Mastro's Steakhouse — Restaurant in Washington

We had great expectations for this overly expensive and immensely hyped and advertised establishment. The atmosphere was exceptional and welcoming and full of class and contemporary flare upon arrival. From the moment we arrived though, that picturesque scene started to quickly diminish. More than half of our party (3 out of 4) was present, and they REFUSED to seat us for 30 mins. Very unacceptable and not to mention, we were standing for some time. Managers walked by and didn't address the issue either. Once we were finally seated, we were introduced to our waiter, Michael C. Smith. He presented himself as a very charming, knowledgeable professional. He was very helpful with explanations and suggestions for the menu. While he was convincing and engaging, his countenance began to change midway through the dinner. The night was extremely special because it was my sister's 44th Birthday, hence why I chose this level of extravagance to celebrate her! Though he was efficient with taking our orders, he was deceitful about prices and essentially never explained to us about certain upcharges and additional costs to our items. His goal was for us to spend without discretion. He seemed impatient, uninterested and dismissive as we asked him for refills and other requests. As the food came out, he was in a hurry to move about and not because he was busy, it was because he had become arrogant and overly confident about his service. Dinner was great and dessert was delicious, however what happened next has tarnished the reputation and intergrity of this restaurant and establishment. The waiter came to the table to collect the bill, which by the way was an astonishing $575.41!!! We were being generous and thoughtful as we assessed an amount for tip. As we were trying to show appreciation for Michael's service, he aggressively comes over and literally stands guard over my sister and best friend, invading their personal space to calculate and count how much we were giving him!! Then he had the audacity to project the accusation that he wasn't receiving enough for his performance. He actually questioned and unprofessionally taunted us with unwarranted questions about what his tip should be and it was very disrespectful and definitely unappreciated, considering we just paid enough to eat at 5 different restaurants. This was very insulting, demeaning and disservicable to us as patrons of this company and the fact of the matter is, a tip is OPTIONAL and we should be able to exercise our rights to give liberally without equivocation or intimation from anyone!! And while you're wondering about his tip, he was getting a very fruitful one, which now is NOT what he deserved. I will NEVER support, patronize or recommend this establishment again because of this and a few more Idiosyncrasies that were socially biased and arguably discriminatory. Michael needs to be RETRAINED and taught proper edicit when it comes your valued customers!! Spending this amount of money and being treated like this is on another tier of disrespect!! Disgusted to say the least! An unfortunate experience for us, but an even bigger tragedy...

I will preface this review by saying that I work in customer service, so I know how challenging a busy day is, and I extend understanding when certain unforeseen issues arise. However, I also know that there are a few techniques that people in a customer service position can use to ensure that patrons do not feel forgotten, pushed around, or less than other clients. Unfortunately, Mastro’s does not employ those techniques.

My husband and I arrived to Mastro’s early for our 8:30 reservation after receiving a text saying that our table was ready. It took until 8:50 to be walked downstairs for our table. We were not offered drinks while we waited in the cacophony that is the foyer or provided updates unless we went up to the host’s booth ourselves. Once we arrived downstairs, we were told to wait at the base of the stairs because even after 22 minutes past the reservation time, the table was not set. We did not get an apology.

About 10 minutes later, a server came up to our table with appetizers that we did not order. I explained that these are not our appetizers. She tried to give them to us again. Now frustrated, I had to insist that this is not our food. She walked away only to come back with another person who told us that these appetizers were ours. Sternly, I repeated for a third time, “this is not our food. We did not order this.” The man asked me, “Do you know Steven?” To which I said “I have no idea who Steven is.” (I don’t know who Steven is). They walked away confused and annoyed with me because I wouldn’t take food that is not mine and that I didn’t order.

Toward the end of the meal, a manager asked how the meal was in a half-hearted attempt to address the long wait. I explained to him the 20 minute wait and additional awkward wait at the base of the stairs. He said, “oh yes, that’s why I came here to check on you. Steven, the host, sent you complimentary appetizers, but you didn’t want them.” Upset, and frustrated, I explained to him that we thought the food was sent to us in error and no one ever explained it was actually for us as a complimentary appetizer. He said, “Well that is what it was for.” He curtly apologized about the wait and quickly walked away. He clearly did not want to have a conversation with us any longer that he absolutely had to. He didn’t offer to cover our round of drinks or dessert as no one told us that the appetizers the annoyed servers tried to force on us 40 minutes prior were actually for us. I took the interaction with the manager to imply that since we couldn’t read minds and know what the appetizers were for, we missed our chance at the restaurant making it up to us.

We do not want free food or drinks, but it is absolutely the gesture that counts, and they completely dropped the ball on trying to make up for the long wait time not once but twice.

If you’re looking for a restaurant for a special occasion and an elegant dining experience with quality customer service, this restaurant is not the one. The money paid for this $250 meal could have gone a lot further at any other restaurant...

Update: As I cogitate tonight on the work force retaliation this young man has been subjected to due to assisting patrons is unreal. I've learned the young man was terminated and accused of fraternizing after his shift for requesting DC class resources to gain a future and career outside of the service industry to gain financial freedom. Ché the manager today was quite defensive when the issue was addressed. He expressed that it was my experience that I felt put off by the waitress and had no concern for the other 5 black people who had the same experience. Young black men trying to make better choices with their life and being punished for asking for mere PROVEN resources should not be punished with retalitory work place behavior and lose their jobs. Absolutely disappointed as this is an establishment I used to encourage people to dine. What are we teaching young people to stay in a position that has no future or be punished for inquiring when the opportunity presents itself. Some of the most successful people started at the bottom but knew to ask questions to gain knowledge and improve themselves.

Original Review:

Tonight I had to write a review about the poor service I experienced. I used to a be an avid customer and as the service went down so did my visits. Tonight was exceptionally bad when EVERY black person with dark skin tone was treated as though they showed up for the free meal on the menu. It got so bad that we all began speaking to each other to see if we truly were being singled out by this one waitress and course of Caucasian decent. Each person expressing their frustration and the manager Nick acting as if he condones the behavior. Deshonte on his 4th day of training was absolutely amazing walked over realizing that something was terrible wrong with each and everyone trying to make things right. Again no one wanted anything for free because that was not the intention the service was down right poor. It was so bad I walked over to the table where as I met him he introduced himself as Kyle who had been Deshonte's boss prior who absolutely praised him as well. I had to ask what did he do differently outside of us sitting at the table and ordering. He was able to really see the issue and pointed out he would raise the concerns with upper management but this was quite horrible for an establishment of this statue. Under no circumstance should myself or any other black person feel this way walking out of this restaurant. At the door each black person huddled up sharing how bad the experience was tonight with this one waitress and not once did Nick who made it to every other table make to any of the brown peoples table who all had complaints tonight. This was by far below par and...