LongHorn Steakhouse review: unruly diners

This evening, October 12th in Tifton, GA we experienced the most unpleasant situation ever.

We were seated in the bar area, next to the large booths. In those booths were 12 women who were so loud and out of control that many of the other diners began to complain. Several servers went to get the manager, who came out and addressed the group.

As the women were leaving they made loud comments. One of course was that they had a constitutional right to be there. The other was that if people wanted a quiet evening, they would stay home.

When we returned home I called the manager and spoke to him, my question to him was why was this group allowed to get so wild? It turns out he was trying to work the grill line and also manage the restaurant. He didn't know there was a situation until several of the servers came to him with concerns.

We are not sure we will return to Longhorn, where we have enjoyed dining over the years. We generally spend a fair amount of money for a couple, and always leave a nice tip. We never complain about anything, we understand that things happen beyond a server's control.

We believe that some training needs to take place. At the first sign that a group is unruly and disturbing other guests, the manager needs to be called. That manager needs to know what to say. It might be that if he had spoken to them and said something like, "We want y'all to have a great time and enjoy yourselves. We ask that you be respectful of other diners, " the situation may have turned out differently. Maybe not. The manager should have gone to each of the other tables and apologized to them and offered them something in the way of compensation. The servers did apologize. This was a busy night in our town, a manager should be on the floor at all times.