Too • Ra • Loo — Restaurant in Rochester

First of all, it was the Christmas lighting downtown this night so we went downtown with full understanding we may not even get a seat because we had made this a tradition we have done the last 5 years where we had been to several other restaurants in the area who were 100 times better than how this place is managed. This was the first time we have ever had this awful experience and personally the worst experience of customer service I had ever seen from a manager which turned out to be a cause of someone having a bad day and negatively impacting her other team members as well. First and foremost why this manager had gotten so upset was that my cousin had gotten there first and was seated by this operations manager, Robin who had said she had tables reserved for the night but could squeeze us in for an hour when clearly our whole party wasn’t even there at the time with a group of 13 giving us 2 tables. Very irresponsible “promise” to make to the “reserved seating” that was promised their seats would be available. She advised she needed us out of our table by 6:30. By the time we even got our food on such a busy evening it was 5 minutes till, at 6:30 we saw the manager Robin pull our outstanding and accommodating waitress Mel aside pointing at us with very hostile intent and put Mel in the uncomfortable position to tell us we needed to go. Mel came up to us confused because she understood we were wrapping up already and just paying our bills, cashing out our keno, and still had our 6 years olds rushing to finishing up their food as well so we could go see Santa. Mel said confused that she was told we had been informed to be out by 6:30, but reassured us she wasn’t rushing us as they would be seating that party in another section since there was no line at the door and at least 4 other empty tables that they were currently flipping over. As we were just putting our food in boxes, Robin decided to confront us (after the other party had been seated) at 6:40 and tell us it was now after 6:30 and we responded we were leaving and she immediately took offense and said she did us a favor to let us in and gave us a nice old sassy “Have a MERRY Christmas”. After then she went to the hostess stand and continued to talk about us to the staff, pointing at us across the room in which I got up to ask for her name and our waitresses as they did such an outstanding job and the way she handled herself and the restaurant was with malicious intent which led her getting up close and personal to my face pointing at my family and trying to save herself with again complete rudeness in handling the situation inappropriately. After we got out of our one table of 4 I stayed behind while my cousin (who is also a local cop and never has the time off to spend with his famil) had to leave and leading them and their kids not being able to get to see Santa while we waited for our other table to be cashed out with my grandpa who flew in from out of state for this tradition and the holidays. We continued to watch our table that we were pushed out of by Robin and the very large table of about 6-8 person seating sit empty for the next 35 minutes. Clearly something was wrong with the “operations manager”, Robin to the point of another manager to come out and directly ask for what happened as she informed me Robin was in the back all fired up about it and wanting the story as Robin was also very short with her and she herself had come in to help for the night and having to be put in this situation of confusion hearing that her manager handled a situation in appropriately. Too Ra Loo did have an absolutely great waiting staff and amazing food, we ordered steak, the steak tips, and pizzas in which all were outstanding but I can never in good honesty recommend this place even being a part of a local company in the area myself in good conscious as Robin is the perfect set up we see all of the time to destroy a place because of poor management which is unfair to the rest of her team...

So let me be clear. I was in this bar for 5 minutes, maybe less. But since I'm not one to be a complete ass and give a really low rating based on one experience, I gave it a 3 to be fair.

However, the reason I am posting this is because they did something that I do not feel should ever be done at a restaurant and I did feel the need to say something.

It was during the weekend of the Kris Kringle Market, so it was obviously packed everywhere. Waiting until a later hour to eat dinner in hopes of getting a seat somewhat quickly, we waited until 8:45pm to try and get a table. We went to Penny Black first and they said it would be an hour wait but that more than likely it would be less than that (which is standard). We put our names in and walked over to Too Ra Loo to see if it would be any shorter of a wait. As I looked inside, it certainly looked like a shorter wait since they were no where near as busy as Penny Black.

But a funny thing happened as the people in front of us chatted with the hostess: money exchanged hands from the customers to the hostess and in that quick instant, they were taken to their seats. Me being slightly naive at this point didn't put 2 + 2 together. I asked for a table for two, with a good feeling that we'd be able to sit at a table right away. A) the place was mildly busy but very open so it didn't look that busy and B) the people in front of us were seated right away.

No, two hour wait was what we were told. I thought I heard incorrectly and asked again, but she did in fact say a 2 hour wait. I declined.

I won't be accusatory since I did not hear the exchange between the customers in front of us and the hostess. Good friends who made a bet that they were paying up on? A bribe to get a seat? Who am I to say?! You make the call. Because either/or, I can't figure out how it possibly could have been 2 hours based on the crowd that I saw.

My friend swears by the place saying it's got great food. So I am curious and will check it out. And at that time I will make a more informed, well rounded review. I'm not going to let one hostess stop me from trying a new place that has been recommended to me. Se we'll see...

Update: Feb 2018. Did finally get here to eat and drink. I'll keep the same rating. Nothing wrong with this place, everything was good. Not great, but good. I tried the bacon and syrup that is on their menu and without asking, it came to me very crispy. That was a plus, but eating it I expected more. Nothing wrong with it, mind you, but it looked delicious and it was just good. They had chips and white cheddar that I also tried but I was not all that happy with the chips themselves. They did give a generous portion though, I will say that. Service was a little on the slow side for how few people there were, but again, she still did a good job. A good enough beer selection too. So everything was good. Considering the other choices in the area though, I probably...

I want to start by saying that we have been going to Too Ra Loo for quite some time now and have had great experiences every time. We went last night for our rehearsal dinner and that changed… when we first got there, we had a reservation for about 20 and the tables were all set and ready for us when we arrived. The wait staff was great and very attentive the whole time. As the night went on the door wall/windows were open and it started to get a little chilly. We spoke to the hostess about possibly having them closed as there was someone who was pregnant with us and couple others who were a bit chilly. That is when the manager, Bob, came over and asked who was saying it was cold? He then stated that they were unable to close the windows because it would be “too hot” in the restaurant. He then looked at the bride and stated “WELL OF COURSE YOU’RE COLD, YOU HAVE NOTHING ON”…. This was a very off putting comment and really caught the whole table off guard. For context, she was wearing a pant/jump suit with a tank top style top… far from anything revealing or garnering that type of comment… This could have been approached in so many different ways and if they truly were unable to close the windows, possible offered to move us or just politely explain it wasn’t feasible at that time. So a little goes by, maybe 30 minutes or so, we were still at the bar as the Lions were playing and still had drinks on the table when the waitress comes by with everyone’s tabs. I looked at the waitress and everyone at the table and asked who closed out? We all looked at each other and no one had requested to close their tabs and the waitress responded with “I’m not sure”. So we were basically approached about the windows in an unacceptable manner, received a rude/sexual in nature type of comment, and then were basically “kicked out” of the bar. Once again, this is all after a rehearsal dinner and spending a good amount of money for the night. Like I mentioned, we have been to Too Ra Loo too many times to count and we love it, which is why we had our rehearsal dinner here. But after this experience with the manager, it has changed our outlook. I also want to reiterate that the waitstaff at Too Ra Loo is fantastic, but having Bob as a manager is not good for...