07/29/2018
Hello, Cortez Community. We would like to address and resolve a situation that occurred yesterday between a veteran with his service dog, during our regular buffet hours.
To start, we would like to sincerely apologize for our lack of knowledge regarding service animals and entry into our establishment. One of our servers initially did not allow the dog inside, as she was only trained to say "No Dogs Allowed". However, once being told the animal was a service pet, she allowed the customer in to sit down.
Once inside and seated, the same server requested that the veteran may enjoy the buffet, so long as the service animal remain at the table. We ask this to maintain a safe and sanitary environment for other customers to enjoy their food comfortably. We did not want to risk any fur, insect, or other potentially harmful/infectious material to contaminate our food or equipment.
However, before any of this could be explained, right as the server had mentioned this condition, she was met with immediate frustration. The customer had eventually decided to storm out of the restaurant without allowing us proper time to explain or discuss our reasoning, and work out a compromise.
We at Ocean Pearl try our best to maintain a respectable establishment in which any customer can happily fill their stomachs, with due respect to all customers around them. We also respect any customer who comes in, so long as they return us that favor by respecting our team and restaurant as well. We are saddened to receive these hasty comments about our business practice and treatment of customers, especially without allowing us the chance to speak and explain our side of the story. We will do our best to amend all that has happened, and welcome anyone who has any questions, comments, and/or concerns, to bring it up with us. Thank you for your time Cortez Community.
