XOXO Dining Room — Restaurant in Dallas

I'd skip it... Unless you follow the tips I leave below. My mom and I came to celebrate our birthdays with some friends who came from out of town. It was supposed to be a really special time but was truly ruined by the awful service.

We were the first people sat in the restaurant thanks to our reservation. It took 25 minutes before I asked the bartender if our waitress may be struggling with all of her tables and asked if he knew how we could request a different server. She then immediately came over.... This is after she took the orders of her other tables.

We weren't even greeted by the waitress. I had to ask her her name. She didn't ask us if it was our first time or offer any information about their menu. She also didn't acknowledge that I had put on our reservation that we were celebrating two birthdays.

Long story short- the service was painfully slow, our food came out cold, we never got drink or water refills, didn't get checked on when our food arrived, didn't get asked about if we needed anything. One person in our party couldn't even start eating her food because she didn't have silverware. The waitress forgot so I had to get silverware from another table.

We ordered a plate to replace one after someone at my table began to have an allergic reaction. An hour later and the food never came. Nor was there concern that she was having a reaction. Music was too loud to speak to each other inside. A busser came by to take plates and just bulldozed in without saying a word and forcefully brushed my friend's arm out of the way so she could stack plates, and all this without introducing herself, smiling, or having any manners. The waitress literally barely spoke to us, either.

After horrible service, I saw there was a 20% gratuity. Then it clicked. The waitress didn't have to work for anything. I would hate to see this place go down because their servers just don't care... there is no incentive.

It also needs some TLC. Some deep cleaning. Some attention to detail. Everything looks great in photos but in person needs to be cleaned and some places repainted.

The food is overpriced though tastes decent. It's a cute place to take photos.

I'm just so disappointed that my birthday celebration was ruined. The manager comped a few things but it didn't make up for the stolen time of my friends and family being in town for a short period of time to try and have a special celebration. We all felt embarrassed that we were so ignored and pretty upset. Plus one person in our party didn't get to eat at all. One felt assaulted. And we all felt pretty crummy being treated like we didn't exist.

Here is my tip for customers: make a reservation for the garden, not inside so you can hear your company. Order drinks only. Maybe an appetizer. So you're not stuck there for 2 hours largely being ignored. Go take some photos.

Tips for the restaurant: teach your staff to introduce themselves and ask if the party has been there or is celebrating anything special. Have them explain the menu, what you offer, and where to take photos. Have them check on the table when they receive their food, ask if everything looks okay, ask if they need condiments. Teach the servers to ask if you would like dessert. Have a busser refill waters and drinks. Take out a few tables so the staff can move around quicker and easier and so it is not as loud and feels more intimate (and so we can actually get to the bathroom). Turn the music down. It's not a club. Have a manager round and check on tables. Repaint your tagged bathrooms and clean up the paint chips and drips. If you want your restaurant to make it and keep the mandatory gratuity, service must be top priority. If you can't figure out the service maybe it should just be a photo op museum since that was the best...

We dined at this establishment on July 14th, 2024. I would like to note that I have eaten at this restaurant before which is why we booked, which meant my expectations were based on my first visit. I would like to say firstly, the waiter is not the issue you here as he did a great job, even after we were extremely unhappy with the food and the prices you are paying for the food you receive. This experience has left quite a sour taste in my mouth, please note the new extra charges that has been added to the establishment (20% automatic tip), which is pretty much the Dallas restaurant charge of lately. But now there is a card fee, so if you intend to avoid the card fee, please prepare to walk with cash. To have additional charges with subpar food, highly annoyed and still left hungry is not the experience you wish to have when spending that much money.

