Toast — Restaurant in Ferndale

When you make the mistake of going to Toast Ferndale around 2pm on 3/11/24 to only sit next to two people who apparently have stake in both Toast locations (owner and director of ops it seems via a quick public search on Google).

As someone who has been a business leader for over 15 years, it is absolutely critical to know that you should not be near customers when you are speaking about the following: making business decisions hearing the server tell you both that she “put the orders in at different times so they (emphasis on the they as ‘other’) wouldn’t know” speaking poorly of ‘your’ team (“they only want to smoke weed”) wasting food that you have “taste tested” (“oh I’m sure they’ll like all these leftovers!” and “oh give them to.. oh you know. He’s a man. They’re like a trash can!”) Not just critiquing the food, but speaking about how your staff doesn’t know how to cook properly

All of this and yet completely ignoring the socioeconomic disparity between themselves and those who work in the food service industry because why would it matter to them? Not to forget because due to their loud conversation, they were there from the beginning- obviously they “get it.” From the search mentioned above and having mutual connections, the owner is also involved with local arts and theatre in the Ferndale area- so there’s the doubling down of “understanding” those beneath them.

And while the food was enjoyable albeit overpriced, a solo brunch was ruined due to such arrogance and lack of self-awareness. I could not leave without speaking up about how poor of a time this was, to which I received a “I’m sorry” from both women and nothing from the male in question.

To which I will repeat what I said here. You are absolutely not sorry. You actively chose to make such comments in public setting, and as owners of a local business you are subject to receiving this feedback as well. The negativity falls back on you as an owner.

Perhaps it is time as owners and leaders in Toast, you invest your money in not trips to Croatia, but to Dr. Ken Blanchard’s “Situational Leadership II” and a DEI overhaul.

But until then, continue on with your...

My friends and I wanted to grab brunch yesterday at Toast. 2 of my friends arrived before the rest of us and decided to go in and put our name down where they were told it would be a 30 minute wait. Before knowing this my other friends and I decided to walk in (the walk was a little far and it was really cold). Once we got in the host seemed to be very annoyed with us off rip. I understand that the restaurant is very small and has limited space for standing but the approach of the host could have made all the difference in our experience. The host is the first impression at a restaurant. I work in food and understand the frustration we all experience. After waiting less than 10 mins the host got up and told us that she needed us to move out of the way because she needed to close the door because of a “drift” coming into the restaurant… I didn’t quite understand how we caused this when the door opens and closes all day. After stating that, she then said “we don’t allow waiting in here anyway so I’ll text you when your table is ready”. Like I stated before, I understand that this may or may not be policy (which we weren’t told beforehand so I don’t think it is), but she could have approached the situation by maybe saying “I’m sorry if this is an inconvenience to you all but because of limited space, we cannot allow all of you to stand at the host stand unfortunately. If possible, I can have a few of you wait here and a few could maybe wait in your cars until the table is ready? I know it is cold and I apologize for the inconvenience”. This would have gone a LONG way. Because of her approach and attitude we decided to take our business elsewhere. Hosting can be stressful, but first impression...

Date: 01/06/24 Location: Toast Ferndale First time customers, 3 middle age women wanted to try a new restaurant. Arrived 9:15am left at 11am Bill paid at 10:50AM I don’t recommend this place due to the following reasons: 1 hour wait to serve our order. Other people that came after us were served first. Food is overpriced for the quality. Bathroom was very dirty and smelled of urine. 20% gratuity added to the bill yet extra tip seemed expected. The server Julia was nice. She apologized because the kitchen took very long to prepare our order. Julia brought us as a courtesy a cinnamon bun (although it was old and dry) after we already finished eating. The WORST! A man that came to the table 5 minutes after we paid the bill, in a rude manner and loud voice asked us to leave the restaurant because our presence was costing him money. I told the man that he needed to keep in mind that it took them an hour to serve us and that he could ask the waitress. He responded that that was not true and we were at the restaurant over 2 hours. I also told him that that is not a way to treat customers and he should watch his behavior. This individual came after us after we were outside the restaurant and yelled at me in the street because we took “a long time” at the restaurant. He should not follow customers outside the restaurant. This abusive man followed woman that wanted to try a new restaurant. We did not eat there for free. Each one of us paid about $25 dollars for bad coffee (bitter), cold omelets, grits that tasted bad and a “courtesy” dry cinnamon roll. I will not return to this abusive place. The waitresses should watch for this man, he could be...