Asterisk Supper Club — Restaurant in Westerville

We very much enjoy Restaurant Week in Columbus and look forward to trying new places for the 1st time. I don’t do many reviews but find it necessary to explain a huge disappointment in the experience 3 of us had at Asterick in Westerville. The sad part of this situation is that the food and atmosphere were good. First we were told that reservations were full but we could be seated at the “community” table. In the entire visit no one additional was seated at the long table and 1/3 of the smaller tables remained empty? All courses were good but extremely small compared to the many other restaurants we’ve tried. The last course of mussels however, started the problems. Not so much the small (8) quantity but the contents. The first 3 mussels were spider-like webbing with no solid substance. After eating 2 (!) I told the waiter this was a problem for $40. He went to get the manager who was the 2nd problem. She did not listen/comprehend what we showed her and kept repeating that the price was for 3 courses and offered no resolution!! The ensuing discussion became louder and she left. Next thing was the biggest problem, the chef appeared. What an egotistical man! He insisted that “I ate them all so what was the problem.” I ATE 2 AND OPENED A 3rd ONE! That’s exactly 1/4. He then informed me (very loudly!) “that he’s the chef and knows exactly what comes out of his kitchen and that they never had complaints.” Interestingly these are NOT on the menu and this was only the 4th day of RW? Not at 1 point did anyone apologize or offer a resolution until we reached an impasse. I finally asked if he could make me something else. That’s all I wanted. I did not want any $ back only the offer of another entrée. We have NEVER been treated so rudely at a restaurant, especially by the manager and chef. ESPECIALLY when we would hope that this is their opportunity to showcase their establishment to gain new customers. A restaurant is so much more than food, it’s an experience. No food is exceptional enough to go back to be treated this way. These people are in the wrong business and desperately need communication/customer service education. Interesting I made the mistake of not reading other reviews first. Guess we weren’t the only ones.

Update: Megan A. I really do appreciate the fact that you took the time to respond to my review. I just wish you and/or your chef had taken that same amount of time to look at the mussels last night and this could have all been avoided. Your chef, more than once, shouted at us, after accusing me of eating all the mussels, “that he always KNOWS what comes out of HIS kitchen and this wasn’t true!” Obviously not, if that really was the situation. This makes the situation even more difficult...

Visit once for the atmosphere & decor (especially if you are a book lover) or if you've never had afternoon tea service. Once is all you need. We went twice. We started our anniversary evening there with dinner & dessert planned with friends later at a different establishment. We wanted a few drinks & appetizers alone first. My husband left work an hour early purposefully to arrive during their "between hours". He works across the street. If you can't serve 1 lone table at 4:15 then close for dinner reset. We told the bartender/host it was our anniversary & we were sat. A server finally appeared. Also, told her it was our anniversary. She blankly stared at us. Shocked when I ordered a draft beer & actually knew it wasn't what I ordered, then argued: "No, that's what you ordered." Nope. I know the difference between a lager & IPA, thanks. Half the menu wasn't available for multiple reasons. Mainly because we came "too late" or "too early", according to the server. So we had to order an entree as an appetizer to split. I was told the meatloaf was excellent. Ketchup on meatloaf? No attempt at sauce or spices, just ketchup. Ive only lived in Ohio for a few years. Is this a Midwest thing? After our beers my husband ordered his favorite, bourbon Old Fashioned. I make these at home & he almost always has one with dinner, when there is someone that can be found to make one. No bartender. No drink. No server. No order. Well, at least we have this beautiful space to ourselves right? Nope. The 4 top that came in was seated, right beside me, by the bartender who reappeared. The tables are set against a wall lined with church pews so every move anyone made was felt along with hearing their business discussion. Apparently no A/C this day either. I understand the point of a "Supper Club" is to be social with your neighbors & sit with strangers. We went in on the off-time on purpose. We told the staff repeatedly it was our anniversary, with no acknowledgement. I feel like if anyone listened we would have been at least 1 table apart & returning patrons. The business folks didn't seem happy to have ears on them either. In short, no one cared. I was a server/restaurant GM for 14 years. I cared. Even if my staff didn't, they at least faked it. I rarely rate places & don't expect free stuff or to have my butt kissed or for my anniversary to matter to a server but what should matter is good service & money. One begets the...

I really wanted to love this place but we were not treated very nice when visiting. I had brought my mother for her birthday. The hostess was not friendly from the beginning and ended up placing us at an uncomfortable table. When I asked politely if we could move to a different table we were told no they were busy that day.... I had made reservations myself and we were the first ones waiting in line once they opened for the day, but I assumed people must had just called way in advance so we just placed our purses and things where we could and continued on with ordering. The waitress was nice and the food was okay except one sandwich had a tiny piece of paper on it so the waitress said she would exchange it but sadly the tea sandwich did not come back out until we had completed the rest of our tea's and the desserts portion. The waitress apologized and was as nice as she could be but at that point I was upset because the entire time we were there (well over an hour), several of the tables were still open as well as several seats at the long table and we watched as one couple had gotten to change their seats. As I said we were at an uncomfortable small table in the walk way to the bar window. We had been bumped a few times and there was constant foot traffic from staff, not to mention I had ordered a large portion and we were playing musical chairs with our food and tea. I was literally in tears when leaving and asked if I could speak to the manager. I was told the manager was not there and that I could email her. I did some time ago but it said invalid email (possibly wrote down wrong email), so I gave up and thought not to go back again. I am just now writing this post as a client recently requested that we meet there and I had to tell her no and explain the whole ordeal. She said the owner would definitely want to know so here we are. Again the waitress was very nice and the sandwich mishap I definitely could have overlooked but we were sat in a very uncomfortable area and by the end of the expierence, I have no idea why accommodations couldn't have been made as there was plenty available seating and I was just trying to treat my mother to a nice day out in a local nearby town. I hope this post reaches the right person and can be used as a learning opportunity...