Portobello - Unreasonable request?

wtg2000

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 14, 2000
Messages
674
We ate here Monday night at 6:30 with PS for 3 people and were seated in a virtually empty restaurant next to a table of 14-16. They were very loud as large groups tend to get, and had a couple noisy children. When the waitress came over and said something and I couldn't hear her we huddled and asked her if we could be moved to another table because of the noise. She yelled (she had to to be heard) that the other sections were closed and that this was it.

Despite it being a bit chilly, I asked if we could sit outside - our only recourse. She came back a minute or two later and moved us outside. By this time, other people were being seated in these "closed" sections of the restaurant - which seemed to be magically opening. In fact, they sat people right next to the window so they were looking out right at us.

When I went to the restroom I noticed patrons scattered all over the place and only one group with kids seated in the area of the large group.

While the food and service were fine, this incident will make me reticient to return. My father doesn't hear well and we would not have been able to have a conversation. It was chilly outside and that further dampened the experience.

I know Disney is crowded and noisy, but we'd thought Portobello would have a touch more class - they certainly price the place as though it does.

My questions are:

1. Was it reasonable for us to request a move?
2. Was it unreasonable for them to refuse?
3. Is seating people next to large groups (when the patronage is currently very light) generally bad form?
 
IMO...

1) Yes.
3) Yes.

2) is a little stickier. If I give the waitress the benefit of the doubt that the other sections were actually closed, then management *might* not have allowed her to seat you elsewhere as S.O.P. At the very least, though, I think she should have asked. We're not talking about a distance the length of a football field - if she could have moved you to another table an extra 10-15 feet away, it would have increased your satisfaction without creating a ton of extra work/walking for herself. The other side of the coin is, given the timing of those sections "magically" opening after you'd moved outside, I have to wonder if the waitress was just being crabby for some reason. (Not that I wouldn't be crabby as all get out if I were a waitress - heaven forbid! :) )
 
Another important point is that there were other servers and that by the time we got our entrees the place was fairly full, so it's not like she was the only server and would have had to troop all over the place.
 

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