Reviews for Cafe Vena at Vinings

03/08/2014 - Miss BDB
First, let me just say, this is not about the entertainment. The entertainment is probably great but it's just unfortunate that this is the venue that they are playing in so if you go in with that in mind, you may be OK....

We just returned this evening for dinner at Cafe Vena and I felt compelled to write this review immediately. Firstly, the interior of this "cafe" suffers from an identity crisis. It has no idea what it is trying to be. The decor is hideous. Like they purchased the wall hangings, flooring, bar fixtures, chairs, etc... from every close out sale they could find. From the Asian screen in the entry to the "pebble" bar to the plastic tinsel curtains going to the kitchen.

The wait staff apparently had no assigned tables as we had about 4 different waiters who each didn't know what the other was doing. I guess having too much service is better than not enough but having to explain each time that someone else has taken care of things gets monotonous.

The owner of the restaurant who also apparently is the bartender has no idea how to make customers feel welcome. He tends to the bar and actually acts more like hired bar staff that is just doing a job and looks forward to when he can clock out. When we walked in, some woman got up from sitting at the bar and said someone would seat us shortly then went back to sitting at the bar. She sat there the whole time we were dining. I assume she may have been the wife or girlfriend.

When we got the bill, there was a $10 per person "cover charge". We were SHOCKED! We had no idea we were paying $10 extra per person to sit there and dine including drinks and wine. When we arrived, they asked us if we had ever been there before to which we all replied "NO". That was the time that you tell your new diners that you have a wonderful piano player and there is a $10 cover. You don't wait until the bill comes and you've added $30. When questioned, the owner (now sitting at the bar having a drink) turns around and says... it says it at the bottom of the menu. We had looked at that menu forever and none of us ever saw it. Who looks at the tiny print at the bottom? When we said we had never been, the staff should have KNOWN to let us know. The manager had no apology.

So we will all go away with a bad experience and never go back there and write things like this when, had the owner had a bit of couth and professionalism he would have known how to handle the situation. Obviously, he is an amateur. We won't be back.