Nancy's Restaurant — Restaurant in Oak Bluffs

A few weeks ago, at 12pm on Tue, June 21, 2022, the day after the Juneteenth holiday, I had THE worst customer service experience I have ever had in my life at Nancy's. The experience can be described in one word: DISPARATE What I had anticipated to be a wonderful lunch at Nancy's with my mother, sister, & friends (who were visiting Martha's Vineyard for the 1st time), was degrading, humiliating, & laced with bias. This, my 1st full day on vacation in Martha's Vineyard, my mother, sister, & I planned to have lunch at Nancy's. We had enjoyed lunch at Nancy's during our visit to the island in June 2021 at the suggestion of my best friend. She touted that the Obamas dined at Nancy's & that Sasha Obama had worked there as well, so we were excited to once again return to this Oak Bluffs' staple. The only Black patrons at Nancy's at the time, (7 Black women), we experienced this: When my 4 friends were seated at their table next to our table, they were told by Cierra that every person had to order a meal. My friends had already said they were there for lunch when checking.  It was rude, presumptuous, & insulting to target my friends. I overheard this & asked if there was a problem. Cierra, said there was no problem & smugly stated that if they were going sit at a table,  that each person had to order a meal. When i asked Cierra about this, she said it was to ensure servers got paid since tips were main pay. Cierra & staff were gawking & talking about me & family/friends. I asked to speak to the manager. The staff directed me to Cierra. I asked Cierra about how she was treating my friends. She said it was policy that re sat at a table had to order a meal & they were training the hosts. This was the 1st time we had heard of such a policy. I asked if this policy was in writing & Cierra stated that it was. I asked to see the policy & Cierra left to get it. Cierra never returned with the policy, however, a man came to our table. I asked who he was & he said he was the manager of the restaurant, which was a surprise to me as Cierra stated she was the manager. This man said his name was Steve Ansara. My sister & I both expressed our concern about how my friends were being treated and asked about their so-called policy. Mr. Ansara contradicted Cierra's claim that there was a policy and said that the restaurant could change the rules when they saw fit to do so. Mr. Ansara also stated that this was customary at other restaurants, though I have never heard of such. We expressed that it would have been helpful to have that publicly displayed and that we didn’t see anything about a policy stating that everyone at the table had to order a meal posted anywhere. Mr. Ansara attempted to justify the restaurant's actions, but ultimately could not. He even tried saying that when the restaurant is busy, they need to ensure that people seated at tables all order meals,  which did not make any sense as the majority of tables around us were empty, and the restaurant was not busy at all on this Tuesday afternoon in June.  There was no excuse, other than the fact that Cierra had a preconceived notion about my friends based on the color of our skin. This became even more evident when my 75 year old mother, who grew up in the segregated South, offered her perspective of the disparate treatment and brought the color of our skin, relative to the other patrons in the restaurant to Mr. Ansara's attention. At which point Mr. Ansara was very disrespectful to and dismissive of my mother, saying that he would not entertain such and walked away from my mother mid-sentence with a nasty attitude. Mr. Ansara returned to the table, stating that our bill had been taken care of, which we received as, him no longing wanting to deal with us and to just leave.

We will not be returning to Nancy's in the future, and will ensure to share this experience with everyone we know in hopes that proper customer service training, with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion will be conducted with the...

I have consistently brought groups to Nancy's restaurant in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard for five years, always cherishing our experiences there. Unfortunately, this visit was markedly different. Our group of 16 was seated at four round tables pushed together, creating an uncomfortable dining arrangement that made it nearly impossible for everyone to enjoy their meals.

When I raised our concerns with Dave, the manager, I was met with rudeness and dismissiveness. Despite my requests for a more suitable seating arrangement (see photo) Dave seemed unwilling to assist and implied that I was an inconvenience. Determined to make the best of a challenging situation, I instructed my group to adapt as best they could.

After 20 minutes with no assistance, our waitress, Virginia, finally arrived, but she only brought water for half of our group. To our dismay, she proceeded to take orders from other guests who had arrived after us, leaving us perplexed and frustrated.

I approached Virginia to inquire about the service delay, but she responded rudely. She was taking someone’s order when I approached her. When I brought this to Dave’s attention, he claimed that I had yelled at his waitress, which was untrue. I sought clarification from the Virginia , who denied making such a claim and appeared bewildered by his accusation. I then reiterated to Dave that we had been seated for over 30 minutes, yet half of our table still lacked water while orders were taken for other tables around us.

During our conversation, Dave became increasingly condescending and dismissed my concerns, insisting that I was not being treated poorly. He repeatedly questioned why I was upset, despite the evident issues at our table. I pointed out that only half of us had received water while no orders had been taken. Dave stated that the waitress was waiting to take orders until everyone was seated. However, everyone had been seated for over 30 minutes, and it was unacceptable that those who arrived after us had their orders taken first. Dave stood in the middle of the restaurant, arguing with me while ignoring the legitimate frustrations of our group. He never apologized for the poor service nor suggested a resolution. Ultimately, in light of the ongoing issues, three guests from my party decided to leave, stating they would not support a restaurant that treated patrons this way.

Eventually, the Virginia returned with water for the remaining guests and began to take our orders, though her demeanor remained unprofessional. Patrons from nearby tables expressed sympathy for our situation noting the inequitable service we had received.

This incident was particularly disappointing, especially since Nancy's has long been a favorite of mine. Dave, manager, never offered any apology for our experience, instead repeatedly questioning the reason my frustration. Feeling unheard, we resolved to share our dissatisfaction on social media, as both the Dave and Virginia displayed a significant lack of professionalism and service to paying customers.

Just before we left, the Virginia approached me with a sudden apology, having overheard our discussions about posting about our unfortunate experience online. This apology felt insincere as it was only offered after she realized it could impact the restaurant's reputation. She had not previously apologized.

Overall, I was deeply disheartened by this experience and the management's failure to address our concerns adequately. As such, I regret to say that this will be my last visit bringing...

I rarely leave negative reviews, but after my experience at Nancy’s in Oak Bluffs, I feel compelled to share. What was supposed to be a pleasant evening out on Martha’s Vineyard turned into one of the most unsettling and disappointing dining experiences I have ever had. To begin, I ordered the cod fish and was horrified to discover a large piece of plastic embedded in my meal. I nearly choked on it, and when I brought this to the attention of the manager, his response was shockingly dismissive. His exact words were, “Ok, I’m sorry, what would you like me to do?” — as though my safety and the integrity of the food were minor inconveniences rather than serious concerns. Unfortunately, this was not the only issue. As I continued my meal, I noticed something underneath my fries — a bloody tissue. The waitress, to her credit, was visibly disturbed, confirmed that it absolutely did not belong there, and offered an apology. However, when she brought this matter to the manager, his explanation was beyond insulting. He claimed it was placed there to “make sure the food doesn’t fall off the plate,” which is not only illogical but appalling. To make matters worse, he insisted there was nothing wrong with the food, touched it with his bare hands, and told us to simply “take it.” The lack of professionalism, sanitation, and basic regard for customer safety was astounding. A restaurant of this reputation should uphold far higher standards, and the manager’s inability to handle such a serious situation appropriately was deeply concerning. In all my years of dining, I have never encountered anything so unsanitary, dismissive, and unsafe. This is not the kind of establishment that values its patrons, their health, or even basic food safety. Martha’s Vineyard offers countless wonderful dining options, but sadly, Nancy’s is not one I could...