Southside Market - Elgin

I’m so disappointed that I have to write this, because I really wanted to love this place. I spoke with the catering manager back in January, 6 MONTHS AGO, to book a tasting for our wedding in Dec 2022. I know this is really far in advance, but I had a long engagement so that we could book vendors throughout the year rather than all at once. I scheduled a tasting for June 19th at 12:00 PM. We live in Houston, so I had to make hotel accommodations months in advance to make this work. I hadn’t heard from Southside BBQ so I reached out to the catering manager this week. She informed me that she moved into a GM role and would have to forward me along to the new manager. I called the following morning and was told multiple things. 1. The menu that the original manager promised to me may not be a possibility and they don’t know why she offered that to me. 2. The pricing cannot be guaranteed until a year out, which is fine but that should’ve been communicated much earlier. 3. They cannot accommodate me that day because they’re too busy, short staffed, and every other excuse in the book. 4. The original manager never had me down on her calendar. So not only did I put out money for a hotel for this tasting, but that day is also my birthday! Now I’m missing my bday with friends and family because my hotel is non-refundable. I understand things happen, but the first red flag was that I had to reach out to them about the tasting in the first place. If they dropped the ball on a simple tasting, I can’t imagine how they would handle my wedding day. They are rude, unprofessional, and the lack of communication is appalling. I understand I’m probably nobody to them but planning a wedding has been so difficult during a pandemic, why make it harder for brides? The way they spoke to me and handled this is absolutely awful. Please just stay away.