Saturday night I went to one of Yakima's newest restaurants with some of my girl friends.

We had heard great reviews of the food and you didn't need reservations to eat there. I was the first of our group to arrive, and my instructions were to reserve a table for seven.

I walked into the eatery and took in the sights. The restaurant was very busy and the only seats I noticed available were the ones near the front window, reserved for patrons waiting for a table. There wasn't a sign that said "Please wait to be seated" nor was there a hostess to greet me. I stood there for several minutes and no one from the restaurant approached me to greet me or seat me.

I looked around for someone to assist me. All the servers were busy so I didn't stop them to ask for a hostess. I saw an employee sipping her drink near the register. She even looked at me as she slurped up her beverage, but did not come over. I noticed there were only two servers working in the front of the restaurant and they were both attending to their customers, removing their finished plates and refilling their drinks.

After four minutes just standing there in the front of the restaurant not knowing if I should walk around until I found a table or what, I felt a tinge of rage building up within me because I knew that the employees had seen me, and that no one was coming to the rescue.

Finally, I stopped a young man with a ponytail and wearing a restaurant t-shirt and asked him if I could please get a table for seven. He told me that there was a server that should be able to help me with that, but at least he asked me to hold on while he searched to find me a booth.

Not even a few seconds after Ponytail Dude had left, an older woman walked in the restaurant door with several other older people behind her. Almost immediately, the woman who had been slurping on her drink came over to her and greeted her with a wide smile. I'll call her Lady Sip Hostess.

Lady Sip Hostess said something to the effect of "Hi, we have open seating, but I can help you find a place to sit."

I almost caused a scene right then and there in the restaurant, but decided this wasn't the hill I wanted to die on. I knew that I had every right to complain about the LACK of service I had received, but I decided to let it go. And before you say, well, maybe the servers didn't notice when you came in because they were so busy. There is NO way any of the servers can say they did not notice me when I walked in. For one thing, I was wearing loud leopard leggings and I had on bright tan boots and a big black coat.

Perhaps I should have asked to speak to the manager once I got to my seat, and in hindsight, I still just might. The server we ended up with was VERY friendly and fun. Without her cheerful personality, my experience at this new restaurant surely would have been sour and believe me, I would have told ALL of my friends about it on my Facebook page!

There is a happy ending to this story, though: Ponytail Dude was able to help me find a booth with seating for 7, and if I hadn't stopped him to say anything, then I am 100% positive that Lady Sip Server would surely have given that booth to the old lady that came in after me.

And that is my biggest restaurant peeve.

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