Forum Index
»
Food, Cooking, and Restaurants
Cleveland Park restaurant refused service because we had a child
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
I find this bizarre. We live in Woodley Park and walk up there once in a while. They have a kids menu and my kindergartener has been treated very nicely. I've seen younger kids in there too.
|
Anonymous
|
OP, if what you say did really happen as you describe, then you should not hesitate to contact Tom Sietsema, in a venue where you will have to give your name. Or are you embellishing?
|
Anonymous
I was with you, as I have eaten there plenty of times with my toddler but I googled "Dino washington, dc" and of the reviews that came up (there were many) a few mentioned the weirdo manager/owner/ How have I never noticed this guy? Anyway, OP, so sorry your dinner was ruined. |
Anonymous
| Not a pp, but check out the lowest ratings on www.yelp.com. |
Anonymous
|
NP here, like 19:45 I checked out the reviews with the lowest ratings on yelp.com. There are reviews going back to over a year ago that detail behavior very similar to what the OP described - just crazy, verbally abusive behavior from the owner.
Someone PLEASE alert this guy to this thread. I would love to see how he defends his behavior. Also, a PP's suggestion of posting this story to Tom Sietsema's chat is an excellent one. |
Anonymous
| Yikes! I just read them, too. Alcoholic + service industry = nightmare. Sorry, OP. |
Anonymous
| I would totally contact Tom Sietsima (sp?) and the Washington Post or local news. He needs to be totally called out on this. Who attacks their own customers?? |
Anonymous
| Wow, I just read the yelp reviews. It's fascinating how some people love the place and others echo exactly what the OP says. |
Anonymous
|
Hey OP, was this the guy?
http://www.dino-dc.com/who_we_are/ Here is video of him - http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/feedback/whats_cooking/081009_whats_cooking_panzanella_from_dino Negative reviews abound about this place, nearly all of it focusing on the owner himself. I found some on TripAdvisor as well. Apparently the owner of Dino, Dean Gold, is a total douchebag. Except for when he is on tv? The Post reviewed him with a ho-hum review in 2007, but it's definitely worth revisiting. Apparently, this Dean Gold guy is prone to physical intimidation, which is going to earn him a beatdown or a lawsuit someday. |
Anonymous
|
New poster. It took me all of 3 seconds to google "dean gold" and find a ton of very bad reviews, many centering on him personally and his verbally abusive fits of temper. I love the posters (or as I suspect, one poster) who was so suspicious and rude to OP. It's the same poster, no doubt, who ALWAYS takes the side of whomever OP is venting about...devil's advocate no matter WHAT. Seems pretty clear you should make good on that retraction promise you made, PP.
And OP, stay away from Dino, and I agree, complain! write reviews on tripadvisor, yelp, urban spoon, and comment on any review made by the post (the last Seitsema review has one review called "horrific" and details a similar experience to what you're discussing. Good luck finding a better place but I hope Dean Gold gets shut down. I just hate bullies... |
Anonymous
|
PP. comment from wapo:
Utterly Apalling Posted by MichelleCast26 | Sep 01, 2009 | Mark as Inappropriate My dining experience at Dino was nothing short of horrific. One would think that owner and operator, Dean Gold, would have a keen understanding of the importance of customer service. However, his confrontational management style proves the opposite. An indignant attitude will get you no where in the restaurant business. |
Anonymous
He sounds like the 'Soup Nazi' from Seinfeld. Maybe he just randomly gets pissed off by certain ppl---like Elaine  .
