T. Cook's at Royal Palms Resort & Spa — Restaurant in Phoenix

Mother’s Day Brunch Disappointment – Not Worth the Hype or the Price

We were beyond disappointed with our Mother’s Day brunch at T. Cook’s at the Royal Palms Resort. For a $175-per-person price tag, we expected something special, but what we received felt more like a glorified Best Western breakfast.

The buffet featured grocery store-style pastries, a lackluster and sweaty meat and cheese board, a very basic salad, and standard breakfast items—scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and potatoes—that were no better than a budget hotel buffet. The seafood station offered overly salted shrimp and oysters, with little attention from the staff to refresh or maintain the presentation.

Our main courses were forgettable. My daughter’s eggs Benedict arrived with one egg hard-poached and the other undercooked—clearly no attention to detail. The only decent part of the meal was the dessert, which was good, but far from exceptional.

Service was another low point. Our waitress, though friendly, was awkward and lacked basic knowledge of the menu—even admitting she hadn’t tried any of the food when asked for recommendations. Service was slow and inattentive, which only added to the frustration.

All in all, this was not the elegant, memorable brunch we hoped for. For a special occasion like Mother’s Day, this experience missed the mark entirely. I wouldn’t have paid $50 for this meal, let alone $175. We won’t be returning to T. Cook’s for any special events in the future.

*Response to Royal Palms Reply- I already emailed the following to concierge the same day posting the review therefore the suggestion to email in redundant and obviously shows that negative feedback is not top priority.

Dear Royal Palms Resort & Spa Team, I am writing to formally express my deep disappointment and frustration with the Mother’s Day brunch we attended at T. Cook’s this afternoon. As Arizona natives and longtime admirers of your property, this experience was not only incredibly underwhelming, it was astonishing considering the $175 per person price tag—nearly $900 for our family of four. We have dined at T. Cook’s many times over the years and have had exceptional meals, including a beautiful Mother’s Day brunch in 2018. We’ve always viewed the Royal Palms as a treasured part of Arizona’s hospitality landscape. Sadly, this latest experience felt like an exploitation of the resort’s name and location, with no attention to quality, service, or value. It did a complete disservice to the legacy of the property.

Quite frankly, the brunch was nowhere near worth $900. To charge that amount for a subpar, forgettable experience is inexcusable. You are relying on the beauty of the property and the Royal Palms name, and unfortunately, delivering none of the excellence that name once stood for. It was embarrassing, and you should be ashamed to have served that kind of meal under the guise of a luxury celebration. I request that this complaint be brought directly to the attention of Mr. James Vecchio, Director of Food and Beverage, and Mr. Tyler Stirrett, General Manager. I am more than willing to speak further if a follow-up is warranted, but at the very least, I expect this to be taken seriously and...

Terrible Experience, absolutely shocked! T. Cooks is stuck up and pretentious and at least some members of their staff have no consideration of their customers. My husband called Saturday afternoon to see if there was a 10 or 11am reservation available for 7 on Sunday (the next day) for brunch, it was to celebrate my mother-in-laws birthday. We were told that they only had a 7:30am (too early for us) or a 1:30pm which was pretty late so we told them we would check and call back. I called back a few hours later and spoke to a different person and told her we would like to take the 1:30pm reservation if it was still available which, after she looked it up, it was and we scheduled it. When we arrived there at 1:30pm there was no one to greet us and we had to find someone to help us. The first gal we spoke to went and found another gal who asked in a sarcastic way, "what can I do for you" which by the way, she knew exactly what was going on. I told her we had a reservation at 1:30 and she said, "oh, well I called you this morning and said that we had to move your reservation to earlier and now our kitchen is closed but our bar is open" and she pointed to the bar. I was in shock and I asked here when she called and she said 11:00 in a really snarky tone which didn't feel very good and in fact made me feel embarrassed and hurt my feelings and was completely uncalled for as they were in the wrong, but instead of being gracious is any way, I was made to feel like the fool for not checking my phone. Initially when we called we had asked for an earlier reservation but put off our plans for my mother-in-law's birthday brunch until 1:30 because that was the only time they had available and we so badly wanted her to experience T-Cooks but we were completely humiliated by the unexpected cancellation of our reservation and they way in which the gal acted as if it was my fault for not checking my phone message before hand. There were absolutely no apology and no concession, just a very snarky response and a "too bad for you" attitude and "the bar is open". This is a place we have enjoyed going for over 20 years for our very special occasions but I will NEVER EVER come here again. I am completely humiliated, disgusted and shocked about this treatment. Even if she would have been very sorry and offered some concession and took some sort of ownership it would have left a better taste in my mouth but the snarky, sarcastic response was completed uncalled for. They ruined our day and my mother-in-laws birthday, leaving us high and dry to find a place to eat at 1:30 on a Sunday afternoon. I wonder how she would feel if the same thing happened to her. I don't know about you but I do not keep my phone on me at all times and I certainly would not have recognized the phone number nor would I have thought I needed to check my messages to ensure that a reservation I had made the evening before had...

T. Cook’s at the Royal Palms Resort royally ruined our 20th anniversary dinner. I had read glowing reviews about the chef’s off-menu lobster paella for two. Since my husband is a paella aficionado, we decided this would be a lovely way to celebrate our anniversary. I contacted T. Cook’s over three weeks prior to our anniversary to find out if we would be able to enjoy the lobster paella for our anniversary dinner. I received an email from Royal Palms Resort assuring me that T. Cooks’s would be happy to accommodate us for our anniversary, acknowledging the availability and price of the paella, and even following up with a confirmation through Open Table. I responded by affirming that, for the chef’s planning purposes, we would be ordering the paella. When we arrived on the evening of our anniversary, the hostess was very welcoming and verified our reservation. She seated us at a table for two with a view of the courtyard and Camelback Mountain and then surprised us by sprinkling rose petals on our tabletop, which we considered a thoughtful gesture. The wait staff were attentive and solicitous. As we were considering wine selections, the waiter began to discuss entrees and we told him that we had pre-ordered the lobster paella for two. He looked surprised and said that he would have to check with the chef. When he returned, he apologized, told us the paella was not available, and asked what we would like to order instead. We told him that we didn’t want to order anything else and that we had made our reservation several weeks earlier specifically for the lobster paella. (After moving to Scottsdale a little over a year ago, we compiled a list of restaurants to try for our weekly date night and omitted T. Cook’s due to its otherwise unremarkable menu when compared to commensurate venues.) The waiter apologized repeatedly. Although irritated and disappointed, we were not upset with him because it was not his fault, but we got up and left. As we passed by the hostess station, the hostess looked alarmed and asked what was wrong. We explained the situation and she replied that there surely must be a mistake and that she would check with the manager. When she returned, she seemed quite crestfallen to confirm that indeed there was no paella to be had, apologized profusely, and asked if she could provide us with some type of certificate for another visit. We refused since we won’t be returning and left. When we picked up our car from the valet, the same scenario ensued—concerned inquiry followed by apologies. By now, my husband was quite blunt about how T. Cook’s had messed up, using far more colorful language. The only thing that impressed us about T. Cook’s was how graciously the staff attempted to handle an unpleasant situation that was not their fault. Bad...