Sabrina's Cafe — Restaurant in Lower Merion Township

I don't usually write reviews online, but my experience at Sabrina's today was upsetting enough that I felt it was important to share. Just for background, today was incredibly hot (mid-90s with high humidity) and we were under an excessive heat warning.

My wife and I were planning to meet a relative who was passing through town for an early lunch. When we arrived at Sabrina's we gave our name to the hostess, who said it would be a 20-30 minute wait if we wanted to eat indoors. We only had about a 1hr15min window available, so were a bit bummed but decided we could eat at an outside table, in spite of the heat.

The hostess asked us if we were OK with sitting in the sun, but given the hot conditions we said that we weren't. Plus, there were plenty of empty tables in full shade under an overhang. The hostess and a waitress then started loudly discussing with each other that they didn't want to seat us in the shade because a member of the wait staff was covering tables in the sun, and they weren't making any tips. We pointed out the extreme heat and all of the empty tables in the shade, and the hostess said they could put us under an umbrella. We still said that we didn't want that, at which point the hostess looked at the waitress and angrily said "well, I guess it can't be helped", and the waitress started to walk us out to a shaded seat. We were so disgusted by this interaction that we just said to forget it, we would make our lunch plans elsewhere.

I completely understand that the wait staff often divide up tables in certain sections of a restaurant to help with logistics, but I also know from experience working in restaurants that these setups can be modified, especially when the weather makes it very unpleasant (and possibly dangerous) for diners to sit at certain tables. I also know that it's incredibly rude to openly discuss tips in front of the diners, and even worse to audibly express your annoyance when diners ask for a more comfortable seating arrangement. If it's really that much of an inconvenience, just politely say "I'm sorry, we can't seat anybody at those tables right now". It's not a great solution, but it's way better than what we experienced.

To the owners/managers of Sabrina's - you have a great place overall and make awesome food, but rude and inhospitable interactions like this are enough to turn customers away...

I had one of the worst customer service experiences of my life at Sabrina’s Café. I visited with a group of 11 people to celebrate my niece’s graduation from medical school. We arrived around 12:30 PM and were told the wait would be no more than 30 minutes. After waiting 45 minutes, we began to inquire whether the restaurant could actually accommodate our group. The hostess reassured us they could. About 10 minutes later, she returned and asked if we would be willing to split into separate tables because a couple was refusing to leave the table reserved for us. We declined, explaining that we had already been waiting for an hour and preferred to sit together. She then showed us the area where we were supposed to be seated. The couple in question was still sitting at the end of the table, with their food packed and ready to go. Another 10 minutes passed, and we were told again it would be “just 10 more minutes” and we’d be seated at the back wall. I went to check, and the tables at the back wall were occupied by people who had just received their food—clearly, we would not be seated anytime soon. At that point, I told the hostess I was going to speak with the couple sitting at our assigned table. I believed they may not have known that a large group had been waiting for their spot. The hostess said nothing—neither giving permission nor stopping me—so I went over and politely explained the situation. One of the women at the table responded rudely, and shortly afterward, the manager came out and scolded me, saying I was not allowed to ask customers to leave. Rather than address our very reasonable concerns or apologize for the hour-and-a-half wait, the manager chose to berate me publicly. At that point, our entire group decided to leave the restaurant. In total, we waited over 90 minutes, longer than originally promised. I saw numerous parties come and go while we remained unseated. The disorganization, lack of communication, and poor handling by both the hostess and manager made this a deeply frustrating and disappointing experience, especially on what was supposed to be a...

I placed an order via email for the "family affair" catered mothers day brunch. My order was taken and paid for on Thursday with an arranged pick up time of 10am today. I got to the restaurant at 10:10am and did not leave u til 12:09pm. There was no organization whatsoever. After asking one of the young ladies working if they needed to see my invoice I was assured that they had it and "was working on my order". Come to find out this was their go to response to everyone. One young lady in particular made it a point to be extraordinarily rude (seemingly only to me, but I won't even delve into that). An hour into waiting I then find out that my invoice somehow was lost and/or never sent over. After going back and forth with the manager on duty he wrote down my order and assured me that it would be ready in 30 minutes. After waiting 30 minutes when the rude woman resurfaced and was taking the names of other patrons waiting I inquired about my order to which she responded "we already know about you ". When they finally bring my order out, they only bring half the items out and walk away, leaving me to wait another 30 minutes for the missing items. When I finally get to my mothers house, turns out my french toast that supposed to feed 6-8 was only enough for about 2-4 (my friend had a whole extra pan so maybe that's where mine went). I think being made to wait 2 hours was reprehensible and the normally good food was rushed so it wasnt that great. Seemed like the only people who got their food on time were the food delivery drivers (grubhub, caviar, etc). I have never felt so ignored or disrespected. I was made to feel like I was wrong for being upset (especially for the amount of money they charged for this service). I will never partake in their...