Grade: C
For Valentines Day, she decided we'd go to Fogo again to give it a second chance and such.
We went on the Friday evening before Valentine's, had an 8pm reservation. We arrived quite a bit early actually, so sat in the small bar area again while we waited for our table.
They were very busy just like last time, even this late at night on a Friday.
If you've read our previous review, then not much has changed.
The salad bar was the same as before.
The meat however was better. I don't know how or why but every piece of meat of every type had such flavor! Tasty, juicy, so very tender. Until it cooled off a bit that is, then all you tasted was meat and salt. Lots of salt. The cooled or cold pieces were next to inedible they had so much salt on them. We know about cooking meat with salt and do so ourselves. The apparent difference is that we don't use a pound of salt on a pound of meat. Really, it was that bad.
We also had similar service issues as before. We asked for a wine list and after getting it we were ignored. We had to flag down a server to order a bottle. Also, she had finished her salad portion before I did (I was eating slow) so she received a new plate and started getting meat right away. When I finished, I had to wait and wait. It was when we finally made order bottle order that we had to mention that I was ready for the meat course, after which I got a new plate. 20 minutes this all took, and that's just plain ridiculous.
The other issue is that many times, when we both had our cards turned to green (meaning 'please bring me more meat'), someone would stop and offer meat to her, but not to me. This didn't happen just once, but four times. Our cards were both on the same side of the table, both plainly visible, and yet I wasn't getting any food. The other issue follows this same line as meat would come out of the kitchen and walk right past our table. Repeatedly. We had right about 15 minutes at one point where we were not offered or asked about meat, and no one stopped at our table.
Speaking of tables, why are they so very close together. There is no hope of a private conversation (see our last post about the noise; still present) and since the tables are so close, the servers and meat guys and such were persistently bumping or moving my chair all evening. Makes it hard to eat when your chair suddenly moves as your raising your fork or glass.
All and all, it was a mostly pleasant evening, and she enjoyed our dining experience. I was a little distracted by lack of food, lack of drink at one point, and constantly being bumped and shoved, but the food was still quite good.
At this point, I think Fogo will become a once or twice a year visit for us. Other places offer better service, some offer better food, etc. but the experience of Fogo is part of the draw I think, and just for that change of pace would be the only real reason I'd go back again. For this visit, I don't think it was quite worth the price for all the hassles and failures.
Showing posts with label unobservant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unobservant. Show all posts
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Sunday, July 18, 2010
St Claire Broiler - July 18
Rating: C-
We were seated pretty much right away, but the table had not been wiped before we sat down and the host put my menu on top of some syrup. I asked him to wipe the table and he got a towel immediately and wiped the table and my menu.
Our server seamed nice enough, but we soon learned that she was overwhelmed; she had at least 5 tables. The server that delivered our meals was a little rude. He set the plates down and asked if we needed anything else and I mentioned that I had ordered milk to be served with the meal. He said that our server probably had that and walked away. His demeanor was surly and almost beligerant.
William ordered the Iron Lake omelet, which has ham and wild rice in it, served with hash browns and toast. The hash browns were only cooked on one side. While this is the current trend, it runs the risk of being cold/undercooked in the middle, which was the case today. The omelet was overcooked on the bottom and all the toast was burnt.
I ordered the french toast with bacon. Our server asked if I wanted the cinnamon roll french toast or the regular, then proceded to explain what the cinnamon roll french toast was. I ordered the regular, but ended up wishing I had ordered the other. The slices of bread were over an inch thick, and were not dipped in the batter long enough to soak into the middle. They were also barely warm, so when I saw our server, I asked her to heat them up. When I got them back, it was obvious they had been microwaved and the crust of the bread was very tough and rubbery. William finished my french toast (I was too full) and it took him almost 30 seconds just to cut through the bread with his knife.
Our server did bring my milk right after the food was delivered and she did check back after my reheat came back. She asked if it was better and when I told her that it was hotter, she walked away. She never apologized for the food being cold or delved further to see how it was other than the temperature. William had to wait for quite a while for a refill on his soda and after our plates had been cleared, we waited for more than 10 minutes for our check.
What a disappointment! Our last visit here was great and this one was was pretty bad. We'll have to wait a while before we go back.
We were seated pretty much right away, but the table had not been wiped before we sat down and the host put my menu on top of some syrup. I asked him to wipe the table and he got a towel immediately and wiped the table and my menu.
