Or else -
“The food here is really terrible.”
“Yes, and such small portions!”
Regards,
Shodan
The charge was higher than disclosed, if that is the case. The OP is being very vague.
I Don’t think the OP felt overcharged but that food used to be worth it under the previous management. Management changed, kept the menu/ prices the same, but the quality was now poor.
I hardly think anyone was “tricked” into spending $600. If the meal was bad, complain or send the food back. Not telling you management changed is not dishonest.
$600? That’s unconscionable.
How much did the others in your party spend?
Seriously, if you’re going to ask us what we think of the situation, TELL us the situation.
No it is not, when you buy a business you buy everything that comes with it including the name and reputation.
Under the circumstances most business want to post a sign stating “under new management” in order to disassociate themselves from the previous owners because usually good businesses don’t crash and burn, but it is not a requirement in any way.
This seems like the only course of action.
Agreed. $600 had to be for the table. Even if a party of 4, this is pretty high not to have sent the food back.
Maybe the OP should have walked out.
(like she apparently did on this thread)
Perhaps the OP only has time to access the boards at night. Man, you guys are quick to judge.
(It’s not even like they have an April 2016 join date)
I didn’t hear the mike drop so I think they might be coming back 
A friend of my wife’s aunt bought a restaurant and had to hang up an “under new management” sign to disassociate themselves from a shady prior owner. In the month or so before the sale, the prior owner sold tens of thousands of dollars in gift certificates at a discount to face value. The new owners didn’t get the proceeds from the gift cards and the new owners couldn’t afford to honor them all. I’m sure they lost a lot of the goodwill when they refused the gift cards.
The OP had questions here within a half hour of posting.
Hi again everyone. I apologize for the delayed response to all your feedback!
Roderick Femm: I think you make a good point about new management buying the goodwill of the previous owner however I think it’s not unreasonable nor uncommon for them to communicate to the public that a change has been made.
TriPolar: I agree that I was not defrauded in the criminal sense, however I feel the new owner chose to keep patrons in the dark about the major change and so one isn’t really getting what they paid for in one important sense.
Pork Rind Not a hidden-charge scam, the prices were clear.
It was about $100-$125 per person (one bottle of wine, 3 courses).
My issue really isn’t about the money. Also, due to the nature of the gathering (friends from out of town meeting other friends for the first time) it would not have been appropriate to make a scene at the time. What’s upsetting is simply that a crook is operating this business and taking advantage of people and passing off this terrible food to people who come expecting something different.
This comment makes sense only if you, yourself, perform paranoid levels of due diligence every time you purchase a service. When your master electrician shows up with his name on the truck, do you grill him to make sure there’s been no change in ownership? When you buy a trusted brand of coffee at the supermarket, do you do chemical analyses to make sure that the beans haven’t decreased in quality since you last bought them?
Restaurant reputations are built on quality and consistency; particularly for high-end restaurants. If that restaurant had kept the same menu but swapped the chef out for a couple of fry cooks, I’d be pretty upset.
Wow, I couldn’t have put it better myself, thanks Finagle!
Thanks for the additional information.
Here is what I’d do. I’d email or call the new owner and explain how disappointed you were. It is possible that the kitchen was out of control that night, or someone didn’t show up, or any number of problems. If he cares about his customers he should offer you some reparations without you asking. If he is brusque (sorry you didn’t like it. tough) you can slam him on social media and definitely inform the food critics, if food critics are honest in your area. Some magazines consider restaurant reviews as part of marketing for restaurant ads, most I’d guess are honest. The critics should feel warning their readers is valuable.
Could you be clearer about what was wrong with the meal?
There were restaurants in Houston and Miami that did this. I never got burned by the Miami restaurant, but they both used the same M.O: The waiter would announce, “And tonight’s appetizer special is pasta with shrimp and shaved truffles”. The price was never mentioned, and both restaurants were in the upper/middle price range (around $50. per meal without wine) The “appetizer” was $150. We nearly fell out of our chairs.
None of this is an accurate parallel with the OP’s situation. What happened does not make the new owner a crook or a fraud. He is trading on the prior reputation, which if the OP’s experience is going to be typical of his customers going forward, will rapidly go down. The same could have happened under the old owner, even just by changing the chef, or getting rid of the main chef and have underlings take on all the cooking, or any number of events. A reputation is not a fixed thing, which is why good restaurants (and all good businesses) have to work so hard to keep theirs up to snuff. It’s also why online reviews have dates on them, so potential customers can track reviews over time if they are so inclined.
I think Voyager’s strategy would be an excellent way to find out whether the new owner has good intentions or not. The OP would need to be prepared with specific complaints about any dishes she didn’t like (e.g. dish A was burnt on the outside and raw on the inside).
Well put. For all we know the new owner believes he is providing the same quality of food as the previous owner, or better. And maybe it was the chef’s night off or just one of those bad nights that can happen at any restaurant. It’s possible the old owner screwed the new owner by not providing the same recipes or some nonsense like that, I know where that’s happened before.
Or the new owner sucks and the OP got screwed, but that can happen any time with any business. Caveat emptor.
Yeah, I’ve had this happen before as well (not for that much money, but a “fancy” place for sure). The previous owners had sold and the chef left to start a new restaurant. The new owners were fans of the place and did their best to keep up where the old staff left off, but it just wasn’t possible. Our first visit there nothing seemed unusual (same menu, similar service) but the food just wasn’t to the same quality. Only afterward did I read up online and find out about the change in management and cooking staff.
Oh well, lesson learned… and the restaurant only lasted about 6 months after that anyway - I guess word got around quickly and their loyal patrons bailed after one bad meal (like we did). Tough business, food service.
Appetizer - Gyoza was nearly-inedible (something awful in the flavoring of the dough, meat was dry)
Main Course - Steak was overcooked, unusual flavor that did not match the cut of meat advertised. Just generally unpleasant. Ribs were dried-out and certainly not prepared the same day. Gravy was salty and dry.
The larger issue is not just the quality (which was astoundingly low) but also the lack of sophistication in the culinary approach. The old chef was talented and adventurous. The dishes were aesthetically pleasant and creatively flavored. The new chef had no such refinement or attention to detail. He served oversized portions of generic recipes and didn’t even do them well.
On a more positive note: At my request, Yelp kindly shuttered the old restaurant page and put a big red sign at the top indicating the restaurant had “renovated” and that they have a new fresh (unreviewed) page. Hopefully google and tripadvisor will be similarly cooperative.