I've been to Seqouia quite a few times, and each time the service was horrible. After my third time, I decided that this restaurant will never ever gain my business.

To begin with, Sequoia is situated on the Washington Harbour, close to the Kennedy Center and over looks the Patomic River. It's gorgeous, and the harbour itself is fun before and after dinner. The Harbour itself is kind of small, and isn't necessarily an attraction in itself, but if you're in the area, it's not bad.

The food costs more then your average ''above average'' restaurant (comparing it to the likes of Cheescake Factory, Olive garden, etc.). The inside of the venue is beautiful and the atmosphere is great, but once you get service, well - it's down hill from there.

The waiters and waitresses themselves aren't that bad - but in every experience we've had, it's not nearly what you'd expect from a fancy venue. On my third visit, my waitress tried to rob me...

I had brought a party of 6 - on request for our check, she had added automatic gratuity. I was a little suprised since we only had 6, and it is added to parties of usually 8, but I had accepted it. However, what really irked me was that she had charged us a 20% tip - and it was hand written and scratched out - not done automatically by machine. Add this to the fact that her service was horrible, and it gave me reason to talk to the manager.

When the manager arrived, he immediately questioned my intentions saying that upon his prior greeting of our table, I had said everything was fine. He was sarcastic and rude, and I was unimpressed. I proceeded to ask him what the automatic gratuity policy was. He said that they charged it to parties of 8 or more, and that it was 17%.

So, to bring it back - our waitress had charged us automatic gratuity on a party of 6, and at 20%. I was infuriated. I demanded that the bill be changed and that I was insulted (because my party was all around my age - 18 - 21) - and she had assumed we wouldn't tip.

The manager said that it'd be a hassle to do so, and he would only do it if I absolutely insisted upon it. This really angered me. I threw the check on the floor and demanded it be changed, and that I was never returning to this place. He ended up changing the bill to which I added $0.50 in tip. The manager then gave me his business card with his initials, and insisted that we come back, and if we did, the meal would be free - complimentary of him to make up for the situation.

Would I recommend this place? Let's just say - even with the free complimentary meal, I haven't even considered returning.

• sequioa
• dc
• kennedy center
• modern american
• bad
• service
• patomic river
• washington harbour