Our server seamed nice enough, but we soon learned that she was overwhelmed; she had at least 5 tables. The server that delivered our meals was a little rude. He set the plates down and asked if we needed anything else and I mentioned that I had ordered milk to be served with the meal. He said that our server probably had that and walked away. His demeanor was surly and almost beligerant.
William ordered the Iron Lake omelet, which has ham and wild rice in it, served with hash browns and toast. The hash browns were only cooked on one side. While this is the current trend, it runs the risk of being cold/undercooked in the middle, which was the case today. The omelet was overcooked on the bottom and all the toast was burnt.
I ordered the french toast with bacon. Our server asked if I wanted the cinnamon roll french toast or the regular, then proceded to explain what the cinnamon roll french toast was. I ordered the regular, but ended up wishing I had ordered the other. The slices of bread were over an inch thick, and were not dipped in the batter long enough to soak into the middle. They were also barely warm, so when I saw our server, I asked her to heat them up. When I got them back, it was obvious they had been microwaved and the crust of the bread was very tough and rubbery. William finished my french toast (I was too full) and it took him almost 30 seconds just to cut through the bread with his knife.
Our server did bring my milk right after the food was delivered and she did check back after my reheat came back. She asked if it was better and when I told her that it was hotter, she walked away. She never apologized for the food being cold or delved further to see how it was other than the temperature. William had to wait for quite a while for a refill on his soda and after our plates had been cleared, we waited for more than 10 minutes for our check.
What a disappointment! Our last visit here was great and this one was was pretty bad. We'll have to wait a while before we go back.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
IHOP, Maplewood-July 11, 2010
Rating: D
Before we even sat down, we were waiting 5 minutes for a table (which I have no problem with) and William noticed that the entry area was very dirty. The windows, floor and counter had obviously not been cleaned in some time, including snot on the wall.
At our table, it was again obvious that it had not been cleaned properly. the syrup dispensers were sticky and had a build up of old syrup sticking to the bottom. The salt and pepper shakers also had not been cleaned in some time.
We waited more than 5 minutes at the table to even be greeted and it was apparent that our server was overwhelmed.
I ordered scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and pancakes with apples on top. Everything tasted decently, but they put cold apple compote on top of hot pancakes, which cooled the pancakes. It would have tasted a lot better if the apples had been hot.
William ordered basted eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and toast. The eggs were over hard, not basted. A restaurant that serves breakfast all day and that is what they're known for should be well versed in all the different ways to cook eggs.
At one point, the manager came into the room (we were in a side room) and asked the server in the next section which table he was going to give up because the manager thought he had too many. At that point, he only had 4 tables, and three of them had their check. This was plenty loud enough for all the customers in the room to hear. Conversations like that should be in private, or, at the very least, in the back where there are only other employees. Consequently, if anyone should have been giving up tables, it should have been our server.
Our server was very inattentive and William had to wait a long time for a refill on his soda. I would have notified the manager of the issues, but after seeing his exchange with the server, I felt like he would blow me off.
The main concern, though, was just how filthy everything was. We should have walked out when we sat down - and will do so next time we are presented with the same situation.
William actually sent an e-mail to the company while we were still in the waiting area regarding the cleanliness of the restaurant. He received a reply stating that we should go back and ask for a specific manager. It is doubtful we will go back as we have had a few bad (and no good) experiences at this restaurant.
Before we even sat down, we were waiting 5 minutes for a table (which I have no problem with) and William noticed that the entry area was very dirty. The windows, floor and counter had obviously not been cleaned in some time, including snot on the wall.
At our table, it was again obvious that it had not been cleaned properly. the syrup dispensers were sticky and had a build up of old syrup sticking to the bottom. The salt and pepper shakers also had not been cleaned in some time.
We waited more than 5 minutes at the table to even be greeted and it was apparent that our server was overwhelmed.
I ordered scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and pancakes with apples on top. Everything tasted decently, but they put cold apple compote on top of hot pancakes, which cooled the pancakes. It would have tasted a lot better if the apples had been hot.
William ordered basted eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and toast. The eggs were over hard, not basted. A restaurant that serves breakfast all day and that is what they're known for should be well versed in all the different ways to cook eggs.
