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Monday, February 14, 2011

California Dreaming in Charleston, SC

My husband and I just celebrated our 4th anniversary. He surprised me with a beautiful vacation in Charleston, SC. One of the things he was most excited about was having dinner at California Dreaming, a well known restaurant that can HIGHLY recommended. Well, this is what we experienced there.

We had a 7:15 reservation, and realized that we were lost. I called in and talked to a hostess who seemed more than happy to help us. She was wonderful and very patient. We made it there with time to spare thanks to her great directions! When we arrived the restaurant was VERY busy and the parking lot was VERY full. A good sign right? Maybe. When we walked up to the front of the establishment we saw a set of stairs and began to look for the wheelchair ramp (my husband is in a wheelchair, but very able bodied). It wasn't marked very well at all, but we found it none the less. We usually enter together via the ramps, but we didn't want to miss our reservation time or even cut it close. We like to be early for things. ;) I walked up to the hostesses and waited patiently. Apparently I forgot to turn off my powers of invisibility because I was left standing there. A couple of kids dressed in ROTC uniforms walked up and immediately got the attention of all 3 hostesses simply to be told to go to the bar to get their to go orders. I waited a couple more seconds and was finally acknowledged with a dry, "Yes. May I help you?" I smile and told her about our reservation and was handed a buzzer. I told her that my husband had used the ramp and that I didn't see him. "Oh, he'll be coming from back there." she pointed vaguely. I glared at her and went to search for my husband in this maze of tables. He met me toward the back of the restaurant. Apparently, wheelchairs use the same ramp that is used by hand trucks to bring in supplies. He'd had to wait outside after using a buzzer to get in. Well the place was so loud that nobody heard him. An employee was using the back exit and was somewhat startled to see my husband on the other side of the service entrance door. We walked back through the restaurant toward the front with him telling me about being stuck outside on the chilly nigh.

My husband and I sat down for a minute or so, but were buzzed promptly at 7:15pm. The first hostess gathered our supplies (utensils and menus) without so much as a glance, handed them to another hostess, who looked us up and down and said, "Follow me". Call me picky, but I was always taught that you greet people before doing anything else. We followed the hostess who periodically glanced over her shoulder to make sure we were there. We passed about 5 tables appropriate for couples, but somehow ended up at the table by the service entrance (the one my husband had be forced to use) and the kitchen. It's common knowledge that seated by the kitchen or bathroom is damn near an insult. I was facing the kitchen only to be entertained by this idiot who beat on the stainless steel counters, spoke loudly about nothing, and danced and sang the whole time. To make it worse, his pants were sagging so that his boxers were showing. Yea, I took a pic although it wasn't very clear, here it is. This is him mid-dance move.


Our waiter was wonderful and a much needed relief because I was beginning to think that being rude and obnoxious was a prerequisite to work in this place. He brought our drinks and my husband and I talked about our experience thus far. Almost on cue, two women (I assume they were also hostesses due to their black outfits and arrogance) walked over to our table talking to each other. They had their hands on our table counting and talking about how to seat the next party. I was glaring at them, not believing that they could be that rude! They saw me looking and gave me a rude little smirk and said, "Um we'll be done in a second." WTF!!! I couldn't believe it!!! I have been treated better at McDonald's!!! Eventually they shot me a look and walked off. Our lovely waiter returned to take our orders and in a very short time returned with our food. They food was delish!!! Not good enough to make me EVER want to eat there again, but it was good enough for me to duplicate at some point.


While we were eating I was waiting for at least one of the managers that I saw running around the stop and speak to us so that I could tell them the good and bad of our experience. Well that never happened. My experience told me that they didn't care anything about us or our money. We paid. Tipped our waiter our normal $10 and exited through the servant's service exit in the cold feeling less than satisfied with our experience.
Our experience with rude people wasn't over yet, because some able bodied lazy jack-ass blocked the ramp with their car. UGH!!!
California Dreaming turned into a dining NIGHTMARE!!!

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