Bongo's Cuban Cafe, Bongo's In Orlando Fl. Slow and inadequate service, Poor Customer Service, Unprofessional Management with very rude mannerism (Downtown Disney) Orlando Florida

On Friday March 21, 2008 we arrived at Bongos Cuban Caf between the hour of 8:00 and 8:30 P.M. In our party was my husband, our daughter, her husband, 4 of our grandchildren and myself. We had enjoyed our day at Disney's Animal Kingdom and were ready to eat a good meal before going back to our hotel.

My daughter and her husband have visited the Bongos in Miami several times and wanted to share their wonderful experience with the rest of us. We were excited to find the one in Orlando located at Downtown Disney.

When we arrived, the young girls at the hostess desk/area informed us that because we had a party of 8 the wait time would be 1 hour and 15 minutes. Because of the reputation of their food and service, we had no problem waiting. They didn't have any place for us to wait inside, so we had no choice but to go outside. The weather was very chilly. We did not have any sweaters or jackets since the day had been warm at Animal Kingdom.

Approximately 45 minutes later we got all excited when our little square "pager" lit up. When we went inside the hostess told us we would be seated at an outside table. When we said we didn't want a table outside she said seating was on a first available. She told us we would have to wait an additional 45 minutes to an hour.

By this time the kids are getting tired. We decided to just take the outside table. I told the hostess that we should have been given the option or at least told about the inside / outside seating. I also let her know that we were not happy, at all, with this arrangement. She apologized with a very blank face.

The wind was getting colder by the minute. My arthritic bones were now beginning to hurt. The kids were not complaining, but their cheeks were turning red. We sat at the outside table - FREEZING - for 30 minutes before the waiter even acknowledged us, and that was after we called the hostess over to find out who our wait person was. He took our drink order and left us some menus. 20 minutes later, after my husband called him over, he took our food order.

At this time we asked for a manager. One of the hostess came and we told her we were cold and were not happy with our table. We asked to be moved inside. She said that we were told when we first came in that the inside tables were first come, first serve. We told her we were NOT told that and we should have been given the option at that time, not just forced to sit outside.

So she called over a tall, bald headed man, dressed in all black, who said he was the "manager". He said the same thing, that we were told about the seating when we arrived. (How would he know this if he wasn't at the hostess desk when we arrived?) We informed him that we were not told anything about the seating except that it would be more than an hour wait due to the size of our party. He said he could get us inside, but it would be another hour wait.

I asked him why we would be put behind others on his waiting list? I asked him to look at my grandchildren, who by this time are freezing and tired, but hungry. I asked him if this all seemed fair to him. We had not complained, we just wanted him to do the right thing here. He seemed very annoyed by what we just told him, and walked away saying he will see what he can do.

Now it has been well over an hour that we have been at this table, uncomfortably cold, having to hunt down the waiter for drinks and a menu, again calling him over to place an order we have not complained but simply voiced our opinion about the situation that we were put in. One of the hostesses comes to us and says they have a table for us inside and upstairs. We were relieved! Now I'm thinking that the "manager" is concerned about his customers and understands the situation.

We all go inside, go upstairs and are seated at a make-shift table. Our food was being brought in behind us. An older gentleman helps serve our food and is anxious to get going. I notice that we have no silverware so I call to him as he is walking away and ask for silverware. He looks around the table as if he doesn't understand what I just asked for. So my husband repeats what I said, but in Spanish, thinking maybe he wasn't fluent in English. He comes back with a handful of forks, spoons and knives, drops them loudly in the space right in front of me, places a stack of PAPER napkins on top of them, and walks away briskly. We distributed the silverware amongst us. 2 of the children had not received their meals yet. As we started to eat, I noticed we didn't have any salt on our table. We had no idea who our new wait person was.

We waited a few minutes, we asked someone who worked there that was walking by if they could send our wait person over. We waited a few more minutes. My husband got up to look for a salt shaker. A young lady comes by, I ordered some coffee to warm up, my daughter orders 2 drinks. As we begin to eat, the tall bald "manager" comes over. He leans down by my ear and says "Are you happy now?" and walks away before I can answer.

The 2 kids without meals fell asleep waiting. My daughter gets her drink and it is not what she ordered. She calls the waitress over to get her drink replaced. After the waitress walks away, we notice my coffee sitting in front of one of one of the grandkids that was asleep. We were told that another waitress dropped it off but didn't know who it was for. Now we notice that we have no condiments for the coffee. We wait a few minutes, ask someone to send our waitress over, wait a few more minutes, and then my husband gets up to find some cream and sugar. He went to the wait station, asks a lady there for some cream and sugar. He waits and waits. He goes to look for someone else, and the first lady shows up with cream and sugar. She said she had to go somewhere to get it for us.

By this time, my coffee is no longer hot, my husbands food is cold, all the kids are falling asleep and my daughter and her husband are apologizing for suggesting we eat at Bongos. I have lost my appetite but eat as much as I can, not enjoying my meal. My husband calls over the waitress and asks for a to-go box. We waited more than 30 minutes for the waitress to return with his food. We have no meal ticket and no to-go food.

We decided we have had enough. We got up to go downstairs to settle our payment with the manager. At the top of the stairs my husband asks our waitress about his food. She tells him he must wait a few minutes longer. He tells her we are ready to go now. As we are walking down the stairs a young lady at the top tells someone in her walkie-talkie that we are trying to skip out on the bill and to alert security.

My family was met by security at the bottom of the stairs. This was the straw that broke the camels back. Insult was now being added to injury. We asked to speak to the manager again. This time a Mr. Thomas Mullane came over and asked, in a very offensive tone, "What's wrong NOW? We have been catering to you since you arrived. I have been told three different times that you were complaining. So what's the problem now?" I asked him, if he knew that there was a problem, why didn't he come himself to see what it was and how it could be resolved?

My husband and my daughter told him that we were not catered to, we were treated very badly, including being accused of walking out without paying. We informed him that we were heading downstairs to pay since we were being completely ignored upstairs, but we wanted to discuss our bill with a manager. Every one of his responses were rude and very unprofessional. At this time we informed Mr. Mullane that we had no intention of paying the 15% gratuity that was automatically added to our bill. He very rudely told the person collecting our payment to remove the gratuity. I told him that since 2 of our children fell asleep waiting and did not eat, I wanted that removed also. My husband informed him that his food, that he had 2 bites of, was picked up to be put in a to-go box and never returned. Mr. Mullane felt that by removing the children's food, he had given us too much of a discount already, BUT made it seem as if he were doing us a favor by removing the cost of my husband's meal also.

We didn't get back to our hotel until after 11:30, almost midnight.

After spending such a wonderful day at the Disney Park, it was very disheartening to be treated so rudely. We had such high expectation when we made the decision to dine at Bongos, only to be let down by staff and management. At no time, prior to the security situation, do we feel that we were "complaining" or asking for more than what we should have received. For what ANY paying customer should receive. Being "catered to" implies being given attention . The only "attention" we received was when security was called..

The next time we make the decision to drive from Texas to Orlando for a vacation, we don't feel that dining at Bongos will be in our future plans.

Mr. & Mrs. xxxx
Brookshire, Texas
U.S.A.

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