At one point, the manager came into the room (we were in a side room) and asked the server in the next section which table he was going to give up because the manager thought he had too many. At that point, he only had 4 tables, and three of them had their check. This was plenty loud enough for all the customers in the room to hear. Conversations like that should be in private, or, at the very least, in the back where there are only other employees. Consequently, if anyone should have been giving up tables, it should have been our server.
Our server was very inattentive and William had to wait a long time for a refill on his soda. I would have notified the manager of the issues, but after seeing his exchange with the server, I felt like he would blow me off.
The main concern, though, was just how filthy everything was. We should have walked out when we sat down - and will do so next time we are presented with the same situation.
William actually sent an e-mail to the company while we were still in the waiting area regarding the cleanliness of the restaurant. He received a reply stating that we should go back and ask for a specific manager. It is doubtful we will go back as we have had a few bad (and no good) experiences at this restaurant.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Kincaid's
Our Grade: D
We received some gfit cards to this place for Christmas, so when Valentines rolled around we (she) decided we'd give it another try.
This visit simply served to reinforce our reasons for not dining here anymore:
Poor service
Average food quality
Average food taste and appearance
Prices too high for what you get overall
Our steaks were steaks, hers cooked correctly but mine a bit over done and dry. They had no real flavor however. The menu talks about the dry rub they use and the aging process they put all their meat through, but I've had better $10 steaks off my $70 backyard grill than we had this night. And the potato's had no flavor, none! Not even 'potato like' flavor.
We had to ask for the dessert menu, were never asked how our food was, and had to sit and wait between 'courses' for our server to notice we were finished. Our expected 2 hour-ish meal turned into 3 hours easy with all the waiting we did, and the restaurant wasn't even that busy (about 30% tables available at the time of our reservation). And as for the fine dining atmosphere, it seems to have disappeared almost entirely since we dined here last. Much of the decor is gone, and the whole place is much darker now.
We stopped eating here because of the food and service quality, and we'll be waiting another long while before trying it again.
We received some gfit cards to this place for Christmas, so when Valentines rolled around we (she) decided we'd give it another try.
This visit simply served to reinforce our reasons for not dining here anymore:
Poor service
Average food quality
Average food taste and appearance
Prices too high for what you get overall
Our steaks were steaks, hers cooked correctly but mine a bit over done and dry. They had no real flavor however. The menu talks about the dry rub they use and the aging process they put all their meat through, but I've had better $10 steaks off my $70 backyard grill than we had this night. And the potato's had no flavor, none! Not even 'potato like' flavor.
We had to ask for the dessert menu, were never asked how our food was, and had to sit and wait between 'courses' for our server to notice we were finished. Our expected 2 hour-ish meal turned into 3 hours easy with all the waiting we did, and the restaurant wasn't even that busy (about 30% tables available at the time of our reservation). And as for the fine dining atmosphere, it seems to have disappeared almost entirely since we dined here last. Much of the decor is gone, and the whole place is much darker now.
We stopped eating here because of the food and service quality, and we'll be waiting another long while before trying it again.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Matty B's - October 14, 2008
Her perspective: D-
We hadn't been back here in a while and wanted a good meal. We couldn't have been more wrong.
There was not another customer in the restaurant, but plenty in the bar. They were all dressed very casually in what is supposed to be a fine dining restaurant. After standing at the host stand for several minutes, we were finally greeted and seated in a booth as we had requested in our reservation.
We were not given a wine list, but asked if we wanted something from the bar. I had happened to see a wine list up front, so I ordered a glass of Riesling and William ordered a coke.
We noticed that the menu was severely limited from the last time we were there. Apparently, they have cut back the menu quite a bit. William asked about it and was told that this was the menu each day. We thought it might have been a weekday menu as we could still see other menus up front.
Our server didn't seem to want to stay when we wanted her to. We were going to order crab cakes as an appetizer, when she abruptly stated that she was going to get our bread and walked away before we could say anything.
When we were mostly ready to order, she stopped by and I ordered the appetizer and my steak. William wasn't quite ready, but instead of asking if she should give him a minute, she said that she would order the appetizer so he would have a couple of minutes to decide and left. However, even though he had set his menu down, she proceeded to cloth and set another table.
William ordered a small caesar salad with chicken and we both ordered the NY Strip steak done medium.
