IMO, it sounds like a colossal cluster **** on the part of the restaurant. I can't say that it was racist, but at best the restaurant staff handled *everything* in the worst way possible
For one thing, when the group called ahead and said they had a large group coming, the staff should have asked how large and then told them how long it might take to seat them. It's called "managing expectations"
If WWC can't handle such a large party, then the party should have been told. It looks like WWC can't handle such a large party without more notice. They should have said so.
However, they didn't so it was WWC's burden to provide some service to customers, particularly since they had 25 loyal customers who were willing to wait for a long period of time. What kind of idiots let 25 loyal customers get pissed off at them in one fell swoop? It's idiotic
The staff should have told the party that they were going to clear out a portion of the restaurant, but that would take a long time, and in the meantime, they would be seating smaller parties in the areas where they were not going to seat the party. This way, the party wouldn't get upset when they saw people getting seated before them, even though they arrived after they did.
The staff should have kept in contact while the party was waiting for so long, if only to show a bit of service and that they weren't ignoring the party. A small plate of something to nibble, or a round of soft drinks wouldn't be a bad idea either for such a large group of loyal customers. It's a standard business practice and a great way to get a lot of people to talk well of your business instead of raising a stink.
If there were any behavior problems on the part of the waiting customers, the staff should have resolved it immediately. Waiting until the waiting customers are getting steamed and then stating that another customer complained about them is an extremely bad idea. If other customers are complaining, then they have just as much responsibility to service that customer as they do the customers in the large party
Worst of all was the reason why they were asked to leave, which had nothing (as far as has been reported so far) to do with their being unruly; it was because one of them started recording the staff.
