Hyunjin Paulman

Review of SW Steakhouse

I honestly dislike having to write this review, bu...

I honestly dislike having to write this review, but I thought it had to be written.

My parents, husband, and I first came to SW Steakhouse in April for my mom's birthday because we read all the great reviews and wanted to try out the amazing Kobe steaks. Everything was beyond perfect. Food was one of the best meals we have ever had, service was very cordial, and we had a table right on the patio next to the lake. Absolute perfection. It was worth every penny.

This trip in August, we came to Vegas for my dad's birthday as well as my birthday as we share August birthdays. There was no other restaurant we wanted to celebrate at than SW Steakhouse. I made reservations for us and requested a table inside by the window. The lady I spoke to was very accommodating. Upon arrival to the restaurant, however, our entire attitude changed. We entered excited, anticipating the delicious steaks, the delectable side dishes, and the tasty wines and cocktails. From the second we walked in, the hostess with the straight blonde hair in a red shirt and black pantsuit in the front made our celebratory mood go away. She looked at us, said hello with no smile at all and more of an annoyed expression. I told her we had a reservation, which she looked for, and then she continued to tell my husband that men cannot wear shorts to the restaurant. I totally understood. We understand there are rules at restaurants and dress codes. That's why we all dressed up. My husband had a polo on, and the shorts he was wearing were nice shorts, and he only wore them because it's over 100 degrees in Vegas. Her delivery of the statement, however, was the reason I am writing this. She said that men weren't allowed to wear shorts and that there was a restaurant elsewhere, basically telling us to leave because we weren't good enough. Had she explained to us kindly that my husband couldn't wear shorts, none of us would have been offended. My husband offered to go back to our hotel at Aria to change, and so she sat us......at literally the worst table in the restaurant. She sat us behind a giant pillar when we had requested a table by the window. There were no other guests at any of those tables at all. I honestly believe it is because she was racist at Asians. She never smiled at us and was very rude and condescending to us, but every other customer who came in was treated with friendly banter and smiles. WE EVEN SAW A WHITE MALE CUSTOMER LEAVING AFTER DINNER WITH THE EXACT SAME SHORTS ON!

When we spoke to the manager about this, we weren't expecting anything. We just wanted to convey our feelings to him because how we were treated because my parents don't speak English well is not right at all. He came over, we explained the situation. He said he was sorry it was disappointing to us, listened, apologized, and then walked off. The thing that irks me, however, is that he was talking with her all night and laughing with her, so obviously he is biased in this situation and won't do anything. If anything, he probably went over and told her how silly we were. He went over to her immediately and they both looked over at our table, and then he walked away. That was literally it.

I am so disappointed in the hostess because otherwise the experience would have been amazing again. My parents felt so embarrassed and upset because they thought they were singled out for being Asian, and my husband had to rush back to our hotel fifteen minutes away and change when again, we saw another man with the exact same type of nice shorts. Watch out for the hostess with long blond straight hair if you're Asian or anything that she doesn't think is good enough.