Raduno | Brick Oven & Barroom — Restaurant in Little Rock

First and foremost I would just like to say that I have never in my 40 years of being on this earth have I ever experienced such disregard for potential customers. Having spent over two decades in the customer service field I am aware of the good and the bad that comes along with it. You can have disgruntled customers that can never be satisfied and you also have customers that are appreciative of the service that is provided. In this particular case it was the employees/management that has left me with a sour taste of disappointment and frustration. Story time: On Sunday March 24th my family of six (3 kids ages 16-10 and 3 adults) wanted to try a pizza place we have never been to. For context my wife and our two children do not live in Arkansas. We came for a weekend visit for my wife to meet her long lost father and little sister. As we concluded family photos on Sunday (which was a blast) we chose pizza as the meal of choice to celebrate and put a good ending to our weekend before we headed back to Oklahoma. We unanimously chose Raduno based off their high rating and appealing food photos online. Once we arrived we paid the parking fee for two hours of parking and headed to the restaurant. Once inside we were told there would be a 30 minutes wait, so we provided a name and contact number so we could be reached when a table for us would be available. We chose to sit on the patio area to wait for our seating because the interior waiting area was already at capacity. While waiting outside for the initial 30 minutes we were approached by multiple homeless people asking for money. This is not anything new to me but one of them was trying to talk to my 12 year old daughter. After I told the man to leave I ventured back inside to ensure of seating would be on time. The host (who was very polite and courteous) informed me that the table was not ready yet and that they were just waiting on the other patrons to pay and then we would be escorted to our seats. I thanked the host for being transparent and proceeded back outside to let my family know that the table was not ready just yet. During this time frame there were at least 10 or more patrons that have left the restaurant but there were also groups of people that would also wait for a table and were seated before us. At least 3 sets of people were seated while we waited outside. So now we are at 60 minutes of waiting so I go back inside and spoke to the host about the possibility of just splitting us in two groups of three people. I explained to the host that this would eliminate the wait time considering there were multiple tables that could accommodate three people as I stood there talking to the host. I also informed the host that we could even do two separate checks as if we weren’t in the same group. The host refused my request and I asked why and the host said, “that’s not how we do things here.” At this point I have become upset, I have three kids and two other adults who are very hungry at this point and have to endure the shame of sitting outside as if we were mere spectacles for everyone inside get to watch as we sat outside amongst ourselves and the random homeless people passing by. After a total 1hr and 45 minutes waiting I make my last attempt to see if the host has made any provisions or even a better eta for us to be seated and once again I was shot down with my proposal for separate seating and at this point the host says that even though the group we have been waiting on the entire time has finally paid but they are still at the table chatting amongst themselves. At this point I just turned and walked out. I had to explain to my family yet again that we are still going to have to wait. But this time my wife wouldn’t stand for it. We had already paid for two hours of parking and we sat outside for almost two hours, which means by the time we get seated and ordered food, received food, ate food and paid for food that would be an additional hour so I would’ve had to pay for parking a second time. In summary I will never return to this...

tldr: DO NOT MAKE A RESERVATION FOR THIS RESTAURANT

Many of us had been to Raduno before individually and always had a great time! The food, drinks, and service are always great.

However, when we were ordering entrees, our waiter said emphatically "Order a lot!" We thought it was a little strange, but no big deal. Until the waiter came back a few minutes later and told us we were nowhere close to hitting the minimum bill for our group. We were all confused - no one had mentioned a minimum order amount to us.

When I made the reservation, I called Raduno directly, who pointed me to a different number to call. I called that number who asked for my email, I obliged, and they said I just needed to fill out the form they would email me and they would confirm my reservation. A little odd - I've made many reservations for large groups at (frankly) fancier restaurants and never had to do this. But okay, I just want to get a reservation for my friend's birthday. So I fill out the form and notice this section (see attachment #1) I think, oh okay there's a minimum that we have to spend. That makes some sense - I can see how it would be poor business if a group of 10+ came and all drank water and ordered very little food. And for our group of 15, I didn't see any issues with us hitting $200. So I sent in the form.

