Axton's by Chef Anton Testino — Restaurant in Pompton Lakes

This review is for the staff, not the food because we never even got to put in a full order.

We arrived to our 4:30 reservation on time with 7/9 of our party with us. The last two people were running late, by about 6 minutes. With this information provided to the staff they told us they are not able to seat us until our fully party arrives. The restaurant was empty at this time, being that they had just opened for the day 30 minutes prior to our arrival. We were made to wait in the cold until the full party arrived. What a great start!

Once we are able to be seated we are immediately presented with the worst customer service I have ever experienced from staff. No one said “Hello.” or “Welcome”. The atmosphere was cold and very unwelcoming, however we kept our spirits high and tried to make the most of it. We were there to celebrate a 30th birthday.

Our waitress was an older woman with red hair. I cannot remember her name, unfortunately. She was very rushed in her introduction. She read us a full specials list in full detail with ingredients all the way down to the cheese topping… this was not helpful due to the fact we had no menu with this information printed to follow. We did not retain any information. Do you have a specials list? I would highly suggest getting one if not.

Once she was finished she mentioned her name, but I was still trying to process the specials. The next words out of her mouth made our whole experience thus far make sense. She stated “We have a very large party coming in at 7:30pm. I know it looks empty now but it won’t be very soon.” Meaning, hurry up and order so we can get you out of here.

That was not the last time the 7:30pm party was mentioned from our waitress. When coming around 2 minutes after the Bible of specials was read to us, she made the comment again. “I am not trying to rush you, but we have another large party coming in.” Yes, in 3 hours.. I do not plan on spending the night in your restaurant, so why are you continuing to bring this “very large party” up to us.

We had a reservation. We were also paying customers. Why was the other party (not even there) treated better than us? Where in any customer service training are you supposed to inform guests of another party coming in? What does that mean to us?

At this point we are all very uncomfortable by your staff and their comments. The celebrated birthday guest asks if we are able to leave without being charged. Our waitress begins to apologize for “making us feel that way”, begging us to stay. It’s too late.

We leave. 5 minutes up the road is Jardin Latino. We arrive with NO NOTICE and a party of 7. We are greeted with a smile from one counter representative, who will also be our waiter. This restaurant was busy with, now, two large parties. He didn’t even flinch. We were welcomed and made to feel like human, not an inconvenience.

For a restaurant that has “Gordon Ramsey” plastered for all to see, you would expect a higher Google review. Now I see why you...

We went there for a nice birthday dinner and wanted to try a new place. Apparently they haven't got their act together yet. It took roughly 35 minutes to get our appetizers out, but only because I had to pull aside one of the waitresses, and when she brought them over, she admitted that they were just sitting there for the past 10 minutes. We were pretty hungry at that point, so we just ate them. Then another 20 minutes had to pass before our salads that came with out entrees came out. About another 20 minutes later, we asked them where our entrees were. There were already 2 other parties who had come in after us, and were already done with their dinner.

At this point we were done waiting for our meal and wanted to know why it was taking so long. We asked the waitress to get the manager, who apparently is also the head chef (which shouldn't be the case. In any good restaurant you have a manager). So it's Chef Anton Testino, and he comes to our table, looks us all over, and says "Yes?" as if we were bothering him. Any good manager, or chef, would begin by apologizing to his patrons and asking what he can do to make the situation better. Not this guy. He comes out like WE'RE the ones wasting HIS time.

So we tell him what happened and he starts to make excuses like, "We're short staffed tonight." That's not our problem. If you're short staffed and can't serve your customers, then you close the restaurant for that night. The next excuse was how long our order was in. He said that it's been 53 minutes since the ticket was submitted, and wanted to argue with us about it and bring it out as proof. First of all, it was 90 minutes since we ordered, so the waitress messed up by not putting it in on time, and second, even if we forgave that, how is 53 minutes a reasonable amount of time to wait for an entree? He continued to argue with my mother on her birthday, which we explained that all we wanted was a nice birthday dinner for her, and he starts to talk down to her like an a-hole.

After realizing that Chef Testino was one of those small minded people who always needs to be right, we just said to give us our bill for what we ate and we were going to leave. Only then did he say, you know what, I'll do you a favor, you don't have to pay. Wow, Chef, what a guy. This place has been open for only a few months, and I assume it'll be gone in another 2.

Avoid this place at all costs. If you have any complaints, the Chef will come out and argue with you instead of trying to...

Unfortunately, the food was extremely unsatisfactory, and the service was just as bad. The menu is repetitive; every dish seems to share the same ingredients as the next. Just one example: bacon, bacon, and more bacon. We love bacon, but it screams unsophisticated when every dish on the menu has bacon on or in it, and when your server frustratedly exclaims that you are not allowed to alter any dishes or simply ask for one ingredient to be removed, it makes it difficult to find something to eat. They don't have limes for your water - only lemons. Strange, and again, unsophisticated. The pesto sauce was actually gross. It tasted as though sugar was used in place of salt/cheese or whatever necessary savory ingredient one would normally use to make pesto "pesto." The scallops over pasta that my husband ordered had the same flavor as the pasta with pesto that I ordered - it was sweet, and none of the flavors worked together, though the scallops were cooked perfectly, I will say that. We hoped for a really delicious meal, but we left our dishes almost untouched, paid the bill, and went to our favorite pizza place for a delicious trusty pizza to save the evening. The service was so not acceptable for a place that you would think is supposed to be classy and upscale. The woman who served us was so impatient with us after having given us MAYBE 5 minutes tops to look at the menu from the time we sat down, that she stood next to our table and pressured us to order when I had clearly just said "I am still unsure, could you just give us a moment, please?" I looked at my husband, feeling so uncomfortable like "Is she actually standing over my shoulder while I read the menu??" Mind you, we had this reservation for several days prior, so there was no reason to make us feel so unwelcome. Any time I asked any questions about the menu, she made it known that she was bothered and was not eager to help us or explain anything, but wanted to rush us out of there instead. The tables being so close together that my back was touching the back of the man at the table behind me, was the least of the inconveniences of the night. We hoped for better -...