Sandwich Taverna — Restaurant in Sandwich

Breakin’ the law doesn’t seem to phase the Manager or the owner despite gladly showing the ADA FAQ page as the manager blatantly lied, stated I was belligerent (to which the definition is: hostile & aggressive - nothing that matched my attempt at educating the defensive manager who was the dismissive one & did not make an effort to review the ADA FAQ site I willingly displayed on my phone. I also explained that I actually educate schools & facilities about ADA laws, specifically regarding Service Animals so that this type of situation can be avoided. I stated that I have had conversations with the Board of Health (Nate or Nathan- I have a TBI names are difficult) in Hyannis/Mashpee who has distributed emails to business owners on what can/cannot be asked/done which is an exact excerpt from the ADA site because of the confusion & large number of Fake SD’s.

1. I was only asked if he was a service dog after being seated.
2. I was then told I needed to show papers or registration to which I said “no, those are fake”.
3. the manager then returned and & said “he’s supposed to wear a vest”, I stated a polite “no, you can go by behavior as those can all be purchased on Amazon and even Walmart”.

As she got flustered, I said let me show you the ADA laws FAQ’s which explicitly answered her requests, each giving the exact answers provided, she is the one who began to get angered since they did not obviously know the laws.

I told her that she was causing my anxiety to rise & I was physically shaking. She stated that she too was shaking, but it was obvious hers was from anger & frustration because she was proven wrong. Some can’t handle this, she is “some” as is the owner.

Mind you I was there to get a simple meal with my niece. My Service Dog was Board and Trained and I explained that he is performing as such. Those who know, a Board and Trained SD costs more than a Honda Civic (I’ve honestly contemplated naming my next SD Honda).

Now at this point, the manager stated that “she has to call the owner and I said ok, please do. I stated, I would call the police for harassment & refusal of access which they can be cited for.

She then returned, said the owner wants me to leave because he has the right to refuse service, I said no, by law I cannot be refused service as it’s an ADA violation. I asked “please tell me what I have done, because you’re violating an ADA law by refusing access to me which is a federal violation”.

I asked the Bartender for help, she told me “I can call myself if I needed help”. WOW. JUST WOW! Who does this?!? Clearly this staff needs a brush up on customer service, typically when a person asks for help, you assist…especially when they are a woman, let’s not even add that I’m a disabled individual.

Well, 30 minutes & a terrible attempt at an apology later we enter and I get my niece a meal and ice tea for me because I’m still shaken up for the experience.

While my niece said her meal was delicious, she said “that manager should not be one because she was terrible”. Note: her meal and my ice tea was not even comped and I still over tipped. Sorry right? You would think they would at least offer to give a COMPLIMENTARY meal, but no….what a slap in the face and an obvious sign from the manager and staff that they are NOT truly APOLOGETIC!!!

I wrote “please do better in the future”, hopefully for the next legitimate Handler and SD team.

FYI, they allowed a Fake SD to dine with a couple just two weeks earlier & VIOLATE Board of Health laws as the FAKE SERVICE DOG was seated on the booth bench & was permitted to eat off the table. It’s clear this establishment needs a meeting as it clearly lacks education in more than 1 field.

But here, my Mobility SD immediately tucked upon approaching the booth, went to sleep, and we were refused access because we did everything right.

By the way, I didn’t take my electric wheelchair as it’s hard to maneuver in there so I used my cane (I know because I dined in there 3x before with my SD…the same...

We are a CG family and got transferred to the area in 2014 and used to frequent this restaurant almost once a week. We never had any complaints! My husband and I have both been in the service industry so we understand that things happen and are typically very easy going when we go out. We loved the atmosphere and enjoyed the owner greeting us and walking around checking on his guests. We had taken a break from eating out and decided it was time to start going back to the Taverna. Our first time back we did not see the owner which was odd because he was ALWAYS there. We had some issues with the food but not enough to really complain about and decided we would give it another go. Second time back the ice tea tasted moldy and we informed the server who was great and apologetic and immediately brought us other drinks. Food was alright this time. Our last visit to this establishment was last night. The hostess was very inappropriate as was her attire. She sat us with a waitress that was already over loaded with tables instead of the waitress she was asked to seat us with. The waitress was nice and attentive until the end of our meal when we waited for probably 15 mins for her to stop eating by the desert area and chatting with a cook to get our food boxed up. We tried getting her attention but had no luck. Again, we have been in the service industry so we get it but checking on your guests is key. The manager shouted at a customer from our table and scared the crap out of me where he was right next to me when he started shouting. I also noticed him constantly staring at the inappropriate hostess. We will no longer be going back to this establishment and will no longer refer on coming crew to this place. It is sad how quickly you can take a business down hill... Very sad this US Marine's establishment has been managed so poorly since he has left for...

It has been 20 years since I've visited this restaurant. And it will be another 20 years (or more) before I go back. My wife ordered the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and coleslaw. The ONLY thing she liked was the coleslaw. I tried some meatloaf, it was VERY salty. So bad that she couldn't eat more than a few bites. I ordered the Taverna steak tips with mashed potatoes and butternut squash. I ordered them "medium with some pink". What I got were burnt, crispy, charred tips with pink inside. Whatever seasoning and marinade they applied was not noticeable--the grilled beef flavor was barely noticeable. The chef substituted my butternut squash with corn (without asking if there was something else I would like). As it turned out, the corn was the best part of my meal. We didn't eat much, so we ordered dessert. Our server raved about their homemade cake. The cake we received may have been homemade but not recently. It has clearly been frozen and stale. Our server was attentive. The restaurant was clean. The bathroom was clean. Our bill came to $85 (with tip $100) for a meal that we did not enjoy any of it. Maybe it was our meal selections, maybe not. I tried a dish with their name on it and was very disappointed. There are many other meal options to try. Maybe those would be better. But I would definitely NOT recommend this...