tabard inn

i had brunch at the tabard inn today. the food was good but the service was pretty terrible. this was my second visit there. the first time i went, it was a monday night and i had drinks and snacks after work. it was calm that night and food and service were fine. the sunday brunch crowd today was a zoo and the staff doesn't seem to know how to deal with a zoo, which is highly unprofessional and ridiculous given how long this place has been around.

i hate when staff at successful restaurants feel entitled to be rude to its patrons. and i hate even more that we still tip them well even if they've been totally inept or rude or both. we had reservations today and were still kept waiting for an hour without any apologies. and when we finally did get seated, we were told that we had to order within 10 minutes because the kitchen was closing, again unapologetically. any place can be off sometimes but places that actually give a damn about service usually apologize for inconveniences, mix-ups, etc. and they don't tell their patrons to speed it up due it their own screw-ups. i give tabard inn a big thumbs down for service.

will i go back? yeah, very likely. the food is good. the freshly-made donuts with whipped cream were light and sugary but not excessively sweet. i would recommend those and i don't even like donuts. the bloody mary had plenty of horseradish and was pretty stiff. the poached eggs tostada should be served with fresh tortillas or potatos (runny yolks need an absorbent starch) instead of deep fried tortillas but the mushrooms in the dish were great. i wouldn't recommend those but the omelette with shrimp and brie looked really really good.