Cold food, colder service! I visited the crave in maple grove when I was home for a celebratory reunion/birthday celebration with girlfriends. We were all together again after not being together at the same time for 5 years. We were seated on the rooftop even though we asked to be seated inside due to the cold weather. I wanted to enjoy the evening so we settled for the roof. The space was small for a large party but we made it work. The first flag of the evening was dirty glasses and plates (lipstick stains and food particles). The waitress was very kind, funny and extremely personable and did her best to get new plates and glasses on top of being very apologetic for the lack of cleanliness. We all ordered our entrees and it took quite awhile (more than 30 minutes) for them to come out. When the food came out myself and 2 friends ordered the streak frites with Brussels and truffle fries. I was soooooo hungry by the time our food came that I was ready to enjoy. First I could not find the Brussel sprouts, for some reason they were under the French fries and they were shredded which actually made the portion size extremely small. I dug them out and proceeded to eat. Well they were cold like not even room Temperature. I was like wow ok, then tried the fries and they had definitely been sitting because they were cold. So I asked my two friends if their food was also cold. They both said yes, so I thought the streak can’t be cold. Indeed it was including the bearnaise sauce. So I alerted the waitress, she shared there wasn’t really a way to warm our food quickly but she would get a manager. I saw the waitress speak to the manager she looked over to the table and walked in the other direction. So I sat and waiting. About 5 minutes later the waitress spoke to the manager again. The manager then came over to the table. She reiterated there was no way to warm our food and that it would have to be remade. I asked how was it possible for our food to be cold, I got 3 different reasons why The food is brought to the table all at once or when all entrees are ready. The food had to travel from the kitchen to the rooftop (uncovered I will add). The food sat on the rooftop for “awhile”
The manager wasn’t polite nor was she very accommodating. I asked for a box to warm my food when I returned home. We were then practically thrown out after the upset with our entrees. Hot towels (how ironic) were brought to the table, boxes (that we didn’t ask for) and the checks. The waitress remembered the birthdays and said she would send dessert. I thought that was a kind gesture given the issues. The desserts came and they had to be old and or burnt brownies. They were disgusting to say the least and also cold. I can say without hesitation I will not return to this crave nor will I recommend it to anyone. The one upside to the night was I was in...
Read moreMy husband and I were celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary on 6/8/20 and decided to go to Crave. I have been to the crave in St. Louis Park and it was a great experience while my husband has never been to one. Wish I could say that for the Maple Grove location. We of course had to go to the roof top which was fine and it was very windy and it was 96 degrees outside so I asked the hostess if my husband and I could sit in the shade (we are almost 60 yrs old). Several very young people were in the shade and there were spaces available. The hostess decided not to listen to us and placed us in the direct sunlight. No greeting from the waiter at all when everyone else around us were asked if they were celebrating anything tonight. We then ask our waiter if we could move in the shade and he called over his manager. She was not a very pleasant person but did move us. My husband ordered a drink and he said he didn't think they put any alcohol in it. No flavor. We asked for water and was given a glass. Everyone else around us received a carafe of water as well. Remember I said it is 96 degree outside.Then we ordered the Chicken Lettuce Wraps, which was a mistake. Lettuce was wilted and should not have been served to anyone. I ordered the most expensive steak on the menu (Filet Mignon) and I added the Surf and Turf (the menu showed the price of $10 for this addition but when we got our check, it was $12.) and my husband ordered a New York Strip and we ordered them medium. Got our steaks and they were well done. Our waiter did not come around until after our meal was done and we had to flag him over just to get a box. The outrageous price we paid was not worth it at all. $12. for 3 Scallops. From what I see in the reviews these types of situations go unnoticed as the comments from crave seem to be a copy and paste message to all unsatisfied customers. No personal accountability. My poor husband was saying sorry to me all night. He felt so bad about ruining our anniversary. I would not recommend the Maple Grove site to anyone. Get it together and do it right as all the customers are...
Read moreWhere to start! Had a 12:30pm reservation today. When we arrived, we decided to sit on the rooftop and when we went up, the hostess said she could not find our reservation "but it did not matter, because they did not take reservations on the rooftop." Okay. . . Thanks for being so accommodating. Then we were told it would be a 20 minute wait even though more than half the tables on the rooftop were available. As a result, we sat at the bar. It then took approximately 5 minutes to be acknowledged and provided with a menu. Finally we ordered some drinks and then some food. We ordered at the same time as another couple sitting across from us. A number of people came to the bar and were not greeted, causing them to leave. The other couple recieved their food after a reasonable amount of time. GREAT, our food should be here as well. No. We waited an additional 18 minutes (Yes I was checking because it was comical at this point). Finally we received our food. My girlfriend ordered soup and salad and I ordered stir fry chicken. SHOCKER. My food was cold. Bartender proceeded to throw it in a bin like he was angry about it and asked for a refire. To make a longer story shorter, yes the retire was cold as well. The manager Gretchen was very apologetic as I explained that I had never sent a meal back. She told us they were short staffed and had some other issues. To me, there appeared to be plenty of staff, but they just are not trained properly. We counted 10-13 wait staff and at the most, 16 tables of diners. With the number of other quality restaurants in Arbor Lakes, I'm unsure if we will ever go back and having been to the Crave product on many other occasions, it's hard to say that. ONE OTHER NOTE- as we left, I apologized to the couple sitting next to us for the complaints, and they informed me they were from Maple Grove and it was their second time back after having a bad experience the first time they dined on the main level. They were obviously having a better experience...
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