The Traveling Wheelchair

851 Mount Pleasant St
New Bedford, MA 02745
Phone: 508-995-3638

While traveling in New Bedford, my friends and I stopped for lunch at a Greek Restaurant called The Symposium. We really enjoyed our delicious meal but were disappointed to find it is not very wheelchair accessible.

There is a front and rear parking lot; there is only one handicap parking space, located in the front parking lot. There is also a rear and front entrance. The rear entrance has a cement sloped walkway leading directly to the entry door, which is not automatic. We entered through the front entrance because it is the closest entrance to the one handicap parking space we parked in. My friends opened and held the entry door open for me while I wheeled inside. Once through this door, my friends held open another door leading from the foyer into the restaurant.

Once inside the restaurant, I found it is very tight with little room for me to maneuver my chair around. As we looked around for a place to sit; we noticed many booths; small two person seating tables; a section that only has high bar style countertop that is not accessible for it is too high for my chair. We only saw two tables that I could possibly sit at. These tables are of a good height for my chair. The hostess was very kind and friendly

When placing my lunch order, the waitress was kind and took the time to listen to me, as I requested what the specials were on the menu.

While waiting for my food, my friends and I took a stroll to the restrooms, only to be disappointed to find the restrooms are not wheelchair accessible. The restroom doors are too narrow for my wheelchair. We asked to speak with a manager or the owner. We introduced ourselves; my friend Tony explained that we write wheelchair accessibility reviews of places we visit.

The owner explained that he had done many renovations to make the restaurant more wheelchair accessible and was going to expand to make the restaurant more spacious and widen the restroom doors for accessibility. Tony suggested he read our review for ideas on how to make it more wheelchair friendly.

THE SERVICE WAS WONDERFUL AND OUR FOOD WAS DELICIOUS!

I give The Symposium TWO STARS for wheelchair accessibility. In order to earn the other Three Stars, they would need to add more handicap parking spaces in the rear and front parking lots; install automatic entry doors; remove just a few tables in the dining room so a wheelchair can fit between the tables; add more wheelchair accessible seating in the dining room; lower a section of the bar style countertop; widen the restroom entry door; ensure the restrooms are fully ADA compliant by installing safety grab bars on the rear and side wall of the toilet, installing an accessible sink, cover the pipes underneath the accessible sink, and lower the paper towel and soap dispenser to an accessible height on the wall that is reachable.