text: First of all this has nothing to do with Tapinos food or service It may be great In fact that is what we were hopingnnSecondly we are big fans of what Chef Porter is trying to do We have great respect for them advocating the locavore movement using local farms vendors We are huge fans of local farmers markets buy all our produce there We are also huge fans of local independent restaurants business and patronize them as much as possiblennSo the birthday fail beginsnnOne more thing Birthdays in my family are a big deal Food is a big deal We all grew up working in my dads restaurant the Glass Door food is hugely important to us For birthdays we do a fancy dinner a family dinner This was a family dinner Lots of thought goes into choosing the place for each occasion This was also my wifes birthday Kind of a big deal for me nnFor family dinner we all go so we need a place that is not too hard on the budget that suits different dietary needs some vegetarians some food allergies Looked at a ton of places figured that we should try Tapino as they had a great fooddrink special we were into what they are doing Figured it would be a gateway meal to us coming back a great deal more nnOk very last thing kids So we brought our kids We have brought our kids out to eat since they were born they know appreciate good food They have been places like Sea Saw Nobu Bouchon etc They know how to behave are always expected to behavennSo to the storynnCalled Tapino yesterday spoke to the manager asked if they could take a party of for happy hour She said they normally do not take reservations for happy hour but would be ready for us Asked if they had high chairs for the kids She said no but they had low chairs low tables on the patio that would work great So we are in good shape rightnnWell today I walk in myself without kids say that we are here for the party of wkids The hostess said no kids allowed in bar nor on patio as they allow smoking on the patio they do not serve happy hour in the restaurant just let us it sit at that Pretty weird Was almost as if they would were ready for us nnOk so if you do not want kids in your placeat least tell us I dragged people out set their expectations was excited to have the perfect place to celebrate my wifes birthday Then we get there you say sorry nopennAlso there was not a single person in the restaurant at this time It was about Not onennIm like in shock so I tell her I spoke with someone yesterday she understood our situation that we were coming in She said that she was right there when I spoke with her manager they do not allow kids in the bar or on the patio they do not do happy hour in the resturant Ok I get it Probably heard this times when I was therennMight as well have said go away leave we do not want you herennShe eventually said that the manager was there she would have her come talk with mennDuring the wait I asked about last nights locavore dinner told her we were excited to be there as we would been following them on Chowhound the Phoenix Hound Gathering group Also told her I would been talking with one of the farmers that was in for the previous nights event Basically I let her know we know what they did were into it Might have factored in a bit NopennEventually the manager came out they chattednnThe manager then came over changed the story said we could sit in the bar at a couple of benches but kept reiterating that the kids could not make any noise nor move around at all Ok fine First of all we expect the kids to behave If she would left it with one mention maybe we would have just sat down But with repeated mentions of no noise no moving around it was obvious they did not want us there I told her I felt that way she said that was not the case but it rang quite hollownnI went outside to talk with the family figured we would probably go elsewhere as we really were not wanted Went in to tell the hostess manager was nowhere around got a perfunctory sorrynnJust seems like such a customer service failure If they would wanted us there they could have refrained from making us feel unwelcome Or if they were uncomfortable with kids being in the bar or on the patio they could have easily set us up in the empty restaurant offered us the same fooddrinknnOr they could have told us their mantra no kids in the bar or on the patio no happy hour in the restaurant on the phone nnMaybe it was a bad situation for them but if it were me I would have tried a little bit harder to find a solution that would not have so alienated usnnI do not know I am epxecting to see Chef Porter at OTFM am friends with people who work with him maybe we will come back sans kids of course but right now it sure does not feel like it it is a major bummer as Tapino seems like a place that is doing excactly what we love we could have been huge fans