My wine glass had stuff stuck to the outside. I had to scrape it off twice. After I had drunk several sips, I noticed some sort of sediment at the bottom. When the server came back, I requested another glass of wine. When she brought a new one, she said that the bottle was frosted, so it was difficult to tell if there was any sort of sediment in that one. However, both glasses of wine were warm and I had to put ice in them to cool them, which made them diluted.
I was surprised when the server brought out the appetizer and William's salad at the same time. She just assumed that we wanted both courses together. The appetizer was for both of us.
The chicken on William's salad was grilled, sliced and... brown and crispy? When I spoke with the server later about it, she said that she thought they might have finished cooking it in the deep fryer. That would explain the color. The chicken was also extremely hot and they had put it on a cold salad. He also said the croutons were stale.
The crab cakes were decent, but a little overcooked and black on top.
Both steaks were undercooked. William sent his back to be cooked longer, and when it finally came back, it was charred and burnt on the outside and still medium rare to rare on the inside. Mine was medium rare, but I ate a little bit and took the rest home.
The mashed potatoes looked old, perhaps cooked, then stored, then recooked. They were very bland. The asparagus was quite overcooked and wilted besides.
William visited the rest room and stood for a full minute trying to decide between the two stalls. One of them, the seat was cracked and broken. The other was very dirty and had toilet paper all over. He finally chose to clean off the dirty seat and use that one. He was appalled at the condition, though.
They did take the salad and William's steak off the bill, but we were severely disappointed and will think twice before trying this place again.
We hadn't been back here in a while and wanted a good meal. We couldn't have been more wrong.
There was not another customer in the restaurant, but plenty in the bar. They were all dressed very casually in what is supposed to be a fine dining restaurant. After standing at the host stand for several minutes, we were finally greeted and seated in a booth as we had requested in our reservation.
We were not given a wine list, but asked if we wanted something from the bar. I had happened to see a wine list up front, so I ordered a glass of Riesling and William ordered a coke.
We noticed that the menu was severely limited from the last time we were there. Apparently, they have cut back the menu quite a bit. William asked about it and was told that this was the menu each day. We thought it might have been a weekday menu as we could still see other menus up front.
Our server didn't seem to want to stay when we wanted her to. We were going to order crab cakes as an appetizer, when she abruptly stated that she was going to get our bread and walked away before we could say anything.
When we were mostly ready to order, she stopped by and I ordered the appetizer and my steak. William wasn't quite ready, but instead of asking if she should give him a minute, she said that she would order the appetizer so he would have a couple of minutes to decide and left. However, even though he had set his menu down, she proceeded to cloth and set another table.
William ordered a small caesar salad with chicken and we both ordered the NY Strip steak done medium.
My wine glass had stuff stuck to the outside. I had to scrape it off twice. After I had drunk several sips, I noticed some sort of sediment at the bottom. When the server came back, I requested another glass of wine. When she brought a new one, she said that the bottle was frosted, so it was difficult to tell if there was any sort of sediment in that one. However, both glasses of wine were warm and I had to put ice in them to cool them, which made them diluted.
I was surprised when the server brought out the appetizer and William's salad at the same time. She just assumed that we wanted both courses together. The appetizer was for both of us.
The chicken on William's salad was grilled, sliced and... brown and crispy? When I spoke with the server later about it, she said that she thought they might have finished cooking it in the deep fryer. That would explain the color. The chicken was also extremely hot and they had put it on a cold salad. He also said the croutons were stale.
The crab cakes were decent, but a little overcooked and black on top.
Both steaks were undercooked. William sent his back to be cooked longer, and when it finally came back, it was charred and burnt on the outside and still medium rare to rare on the inside. Mine was medium rare, but I ate a little bit and took the rest home.
The mashed potatoes looked old, perhaps cooked, then stored, then recooked. They were very bland. The asparagus was quite overcooked and wilted besides.
William visited the rest room and stood for a full minute trying to decide between the two stalls. One of them, the seat was cracked and broken. The other was very dirty and had toilet paper all over. He finally chose to clean off the dirty seat and use that one. He was appalled at the condition, though.
They did take the salad and William's steak off the bill, but we were severely disappointed and will think twice before trying this place again.
Friday, June 13, 2008
TGIFriday's - Maplewood
Her perspective: C-
I always find it very interesting to review a place where I have previously worked. Usually unfortunately for the servers and staff, I know what the standards are and when they are not being met. Just for background: I opened this store as a server, became a shift lead, trainer, and key employee (which is a server/bartender that does managerial shifts). There is a four table per section maximum and I knew immediately by where we were seated, which tables were in our server's section. I had helped divide the dining room into the sections that they now use.
