Dear Owner/CEO of Rustler’s Rooste,

I am writing to express my profound disappointment and frustration regarding the appalling treatment my family and I experienced at your restaurant on the evening of September 1st. We had made reservations well in advance to celebrate our twin daughters’ birthday, a day that was supposed to be filled with joy and celebration, but instead turned into a humiliating and traumatizing ordeal.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were initially pleased with the service. Despite a brief wait, my husband and I managed to grab a quick drink at the bar while waiting for our table. My husband then decided to walk with our daughters to find our table as we were informed it was ready, and I stayed behind to close out our bar tab. Unfortunately, this is where the experience began to sour.

I attempted to pay the bill, but the bartender ignored my request and began attending to other patrons who had arrived after me. Concerned about losing track of my family in such a large, busy restaurant, I asked the bartender to simply add the drinks to our table tab and hurried to catch up with my husband and daughters. I didn’t want to lose them in the crowd as they were getting too far for me to see where they were going.

Once I located my family, we were seated at a table with a lovely view. My husband and I briefly stepped outside to take some pictures, all the while keeping our daughters in sight as they sat at the table inside. To our shock, we were suddenly approached by a manager, who did not identify herself with a name tag, and were accused of attempting to leave without paying our bar tab. She claimed that many people leave without paying just before the fireworks start and insisted that we provide a credit card or she would call the police on us.

We were utterly stunned and horrified by her accusations. We explained that our daughters were inside, happily waiting for the food we had just ordered, and that we had every intention of paying. Despite this, the manager repeated her threat, creating a scene that left us feeling humiliated and demeaned in front of other guests. Never in my life have I been treated with such disrespect, and it was clear to us that we were being singled out unfairly, possibly due to our ethnicity.

The rest of the evening was ruined. We hurriedly let the girls finish their meal, too shaken to eat my husband and I boxed our food and got out of there as fast as we could. I didn’t realize that the waitress had followed us outside. When our waitress, who had been unaware of the incident, asked why we hadn’t tipped her, I could only apologize, explaining that I simply couldn’t bring myself to reward service in light of the degrading treatment we had received from the manager.

I want to emphasize that our stay at the Arizona Grand Hotel was otherwise enjoyable, but this incident at Rustler’s Rooste has cast a dark shadow over our entire experience. We had heard wonderful things about your restaurant and were excited to celebrate our daughters' birthday there. Instead, we left feeling deeply hurt and disrespected.

I urge you to investigate this matter thoroughly and to take steps to ensure that no other family is subjected to such appalling treatment at your establishment. We are honest, hardworking people who believe in treating others with kindness and respect. It is heartbreaking to have been treated as though we were criminals over something as minor as a bar tab that we were actively trying to pay.

I look forward to your prompt response and hope that you will take this matter seriously.

Sincerely,

Diana Herrick Sahuarita, AZ