Desmond, we ended up speaking to a manager that just started 2 days ago. We asked about my friend’s appetizer and how our service been. She was never apologetic nor was Desmond. An apology goes a long way and we never received not one all night. My burger ended up coming out and I was so hungry that I immediately ate it. The fries were horrible and tasted old. I ate my burger and my friend food still had not come out. We asked Desmond what was going on and he just said.. he was going to check. Again no apology. Her food finally came and my baked potato came however it was cold. I told Desmond that my baked potato was cold. He took it back and all they did was reheat the same potato. It was hard.

I finally was frustrated and spoke to Sergi, we expressed our issues and the service that we were receiving and all he kept saying is what would you like for me to do? I said well can I at least get a fresh baked potato. When the “new “ came out.. it was hard and almost looked like the same baked potato. I was just over it and just dealt with the hard old baked potato. My friends crab cake was not good, she said. Desmond never refilled our water glasses.

It was just disappointing and I am tired of spending my hard earned money on poor service in Atlanta. No one apologized and actually I felt as though they were trying to tell us get to the point. We were comp for the horrible sides that we had so I guess that was their way of apologizing. I felt I was wasting their time instead of them wasting our time.

I won’t be back no time soon and if I do come back.. I definitely won’t have breakfast, lunch or dinner there.

There were so many other people complaining about the service last...

We went there to celebrate my sister-in-law’s birthday, when we reach the host we ask her how did the seating arrangement work because we wanted to be on the balcony. She told us it was a first come first serve, so it was three of us with two more to come. We waited about 10 to 15 minutes and then a waiter came over which he was very pleasant. As time passed we had been there for about two hours, we reached there about 6 PM. There was a young lady sitting next to us by herself. She had dinner now sitting enjoying her glass of wine, when restaurant workers can over to her. Hostess, manager and another person alone with a waiter. Now stating the fact, there’s a 90 minute staying time on the balcony, which was never said in the beginning nor posted anywhere. The woman kept stating the hostess never said anything about 90 minutes time frame, hostess admitted to never telling her (as well as us) about the 90 minutes. Within a 30 minutes time frame, they continuously harassed that lady at least about seven times, in the end they end up calling security. The lady was staying in the hotel. The worst part was, she was a black woman, and we noticed three white men speaking with management. As soon as she got up from that table, two young black girls was headed that way to the table where she once sat, only for the waiter to call out Chris, which was one of the white men in the group that wanted the table. Myself and my party, set next to the woman and heard and saw it all. At the end of the day, it felt and looked racist. And we know that for a fact, because each time they went to talk to the lady that was sitting at the table, we noticed the white men looking standing and waiting. And the waiter made it so obvious because he yelled out their name and they came running...

This is our second stay at the Thompson. And we chose this property over other hyatt properties because of Tesserae! The ambience is modern and well decorated. We had brunch two days in a row and enjoyed the window seating the first day, but the booth across from the bar was way more cozy and quiet and we really enjoyed it. The food did not disappoint as expected. The butternut squash soup with burrata was still as tasty as ever and the green goddess salad also had the perfect freshness with its tangy and herby flavor bomb dressing. We had the banana bread elvis toast which was decadent and with perfect sweetness, texture, and warmness. They didnt have any plant based substitutes for my husband's cheese burger, but the server graciously suggested and asked the kitchen for mushrooms to be added and it definitely upgraded the burger experience for this vegetarian . Of course i loved the yogurt parfait. Compliments to the chef!!

What topped off our great foodie experience was the staff! Luis, our server who we had both days was so friendly, warm, and kind always with a smile even when we asked for a replacement for a dish which we thought had meat in it accidentally which ended up not being meat. He was patient and went above and beyond to make our experience pleasant. We also enjoyed meeting Ledy in the elevator while he was bringing the veggies in from the grocery. He also was part of the serving staff and very kind and friendly. Thanks guys!!

PS. Luis's suggestion of drinks are excellent...