Sumac Cafe — Restaurant in Cottonwood Heights

I’ve been a very happy patron for the last year until tonight. There was some confusion on my to-go order that was not really a big deal. I had asked someone else to call it in as I was overwhelmingly busy. I usually order the same thing every week and other that one other time, many months ago, there’s never been a problem. The other time they fixed it and were so sweet. Tonight, I apologized and explained that it wasn’t me who placed the order and asked if they could just switch it up a bit so that I wouldn’t be paying twice as much. I did say that I’d be okay with paying as it was my fault since I wasn’t the one who had placed the order and the waitress said that she had asked twice to clarify. To be clear, I had asked my friend to tell her it was for me and that it was what I always order. But regardless, of how the miscommunication occurred, I’d have accepted responsibility if she couldn’t make the change I asked. Instead of handing it professionally and courteously, as I was trying to do, the waitress ended up yelling at me in front of all of the other patrons. The other waitress was clearly shocked, as was I, and trying to get her to stop yelling at me. The waitress then told me not to come back again, which was a given. Other than the one other minor issue, I’ve always looked forward to eating here. The food isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s good. I have always had great service and sweet conversations with the waitress and so I am truly shocked. The other one kept saying sorry, sorry. She’s just tired. But the final insult that prompted this review was when she flipped me off as I was leaving. Look, I have always been kind to servers and in fact always left more than a 20% tip on take away even. Her behavior was entirely unwarranted.

Reply to owner: Your reply is a lie I have never been rude, ever. I have even left very large tips on days when I came in and your restaurant was empty because I was concerned about how you were faring in this pandemic. I also, clearly in my review, took accountability for the miscommunication in the order. I even offered to pay for it if I couldn't separate the order due to food handling concerns. Your waitress was completely out of line in her reaction. The other waitress there was trying to calm her down. I have since talked to a few members of the community here and they've also seen erratic behavior from the waitress. Also, when I called your establishment (with a Farsi speaking person at hand) your other waitress was clearly overheard on the phone telling the "manager" that she was wrong for her behavior and that she wouldn't lie for her. Everyone who knows me, knows me as a genuinely caring and non-confrontational person. Period. Fortunately for me, I have always preferred Zaferan Cafe on Highland Drive anyway. So at this point,...

I visited this restaurant on Friday evening with my family. We had called ahead and made a reservation. However, upon arrival, we were placed at a very narrow table that I could not even fit into comfortably. I approached the front desk to politely ask if we could be seated at a more comfortable table, there was an empty one nearby that would have accommodated us better.

While I was speaking to the older lady at the front, the woman in the attached photo abruptly interrupted our conversation. She raised her voice and spoke to me in an extremely disrespectful manner, telling me I would have to wait 20–30 minutes all in a loud and confrontational tone.

I did not argue with her. Instead, I chose to take my family and leave the restaurant peacefully. As we were walking out, she mockingly shouted “BYE” and waved her hands in a sarcastic and offensive way. At that point, my wife told her, “You should treat your customers with respect and manners this behavior is unacceptable, we are here with our children.” This experience was deeply disappointing and embarrassing in front of my family. I’m sharing this feedback in the hope that the restaurant management takes it seriously and ensures respectful treatment of all guests in the future. After this experience, I looked through the reviews and noticed a pattern, many of the negative reviews mention this same woman, who appears to be the owner’s daughter. Unfortunately, we got to witness that same unprofessional behavior ourselves. Also, it’s the same woman replying to many of the reviews, often with false or misleading information and without taking any responsibility for...

A pretty looking restaurant with unpalatable food and an even less hospitable staff. This place has one of the rudest and most indifferent staff I've come across. Not only do they mess up their jobs and are unapologetic about it, but they're also rude to your face about it. And this pattern was observed in interactions with multiple staff members. On our visit to the restaurant, first they got our order wrong - we had ordered a vegetarian appetizer and they brought us a meat option. When we pointed it out instead of admitting their mistake they doubled down on it very rudely and told us that that's what we had ordered.. even thought we had cross-checked our order a couple of times. Instead of showing any semblance of regret at the let's call it communication gap leading to poor experience, they walked away indignantly muttering "whatever!". Additionally, there was poor service at the table, no one checked-in on us, we had to ask for water-refills, and several other minor interactions that just left us feeling unwelcome and miffed, to put it mildly.

THE FOOD - Def NOT a place of decent vegetarian food. All their vegetarian dishes are exorbitantly priced for what they offer, not to mention that they simply taste poor. We didn't finish a single vegetarian dish at the table. In fairness, their meat dish was really appreciated.

In conclusion, we're definitely not going back there again. NOT RECOMMENDED.

Update: After going through other reviews, I'm not surprised. Our experience has been echoed in several...