Grain On The Rocks — Restaurant in Lewes

FAR FROM IMPRESSIVE

After being told our wait was 30-45 minutes and seeing 6 clean tables sitting outside on the deck that had been cleaned for over 25 minutes. With no one being seated. I asked the 3 young hostess for the third time why the wait was so long. At this point the tables on the inside of the Grain were all empty also. I asked for the manager. There were over 14 people waiting for tables. People leaving because the staff do not know how to clean tables off in a swift hygenic manner and manage a seating chart. This has nothing to do with social distancing, which the hostess stated they can only seat two tables at a time. The manager kept repeating the same lame answer. "We are cleaning tables off." When I repeated to him these tables have been clean for over 20 minutes he said others were seated who came before you. I said "no one has been seated at these tables yet. And my wait was 30-45 minutes now that is past time. Why don't I have a table still with empty tables out here. The manager replied this is not the place for you to dine tonight. That is the poorest Customer Service Attitude you can have! I advised him that I had been a District Manager of over 15 yrs in Customer Service and his Attitude was the worst in this type of business. We left the Grain!

We went to Irish Eyes were we saw dozens of patrons who had just left the Grain because of their poor seating arrangement and poor service Attitude.

The hostess seated us right away after I explained to her that we just waited over 45 minutes and still were not seated at the Grain. She said "I'm seating you because your still pleasant after all this time. Thank you for coming to Irish Eyes."

The service was top notch, food was fabulous! And the atmosphere was so much better then (the Grain which has ruined the ferry's atmosphere. It was better before this awful supposed new Restaurant!)

And the wait for all the people from the Grain that went to Irish Eyes was very Short! Thank you to Tracy the Hostess! You made my husband's and my evening worth going out.

I should mention, after we ordered at Irish Eye, we recieved a text from the Grain that our tabled was ready. Some 80 minutes after our original wait time. And after the manager was so kind to "Dismiss our business." I write reviews for restaurants. 5* Irish Eyes, Patricia Hillman Date of visit:...

This was the most unpleasant dining experience I have probably ever had. Our waiter, who was young and clearly new, either misplaced or threw out our order sheet, so our drink and appetizer order never got put in after we placed it. He did not realize this until 20 minutes after we ordered, at which point he explained and took our orders again. After another 15 minutes, we finally at least got water. Our drinks then arrived one at a time over the next 5-10 minutes. By the time the last drink (which was a lemonade) arrived it had been 45 minutes since we were seated. At this point we asked to speak to the manager, who seemed... Awkward and unhelpful. After several minutes of us explaining our irritation at not having even gotten drinks in 45 minutes and her barely responding, she eventually offered a comped round of drinks, which we accepted.

Our appetizers and entrees arrived at about the same time, so we pretty much ended up eating everything at once on an overcrowded table. Our appetizers were all as expected, but we had a big problem with the mains. The salmon quinoa bowl was close to inedible. The salmon was lukewarm, like it had been sitting out quite a while, and the quinoa mixture was barely better than frozen. One of the pieces of edamame had a visible layer of frost on it. The manager happened to stop by to check on us as I was discovering this, so I told her and showed her. She responded by... asking if I wanted a shot. 🤦‍♀️ I said no, I wanted a meal. We ended up just taking the salmon off the bill and I filled up on what was left of the appetizers.

When the manager brought the check (the waiter had virtually disappeared by this time), we asked to split it three ways. She said, and I quote, "oh come on, you're gonna make me work?!" Whether this was meant as a joke or not, after our dining experience this evening it was just completely inappropriate and insensitive.

We will not be going back and I wouldn't recommend anyone to go unless you're in to terrible service and...

Pro: cute location and fun atmosphere. Food was ok. Con: social skills and efficiency severely lacking. Example: we went to sit down. As we did, a way better table opened and we asked to shift. She said (sounding like she was doing anything to get out of doing any extra work) we need to clean it (which cool, makes sense) but then it was going to take ten minutes to put us in the system before we could sit down. (Remember we were already sitting down so normally we just shift from the original table to the new table). By the time she was done explaining, it was already cleaned. We were told not to sit until we were in the system. (Ok?) but we sat down anyway because it was hot and she said we could after it was cleaned. It was cleaned. Two people came up, one being the waitress. She asked if we saw the hostess. We said yes. She said, ok I’ll be back after someone gives you menus (again waiting for this system). We sat for a few more minutes no waters, no menus and we finally go up to ask “is our name in the system?” which finally led them to saying yes and then came to provide menus. I wonder how long it would have taken if we didn’t get up to ask because it had been done but not told to us.

Alright, we are on track and out of the woods… all good we are ready to have a good lunch. I kindly ask the waitress “Hey, do you have any lagers you’d personally recommend or that sell well?” Quick and blunt she said, “no.” And that was it. I just looked at her and said, we’ll ok then. If it were me (back when I waited tables) I would have said, “I apologize I don’t have any personal recommendations but…” insert the suggestion to try snd help. Just not a great start.

After it was just fine.

I would recommend some social training to help the young staff how to conduct proper customer service. I’m 34 and felt it was rough. Between that and their system inefficiencies, I felt this was just an okie...