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Review content:
I gave a rating of 2 stars because, while the food was great, the service personnel were, for the most part, terribly rude. I say this with the exception of one of the hostesses and the manager, Jason, both of whom took control of the situation once it became clear our experience was no where near par for the course.
I decided to have drinks and dinner at Vivo for my 23rd birthday. Knowing somewhere between 10 and 15 people would be coming, I called ahead to figure out what the best course of action would be for both myself and the restaurant in ensuring the experience was as smooth as possible. We were coming on a Friday night, at prime dining time, to a very popular restaurant. I knew it would not be easy, so I called ahead to give them a heads up. I was told to come early, get my name on the list, and I'd likely be seated before my party arrived. I got to the restaurant about thirty minutes before everyone was supposed to arrive, only to be told we could not be seated until our entire party had arrived. Alright, fine. A misunderstanding, miscommunication, fine. I told them I knew a handful of people would be late and whether seating us when most of our party was there would be acceptable. They said to let them know as people arrived.
As people arrived, I continually communicated with the hostess, asking when our table might be ready. She told me they were waiting on one table in the main seating area to leave and then we would be seated; she told me we'd be seated in about twenty minutes. An hour after I was told we'd be seated in twenty minutes (so, two hours after I'd arrived), we still had not been seated. By this time, 11 out of 12 people had arrived. I went back to the hostess stand to ask what had happened; not only did the hostess tell me the table originally reserved for us had been given to another party, we were now waiting on an entirely different table. When asked why smaller tables had been given to other parties arriving after us instead of being saved for our party, I was given a shrug. At this point, another hostess asked if we'd like to talk to the manager and I requested to do so. Jason was very understanding and apparently had been unaware of how long we had been waiting. While speaking with Jason, the original hostess said to the helpful one, ""What the f*ck does she expect, it's a Friday night?"" As indicated above, I understood it was a Friday night, I understood it was busy, and I continually let her know I was aware of the difficulties of seating a large table on a Friday night. With this being said, her condescending and flippant attitude towards me the entire evening was uncalled for and completely unprofessional.
We were finally seated an hour after speaking with Jason and the second hostess. Once we sat down the service was quick, helpful, and thorough. The food was FANTASTIC. The margaritas, especially the cucumber margarita, were FANTASTIC. Jason comped what seemed to be about a third of the bill or all of the drinks.
At the end of the evening, we'd waited three and a half hours for a table but, in spite of the hostess, enjoyed a fun evening over great drinks and food. I'm hesitant to write off the restaurant on the basis of one hostess and one experience on a busy Friday evening, but I likely will go to the other location to avoid interacting with this hostess again.
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