Rex at the Royal — Restaurant in Philadelphia

My experience at this establishment wasn’t nearly as nice as the reviews. At check in both hostess were extremely generous. This is was my first time dining at this establishment, it was something that my guest and I found on a whim TIKTOK. We had no idea of the price point of things we just know it was something we’d be interested in trying.

We were seated, got our menus and ordered. I ordered a bowl of crab soup that came out luke warm and also a chicken and dumpling dish. Both that I literally picked over and sent back. I didn’t complain, I just did not like and but against my better judgment I decided to just pay. The waitress can attest to the fact the the food had barely been touched. The chicken was not seasoned, there were literally two, may three dumplings on the plate. (I will attached the photo) plating was nice, food disgusting. The same with the soup, it was not fresh, it wasn’t hot, or flavored. Fast forward the bill comes, which was about 3 dollars shy of 200 dollars. Everything with the exception of two spirits I’d order I did not consume but I paid. I wrote in the tip, (which is optional) that I saw fit on the receipt. Both my guest and I signed our receipts and went to the restroom, before we went to retrieve our coats that were checked in. Standing outside of the restroom was a gentleman whom I’d thought was just waiting for someone he had dined with because he looked very careworn. He approaches me and says are you “ Jill” I said yes, he said, oh I see here that you and your guest both left tips on your receipts that are under 18% and I know my waitress are great waitress, this would have to be some sort of mistake. I responded and said no there wasn’t any mistake. The waitress in my personal opinion didn’t give any extraordinary service and what I tipped was what I felt was sufficient. I proceed to get my coat, he follows us and says I’m sure this has to be some mistake you really aren’t going to leave a better tip? My guest chimed in and explained that tipping is not obligatory it is optional, the waitress did receive a tip from the both of us, we were not interested in leaving any additional money and that the food really didn’t meet our expectations. As we walked away he continued to speak loudly to us in earshot of everyone else who was dining, never once pulling us aside, never tried to have a discussion that should have never been having to begin with in private or anything, he actually tried to humiliate us.

My problem with that is, first and foremost everyone seated in the restaurant were predominantly white, so us being two women of color already made us stand out. Secondly The owner, or manager or whoever he claimed to be doesn’t know our financial standing or and other patrons in the restaurant. We are still in the mist of a global pandemic. This man doesn’t know if we were treated to this restaurant and tipped all we had left. He didn’t know if what we tipped was our very last. Should we have missed out on a opportunity to dine somewhere because we are worried about the manager hunting us down if our tip wasn’t sufficient enough for him, because it isn’t 18 or 20%. Not always can I myself and I’m sure people in general tip as generously as this man would have liked for a plethora of reasons and it’s none of his business. To be humiliated in front of an entire restaurant, and staff because HE wasn’t satisfied is absurd. I wasn’t satisfied with my things that doesn’t give me the right to treat a person poorly. I would never patronize this establishment again and if you are a person that can’t tip to the liking of the careworn, owner that harassed us about a tip I would suggest you take your business elsewhere. Instead of stalking the tips on the check he could have been walking around getting feedback from the guest and could have potentially found out about our unsatisfactory dining. Maybe he did but just happened to miss the table with the two black girls. Stray away from...

After passing this by a few times we decided to finally try it, one we didn't realize it was going to open so late on a Sunday, which was fine, but I didn't see any hours posted. We're finally in and by the window is a bit cold for a cold day, don't know how that is going to be the winter, maybe there is heat that wasn't turned on just yet, so I don't know if that's a problem for certain?

I spot the brisket and am ready to go for that, but first I get luke warm coffee early open, that's just like, c'mon man. I drank it, but the next cup was hot for sure, obviously someone else complained about it in the room. I also saw grits so when we order I'm ready for the Brisket sauce and grits. The brisket comes out and I notice that there are three medium to large style pieces of bread smothered with sauce. The sauce is already looking kind of old or not heated well like the coffee and the main noticeable thing...where's the brisket? I basically order some gravy with little pieces of brisket on three slices of bread, is that what I'm paying for? And this is not explained in the menu, as well what's actually in the brisket sauce, especially for allergen info or food restrictions for customers. I haven't tried their other food, but this item needs to be taken off, it's a trick, no brisket to really enjoy, just gravy and bread that you're not expecting to pay for. The heat quality and level of grease seems to be overpowering, maybe that's the style, but as I noticed across our table someone got the burger with fries, and man! was that burger greasy! The lack of food info, heat, and over usage of things may explain how I and company felt sick afterwards. This was a legitimate food feeling sickness, maybe that gravy was old, maybe other possibilities too. Oh yeah, the grits came a little later and it came luke warm to cold, so that was pretty lame.

This place really needs to update the information section of their menu, better timed service, and there is nothing wrong with doing a better job the second time around or knowing when something is luke warm and not serving it, or letting your customers know these things and having them wait longer for better results? The cocktail breakfast style drink I had was pretty good, it was on the house because it came so late, thanks mate, that's customer service...or maybe he knew we were just being...

Go for the cocktails - make sure you have a couple of hours to wait for dinner and account up charging.

Preface: Before this post starts getting argumentative comments about staffing shortages, COVID-19, millennials, the great resignation, Joe Biden, vaccinations, and supply chains issues, I want to point out this about lack of attention to detail… beyond decor - this place is lacking.

Special Occasion : Our party was celebrating my sister in law’s birthday and were excited to get a reservation at this particular restaurant. Naturally, my wife wanted it to be special and arranged a special dessert to end our night out. She brought this to the hostesses attention and was assured it would happen. We were not looking for singing, dancing, napkin throwing or anything like that (this isn’t Friday’s). As we waited for an hour between our already delayed appetizers, a random server approached our table and said “hey, I hear there’s a birthday - I love birthdays… Happy Birthday” and walked off. This all took place before my wife had returned from the hostess desk and we thought nothing of it - because who doesn’t like birthdays? We all thanked him and all were confused.

The dessert never arrived and to be honest we were happy to leave because we were afraid it would tack on another hour of sitting, up charging (obviously) and not being served or offered new drinks.

Dinner:

Having just visited New Orleans the offerings were in line with the low country theme. When our entrees arrived they weren’t hot - but acceptably warm. My chicken and dumplings dish was not overly flavorful or filling. The up charging for two pretzels for the crab fondue and the insulting pace of delivering all courses and lack of bussing between meals left us with a bad taste...