The Frog & The Peach — Restaurant in New Brunswick

I wanted to treat my grandmother to a nice dinner for thanksgiving and this place seemed really nice. The atmosphere is warm and lively, the servers are friendly and accommodating. I enjoyed our servers hospitality and attentiveness. They were also very personable. To say the food was good is an understatement. My grandma was singing its praises.

It seemed the night was going perfect until we were requesting the valet (who are also great by the way). The hostess who got a table worked out for us, came up to the front with a receipt, gathering attention and a crowd, to declare that gratuity isn’t included and held a pen near me with the receipt thrust in my face, being aggressive about adding one right then and there for all to see, as if I hadn’t just paid nearly 200$ and was some criminal trying to dine and dash.

Note that the menu itself was misleading to me; It said the cost/+gratuity…Nowhere did it say, what I usually see at restaurants of this scale which is the words (gratuity not included). At other restaurants it always says that clearly. ‘gratuity not included’

If the price is listed and says ‘plus’ gratuity then to me that means the gratuity is included with the cost its next to, otherwise why but a plus sign there. This was for the thanksgiving menu so maybe their normal ones say it (gratuity not included) but I didn’t see that on this one so it was an honest mistake. And even if it was there and I just missed it, creating such a scene was not warranted.

The professional thing to do is to pull a guest to the side, quietly and politely inquire about the lack of gratuity and possible reasoning and then accept whatever the guest is able to do.

But making a spectacle at the front door for a tip is cheap, classless, basic, and pathetic. And having a token guard dog employee do it while others watch in the wings is down right ghetto.

I was so shocked by what was happening that I could barely process my thoughts fast enough and before I knew it my grandmother had already handed over her card to pay a tip and the employee made a whole song and dance about charging it with one cent; complete with receipts (how thorough!) Not to mention, when, in my agitation I gave an amount I thought was fair given the disrespect we were receiving, this individual offers the number in percent…still trying to get more in a shameless ploy that tested my patience.

If I say 20, 30, or 40 dollars, do not chime in with “percent?”. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. Especially when it comes to money.

It was absolutely ridiculous. I did my best to save face since I didn’t want to upset my grandmother but even she said later on that the manner in which everything went in the end was ‘messy’.

And to bring up at one point the question of whether I left out the gratuity on purpose? That is beyond crossing a line and I’m disgusted that I even wasted my time being cordial and didn’t just take my receipt and crumble it up.

It’s all well and good to want to protect your employees who rely on tips, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to do this and tonight was a perfect example of the ‘wrong’ way. You don’t do this at the expense of guest experience. It is the guests that even keep this place open.

I have never been treated like this at a slightly expensive restaurant in my entire life. I usually don’t even do reviews where I eat, but for this place I will make an exception.

This was my first and last time...

I am not one to leave negative reviews, and I always try to give the staff at any restaurant the benefit of the doubt, but my recent experience at The Frog & the Peach was unacceptable—especially given the nearly $1,000 bill.

The main issue revolved around my ribeye steak, which happened to be the most expensive item on the menu at $66. I ordered medium (as I always do) but it arrived rare. Really rare. I had to send it back (which I hate doing). The waiter immediately blamed me and said that I ordered it rare,’ Several members of our party heard me order and supported me.

Then he said ‘I’ll show you’ and went to the computer. When he brought up the order, it was listed as medium, just like I ordered it.

He didn’t come over to the table to tell us this - he yelled it across the restaurant, over another table full of patrons. Then his tactic switched to blaming it on the kitchen. He said ‘It was the kitchen, not me. I did it right!’ - much more concerned with blame than getting it right. Then he came back to our table and asked me what I wanted him to do about it. What? I told him I wanted it cooked the way I ordered it. He took it away and brought it back 15 minutes later, but it was NO different - still rare - verified by all others at our table. This felt like a big F U to us. I think they just left it under the heat lamps for a bit because the plate was hot and the spinach was dried out. At this point everyone else was finished their meals, but I had no choice except to send it back again. The 3rd time it came out, the manager brought it out and set it down, then promptly walked away with no explanation. This time it was very overcooked - extra well done. I took a bite or 2 and gave up. It was pointless. They were not interested in getting it right.

What made this experience worse was the staff’s response. Not only was this unprofessional, but they also made us feel like we were at fault for expecting it to be properly cooked. At no point did anyone attempt to offer an apology or provide a solution, such as a replacement dish or even a basic gesture of goodwill.

When you’re dining at a restaurant where the bill is approaching four figures, you expect professionalism, attention to detail, and a commitment to customer satisfaction. This experience failed on all fronts. I cannot recommend this restaurant and will not be returning.

We even reached out privately through Open Table to let management know they have a problem, but got no response or contact from the restaurant. Complete...

Ehhh. Okay. So. I'm giving this 3 stars because of my overall experience there. I would give the food 4 stars. I hate how google does not do half stars because I would rate the middle of both, 3.5,but my experience was so awful I'm going to a 3. Now, the menu seemed innovative which is what brought me in. To get me to go to NB, it's gotta be something GREAT and word of mouth and the menu made me think it was. Drinks were excellent. Food, I had tuna sashimi which thinking back, I hardly remember so it couldn't have been that amazing but the entree I had was a pork shank, which was absolutely amazing. It was in a garlic potato smush sauce (for lack of a better term) and I was in heaven. It was cooked to tender perfection, fell off the bone and the flavor of the sauce was just delicious. Ok, so the experience... Well, we were in the greenhouse room and there were 4 or 5 other tables full when we got there. It was loud but we figured it would quiet down. Well, eventually all the other tables left except 1 table with 4 females and 4 males, drinking wine like they were at a college party. Instead of quieting, it got louder than it was when the 5 tables were full. They were so incredibly loud and obnoxious, it was beyond out of control. With just their table, it felt like I was in a crowded bar. They were across the room, we were literally in opposite corners and we had to yell over them to hear each other. I got a headache from yelling at my partner all night. They were so drunk they broke a glass on the table and laughed. The wait staff was aware of the issue and agreed with us that they were completely obnoxious but they never offered to move us. At this point it was late and a move would have been feasible since the restaurant had emptied a bit and we were still eating and drinking. However, I think that what should have happened besides an offer to move us, is that the Manager should have brought the group's obnoxious, drunk, childish behavior to their attention and this table should have been told to either quiet down or take the party elsewhere. I'm telling you, it was ridiculous and I'm 34, not 74. They were acting like drunk college kids. I could not believe that this behavior was being tolerated at a restaurant such as this one - one of the highest rated restaurants in New Brunswick with a well-known name. So unfortunately, because of this, I'm VERY...