Urban 42 — Restaurant in Fargo

Easter brunch was disappointing. It was advertised to include bloody marys which then helped me justify the much higher price tag than more upscale venues and menus. I was looking forward to it. Upon arrival the arrowed signs led us to the crystal ballroom instead of Urban 42 which was disappointing. At check in we found out that the bloody marys would be an extra $20 above the $46 per person charge. The staff was silent as we complained about it. My husband paid with two $100 bills and change was given in $5s which shows they were unprepared. The atmosphere was very cold and uninviting. Food was fair overall. Most things were bland, even the tiramisu and red velvet tasted uncannily the same on the palate. Highlights would be the chicken in mustard sauce and cheesy hash browns. I had requested a listing of dishes with tree nuts for my daughter to avoid due to her severe allergy. That request on Open Table went unanswered, so I had to request when we arrived. The hostess went to the kitchen to ask the chef for me and came back with the answer that only the donuts would be an issue. After pulling up the menu online we saw dishes with nuts actually listed in the name so we asked again and were given a much greater listing. However she was told to entirely avoid the dessert table altogether, again disappointing. With much dissatisfaction we decided to make a more formal complaint about the initial surprise at the bloody mary issue and were told there was nothing they could do but a female manager overheard and said they had to honor it if we showed them the ad on our phones, so we got our bloody marys. But then they quickly printed a sign apologizing for the ad mistake so no one else could get what was advertised. Kudos to the female manager who approached the complaint with grace and thumbs down to the male manager in the gray shirt who did not want to honor the ad and handled it poorly in front of...

This is only for the Sunday brunch buffet experience I had here. Price is a flat 20$ since it isn't posted anywhere at the restaurant.

Pros: the food was very good in terms of taste and freshness. Items are quickly refilled. Solid variety of typical hot American breakfast items and a large pastry section.

Cons: Service from beginning to end left a lot to be desired. The only staffed host/server/bartender is "running" the show loosely. Wait can be up to 10 minutes to be seated. No idea what is available for drinks or any sort of prices posted.

Story Time We arrived late morning for brunch and we're greetes by and pleasant "please wait to be seated" sign. We watched for about 10 minutes as the three visible staff scrambled around taking dishes off tables and checking on guest. Seems like great service besides never being greeted during this entire wait time. Finally the busser cleaning a table near the front offered for us to take a seat anywhere. Okay, Why a sign asking to wait to be seated? We found some tables that were clean in the back and took our places and begin enjoying the breakfast. Server showed quickly with water and offer any other drinks. We declined and she never approached us again until the check. We continued to watch as they would remove dishes but not clean any tables. They would only clean a table when they felt someone had waited long enough, and offer it for seating. Our realization of disconnect when it appeared the server would clean a table and seat someone. Meanwhile other staff would tell people waiting to find somewhere to sit, and they would go to dirty tables and wait for the server to clean them. It was a wild buffet experience to watch, and recommend maybe holding off until staff...

Sat by a host and waited 24 minutes- waved at a waitress we know, and got up and left after no acknowledgment after 24 minutes. On the way out a waitress asked if we had been helped- and we stated no that was the problem and would like to speak with management. She stated first of all she would need us to know this was in no way her fault, and then proceeded to walk away and find the host and chew him out for seating the table and not telling someone.

We are regulars here and hVe never seen this host- he is likely new or doesn’t work often- yes that is his job to notify the server he sat a table in her section but she should be aware of the section herself also. -A manager walked up- whom I haven’t mentioned yet, came to the table next to us after we had been sat for 15 minutes and asked if they had their order taken yet, and took the order and did not acknowledge us whatsoever. I asked her how long she thinks a table should sit before being acknowledged? If 24 minutes is acceptable? She stated no. And that she thought the waitress had been helping us. I said you literally took an order at the table next to us, and walked away she stated again that was because the waitress was serving us, I stated again how the whole reason we were having this conversation was because NO ONE had acknowledged us since the host sat us.

At that time we were offered service. No, I’ll take my service elsewhere. Such a shame as we like a sit down meal other than bar food with music options in town and frequent this place but it is REALLY consistently going downhill...