Stay away! I have never been treated as rudely by any restaurant ever, and this was by the owner/chef! What should have been a minor problem that could have easily been resolved, without costing a cent more than what was done, ended up making us never want to go back, ever! The "Chef"/owner has no management skills at all, and gives no authority to the "manager." While the food was reasonably good, the service was not. \r
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The details:\r
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We went to Blue Moon Fish Company in Coral Springs for the Thanksgiving buffet. When we were first seated, the waiter explained what the various item were that were available on the buffet. He also stated that besides what was on the buffet, we could ask him for Stone Crab claws, Broiled lobster tails, and desert. NEVER did he mention that there was an additional charge for the crab claws or lobster. Notably, the desert that he also serves is included.\r
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We ended up ordering a total of 6 stone crab claws, and 2 lobster tails. The stone crab claws were served (by another person than the waiter) and we started eating them. Probably about 10 minutes after the claws were served, the waiter came by and said that his manager noticed a lot of people ordering crab claws, and lobster. He then stated, for the first time, that they were not included with the buffet. Somewhat surprised at this point, I cancelled the order for the lobster that had not been served yet, and asked how much the stone crab claws were. He stated they were $14 per claw! (They were not very big either). We politely said this wasn't right, that we would never had ordered them if we knew they weren't included in the buffet, and certainly not at $14 per claw. He wasn't able to do anything, and we at this point very politely requested to speak with the manager. The manager never showed up for the rest of the meal. By the end of the meal we really figured that the manager recognized the problem and would have simply removed the charge: WRONG.\r
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At the end of the meal, I requested the check. When I received the check there was an additional charge of $84. When I asked what it was for, the waiter said the Stone Crab claws. I then politely asked to speak with the manager, at which point the waiter was surprised that he had not come by yet, and he would get him.\r
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Probably another 10 minutes or more later the manager (Jesus) came by. My exact words were that I think we have a misunderstanding, and then proceeded to explain the issue. He said he could make an adjustment, so far so good. My wife said that we expected the full $84 to be removed. He indicated that he could not do that, he had to ask the chef. We thought that was rather odd, but OK. At this point all of the discussion with the server and the manager was very polite. There was no argument, cross words, or raised voices.\r
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The next person to come to the table was the "Chef," Mariela Cournoyer, and apparently the co-owner. She came with the charges removed, but rather than being cordial about it, she practically threw the check at me, and stated in the most arrogant and rudest tone possible: "The waiter will have to pay for it, you've been here a long time, pay the check now and leave. We need your table." She then briskly walked away, with no other discussion. We were there less than 2 hours, certainly not an excessive time, and at least some of it was waiting for the manager, and her. Moreover, there were plenty of empty tables available. She was just trying to be as rude as possible.\r
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This was the first time we tried this restaurant, and had heard very good things about Blue Moon in Ft. Lauderdale. The sad thing is how incredibly poorly this was handled. We, the customer were never rude or belligerent. If she were already going to accept the cost of removing the items from the check, if she would have just said, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, I took the charge off the check it would have been the end of it, and we likely would have been a repeat customer. It wouldn't have cost her a penny more. Instead, we will never go back, and I'm motivated to let everyone else know how rude she was. I can honestly say I have never been treated so rudely, and with no cause. If we made a big fuss, I could understand it, but that absolutely was not the case.\r
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On the way out, by the front desk we asked the hostess if there was a corporate office, and who the owner was. She asked why, and we briefly explained why. Another customer overhearing this called me over and said that the same "Chef" was rude to her, she and her family were late for their reservation and the "Chef" said rudely to her, "You were VERY late!!!" The manager (Jesus) also came by the front desk as well, and I explained how rudely we were treated. He didn't have much to say, basically he was sorry.\r
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The food was actually good. They frequently ran out of items on the buffet, and when I went for Turkey I got scraps, but with an apology from the carving server. \r
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The waiter was definitely inexperienced. He would disappear forever, and they really weren't that busy. We ended up having to put our dirty plates on the nearby empty tables as he rarely came by to remove them. While he is at least partially at fault for what happened, he was at least apologetic. I say in part as he should have been trained to clearly stated that there were charges for some items he served. I ended up leaving a better tip than his very poor service warranted.\r
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When we were first seated, we were originally escorted to an out of the way booth like table. That would have been very inconvenient. There were MANY empty tables, and were lead to a much nicer round table for 6. If it weren't for the other problems, I probably wouldn't even mention this, as this was quickly resolved, but why would they even try to seat us at a crummy table when there were many better, and empty tables available?\r
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Mariela should empower the manager to manage and stay in the kitchen and NEVER talk to a customer!\r
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I don't think I am properly conveying just how rude Mariela was. The entire table was almost in shock at her attitude. It was totally inappropriate and uncalled for. Stay away!
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