#redorestaurant

We hadn’t been to Red O in several years, since I had my first guide, Anya.  We were looking forward to trying it again and this time for dinner.  So, last Sunday, August 9th, off we went!  

When we walked up, the hostess was friendly and began to ask us if we wanted to sit inside or outside, but, then, immediately said that because of the dog, we had to sit in the patio.  I then said that I’m blind and this is my guide dog.  To which the hostess, still said that regardless, all dogs have to sit in the patio.  Then, David and I both said that making us sit in the patio is illegal since this s my service animal.  We, then asked her to check with the manager.  A man came over, who we assume was the manager and backed up what the hostess said, sigh...

We again said that that was against the law and I even said that I’d be happy to show him my ID card plus the card with the laws.  Then, he briskly said “fine, fine, fine” in a dismissive manner and said he’d find a place for us.  We were seated inside but we felt very uncomfortable! :(  Neither one of us felt like the manager or the hostess really understood the situation at all, sigh...

i will say that the wait staff was very kind, but it didn’t make up for how we were treated initially.  We ordered but really didn’t enjoy the experience.  You guys know how much I love eating and truly do enjoy the experience of dining out, but this one was not one of those times.  We ate, paid the bill and left.  Definitely left with a “bad taste in our mouths” :(

What a disappointment!!  We were so bummed out, not how we expected to be treated, especially after having such an awesome experience at Ink, the night before!  I’ve been such a fan of Rick Bayless, but if his restaurants treat people with disabilities using service animals this way, I will no longer.

UPDATE: David got a voicemail from Red O (Paloma), sounds like a usual thing, checking in and hoping we had a nice dinner the night before.  I decided to call them back on Wednesday.  I was a little nervous because I didn’t want to have a confrontation with the hostess and get into a “he said, she said” debate.  But, luckily, Paloma answered and I began to tell her what happened to us on Sunday.  She was apologetic and mortified that we were told we had to sit in the patio.  She knew immediately that that was against the law!  She asked me if it was OK, to have the general manager call me back to discuss this further.  Of course!!  In a few hours, I received a call from, Josh, the general manager.  We had a very pleasant conversation and he totally understood why we felt the way we did.  He is going to take this opportunity to train his staff better.  Josh has invited us back to give them another chance.  I agreed and will keep you posted :)