I had lunch at Bistro 301 today because I had a certificate from my Food & Dining subscription which needed to be used before my trip to Philly. We arrived at about 12:15 p.m. and the place was quite full with a 15 minute wait. I asked the hostess if we could sit at the bar and she said that was fine, but there weren't two seats together yet. We sat on the bench and looked over the menu while we waited so we would be ready to order when we sat down. At about 12:25 the hostess called my name for our table (as it was our turn to be seated) and asked if we would like to sit outside. Since it was over 90 degrees and the tables were getting sun, we said we would prefer indoors. She went back to the hostess stand to review the seating for us and I noticed two seats had come available at the bar so I walked over to the hostess stand and told her not to worry about an indoor table, that we would just sit at the bar and took a few steps in that direction. That is when the apparent owner (possible manager but definitely the person in charge) usurped her authority and very rudely, in a stressed-out, brusque tone adamantly told me that I was not to go sit at the bar under any circumstances. I replied that the hostess had told me this was OK when we first got on the waiting list and then, in a very demeaning tone, he basically told me that every seat in the house was under his control at that point in the lunch rush. I felt like a two year old that had been "spanked". I looked at my husband and said, while standing next to him, that I couldn't believe he would speak to his customers like that... he didn't seem to care at all. Probably no more than two minutes later the hostess came up to us and told us we basically "had permission" to go ahead and sit at the bar. Normally I would have walked out, but I wanted them to have to make good on their certificate by this point.
Fortunately, the experience got better. We ordered the blackened grouper sandwich with tobacco onions and the pasta diablo. Both dishes were very good and the service from the bar tender was excellent. Kudos to the kitchen because they produced the meal quickly and tastefully. They also had a good selection of beer on tap, which we enjoyed.
However, even though we enjoyed our food, I doubt I will ever return due to the lack of pleasant customer service. There are too many other good restaurants in Louisville (where you don't have to pay for parking) to put up with that kind of attitude. On the positive side, I can now better sympathize with my children when they are frustrated by mixed signals, and this is only the second time in almost two years of living in Louisville when I have had a negative experience at a restaurant and the management or owner didn't seem to care.