But apparently as our waiter informed us, this is only the minimum for the TIP. The real minimum is a whopping $50 per guest, as detailed in this small section in the form that I had completely missed before trying to get through these hoops just to make a reservation. (attachment #2). Raduno is not an expensive restaurant, so this $50 minimum PER GUEST blew every one of us away. What made it even worse was that we had some people that ended up not being able to make it, but Raduno refused to lower the minimum, so we had to pay for $100 of food and beverage for people that didn't make it. If I had known about this $50 limit before I would have made very different decisions - either a) I would have chosen another restaurant altogether, b) I would have gotten a 100% confirmed guest count so we weren't being charged for people that never entered the restaurant, or c) at least I would have told people to come extra hungry.

For reference, the raduno menu, which has a maximum entree price of $20. With the $50 minimum, each individual at the table could order two of the most expensive items on the menu, and still not hit the minimum. This (in my opinion of course) is CRAZY. So we ended up getting an insane amount of food and drinks, spending significantly more than any of us had planned to. The food was good and the service was fantastic, but even the staff seemed to feel sympathy for us, as we kept having to order food and drinks that we didn't even want.

It's true that if I had read every word of the paperwork I likely would have noticed this (again, in my opinion) CRAZY food and beverage minimum. If I had, most likely we would have gone to a different restaurant we enjoyed less (but wouldn't be coerced into spending an exorbitant amount of money at). But for such an important part of the reservation, I still can't believe that no one said a single word about it until after we were already halfway through the meal. Raduno did not mention it when I called them to make the reservation. The second number I called never mentioned a minimum being part of the reservation, just that I needed to fill out the form. Then when I got the email with the form, it came with multiple notices, all of which I read. But none of these notices are nearly as important as informing us that we had to spend $1000 that night. The notices they gave are in attachment #3.

All of this was really disappointing to me and my group. I felt bad because I've been saving up for a wedding for some time now and the birthday family just had a newborn, none of us were expecting to drop hundreds here. Many of the guests remarked that they would never go back to Raduno and I must admit I likely won't either - this experience really...

Unsure if It was due to the race of my husband and children, or just extremely poor management. The treatment we received at this restaurant was appalling to say the least. After 45 years, I found my dad! Thanks to a simple Ancestry DNA kit, I took two learn, my nationality. I located my dad and BONUS 3 sisters. We drove in from Oklahoma to meet my dad and youngest sister. We took some photos together and planned to have lunch and get to know each other. Upon our arrival, we were told The wait was going to be about thirty minutes. The inside waiting area was super small so we opted to sit outside on the patio and wait. About 45 minutes later, He hadn't heard anything. So we went back in to check on the status of our table. They were waiting on "THE" table to leave. Went back out proceeded to chit-chat. A little while longer, people continued to leave still, we had not been sat. We went in again. Still nothing available. We then asked if we could Just sit out on the patio and eat. We were told "No. the patio was not open." Waited a bit longer. At this point over an hour has passed. No table this time they say "they have paid they are just chit chatting" I asked if we could go ahead and order our food so that when the table was ready are food would be too. "No. We can't do that". Ok. Again we wait.... STILL NO TABLE. People continue to leave. There are multiple tables open at this point. We then ask if we could just be sat separately. We told them we could pay separately. It would be like we were two separate parties. He leaves to consult the manager. Comes back and says "we don't do that". I'm stunned. My husband is black and my children are mixed. I didn't notice any other African American patrons. Now, considering we spent most of our time there outside. I could be mistaken. However, I cannot for the life of me. Think of any other reason we were basically refused service. After having waited for over an hour and a half and provided multiple solutions. We were repeatedly told no and turned away. To say they ruined what should have been the perfect ending to a very important day would be an understatement. I would also like to note. You must pay for parking in 2 hr increments. At this point even if we would have gotten a table we would have had to pay again...