Jennifer Shin

Review of The castaway restaurant

We just dined (on 6/17/18) at the Castaway in Burb...

We just dined (on 6/17/18) at the Castaway in Burbank, CA, to celebrate the Father's Day. For a party of seven, we were seated outdoor with two patio heaters since it was cooler than usual in Burbank and our parents who are in 80's were susceptible to cold. While we were still dining, the general manager, HARLEY DEMYERS, moved one of the patio heaters that was right behind our parents without asking us and put it by another table with a bigger party. Appalled by the manager's rudeness, we asked our waitress to ask him to come and talk to us about his action. Our waitress, Deirdre, who was very pleasant and served us well, was very apologetic and tried to have him attend us but he didn't show up. We made several requests and waited for him. After a while, his subordinate staff came by to let us know that he was busy and tried to resolve the issue on his behalf. We clearly told the person that the general manager is the one we wanted to speak with or else he'll get a letter from the corporate. Only then, the manager showed up, after 20 minutes or so have gone by. To our surprise, instead of listening to our complaint, he said an unthinkable remark. He said "I swear the heater was off"... We told him the heater was on the whole time, which allowed us to dine comfortably up until a point when he relocated it without asking us. A well-trained manager would first listen to client's complaint and try to appease the client for inconvenience and unpleasant experience. That was NOT the case with Mr. Demyers. He was insisting that the heater was off and we weren't right, yet, we were the ones sitting right by it to notice that heat has been removed. How can a fine restaurant of this caliber have a manager who is so unfit? We've been customers of Orange Hills and Odyssey for many years for personal and business events and never had such a bad experience. We were excited about newly renovated Castaway with the new chef, but it is a shame and huge disappointment for the lack of hospitality the general manager has shown today and his unwillingness to resolve issues.