|
Anonymous
|
some yelp reviews, note the one, complete with reply from owner
Finally we decide to wrap things up for the night so we can head out to the bars and drink away the memory of this place. We order a round of limoncello and ask for the check. Now this is where stuff gets really weird. Before we could even start to collect money to pay the bill, some dirty looking Jerry Garcia doppelganger starts rushing over to our table. Before I can even begin to think of an excuse not to give him any spare change, he starts barking at us and telling us we need to leave NOW. Evidently we were only allowed to sit at that table while we were spending money, once we got the check and weren't going to order anything else, we needed to rush right out the door in under 60 seconds. I explain to him we just need to pay the check and we'll get out of here, well evidently Mr. batsh!t crazy man also has a hearing problem, because after saying that he starts threatening me, saying I can't tell him to get out of here, he's the owner. So he's either deaf, drunk, or stupid, or maybe all 3. We paid the tab, and got the heck out of there...never to return. The food was nowhere near great..it was good at best. Had that crazy owner been on his meds that day, the food would have probably gotten 2 starts...maybe. But something like that completely taints the entire experience. And looking at the reviews, it seems this is a common occurrence. So if you want to have a little theatre with your dinner, by all means come eat here. I guess that's why the prices were so high for sub-par food, its dinner and a show. At least we had something to talk about on our way to the bar... EDIT: RESPONSE TO COMMENT: We were harrassed within 5 minutes of the check arriving. As for no progress, did you not see the money placed on the table, while people tallied up their portion of the bill? We were awaiting the totals from one last person and we would have been speedily on our way had you just given us 2 more minutes. Lose your cool? are you serious, that's "lose your cool"? I"d hate to see what angry is then. You basically yelled at the entire table and were quite rude. I responded that we're going to pay the check and get out of here....notice I said WE'RE going to get out here, I wasn't referring to you, which you mistook for me telling you to go away. I typically try to be nice to people, being mean doesn't get you anywhere, try being nice next time. Was this review …? Useful (2) Funny (2) Cool (1) Flag this review Bookmark Send to a Friend Link to This Review Comment from dean g. of Dino Restaurant 9/11/2009 Hide » When this reservation request was made for 7pm, I told the gentleman I could... More » When this reservation request was made for 7pm, I told the gentleman I could accept the reservation was if they dined at 6pm and were off the table by 8:15 due to prior bookings. This was confirmed on Friday. The party was not complete until 6:55pm. At 8:25 we dropped the check. At 8:35 there was scant prograss and at 8:45, with no more progress, I asked if they could speed up paying as the later reservation was waiting. I was told to "go away"; one member of the party waved me off by flipping his hand in my face. I did lose my cool, but they were 30 over the time limit they agreed to. more The worst part of ALL--yes, it gets worse--was the service. 2 minutes after recieving our food, we had each decided it was intolerable. 18 minutes later, our server finally managed to drop by the table. It must have been impossible NOT to notice that none of us had enjoyed our food, but our server said nothing about it and then brought the check. Now for the heartbreaking finish. The owner. To be totally honest, I was absolutely floored by his attitude. I let him know that we were unhappy with the food and service, and instead of being apologetic at all he got defensive. He then proceeded to become argumentative. After complaining that we had been at the table too long (Wait, but our entrees took 45 minutes to emerge from the kitchen) He actually said to my friend "What do you want me to do?!? You wanna give me a script, so I can read it and tell me what you want to hear? Apparently this is just not the restaurant for you." YIKES. Never again. So I went into the manager/owner to complain about the fact that the second bottle of wine was mispriced to us by the waiter. He said it was 32 or 36 and it was 42. Usually, at least as the waiter is uncorking it, he would probably tell you the real price. Anyhow, I started talking to the owner and after I had told him about the wine and the appetizers, he literally said "I would rather comp your meal than listen to you talk anymore." What a jerk. It was pretty obvious that he was drunk. Anyhow, he just topped off the crappy experience. Also, if you ever see this Mr. Bearded and Drunk Man who is a jerk, I would rather have vomited everything I ate up on your lap than have my meal comped. |
Anonymous
| holy crap. |
Anonymous
| Absolutely no excuses here-I worked in the restaurant business many years ago for several years and chefs and owners can be the most tempermental people you would ever meet. Some of them consider themselves artists and geniuses and have no recognition that they have chosen a service business as their means of making a living. It is completely lost on some of them that good will and proper customer service are as integral to their own survival as a quality product is. It blows my mind as well that a restaurant owner would treat his own customers so distastefully, but I have seen it before. Alas, the only 'cure' for this type of behavior is for people to stop patronizing this business-word of mouth works both ways. |