The White Oak Tavern

We just got home from a visit to White Oak Tavern, having arrived on Sat March 2 just after 6 pm. My husband and I and our two young children did not have reservations so we were prepared that there could be a wait for a table. When we walked in, we were greeted by two front desk staff. The young man told us that they were full tonight and only happened to have a table because a large party had just cancelled. I am not quite sure what the implication was - it almost felt like he was suggesting that we would not be permitted to wait for a table given that they were full for the night. Staff were separating a 10 top table into 2 four tops with a 2 top in between. We were the only folks waiting near the desk. Once the tables were set, the young woman lead us to the four top closest to the door. Because it's winter and we had two young children, I asked if we could be seated at the other four top, three tables back from the door. We were told no because those tables were taken. I gently pushed back a bit because we were watching them break down a larger table into smaller tables and no one else was standing and waiting for these newly available tables but she declined to allow us to move. She was not very pleasant about this. Several min later, another 4 top was lead to the table we asked for. I worked both the front desk and as a server to put myself through grad school so I consider myself familiar with front of the house issues. The only reason I could see for refusing to allow us to have the other table was because she did not wish to move the menus two tables down. Unfortunately, this interaction set the tone for our meal; I didn't appreciate being treated as if we were lucky to be permitted to eat there. As far as the meal itself, I will say that the brussel sprouts were excellent, and the beer list is extensive and fun. Our server, Curt, is also good at his job. We asked for our children's milk to be delivered with their food, and he remembered to do so. I appreciate this as I know it messes up the server's "flow" and is an odd request that can be difficult to remember later. I also noticed that he kept a close, unobtrusive watch on his tables; he was discreetly coming past his tables often to keep an eye on things. I suspect he's one of the those quiet servers who's good at his job but may not get a lot of attention for that because he does a good job of blending into the background, while being attentive. I would have shared our experience with a manager, had one of them come by during our time there, but although I saw what looked like two managers on the floor, no one stopped over. I'm not sure we will be back.