The Old Spaghetti Factory

This is our favorite place to eat and celebrate a special occasion. But this time we were quite disappointed. We went to dinner for my husbands Birthday, and mentioned that to our waiter who was not friendly at all. My in-laws are foreigners, and the waiter seemed irritated and was very short with them. When our food was brought out, everyone's food came out except mine. The staff who brought the food out never asked "Does everything look ok?, Does anyone need anything else?" Nor did they pay attention enough to notice that one person at the table did not receive their food. And, nobody came back to check on us to make sure everything was ok, or even refill our drinks. I sat patiently waiting for my food, and when everyone at our table was finished eating, my mother-in-law noticed that I still had not received my food, she got up to hunt someone down. Our waiter came over, and just simply said "Oh, how did they forget your food?" he went to the kitchen and came back to deliver my luke warm lasagna. Merely saying "Here you go." He then brought spumoni for everyone and after passing out all the bowls, laughed and said " Oh yeah, it's your birthday, did you want us to sing to you or something?" Then brought out our full bill. I'm not one to complain just to get their meal comped. I'm happy to pay for my meals. However acknowledgement and a genuine apology would have been appreciated. Heck, a smile would have been nice, or a "Thanks for dining with us tonight" (Thanks for driving an hour) something. Since the Pandemic, customer service has gone out the window. It seems that because employees know how desperate businesses are to retain employees, they no longer have to be friendly or feel the need to go above and beyond for customers. It saddens me to know that one of our favorite places has also been afflicted by the Post-Pandemic mentality. Despite the poor customer service we received, We still tipped well, but maybe we shouldn't have.... Maybe, if employees realized that their tips were earned, not guaranteed, they might smile a little more, might put in that little extra effort to make the customers experience a positive one. ~ Disappointed