Mélange — Restaurant in La Quinta

Melange used to be one of my favorite brunch spots. We brought our friends for a birthday brunch as it’s one of their favorites too. I haven’t been in a while, but this visit did not impress! I know it’s early in the season (Oct 1st), but it was a beautiful day for the patio. The hostess did not even bother to seat us. She just said to sit anywhere, which seemed to create a stir with the servers. It was not busy. We asked for a table on the patio in the shade. They said they don’t have any umbrellas. They got damaged and the new ones are on order. So we found a partially shaded table by a tree. However, the table was filthy! We asked them if they had a table cloth. Those were on order as well. But offered nothing to clean or cover the filth. We used our cloth napkins and asked for more. The server, Brittany, was nice but obviously not very experienced. I think she was trying though. She was a little unaccommodating. We ordered a bottle of sparkling wine. She barely poured any in each glass and still managed to overflow the birthday girls drink. The juice to make a mimosa was an additional $4, which I think is ridiculous. We asked for two more glasses of bubbly after our meal. She tried to convince us to order another bottle. We only wanted two glasses. When she brought an open bottle, she proceeded to pour all four glasses. When we questioned, she said she’d only charge us for three. Whaaat? The food was very good. The au jus for the French Dip was a little skimpy and in a shallow dish, which made it difficult I made it work. I understand things got damaged in all of the storms we’ve had, but they really shouldn’t have the patio open at this point. It was an embarrassment and makes me question going back any time soon. I realize we should have maybe moved inside, but didn’t want to make a fuss in front of our friends as they had their heart set...

UPDATE I booked dinner for this SAT for my birthday a week ago- Yesterday on THU I received a phone call to say my reservation is cancelled because they had a wedding? This is La Quinta it is the season for those that do not know the area good restaurants are booked way in advance So they cancel 1 day before my birthday ruining it because now I have to look for whatever is available and what time it is available the other only nice thing I found was at 5P that means that my birthday will be done by 630 I called today spoke to "Paul" told him what happened he said well "sorry about that" and I am like what? is that everything you have to say he said "well I don't know what to say" - he said they had the wedding on the books for a while- I did my reservation a week ago on "Open Table" no one bothered to let me know in a full week - tomorrow's Bday is a landmark birthday so thank you Le Chateau/ Melange you just ruined it for me and for my family and no one had the decency to even acknowledge their mess up. Is this what you want to be known for- is this the reputation you want - then good job you are doing a good job - Total indifference and unprofessionalism - we love/ loved the place for its location I have no idea - though the last time we were there service was awful it took an hour to get the food- we thought to try it again because of the location on the lake Bad, bad, bad so disappointed If there was anything less than 1 star I would have used it

Love location, food and ambiance. Waitresses were awesome. Manager Kellen...

After experiencing difficulties making a reservation through Open Table, I called the restaurant directly, and a friendly woman answered to help me. A table for three was confirmed for 6:45 pm. I also received assurances that any reservation that had been started or completed on Open Table would be voided, so no diminishment of the restaurant’s capacity would result. The three of us arrived promptly at 6:45, and were verbally admonished for arriving late, being told, “jokingly” (?), that we would not be able to order appetizers because we had messed up. I explained that we had personally confirmed this arrival time, but the burly host seemed unmoved. We were shown to one of the few indoor tables in the dark and dingy dining area. (We had selected this restaurant because it was listed as a Top Ten restaurant for. “Quiet dining with conversation,” and we requested indoors because it was 117 degrees outside.) A friendly server welcomed us, took our drink order, brought us our ice teas, gave us menus, and then disappeared for twenty minutes, even though only one or two other tables were occupied. After 20 minutes, a group of about 15 effervescent young women arrived, wearing garlands in their hair and clearly gathered for a festive occasion. They considered being seated outdoors, but ultimately opted for indoors. Tables began being set up all around our little table for three. We paid for our iced tea and left. Every aspect of the experience was disappointing. We...