Made a reservation on Saturday for a birthday celebration for 8. I called ahead to see if we could bring a cake in, was told it was fine but it they had to cut it it would be a $1 per person charge. I brought my own plates and plastic forks not to cause them anymore dirty dishes or inconvenience and we sliced it ourselves. The waitress was never anywhere to be found most of the time. The kitchen brings your appetizers and food out. We ordered a drinks and it took 20 minutes to get half of them 10 minutes for the other. My sons beer they were out of so then he waited again. We need more drinks about 30 minutes and wanted water we went up to the bar and ordered after a l one time of more waiting. He asked what table we were at and then 10 minutes later the waitress came back with no drinks but wondered how many waters we wanted. We stacked all our appetizer plates nicely at the end for her she never took them, the manager came by and did. After finishing dinner we ate cake then waited for our waitress again for to go containers and our bill. At that time she returned and was very loud at rude, scolding us like children about us bring in a desert. I said I called ahead yesterday and was told it was ok. She then carried on asking what time I called and who did I talk to, because they don't allow it. I got the impression by her expression and loudness she didn't believe me. So we sat there for another 15 -20 minutes. She was at the hostess area, could see from are table so I walked up and asked her please for our check. Then I mentioned to her that I really did call yesterday there were 2 people that handled my question bc the 1st person had to ask the guy standing next to her. I was told it wasn't a problem and they only charged $1 if they needed to cut it. She then said ooh, I said she didn't need to be rude about it she could have approached one of us, her response was I didn't know who was paying the bill. I said ok but she was overly loud about it. She then apologized. I went back to the table and waited about 5 minutes later the Manger approached me at the table quietly asking if there were any problems with dessert. I told him what happened he apologized said she overlooked it bc it was on the reservation that we were bringing a dessert. A few minutes later our waitress brought out our bill and apologized stating she didn't know about the dessert, again louder then needed and hands gestures and facial expressions said it all. The lg cake container sat in the middle of our table you couldn't miss it, nothing said till we all done eatting it. The service was terrible trying to get a drink almost impossible all night. The appetizers were good, dinner was nothing special. We would not hurry back. I left her a 15 percent tip which i felt was generous for the service were received, I usually tip a minimum of 20 especially in a...
Read moreMy wife and I and our two girls had not been to Cafe Hollander in some time - about 6-8 months, because of the horrifically bad service we had received before. But today, we thought, well, let's give them a try again, it should be better. Big mistake.
We arrived and our server promptly took our beverage order, and then took our food order shortly thereafter. So far, so good. We waited, and waited, and in the meantime a full table of 6 arrived next to us, about 15-20 minutes after we sat down. They ordered, got their food, and were happily eating...and we were still waiting.
We had waited about 40 minutes in all when (after we complained - loudly) the manager finally came out with our food, which had obviously just been reheated since the plates were hot. No apologies, just kept saying well what can I do to make this better? Do you want your food boxed up to go? And other similarly ridiculous questions. We simply got up and walked out since the manager clearly wasn't interested in alleviating the situation.
If this had been the first time this had happened to us, maybe we wouldn't have been so upset. The problem was that 1. this was the 3rd time this had happened to us, 2. the place was half-empty, and 3. the food we ordered was basic brunch food, nothing special. Since there are no other valid excuses for such poor service, we have to think that the servers and management just don't like us or our kids. Not sure why, since we are always polite, our kids are well-behaved, and we tip well. Maybe it's because my wife and I don't drink alcohol, so the servers see us as a waste of their time. Regardless, this was absolutely the final time we will ever go to this restaurant. The food may very well be good, but with their awful service,...
Read moreBeen going to Hollander since they opened in Mequon. But the past few years they’ve fallen off. My partner and I went there to get a dessert, the brownie skillet, to share and we were completely disappointed in the customer service and presentation of the food/overall quality of it on Saturday (8/17). The hostess had an attitude when we asked for a booth instead high top. Our server also seemed oblivious to social cues when we were waiting to pay our bill for 10 minutes, because she stopped serving tables to work at the bar instead. I’ve worked in customer service for 6+ years so I understand staffing issues and I’m usually pretty forgiving on situations like that in other establishments because I’ve experienced it. But the girl should have made someone else aware that she needed backup in her section instead of completely abandoning part of it. Some other server had to step in and ask if we were ready to pay because he could tell that we weren’t being helped at all. Lastly, the brownie skillet was a disappointment, especially since it costed $12. We were presented with a brownie in a bowl with a morsel of ice cream and some whipped cream. What a disappointment, I could of made that myself at home for much cheaper. It used to be presented in a skillet with the perfect ratio of ice cream and brownie, garnished with strawberry slices and whipped cream, making the whole thing more of an “experience”. But this poor experience is just the tip of the iceberg for situations I’ve had at this location. Definitely won’t be going back to this...
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