The Café — Restaurant in Valley Center

We were discriminated against at the café at Harrah’s resort. We checked in as a party of four, and also bumped into another family that we knew that was checking in with a guest count of three. Our families are Latino and black. Our two respective families were sat in close proximity to one another in an area that had at least 4 tables open. The manager came to inform us that we would be charged a 21% gratuity because our tables were being served at the same time and we were a party of 6. Their policy states that parties of 6 or more pay a 21% gratuity. Again, we informed the manager Valería that we were 2 separate families and would be paying two separate bills. She went on to insist that it was their policy to charge a gratuity on large parties and that because we knew each other the gratuity would be added on to our bill, or else we’d have to sit on opposite sides of the room. She stated we needed to move our guests to another table on the opposite end of the restaurant because in her experience families in big parties sometimes only leave $5 tips, and that having two parties that know each other turns chaotic- and asked us to sit separately. I honestly couldn’t believe she was segregating us for fear of our two parties being unruly or not tipping well enough. She obviously passed judgement on us and assumed we would demonstrate certain behavior if we sat in close proximity- like tip poorly or act chaotically. These presumptions have no standing to justify why we should be sat separately . It was humiliating, appalling, and quite shocking - our kids were hungry, there are few late night options, so we stayed to feed our families. After we ate, segregated in different restaurant areas, we asked to speak to the the manager again so that she may clarify WHY she separated us and made those unwarranted and irrelevant assumption of us. She escalated saying that she heard we called her racist! And then went in to call security on my family. Instead, she should have apologized, maybe taken care of our bill for mistreating us, in front of our children and other patrons. When security arrived, we explained to them the circumstance and they understood that her actions were not guided by policy directives. Even so, the manager walked away, upset, and we then visited the front desk in hotel lobby to file a formal complaint and resolve the restaurant bill. The food was terrible - dry , cold. Everyone pays at the front cashier - so in retrospect, anyone that receives a bill goes on to pay their tab on the way out, irrespective of party size . Please receiver better customer training and unconscious...

EXPERIENCE 2 (Neutral)

On this visit to the Cafe our server was very pleasant. I ordered a Patty Melt, and my mom ordered a Grilled Cheese. When my mom ordered, she specifically told our server that she wanted the cheese extra melty. I also ordered a Pepsi which the server brought right away, which seemed like a good sign.

When the food arrived it looked great. The bread looked like it was grilled perfectly. When I took my first bite I was amazed at the size of the patty, it was extremely thick. Most Patty Melts have thin little patties. This one was not only thick, but it was beefy and meaty, and cooked just right. As good as it was, something seemed off. The meat was so good I didn't even notice the cheese or onions. Then I noticed that in a lot of places the cheese wasn't melted. My mom's Grilled Cheese had similar issues. It looked perfectly grilled, but on the inside the cheese was hardly melted. I figured it was because they used cheese straight out of the fridge. Because then you're going to have unmelted cheese, or you're going to burn the bread. In the pictures you can even see the beads of condensation on the unmelted cheese indicating the cheese was refrigerated before being heated.

But, one thing I can say is that the fries were crispy, and delicious. I also have to note that our server did bring me a Pepsi refill without me having to ask, which is an indication of good service. So for me the best things on this visit were a refreshing Pepsi, and Crispy Potato Fries.

EXPERIENCE 1 (Positive)

Losing in the casino just wasn't fun. So, my family and I decided to take a lunch break at the cafe.

I decided to try the Funner Hot Pastrami. Pastrami on a bagel sounded kinda fun. In fact, it was quite fun. All the ingredients came together to make for a very tasty sandwich. After a couple of bites I noticed one issue. I bit into a fatty part of the pastrami and it was completely stringy. The meat itself was pretty tender, but the fat was purely stringy. It really ruined the whole experience of the sandwich. I remember about 10 years ago I had a pastrami sandwich here that was awesome. The pastrami just melted in my mouth. So, I know this can be improved. I would say this sandwich lives up to the name Funner. But, still it could be even funner.

The robot waiters on the other hand were a blast. They brought our food right to our table without any issues at all. It was pretty cool seeing them deliver food to different tables. I guess a lot of humans are going to be out of work...

One of the worst dining experiences ever! We showed up at 9:30pm only to be told they were closing at 10pm so if we wanted to eat we would have to order right away. The usual closing time is 11pm which was posted online and at the location. They don't do carry out and they're the only restaurant open "late" in the casino. We quickly sat down and ordered within a couple minutes. After about 15 to 20 minutes we finally got our food only to be told the dining area was closing and we had to leave in 10 minutes. We quickly ate our food only to be dissatisfied with the taste and quality. The turkey, avocado and bacon sandwich had a really hard avocado that came in a big lump right in the middle of my sandwich. The bacon was very soggy and the turkey was just regular deli turkey making the sandwich extra salty. The fries were soggy on all the plates. The burger was very greasy and over cooked while also lacking flavor. The fish and chips was very plain and lacked seasoning. The coleslaw wasn't great either. The customer service and food aren't worth the...