Label Restaurant — Restaurant in Johnson City

I am writing this in hopes of keeping this place open. I have eaten here before, with great food and service. Today's visit was an example of poor management. We tried to reserve a table online for lunch service. The online reservation system had no tables until 7 pm. We called the restaurantandthe hostes, said come on in, we will have a table at 3pm."" We arrived at 2:30 and were immediately seated, noting that there were about 20 empty tables at this time. Our server asked for our drink orders. I was interested in a flight of bers and asked her how many ounces they were served in. Her response was that no one ever had asked that, and she would be right back. She returned and said 4 ounces in each. I then chose 4 different beers from the poorly designed beer list (brown paper with gray print, very difficult to read without a light). She also took our appetizer order. She returned with my wife's beverage and started clearing empty tables. After about 15 minutes, a kitchen runner brought out our appetizer, dill pickle chips. They were presented beautifully, hot, not overly battered with a spicy dipping sauce. After about ten minutes, my wife said, "Didn't you order a beer? Yes, I replied. She then reminded me that it's been 30 minutes since I ordered it. I asked our server, who was once again clearing an adjacent table. What about my flight of beer? She looked surprised and replied, "Oh, I will go check. She then came back and said, we are out of two of your selections. Would you like to select different ones. No, I was really wanting what I originally ordered. I rarely drink when out, and I was intreauged with a couple of beers that were on the list. Then a kitchen runner brought out our food.. Our server, who again was clearing a table, ran over and asked if we needed anything, and how if we liked it. We hadn't even had time to taste it yet. I had the chopped Bison steak on mashed potatoes with onion and mushroom gravy. It was amazing. Very delicious. Halfway through eating, a young man came over and wiped off 6 empty tables and sanitized them. These tables were the ones that our server had cleared, 40 minutes earlier. Once finished eating, our server returned with our check and asked if the food was good. My wife reminded me, that on our last visit we had a dessert here that was really good. I told here we need to leave this place. I then went up front to the hostess area and asked for the front of the house manager. A young gal said that would be me. I told her we needed to talk. I asked her if she briefs the servers before shifts and how many beers are you out of. Oh, you need a real manager, let me get you the manager, she is in the back. I then met Heather, who identified as the manager. I explained the following.

The online reservation system is keeping you from having people in seats, spending money. Train your hostesses to do it, or have a wait list. You need a busboy to clear tables, and sanitize them, not a barback or server. 50% of the seats were empty during our entire stay. Customers don't want there food brought to them by someone who's been clearing tables. It's an unsanitary image. You need a front of the house manager, not four hostesses. Your front of the house manager can brief the service staff and train them. (Many were busy on there phones texting, )

During our two hours here, our server spent more time clearing empty tables than taking care of people who were seated. The back of the house is outstanding and the geat tasting food will keep this place open. If you want to increase sales by at least 30%, do the three above mentioned. Your revenue might even...

I usually have great experiences at The Label. Last night was quite different, and for a very disappointing and unprofessional reason.

Me, my boyfriend, and my three friends experienced really great service starting out. Everything was wonderful as it usually is. Halfway through service, my friends saw another server who has a personal problem with us come to the bar behind our table and stare daggers at us. My friends then saw this person whispering to our server while glancing over at us. This person was behind me and my boyfriend, so we didn't see it or know about any of this at first.

Immediately following this, our server's behavior towards us suddenly and dramatically changed. So much so that everyone at the table noticed it and felt awkward. Our server was suddenly short and unfriendly with us, and stopped putting our orders in completely. We had multiple food orders that we put in after the vibe had changed that never came out and the server never mentioned it. Immediately prior her service was completely flawless and she was very chatty and cracking jokes. My boyfriend and I in our confusion remarked upon the change to our friends, who then pointed out to us what they had seen and heard. I felt very disappointed to say the least.

This is a small town. Guests will come through the door who you have personal issues with. Restaurants are full of gossip, but never in my experience have I encountered a server being inhospitable towards a guest because their work friend said something unpleasant about them.

I'm not going to name names, in case it's possible my friends were mistaken. But what we all experienced felt pretty uncanny and unmistakable, so I caution the management at The Label to have a conversation with their staff about professionalism, gossiping about guests within ear shot, and letting personal issues...

Baby let me tell you...when I say these people will get you right together please believe me. We gave my daughter a surprise birthday dinner here and from beginning to end it was perfect in my opinion. When I called and let them know what the plan was they took over, accommodated and excelled at making sure things went smooth as possible. The only issue we had was our son being too big for the booster seat. The party table is high so he would have needed the booster that you can use on either side. We made due. Martha was our waitress and she was really sweet. We had the table for 10 and the water, napkins, silverware and straws were already in place and they were on time with our seating. We managed to surprise my daughter and with our reservation at 6:15 we didn't have to rush since they closed at 9 (you normally get 2 hours). The manager working last night is young and credible. Very professional, efficient and personable- I hate I can't remember her name. The other waitresses were amazing and one took our pictures for us. I had the blackened salmon with asparagus on top of cheese grits. My husband had the steak meal with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Our son had the chicken nuggets and fries that he didn't eat however he ate bacon and salad because he's picky. Our oldest had the buttermilk chicken with fries and everyone else had wings and fries that they loved. Thank you all for helping us surprise my baby for her early birthday. We shall return. The spinach dip and fried pickles are good as well, try them. Initially they forgot my hubby's asparagus but they brought it out after we reminded them. The steak meal should have 2 sides not just 1. Next time I come I will try those lamb...