Azucar Cuban Restaurant — Restaurant in Huntersville

I went for a birthday celebration where we had brought our own cake and we handed the cake to someone who held some type of leadership role as soon as we arrived. We gave her the cake BEFORE getting our table. However, we were not informed of the cake fee until after we finished our dinner.

Once we finished eating, we asked if we could get the cake. The workers then cleared everything off the table that there was to eat on(plates), eat with(silverware) or even use to wipe our hands(clean napkins). They made sure to clear the table completely, even grabbing the few extra to-go boxes for them to reuse, when we could have used some for any leftover cake. Typically, it wouldn’t be strange for someone to clear a table but it’s the fact that we couldn’t keep any silverware or even our clean napkins, when we still had cake to eat. They specifically said, “can i get all the napkins and silverware you DIDN’T use.” They even started to ask for the water cups back but ended up leaving those.

After clearing the table, a worker came out to inform us that they could not serve us the cake unless we paid the cake fee. We asked how much it was and why the cake fee. The response was it was $3 per person for cutting OUR cake, serving it to us, using their plates/silverware, and them having to wash the dishes. We asked if we could cut the cake ourselves and he said yes, however they still would need to charge the cake fee for using their plates and forks. They then left to go get someone else to talk to us, who turned out to be the lady we gave the cake to upon arrival. She told us that it’s only $2 per person and that all restaurants charge a cake fee. She even emphasized that it was specifically any restaurants that she works in or goes to eat at. We tell her that this is our first experience dealing with a cake fee and so it is in fact not all restaurants. We said that we understand the policy and the issue was why we weren’t made aware of this when we handed her the cake before being seated. We wouldn’t have even given them the cake had we known. In fact when the lady approached the table to talk to us, she stated that she was there to clear any confusion we had, when there was never any confusion, there was just a lack of communication. We even asked if we could get back the extra To-go boxes they took from us to prevent them from having the extra dishes to clean, and she said no. After all, we already were touching all over the boxes. It’s like they were trying to justify the cake price by making more work for themselves to clean the dishes. The lady said, if y’all want the cake, y’all can have it but we won’t supply anything to eat it with if you don’t pay the cake fee. We ultimately decided to pay for the fee so that we could try to enjoy the rest of our time for the birthday dinner. However, after telling her multiple times that we were fine with paying, she continued to tell us over and over again that all restaurants do it, as if she were talking down to us. The restaurant cut the cake which we thought was weird because we’ve always been able to cut our own cakes. It felt like they were making more work for themselves. Things like this should be told to the party when they arrive and definitely before they finish eating (or really at the time we made the reservation over the phone). The lack of communication and the condescending tone from the lady that came to the table to “explain” the fee left an awful impression.

When we were leaving, the same lady along with another worker were standing at the door, giving us looks and it was clear that they were talking about us even though they were speaking in Spanish. They weren’t even 5 feet away from us! They didn’t know that one of our party members knew Spanish and she over heard them, so she turned around to respond back to them and tell them not to talk about people.

In conclusion, we had no issue with the cake policy or paying. It was the lack of communication from the restaurant and feeling like we were scammed into paying after we already...

I recently visited this restaurant for my birthday. I called about a month in advance to book it and told them it was for a birthday. The only information I was given was about there being one check.

Upon arrival, we were asked to wait for about 20 minutes for another group to leave.

While waiting, we asked an employee if she could put our cake up and if they would be able to do the cake topper and candles. She said “I will do my best” we said thank you and she turned towards us again and said “I’ll do my best”.

The dinner was fine. At the end we asked them for to-go plates. The waitress brought some, all of which were touched by everyone at the table when distributing them. We had extra to-go plates.

Things took a turn when we asked the waitress if she could bring out the cake. The waitress made a face and said “ let me go see”. She came back and began clearing all the napkins, and silverware off the table to “make it look nice”. We asked to keep our napkins and silverware for the cake. The waitress said she would bring more and again she wanted the table to look nice. She left and came back to take the cups and I said “how are we going to eat cake with no water” she then put all the cups back in the middle of the table but nobody knew who had which cup. She also took the extra to-go plates.

After she finished clearing the table, she came back with another waiter and they told us that there was a cake fee. I asked the waitress how much it costs and the waiter responded back “3 per person”. We asked why we weren’t told this when we handed them the cake and they responded with “hold on, I’ll ask and I’ll be back”.

