Rio Grill — Restaurant in Monterey

My wife and I went in mid afternoon for a light meal, and were seated in the nice bar area near the fireplace. She ordered the Chinese chicken salad plate. The salad was excellent, fresh and unique. She had a Coke. Our disappointment was with our waiter. There was some sticky material on our table that stuck to my paper menu. As I stepped outside for an inbound call I asked my wife to request that the table be wiped down. When I returned she said that the waiter had not wiped the table down, but had told her it was the varnish on the table. I was surprised that he had not simply responded to her request. I used a small napkin to stick to the material, which was not varnish. When the waiter returned to take my wine order, I repeated our request that the table be wiped down. He again said that it was varnish. I pointed out the material on my napkin. I again requested that the table be wiped down, saying it was not varnish. He returned a moment later to wipe down the table. After he brought me a glass of McIntyre pinot noir, he did not return again. He did not check in on my wife's salad, he did not check back with me about my wine, he did not refill my wife's Coke. We sat there for an extended period, finished the salad and wine, and then sat some more. He never returned to the table. He did not bring our check, although we were there for a significant amount of time. He served a nearby table but did not acknowledge us again. I approached the bartender about getting our check and told the bartender that the waiter had not once checked back in on us as customers. The waiter then appeared back in the bar and I paid our bill. I would go to the Rio again based on the food, location and ambience, but I would not accept service from this waiter, who was completely...

We had dinner here last night. I made reservations for 2 in the bar area thru the Open Table App. I took a screenshot of my confirmation number.

When we got there the hostess told us she didn’t have our reservation but she said we could sit in another area of the restaurant. We followed her all the way to an overflow room where we would have been sat by an open door and it was quite chilly last night. I told her I didn’t understand if we made reservations for the bar seating that they didn’t have it available for us. She said this was the best she could do. I told her we would go someplace else then.

The manager Patrick just happened to be passing by and overheard me say that we would go someplace else to eat. He stopped us and ask if there was something wrong. I told him what happened and showed him my confirmation from Open Table. He said let’s see what he could do.

When we got back up to the front desk he said that there was a couple of tables finishing up and it would be a few minutes. He sat us by the fireplace. We had a wonderful server, Augustine, that took excellent care of us and we enjoyed our meal. The Chef came out as well and introduced himself to us to see how our food was and to make sure we were enjoying it.

What started off as my feeling of, I wouldn’t be back to the Rio for a while, ending up having a wonderful time thanks to Patrick who made us feel that he truly cared about the mishap with Open Table. He felt it may have been a glitch in the system since they just opened up for inside dinning a few days prior.

Thank you Patrick we will...

I went to a private party early February where I ordered pasta for my 1 year old with nothing on it. I said, "No butter, no oil, no cheese. Nothing." When it came, it looked glossy but the waitress assured me it did not have butter. Come to find out, it was tossed in tons of butter. The manager came by immediately and asked if the allergy was severe enough to warrant an ambulance, which was appreciated. When I mentioned about how I ordered, she seemed very distressed and was going to mention to corporate about the incident and how it can be avoided in the future.  She wanted to compensate a meal if I returned, but since I don't live in the area, I accepted a bottle of sparkling wine. Come to find out, it was not from the restaurant but from the case my party brought. So now it seems the manager was only acting distraught since she compensated me with a bottle that was brought in by my party. If I already didn't have a reason to not return (they clearly don't respect food allergies), the shady practices will definitely keep me from ever frequenting this restaurant.

**Edit- "The compensation you received should have been clearly communicated, and I regret any misunderstanding regarding the bottle of sparkling wine."

I should have been told I would be offered a bottle of wine to be taken from the case my party brought? I'm not sure how this is a...