Our table, had 6, we ordered what they noted as a “family meal” that would feed a “family” of 4-6 people, the cost on the menu was $295.00. This family meal came with three appetizers, and four supposedly labeled as “main courses”. Out comes the appetizers, 4 tiny meatballs, 4 shrimp spring rolls and pita bread. This was the first red flag, six of us, 4 tiny meatballs and 4 shrimp spring rolls, I brought this to the attention of my waiter, there are 6 of us here, why only appetizers for 4 people, the menu did say this can feed a family of up to 6. I was told, you want more, please pay the extra fee for any additional amount of what you need (this would be an additional 18.00). We then got our main course on a huge platter, there were 4 pieces of thinly cut burnt lamb, 3 pieces of riblets, 3 pieces of fried chicken, fries to feed 6, salad to feed 6, but enough meats to feed 6 people, why would that make sense, of course not. After all, its darn near 300.00 (the marked menu price) to feed a family of 6 a whole entire meal.

Now please note they labeled this platter as a “family meal” but the plates received were appetizer plates “Red flag”, if this is a meal to feed a family should we not have received lunch plates? “Hint Hint”. Nothing on the menu, which most establishments would note that this is the quantity, here you go meatballs (4), shrimp (4), just so the customers are aware of exactly what they are getting that should properly feed a family of 6.

But now here’s the check, we are officially all still hungry and now irritated by our sampler plate, labeled as a family meal. The 295.00 bill after taxes, gratuity (20%) and cc fees came up to 500.00. So, for $500, we ate a sampler plate, barely had enough food for everyone to even sample all the items. If there was ever a time that I would scream RIP OFF, it is at this establishment. Consumers work very hard for their money, please list your items properly so we can make an informed decision. And please note in bold that your restaurant charges a fee for using a card, even the smallest mom and pops establishment alerts you BEFORE you purchase that there are additional fees for the use of a credit card. In the end, we went somewhere else to eat because we were all still hungry, irritated, and unfulfilled. We had to keep our spirits up as best as possible because we were there to celebrate our friend’s birthday, but wow what a waste of our time and money. Please review what you are selling to your consumers.

I felt like this needed to be brought to your attention, I understand you have a business and in such your main aim is profit, but a customer should also be very satisfied with the service they are given especially when paying...

Came here last night for my best friends birthday, we reserved a table for 8pm. I was the first one to show up and I let them know I was there and they told me to wait for some more of my party to show up because they were still working on our table. I didn’t think anything of it until 4 more showed up and the table still wasn’t ready. The birthday girl finally came by this time it was almost 9pm the table still wasn’t ready nor available they just kept telling us a few more mins. We went to the “bar” area (no seating over there or anything) so we could all get a drink since we had just been waiting outside for over an hour. It took them forever to get our drinks and still kept forgetting someone’s and then the what I’m assuming is the head bartender came over with a huge attitude to attempt to get my friends drink they kept forgetting her boyfriends drink and she told them not to worry about it they don’t want it anymore but they just kept making it trying to get her to take it. He did state the other bartenders were new but to have new bartenders working on the busiest day of the week is insane. At 9:30 they finally have a table ready for us and we sit the waitress was great she took our orders got us some more drinks all was well. After our appetizers we got our main course I got the shrimp scampi and it was so bland, the only thing that saved it was the shrimp but the noodles literally just tasted like butter on noodles. We had them store a cake for us and they told us it would be $40 to store it have their chef cut it and have sparkler ect we agreed at the start of the night. Well the waitress just brings us our cake, there’s no plates with it no silverware NOTHING. She told us if we wanted all of that it would be 40 dollars I told her that I don’t feel like that’s something we should honestly have to pay for after the experience we had already had. She went and spoke with her manager and he came back and told her not to worry about it they wouldn’t charge for it. They take the cake back and come back with a candle and some plates and a cake cutter for us to cut it. We sang happy birthday but truthfully it was disheartening to see everyone else get such a grand happy birthday and my best friend get half hearted here you go. By the end of it all it was almost 11pm (which is when they close) we had plans to go to another place by 10 and they were closing by the time we finished dinner. This place completely ruined our plans for the night and it wasn’t even worth the experience. So if you’re interested in a gimmick restaurant that is WAAY overpriced then this is your place but dont expect to be wowed or anything especially...