Wintzell's Oyster House — Restaurant in Montgomery

I will start by saying the food was fantastic, and if the service matched the food then I would have left a 5 star review not 3 stars. Two main issues...1st we asked for a high chair and when we received it, it was filthy. The chair had a lot of food and crumbs in it. I wasn't really upset about that, I can understand how that happens. But what had my attention was when I informed the hostess of the dirty high chair she took a used rag that was in a bucket of water and some type of cleaning solution. She drained the rag and gave it to me. I didn't make an issue of it and I just went and cleaned the chair. Clearly it's not a huge deal, but I think it is important not to have your customers cleaning things in the restaurant they are dining/spending money at.The 2nd issue was the long wait time it took for our waitress to provide service. For example I asked for hot sauce asap for my appetizer. I received a small cup of sauce after my main course arrived smh. No joke it literally took 20 min to get hot sauce (I can't make this up). She never once provided any refills to our table and we were there for over an hour. Once our meal was complete it literally took 15 min to receive one to-go box and our check, which we asked for as soon as we finished. It started taking so long my mother in law asked another waitress for a to-go box, and then our server definitely was not pleased. She had a definite attitude and finally brought our bill. Our waitress really made our experience not good. With all that said the food was so good!! I would definitely go back, but if we received the same server I would ask for a different person. Most likely I would probably just do take-out, because again we really enjoyed the food. I'm a person that has worked in customer service for over 20 years and I totally understand how difficult multi-tasking can be. But trust me the service could have been and should have been so much better, and then on top of the bad service she gets an attitude smh. My mother in law bless her heart is better than me, because she still left her a very nice tip. A tip in my opinion she didn't deserve. I don't know the waitress's name, but I could describe her very easily. I'm not going to describe her on this platform, but if management would like to know who I'm speaking of please feel free to ask. If you leave me an email or some type of option to send you the information I will. I asked that management have a talk with her about her service and inform her she needs to appreciate having an opportunity to work, because so many people would love to have her job or just an opportunity to work. This could be a very valuable teaching lesson for this young lady.

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I've visited this place three times, and it's one of my favorite places to eat. However, as a bartender myself I always prefer to sit at the bar. The first time I visited, it was a Friday and (per our receipt) our bartender was Tiffany F. She did not give good service at all. We constantly had to keep repeating our orders, and she seemed more interested in her coworkers than her guests. The second time we went, we went with our kids and we had a tall guy (not sure of his name, but I know he used to be a server at Red Robin). Our food came out wrong however his service was exceptional! Very nice, especially with me and my husband being with our kids. The third visit we had was on 12/27 and we sat at the bar which prompted me to write this review. Unfortunately, we had Tiffany F again and the service was absolutely horrible. We sat at the bar and waiting for her to stop going back and forth with her coworkers for 20 minutes. It was so bad, an older gentleman who was a host (I believe his name was Larry because his shirt was monogrammed) made a comment to them that he believe they should take the conversation in the back. After 20 minutes of not acknowledging us, she didn't apologize, instead she approached us seeming irritated that we interrupted her. She asked what we wanted, and we told her we didn't even have menus to see. She never did smile once, only smiling at other coworkers again and conversing with them. She asked our drink order, then walked away and talked with coworkers, only to come back and then ask us what we wanted again. Another patron entered later on, only for her to ignore her and do the same thing! This is so infuriating, especially considering my husband and I are big tippers and brought $100 just to tip her! If it was a one time thing I wouldn't write this review but it seems to be repetitive with her. Again, she's more friendly with her coworkers who don't pay her a cent, yet will totally disregard patrons that are wanting to spend money with her/the establishment. I'm hoping this review doesn't get washed away and they actually address it with her. The food was great but our experience was ruined by the service. I tried to contact a manager before writing this review but I would love to speak to the general manager about this! If you do visit this place, please do not dine with Tiffany F or your experience...

I won't be going back after my experience tonight. Short summary: Terrible service. Cold, OLD, overcooked food.

Details for a longer read: I always make sure I stop by Wintzell's when I am in Montgomery. I usually have a good experience, but the last two visits have been mediocre. I should have trusted my instincts tonight and left when I arrived at 4:00 PM and the wait was 25 min even though the restaurant was empty. The hostess (bless her heart), couldn't or wouldn't communicate with me when I asked if I could just sit at the bar and order food. Her answer was we'll see. I was finally seated at 4:35 and the waitress was prompt. My salad was brought out and the lettuce was old and wilted. The cheese on the salad was dry and hard. I ate a few bites and decided to wait for my favorite dish there, the Redfish Bienville. I waited patiently. My main dish arrived 30 minutes after I ordered. My fish was nothing like the Redfish I normally have. It was missing the parmesan sauce which was brought to me in a side dish after I mentioned it upon arrival. The fish was not redfish, but tilapia. It was burned on the bottom, overcooked, dry and super fishy tasting (OLD), not to mention COLD. Not even warm in the least. The rice on the bottom was dried out, cold and hard. I don't know how long that dish had been sitting out, so after a few bites, I had lost my appetite. I didn't say anything to the waitress because I didn't want to wait since my schedule was tight. I figured I would just pay and leave and find some mints to get the nasty taste out of my mouth. I NEVER SAW THE WAITRESS AGAIN!! I waited and waited. I flagged down someone, paid and left and I even left a tip because it is not the fault of the waitress that the food was horrible. It was so bad, I am not sure I can ever eat seafood again. I just hope that it was not spoiled. Why would the kitchen allow a dish like this to be served? Why did the waitress not check in with me after the food arrived? Did she quit or leave? I was there nearly 2 hours! Sorry, Wintzell's. You lost a customer, no just because of tonight. Tonight just sealed the deal. I am so...