Taverna on Division — Restaurant in Proviso Township

I wanted to write about this spot because I was so hyped about going as its really close to my house---in the neighborhood and it always looked so pretty from the outside. A coworker had told me their food was good as well so my girlfriend and I was looking forward to going and we finally made it there last Friday 12/6/19. So the reason why this place gets only 1 star was simply due to poor customer service!!!The pros---Food was good hence the 1 stars. I had the steak well done with pilaf rice with order of grilled asparagus and my friend had personal pepperoni pizza, which she enjoyed. I just wish the portion were more for my order. There were 2 pieces of small steak and a few scoops of rice. The asparagus were large 5 pieces and was decent portion so no issues with that. The cons----the waitress was not really friendly and short with us the entire time. We both noticed how if you’re a regular you were well greeted and the staff/workers were talking to them and checking often if they needed anything. As with us--regular people I guess she barely came to check to see if we needed water refills! The main issues were when I asked for a refill of my coke drink she was no where to be found so I told the bus boy and he went to tell her and she came grabbed my empty cup quickly and brought me a new one but the way she did it was as I was bothering her. Hell, this is your job! Then we got looks as if we were taking up space mind you while we were still eating. My friend became very uncomfortable but I am a slow eater and pregnant. I do not like to rush. I feel I am paying my money and the food is not cheap! For both of us 2 meals 2 drinks close &56.00! Another thing that bothered us was the fact that the give you bread with butter as a starter. We however did not get the bread until 5 min before our food came out. Remind you we were there for over 30 mins before they brought the bread to us. And since the bread came out late as we were still eating our food when she first came to remove the bread. I had to say hey we are still eating it and she says, “ Do you want to take it to go”! WTF?! Who says that?! I said “No, we are going to have it here” and she rolled her eyes and walked away. Then moments later, another bus boy came by and tried to remove bread again. I had to stop him and say we are not finished and he walked away. It’s like they do not have anything to do but stare and want to hurry to get your plate. Please let us enjoy your place and your food! With all that being said, my girl wanted to leave. She did not say thank you for coming or anything for that matter just handed us the check and that was all. She was an older woman who waited on us. I did not get her name. I did not leave any tip but I will leave this review in hopes the owner/manager see it and know customer service is KEY to successful business!!! It’s really sad because you do not know who or what may come into your place of business. I love to dine out and try different foods/spot and this place is literally walking distance from us but when you treat me or my friend like whatever, you deserve not only NO TIP but a bad review and no good word of mouth from a neighboring patron! Hope you change your employees I will never know, as I will not be returning! I will spend my...

I can understand why this place wasn't so busy. When I arrived with my party, there was only one other table being served at close to 5pm. Food: seafood pasta was ok, sauce was missing something. Alfredo pasta was delicious, sauce was made in house. It was rich and creamy. Grilled calamari would have been good if it wasn't so extremely salty that it was inedible. Cocktails seemed a bit watered down. Cappuccino was good. There was a 5 layered cake that sounded good but for $16 a slice, and from how the menu tasted so far, I passed. Our server was very sweet, attentive and understanding. Interior was a traditional open space bar atmosphere, exterior was more attractive and inviting to dine.

What I noticed was that as more guests came in, 2 2-tops adults, and a party of 10 5-kids, 60% of the dining parties were families. So this establishment is safe to say that it's a family restaurant. Knowing that the majority of their dining guests (in a residential area) are families they should have family bathrooms or at least a changing table in the restroom. Since they did not have either, I reluctantly had no choice but to change my name much needed diapers outside where my party was (at the start of doing so, we were the only party outside and there was only 1 other party inside and they had children too. While I was finishing up the manager styler out and said abruptly that I could not do it there because it's a business and what not, I understood, but I stated there was no where else that I could change them, had there been a changing table or some space in the restroom to do so I gladly would have. And the he went on to say I could have done it in the car. That's like telling a guest they could defecate in their car. Oh wait, they did, because my babies are guests. A bit of a different approach and understanding would have changed our experience a lot more and would have encouraged us to come here again and tell others but that attitude and that approach was a deterrent.

So thank you, but no thank you...

First off the reason for the 1 star has nothing to do with the Food. The Food itself is good for the most part. The reason for the 1 star is the fact of the Attitude from the People that own the restaurant. I have been coming to this Restaurant for yrs now but have to say I am DONE with it. A few weeks back as my G/F and I went in to dine were greeted by a worker who had to get permission to seat us because of a Big party they had coming in that night. The most IGNORANT thing to me to say to a customer is, you have to eat and be out by a certain time. Giving us a certain amount of time to eat is VERY Ignorant and really shows the class of the owners to say such a thing to a customer. In this case it would have been more appropriate to say sorry but we are closed tonight because we have a Party that reserved the whole restaurant and I would have accepted that. I gave them the benefit of the Doubt and accepted their stipulation. Now I have tried to make a reservation on the Phone and was greeted by a gentleman first who said that he doesn't know because they do get packed at the time (6:00 PM) we wanted and then proceeds to put us on hold to then have Jennifer get on the Phone and here again, telling my G/F the same Ignorant remark that we have to come in at 5:30 but have to eat and be out by 7:00. I want to know, who in the Hell do they think they are? First off you are in Melrose Park , 2nd your Food is not 5 star to have an attitude like you do and make us feel like you are doing us a favor or we are 2nd class citizens, and 3rd, here is a Piece of advice, start treating your customers with respect because the old saying is, Restaurants with Great customer Service last Forever but Restaurants that are so-so end up closing their doors and let me tell you Jeniffer that, with your attitude you are the type that will eventually be closing your doors..Not that it matters to them but I will never step a mother foot in their...