Last night a friend and I dined at Havana Rumba. Plenty has already been posted regarding their wonderful food and last night did not disappoint. What was exceptional however was the service. The place was hopping even at 6 PM , my friend was running late and you could feel the restaurant as it was shifting into high gear for a very busy evening. The food server assigned to our table (a very personable woman in her mid-thirties) stopped by the table asked if I wanted a drink. I told her my friend was running late (sorry!) and I would prefer to wait and order a cocktail when they arrived. I hated keeping her waiting because I did not want to interrupt the rhythm of the ebb and flow of seating but still... She wasn't put off by it at all. Once my friend arrived we got our drinks and apps and all was running smoothly. I had ordered a specialty cocktail and was totally underwhelmed with it. Nothing was wrong with it. I remember doubting when reading the description that the flavors would marry well but I was ready for a pleasant surprise. Nope. It simply did not work. I said nothing to our food server, made no nasty face, didn't grimace , merely set it aside and asked for something else. She brought me a fresh cocktail. We finished our meal. The server came by the table, looked at the original drink, said,
"YOU didn't like that." (She smiled) "Let's take it off your table and off your bill."
I said "No, it was my fault. I should not have ordered it and I don't mind paying for my own bad judgement."
She smiled and said
"Nope. No problem. Was everything else ok?"
(Everything else was great.)
Now that may seem like a minor thing to most but that was a comp of a $8 drink that I TOLD her I did not expect. My mistake. She showed us she wanted us to have a good time and a great meal just as if it were her home we were in. She had this wonderful attitude that she genuinely wanted everyone to have a fun experience. For us that really enhanced an already fine meal. I was very impressed and tacked the cost of the comped drink onto her already well earned 25% tip.