I arranged to have our staff Christmas party held at Saporito. As it turned out I could not attend the party, but the rest of the staff went and were shocked at the treatment they received, particularly by Jim the owner. The descriptions that came back to me were: "rude", "arrogant", and "ignorant". I felt badly that I was responsible for sending them to such an unpleasant experience. Apparently the food was acceptable, but the service was atrocious. Jim, and what looked like a 14 year old boy, were minding the restaurant. My staff understood that Jim was short staffed but they also saw Jim chatting up other patrons while they were waiting ages for service. For example, all had finished their dessert before coffee finally arrived and this after one of our staff went to ask if the coffee was coming. Jim would loudly make rude comments about staff requests. As an example, one of our staff asked if she could have a red wine glass for her red wine. Jim had served two other women red wine in the proper glass, but he huffed at her that she didn't really need one and "it's a matter of personal preference". This was hurtful and completely wrong. Has Jim never heard the saying "the customer is always right"?
I will never darken the door of Saporito again and neither will any of our staff and believe me, we'll tell a lot of people about this bad experience. Wake up business owners...you are facing a recession...you need all the friends and customers you can get.