Mesero - Prestonwood — Restaurant in Dallas

I had a very upsetting frustrating experiance today , Monday June 25 2024. I tried with three calls to the restaurant to arrange a slightly different way of settling the check. The restaurant seems to demand that with a certain number of persons that they present one check and then the patrons must work out for themselves ehat each person pays. I simply first asked that if this was their policy because of a larger group that we were ok with two tables. When two of us arrived i said we were there to lunch as agreed. And that two tables were booked per their policy. She said “ oh we could have one table, ok, fine… then lunch proceeded , food was fine, server communicated that he was not best pleased woth serving a large group, ok , i understand this as i have served. So, ehen it was time for the check, he presented the total check for us to work out who pays what for ourselves. This exactly what i had tried to avoid with the three calls. I hate hate the messy silly time wasteing money all over the table and one person having to figure out!!! It ruins the whole event for me and several other ladies at the table. So,what i had ask for three times was that the server total ( really the machine) the whole bill add the tip and divide by how many ladies were there so that we all pay the same thing and it is easy to use our credit cards. Some do not carry cash with them, so this business continues as that person or persons must follow up and reimburse the ladies who paid for them. Messy !!!! I sat there but as we rose to leave i did speak to the server, i am not sure he had been spoken yo by the hostess at all. Ok again, three calls!!!!! I asked to speak to the manager, a young woman, as she came up, I knew what had happened, probably. Company simply has one way they handle larger groups of people ( ok, tried to agree to the two table rule, what i was told on a phone call. ) also did say that i felt she could not deal with my request as it was a man thing. That server probably just would not change his usual way of handling this situation , maybe could not compute my request, really easier for him. But, i am slow to anger and avoid getting upset if at all possible . If they simply would not or could not handle this dimple request, just say so and we would have chosen another restaurant that could. Instead, i will never dine with you again ! And i certainly will express my disappointment about the messy silly time wasteing money all over the table and the chit chat about who owes what…. Oh the nice young lady manager offered a gift card, I and the other lady who stayed with me, absolutely did not want a card or any other exchange to try to fix an unfixable issue. Also, some of the miscommunication probably was about the way some communities treat the women in their lives, work or out of the work environment. I am a native Texan and have observed this over many years. Hispanic men simply are accustomed to ordering women about. In turn women in this community are raised to not command and direct men. They are just not heard. I explained that i was not unhappy with her , she obviously knows how to run the restaurant or management would not have placed her there. She completely understood my concern but probably is unable to adjust what the usual procedure. It is not a good procedure for some customers, and the other way I wanted that bill handled was not difficult with the computer in the register. I will not go back because of the disregard for their customers, also, that server may just be unhappy with being made to serve a larger group. We were easy, with no drink orders or changes to the restaurant’s menu. I will not spend money with them again, and if the restaurant is suggested again , i will ask if we may dine somewhere else. After all, Dallas is fortunate to have a large number of very good restaurants. I think I am not the only lady or man who dislikes the messy money business at the end of a nice time. Disappointed...

I went for lunch with two co-workers today, and it was our inaugural visit for all of us. On first impression, the space is open with lots of natural light, modern and clean-lined but also comfortable and warm-looking - white walls and unfinished golden wood, and an entire wall of windows looking out onto the large patio. The two-seater booths look especially inviting. Very well done. Five stars for ambience. Our waiter, Padraam, was excellent. Very welcoming and personable, knowledgeable about the food, attentive. He gets five stars for his perfect balance of professionalism and personality. Food - the different salsas were all delicious and a fun way to open the meal. Pachi pachi was my personal favorite, and don't neglect the opportunity to order the other two varieties on the menu that don't come out with your chips if you like smokiness and a little more heat. The sopa de fideo was delicious, more depth and complexity of flavor than what I can usually find in a restaurant. (I will be going back for a larger bowl, and will sit at the bar happily eating nothing but that.) The tacos were also very good. The pollo was especially tasty, with a lot of components and textures and wonderfully moist, seared shredded chicken. We finished by splitting desserts - both the cinco leches cake (simple and delectable) and a choco-flan cake (moist rich chocolate with a layer of creamy caramel flan on top) - both very good, as was the coffee.

I have deducted one star from the review due to two personnel issues:

If there is even a bite of food left on a plate, please ask if the customer is ready for you to take it away. I was moving my soup bowl out of the way when my entree came but wasn't done with it, and three different people tried to take it out of my hands without asking if I was done. My co-worker's plates still had a lot of food on them, and I watched as their plates were taken out from in front of them without anyone asking first. Thank goodness they were actually done, but I felt the need to guard my plate to be sure my remaining food would be boxed up. I appreciate the efficiency and the diligent level of attention and service, but please slow down enough to say "may I take this plate?"

I booked my reservation on Open Table, which I use constantly, and I'm always extremely conscientious about cancelling if I need to. I've worked in the restaurant industry for years, and would feel terrible holding someone's table hostage. The restaurant was not busy, as we went before noon. We did show up MAYBE five minutes late due to my boss having to finish a phone call, but I know that there is usually a short grace period (15 minutes) so thought we were fine and didn't call ahead. The restaurant reported us as a no-show. I don't know if it was due to not being there right on the minute, or if the hostess didn't log us despite giving my name at the stand. I have responded to the email I received from Open Table to assure them that we did attend our reservation, but it definitely hit a sour note and deducted a bit from...

Went there on a Saturday afternoon to celebrate my mom’s birthday with a few of her friends. Called a few days prior and the person who took the reservation was very nice and kindly explained that since we were a big group (~10 ppl) everything would have to be in one check. I had absolutely no problem with that, I am also a server and understand that it is just easier that way and helps with faster service. I did let my mother and her friends know this before we got to the restaurant so that we could keep track of who ordered what. The hostesses, the manager that checked up on us and the people who helped run our food were very sweet and inviting, they get 5/5 stars. The reason for the negative side of this review was our server, who seemed to have a problem serving a Hispanic table which is funny considering she was Hispanic herself. When she came to greet the table some of the ladies in my group replied back in Spanish and it just baffled me how quickly her smile dropped and attitude changed. I guess we made it even worse when my mom told her we were gonna be doing separate checks before I quickly corrected her and reminded her that they had already explained to us that it had to be all in one. Look I get it, like I said I’m a server too I know that Hispanic tables get a bad rep for being bad tippers but that is not an excuse to be rude and have an attitude, specially when gratuity is already included so you’re gonna make money no matter what. I made sure nobody in my party would run her around, or act difficult but yet her attitude remained the same. Even at the end when she came to pick up the check and I had put $100 in cash and the rest to be put on the card she gave my sister and I a nasty stare like she was annoyed and said “what am I supposed to do with this?” I don’t believe in not tipping somebody because of a problem with service so we tipped her extra on top of the automatic gratuity. But it was very hard for me not to say something right then and there, that’s why I had to chew on it for a few days to see if it was worth saying something about it. And again I’m sorry about the negative review because the rest of the staff truly were great, I just don’t understand why this server in particular had such a...