Let me start by saying that this is at least the 12th time I have eaten at The Roma. This weekend was, however, the first time I had thrown a party or had an event there. A little more than a year ago I had almost had my wedding there – thankfully I ended up not.
About six weeks prior to my parents anniversary I decided to through them a party. I decided it was going to be held at the Roma and called and made the reservation. At that time I have a asked for a reservation for 20-25 people. I inquired about how alcohol was handled, about having a cake table, and how the tables were to be set up. I was told that for parties that large, we would have to eat from their “Menu Of Four”. OK, fine, only 4 options. Then I realized I wasnt even allowed to pick the 4 dishes, they do that for you. I called back about 2 weeks prior to the actual event to confirm the reservation, ask if it was ok if the party grew by about 5 people, and once again inquired about how alcohol would be handled, as I was looking to have a cash bar. The woman taking the reservation told me that would be no problem. She also at that time told me that the group was going to be sitting at one long table. She was hpwever slightly rude, telling me after every question I think we already spoke about this the first time you called. So, I called and made the arangements for 2 centerpieces to be made.
The day of the event I arrive – and am immediatly told that another party grew to be larger than expected, and they are located where we would be. (Cheerfully, she tells me this…..she gives my reservation to someone else and happily tells me). So she takes me to the far back of the restaraunt to a large room that has 3 round tables set up in the corner, and 4 non-set tables taking up the bulk of the room. There was no cake table, we were no longer set to be near the bar, they made no effort to have the room fit the amount of people attending, and overall acted as if it were a surprise to them that they had a group of 25-30 people to attend to. When I tell the hostess that this is not acceptable, I was told that there was going to be one large table and have planned for that she acted as if I was giving her a lot of grief she didn’t want. When I pointed out all the extra tables that were in the middle of the room and the way the set tables were pushed off to the side she made no effort to break down the extra tables and remove them, she told me she could push the small tables to the side and carry in FOLDIBG BUFFET TABLES. I had a reservation set for weeks, and minutes before the guests arrive, they were totally unprepared. They finally found a place for us, however my guests were standing there waiting, watching me set up for 15 minutes. For a party of almost 30, there was only one waiter waiting on us. And that includes liquor – Once I was there I was told the guests couldnt go to the bar, that would cause too much confusion.
A guest asked for a coffee as his beverage and the waiter told him no? That he would get that with his cake. I was so embarassed.
I would stronly recomend that no one use The Roma for any event. You can call them 4 times before your day, and when they arrive they will not be ready for you, they will not honor anything they said, they will be understaffed, and they will deny your guests things as simple as coffee.