Flemings in El Segundo, CA is a beautiful, high-end steakhouse with great food and the prices to match. That's where it ends.
As an upscale restaurant it's reasonable to expect impeccable and accommodating service. One would think that the staff would be trained to accommodate large parties as well as small with attention to detail and at the very least, excellent customer service.
I called Flemings several days prior to give a heads-up that 20 people would be arriving for drinks and appetizers (on a Sunday afternoon at 4pm) and that we preferred patio seating. I knew it would be empty because it was early on a Sunday before the dinner crowd and it was cool outside, low 60s. Most would sit inside.
The hostess confirmed that it was no problem to move tables together and have separate checks as everyone arrives and consumes differently. I arrived early to get everything set up.
From there the disaster began. Our server was powerless to make decisions and had to ask the manager for every request we had. She was also training someone who was simply shadowing her for the night. No easy feat.
First, they said we could have separate checks, then couldn't, then we were told they would provide separate checks for groups of 4, and then said they would put the entire group on one check and figure it out at the end of the night for us as a courtesy. In the end, the manager presented me with the entire check and demanded I pay it in full on the spot. They didn't figure it out. She hovered over me with everyone looking on like she was the Flemings' police. Mind you, this is a group of educated, successful, well-dressed boomers over 60... not likely to dine and dash. It was humiliating.
It was also a fiasco moving tables together on the patio. First, they tried to get our group to sit at separate tables then agreed to put 2 tables together, then 3 as more showed up, then refused a fourth (even though we're spending money on food and drinks), and there were no other customers. Then, when more arrived (total 20), they squashed the newcomers at the table ends, who looked very uncomfortable and unhappy.
In my 30 years of producing events, big or small, this experience was by far the worst I've ever encountered at any restaurant nationwide. As a travel editor, I've been to many all over the U.S., which I've reviewed. Sometimes they know ahead of time that I'm dining as an editor, sometimes they don't. Since this event was planned to be just a fun night out, I had no intention of reviewing it but after 3 hours of this consistently combative behavior and treatment by the manager it became apparent this couldn't go unmentioned.
The disrespect and mismanagement was mind-blowing to every guest at our table. We all sat there staring at each other with our mouths agape at how difficult they made every single part of our gathering. We were treated like a bunch of irresponsible happy hour hooligans who might run out on the check. Everyone was shocked, and it wasn't just one thing, it was EVERTHING, all night long.
At the end of the night, when the manager stood over me demanding to be paid, I informed her that I was a travel editor and often reviewed restaurants. I added that her behavior towards our group was unacceptable and that I intended to write a review about it. She looked at me with her hands on her hips, smirk on face, and said, "You're a travel editor? Right. Prove it!", clearly assuming I was lying. So, I handed her my business card. The smirk turned into an 'oh shit' look instead.
It got so bad that our server began crying because she was powerless to accommodate our simple requests (which had been approved by phone several days before).
Also, some meals never showed up which had to be cancelled; food was overcooked or undercooked and had to sent back; some rolls were burnt; and some members were charged regular price instead of HH price. I barely took a bite from my meal as my entire time was spent negotiating tables, chairs, checks, heating lamps, etc.
Flemings' staff is just not trained properly to handle large parties. Under eight they do great! And as long as one person is paying for everything or you don't move from your seat all night long. God forbid you get up for a trip to the restroom and a meal is delivered, then all hell breaks loose.
Our group called the South Bay Single Seniors Social Club (AKA The BS Club) has been to many other high-end establishments around town where staff and management have always been over-accommodating, especially for such a slam-dunk large group of spenders. And they always appreciate the fact that I call ahead to give them the finite details so there's no confusion when we arrive. In fact, most have everything already set up ready to go when we arrive. Obviously, the hostess who took my call a few days before forgot to send the memo to management that we were coming. Nonetheless, at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon when no one else was on the patio, nor the restaurant, other than servers and staff, this should have been a no-brainer.
Our dubious manager had absolutely no business working in management, perhaps not in any position that requires face-to-face contact with the public. (or perhaps I should say face-to-face combat). Our server kept apologizing for her manager's resistance to everything. Her management style was not at all staff friendly, customer friendly and by all accounts providing a huge disservice to Flemings' name and reputation. But I don't blame her; I blame upper management for poor training and bad judgment in hiring.
Just when we thought the worst was over, we paid the bill and gathered a large cash tip for our tearful server but were reluctant to hand it to the manager. So, we asked shadow guy to send Brittany (our server) over to our table so we could give it to her directly. He told us she went home for the night because it wasn't busy enough, which we thought odd because by now the patio was packed. Two seconds later she walked into the patio still working. Yet another deception. We called her over to personally hand her the well-deserved tip for which she was very grateful considering she had been a yo-yo all night and under the thumb of a tyrannical manager.
Two months before, our group went to Flemings for the same thing and it went very smoothly. However, we just learned that Outback bought Flemings. Perhaps in their pursuit to purchase the more upscale restaurant chain, somewhere between profits and P&L's, they forgot that fine-dining training requires an entirely different set of rules and etiquette. Even Brittany said at one point, the customer is always right.
No doubt this manger needs to go back to management school and delve into multiple 'customer service' classes and the guys at Outback need to realize that Flemings is not Outback. In fact, we've had far better service at Outback than at Flemings that night. Whoever hired Tatiana at Flemings should be tarred and feathered... what a disgrace it was to customers who are at the receiving end of such behavior, not to mention what it says about Flemings ability to hire management-quality people.
Our group of 85 members (and growing), will never return. And because this conduct was observed by all in our party it was not only the talk of the night, it will also be the talk of the group at dinner tables for events to come. Not good news as word of mouth advertising, or lack thereof, is the key to success.
PS: I worked in the restaurant business for 18 years, even studied at Johnson & Whales School of fine dining. My dream at one time was to open my own restaurant, then life happened. Instead, my circuitous journey led me to become an auto and travel editor. Point being, I'm well versed on how restaurants should operate.