A few minutes later the same lady who we handed the cake to came to the table and stated “I’m here to clear up any confusion, the cake fee is actually 2 pp not 3, it is for bringing out the cake, bringing out silverware and plates, singing happy birthday, cutting the cake, and washing the dishes and every restaurant has a cake fee”. We have been to several restaurants and have never had to pay a cake fee.

We asked why we weren’t notified when we gave her the cake and she stated “as I said all restaurants I’ve worked or ate at have a cake fee, there isn’t any restaurant without a cake fee”. We then asked if we could cut the cake ourselves and she said you can do that but we will not provide you with anything because they are allowing us to bring in a cake from an outside vendor. We asked if we could get our to-go plates back and she said that she would not give ANY supplies back to us unless we paid the fee. From my understanding, those to-go plates should have went in the trash which was a waste anyways.

I did not need them to sing to me, nor cut my cake. I just needed a fridge to put the cake in while we ate. After the lady said the same thing twice we said it was fine and bring the cake out but she continued to repeat that it is a policy at EVERY restaurant as if we didn’t hear her the first time. It was very clear that she was not paying attention to us because she ignored the fact that we said we would pay. However my friends kept saying that we’ll pay it. Once she finally started listening to us she said “do it?” We said yes and she continued to say “so we’re good?” Which irritated us even more and we said yes. They came out, sung happy birthday, took the cake and cut it, brought back out the slices and that was it. The guy that brought the check told us we could pay through the barcode or with them. We were getting money from everyone when the waitress came back up saying we need to pay and rushing us to give her the card. After paying, we all went to leave and the same lady that came to talk about the cake and another staff member were standing right at the door and talking about us in Spanish. They didn’t know that one of us knew Spanish and heard them so she responded back in Spanish.

This interaction could’ve been avoided had they been up front about it and explained it without sounding condescending. I would not recommend this location of the...

I really dislike leaving reviews at places I typically love. I’m a regular, I spend money and time here when I’m not traveling. I absolutely love the Manager (H) - he is very kind, cool, knowledgeable, and a respectful guy. Today our service was not good and Autumn is the reason. Normally, I come here alone, but this time I was with my younger sister. It started it off good but the end was unexpected & unpleasant. When we first sat down, I complimented her - I said “you’re a very pretty girl.” She said, “thank you politely” and told me, “I made her day because she’s been having a day and I told her I’m sorry to hear that”. We ordered in entree, she told us they didn’t have it - then we found out later they did [no problem] we ordered something else. I told her, later on before leaving, I will put in a to go order. She asked me 3 times when I was going to order it, I told her the 1st time I would let her know when I was ready to place the to go order. When I actually needed to order something she wouldn’t be near [no problem]. She said, she was busy. But in my opinion, a busy person doesn’t have time to be putting on Lip Gloss by the order desk comfortably. There would be times I would try to get her attention and she just wasn’t attentive. I asked my sister - “what should we tip her being she did ok.” My sister said, $7.00, we tipped her $7.00. I asked her for a coffee menu, “she said are you ready to check out?” I said, “yes after I place the coffee.” She checked us out which was fine but I didn’t have the coffee at this time. She said, “is everything okay, did I do something wrong?” I said, “everything was ok, why do you ask? She said, “because you left me a $7.00 tip and normally when people do that something wrong, is there something I could’ve did better.” And I said, “You did ok, overall I don’t think $7.00 is a bad tip for someone who did ok.” She said, “7.00 is not good for a $100.00 bill, it’s not even 20%.” I said, “7.00 is not the highest tip but you only did ok to us, it’s what we felt to give.” And I told her, “I think you could’ve been more attentive, helpful & your attitude was rush. Also, I was asking certain questions about the menu and you said you didn’t know. There was a time, I had to ask another worker Eli at the bar to bring me a drink, because I wasn’t sure where she was. Apparently, something had spilled on her and she was changing her shirt; but at the time we didn’t know, the communication was not good at that point. Either way, overall no server should be debating & rolling their eyes with a customer about what they decide to tip, she should adjust her attitude with others, especially people she don’t know. Had I felt she did her best, I would’ve tipped her 15 to 20% but she did the bare minimum; not even that. Sorry Hector to leave this review, but she really kinda ruined a good Sunday date with my sister! To the point, we left, and I forgot the coffee, but I did turn back...