Restaurant Beatrice — Restaurant in Dallas

My birthday was ruined.

This place deserves negative stars. Extremely overpriced. Service 1/10. Food 2/10. Ambiance 2/10 black paper wallpaper and funeral like menu print out I can’t describe how depressing it was.

The service was very subpar. Our waiter Phil was nice, but was not trained properly. He mentioned an a la carte menu but when asked to see the menu with prices he said “the menu and prices are all in my head”. He told us he could put us together a sampler but didn’t tell us that the “sampler” was just all the appetizers at full price on a big plate. What a “sampler”. He then tells us it is $14 for an a la carte side of 1 PIECE just 1!!! Of fish or chicken. What kind of a la carte is that? When the 3 piece chicken is 27$ how does 1 piece equate to 14? Ridiculous.

We got the “sampler” which was $75 worth of bland food. Boudin balls 2/10 tasteless just dirty rice and meat in a thick crust of ball 3 for $16. Fried green tomatoes were decent but had catfish batter. The okra had catfish batter as well. Very underwhelming overall and disappointing.

Got sides of sauce etc for our apps because we ordered 5 apps and they gave us only 3 sauces. They charged for all the sauces totaling about $10 extra dollars. We ordered martinis including a lychee martini had no actual lychee just sweet lychee syrup that was disgusting. Ordered olives with our martinis that were $4 extra each drink just for CANNED OLIVES. Never once did Phil our server tell us any of this was extra.

Now on to the entrees. I had a party of 6 and only 2 people liked their food. We ordered the catfish atchefalya $36 for a small piece of catfish and rice. Very bland rice, sauce had no flavor and smallest crawfish I’ve seen. The actual catfish was ok but only 1 small piece is not worth the price.

The mamaws chicken $27 for 3 prices of dark meat (crazy) was RAW!! I will include pictures at the end. With the chicken i got 2 sides peas and green beans. The peas and greens were unbearably salty we couldn’t eat more than 1 bite. Sent them back before our blood pressure skyrocketed. Meanwhile, the black tall woman who is a GM or manager of some sort is walking around the restaurant like everything is ok. Never comes over to check on us, only comes to take my raw chicken plate back to the kitchen. Doesn’t come back to check on us, apologize or make sure our experience was better. She constantly stared and rolled her eyes at our table, and was very dismissive during this whole experience.

Here’s the kicker, when it was time to checkout it was a complete disaster. We asked for the bill, it was all on 1 check. Never did the waiter ask if it was all together or separate at any point which if you know you know, that’s the first thing you ask the table. Apparently there’s a $3 or 3% split fee. Whatever we didn’t care we just wanted to get out of there. 45 MINUTES LATER the waiter still was sorting our bill. Finally the GM after leaving her server struggling this whole time came to help him and still took forever as she started getting frustrated at him. Imagine terrible service, food and then having to wait almost an hour to checkout. This isn’t even all of our experience here but terrible experience and birthday. I have no idea how this restaurant is still open....

Hello DFW! Today was a beautiful Saturday and began with the usual search for brunch. Our selection is Restaurant Beatrice (RB), a hidden gem located between Trinity Groves and Bishop Arts. My rating is only for service.

I arrive around 11:20 a.m.; the walk-up is enchanting and brought back fond memories of New Orleans. Up the steps and through the outdoor patio is a quaint dining area. A small lot for parking is situated between RB and the neighboring building. Upon entering, I inform the hostess of my party of two. A gentleman from behind the bar comes to tell me about drinks on the back of the menu - I order coffee.

I would suggest reservations, as the dining area is very intimate. There weren't many diners during my visit (a party of around six seated at the back of the restaurant, a couple near the front and a gentleman at the bar). Service seemed rather relaxed. The gentleman from behind the bar had limited knowledge surrounding the history of RB or the prominently placed portrait, which I assumed was a nod to Beatrice. My hostess was "new" and didn't know much about the menu.

At 11:50 a.m. my friend called. She is at the "other" establishment we discussed, forty minutes away. We decided to stay at our respective locations and meet afterward to compare notes. I inform the hostess and she said she would let my server know. Another gentleman comes to confirm the number in my party has changed and that I will be remaining and dining solo. He removes the second water and place setting and goes to the bar to notify the first gentleman that brought my coffee. There is a tense exchange between the two, and it was apparent they disagree about how to resolve whatever the problem is. I hear the second gentleman ask the first, "well how do 'you' think we should handle it", to which he replies with shrugged shoulders.

A table of six to seven is seated to my left. The second gentleman, the one that confirmed I would be staying, immediately approaches the table and begins filling glasses with water. He asks if the entire party has arrived and begins telling them about the daily specials and recommendations. WAIT! Where and who is my server? Am I entitled to information about the specials? Is "this" what the exchange is about? Are the servers at RB hustling tables? I don't know, and didn't hang around to find out.

The food may be good but service is subpar. I hate this was my experience, the menu...

This was the WORST experience I've ever had ANYWHERE! Walked in for my 2:30 reservation on Saturday, and my friends are stressed telling me we need to order because the kitchen is closing at 3:00, because it's the restaurant's 2 year anniversary and they've got to get ready for dinner. I asked who accepts a 2:30 reservation when the kitchen closes at 3:00. True enough they badgered us and made us order apps, entrees, etc. quickly and hovered around us the entire time making sure we didn't linger. As we attempted to salvage and enjoy our meal and catch up, a waiter told us we had to leave. This was highly insulting and I was embarrassed, because I wanted to show my friends how wonderful the Oak Cliff neighborhood is.

Add to this, the food was TERRIBLE!!! We spent $150 for biscuits they cut in half and slapped some old gravy on. Chargrilled oysters that weren't chargrilled or really cooked, gumbo with rice and roux only-like it was from the bottom of the pot-no seafood, chicken, or sausage to speak of, undercooked fried chicken, etc. No one had cocktails, so this bill was way out of line.

If they treat their customers this way, they can get all of the local press and James Beard recognition in the world, I will never spend another dime at one of Michelle Carpenter's restaurants. Her employees-especially the sour-faced woman with the fake friendly demeanor who appeared to be the manager-felt way too comfortable treating us as though we were an imposition. And yes, I saw our waitress, the older male waiter, and the sour-faced manager gossiping about us while we ate.

Later, I remembered my first and only time meeting Michelle Carpenter was at her other terrible restaurant Zen Sushi in Oak Cliff. I was with my friend whose husband is a local professional athlete-the entire dinner she never made eye contact or spoke to me. So, maybe you have to be a local celebrity, the press, or the James Beard folks to get the good food they're writing about or be treated as a valued customer.

I don't see them celebrating too many anniversaries based on the food and treatment...