Merchant and Trade — Restaurant in Charlotte

Wow.. & NOT in a good way. Celebrating my 10th Anniversary. We were met at the elevator and immediately was asked for our IDs by the bouncers. It was a polite encounter, but not welcoming. Before going up- he had to radio 6 times that two guests were coming up, in a oddly urgent and serious manner. My fiancé and I looked at each other and thought it was very awkward. He informed us the rules of no smoking/vaping once we got up. We thought that was fine, and we always respect the establishments we visit. Hostess asked if we were needing a table to dine. We declined and stated that we’d like to just grab a drink and enjoy the roof top area. Next encounter was the bartender. Again very awkward and condescending that I didn’t want to choose from their cocktail menu. He made our drinks and then told us there were reserved tables outside, but we can sit at them if we like- but would have to move if asked. About 80% of the tables were reserved, & about 90% of those chairs were empty. To avoid issues, we sat at an unreserved high top. It was an uncomfortable chair, but we just tried to make the best of it. Towards the end of our drink, we thought we’d sit in a more comfortable chair to finish up our drinks. Immediately, we were told by the bouncer we couldn’t sit there. I explained what the bartender said- and would’ve understood if it was busy- but he wasn’t having it. The specific table we sat at said “reserved for wait list”. There wasn’t a wait.. at all. I asked if we should speak to the hostess, and get things situated- he impolitely said “yeah sure if you want”. We spoke to the hostess and we’re told No, that it’s on a waitlist, and it needed to be bussed. A man had just bussed it before we sat down… and WHAT WAIT LIST?? I was so confused. We said we were about done with our drinks and just wanted to spend a few moments in a more comfortable chair. Again, we were told No. Just No. At that point we just decided to leave. It was frustrating.. Spent $30 for 2 drinks and we couldn’t even sit down at a barely filled rooftop without getting an earful of their rules- and staff that has no intention of coming to a resolution for their customers. Very snooty establishment and I wouldn’t come back- nor would...

Came here to celebrate a birthday with some friends. When we arrived we put our name down on the wait list for a table outside. They said it would be around 15 minutes so our group got drinks at the bar. Once seated the waitress came over multiple times asking if we would like more drinks even though we weren’t finished with the ones we had. Then the manager came over, asked if we were seated at our table by a hostess or if we just sat ourselves. When we told her we were seated by a hostess she asked us what name we were under, we said Taylor and she said no we don’t have a reservation under Taylor. (Laughing) She’s convinced we just sat ourselves. We said we didn’t have a reservation, we put our name on the waitlist. She continues to say that if we want to sit at this table we have to order more drinks. In her words, “so you’re gonna order more drinks right?” then she walks off. The entire encounter with this manager was extremely rude. Our waitress was around after that but didn’t bother to speak to us. We decided to leave even though we wanted to stay longer. We felt so mistreated. As we walked out, I saw the manager and stopped her. I explained to her that we were planning on ordering more drinks but since she was so rude, we decided to leave instead. She tries to cover up her rudeness by saying that while we were seated our waitress said we got up to get drinks at the bar. This is completely untrue. I have worked in the restaurant industry for 8 years, my friend in our group for 10 years. We know how to treat our servers and we know how we should be treated by a manager. That was the worst example of a manager I’ve ever seen - I’ve always been taught that the customer is right. If a bar is set up where there are multiple outlets of getting a drink (indoor bar, windows on the patio to order drinks) and you expect people to wait for a table without ordering a drink, maybe the mentality and structure of the bar is the problem, not the customer. Or maybe you should allow your bartenders to transfer tabs over to the cocktail waitresses. Just because we’ve been seated doesn’t mean I’m going to chug the $14...

Ambiance: we went in the evening, so I can’t speak towards the lunchtime vibe, but it’s quite gorgeous at night, and definitely the nicest spot I’ve seen in Charlotte so far (at least in terms of rooftops). The lighting was perfect ;not too dim to navigate/read, but not too bright to drown out the view. The view wasn’t anything impressive; I realize they don’t have much to work with in terms of the skyline, but it was only the 19th floor so it wasn’t high enough to escape the city’s light pollution and enjoy the stars, but still low enough to appreciate the parking lot next door— but overall it was an okay view of the city, such as it is.

Apparently they had an in house “DJ” but the music was pretty quiet (which was fine with me since we came for dinner). There wasn’t really any appreciable dance floor, so I’m a little confused as to who that was for? So if you’re coming here for anything other than dinner/drinks, you’re SOL.

The crowd is maybe 30s-50s but I saw a bachelorette party and a wedding party so you get people turn up on “occasions” as well.

Food: My meal was decent, and well-priced for what I had, but nothing to write home about. The chocolate cake was pretty bomb, however, and I’d probably go back just for that.

Service: We had to wait for half an hour in line outside the building; which is fine since it was a nice summer night, but why? It’s not a nightclub.. they weren’t at capacity (that’s for sure). I’m still confused as to what that was all about. We just wanted dinner, and would happily have put our names down and waited for a call as most restaurants do.

We eventually managed to get up and we’re seated at one of the bars, but our bartender was incredibly rude and ignored me several times as I was trying to order. She even pulled the menu out of my hands at one point to give to another customer while I was attempting to get her attention! They really only have a single dinner menu? Seems like an oversight.

Overall: I’d probably go back here just because there aren’t many options in terms of rooftop restaurants, but i wasn’t...