The door was held open for us by the host and she was very upbeat and happy. Perfect. The host that was behind the podium seemed to be concentrating very hard on the seating chart and never looked up at us or the other host. She also was not in a recognizable uniform. I saw other employees as well that it was hard to tell they were employees by the way they were dressed. It's possible that this standard could have changed since I worked there, but I think guests should at least be able to tell who the staff is. We were seated immediately in a half booth.
On the way to our table, I waved to a guy that had opened the store with me (Justin) and he waved back and came over and sat down with us. We had just started to catch up when our server came over to greet us. He excused himself and went back to taking care of his tables. He always was a good guy.
Our server was pleasant enough, but extremely inattentive. William ordered a Jack & Coke and I ordered a Cherry Coke. He said his drink tasted funny when it arrived and it seemed to me like the syrup on the Coke was low or out. Later, at one of the incredibly few times that our server actually checked on us, she asked him if he wanted another Jack & Diet. Maybe that's why it tasted funny.
Lisa, our server, gave us a couple of minutes to look over the menus, but when she asked if we wanted an appetizer, she didn't really wait for an answer, but went to the table next to us three times before she came back to us. At that point she had two tables including us. The other table left shortly after we got there.
When we were finally able to order, I oredered the Fried Mac & Cheese appetizer and the Sizzling Chicken & Shrimp. William ordered the Jack Daniel's Flat Iron Steak, medium, and a side caesar salad to start. His salad came out quick enough, but the breadstick was deep fried ( I know how to tell) and he said the salad wasn't very good. He only ate about half of it, then put it on the edge of the table. The standard is that whenever anyone walks by a table and there is a dish or empty glassware on the edge, they are supposed to take it back to the dishroom. Servers and hosts walked by about 15 times and noone even looked at it. It was the same when William finished his drink.
Our server was nowhere to be found at this point and we were her only table. We started wondering where our appetizer was, and I was thinking that if Justin walked by, I'd ask him to check on it for us. However, he never did and during the 20 minutes we were waiting for our entrees, I started to look around and noticed that they hadn't done any dusting of the artifacts, much less our lampshade, lately.
Lisa brought out our entrees and asked us if we needed anything else. I told her that she could just forget the appetizer as we had never gotten it. She seemed surprised and insisted that she rang it in, but that they would take it off the bill and we would get a card for a free appetizer on our next visit, too. The manager that dropped off the appetizer card informed us that the appetizer was never rung in, so someone was lying to us, but I'll bet it wasn't the manager. She was very sincere and apologetic.
Getting back to our entrees, William's steak was cooked perfectly in the middle, but overdone on the outside, which seems to indicate that the grill temperature was set too high. The mashed potatoes on both our plates were mushy, but I seem to remember that was how the consistency was when I worked there. My entree came out sizzling all right. Too much. It was spattering everywhere, which I know was a problem when I worked there, but I would never put it directly in front of someone, rather off to the side so they wouldn't get burned. It was also steaming and smoking so much that I couldn't see. This is unusual. By the time I was able to finally start eating, the bottom of the mashed potatoes and part of the bottom of the chicken were burnt, stuck to the skillet, and smelling horrible. I usually order this dish with a request to put the cheese on top of the chicken and shrimp, but I decided not to do any special instructions with this one because it's rare that I order something as is. The inherent problem with this dish is that the cheese gets put on a very hot skillet first, then the onions/peppers, then the chicken/bruschetta shrimp, then the mashed potatoes. The cheese ends up getting burnt to the skillet every time, so you don't get to eat much of it. That's why I usually order it with the cheese on top.
Meanwhile, another table had been seated in Lisa's section and, again, she was nowhere to be found. We were wishing we had gotten the server in the section next to Lisa's. She was very attentive to all her tables and even looked over at us a couple of times. I think her name was Ashley. Although, I think the next time we go, we'll ask who's working and request a server that I worked with.
Another thing I want to mention (and this could be a change in standards, too) is that our receipt had a Guest Satisfaction Survey on it. These were a big deal when I worked there and we had to present them to the table and explain how the survey works. At one point, the managers were the only ones that were allowed to present them to the table. This is used at many different restaurants and is how they measure performance: how they know where they are doing well and where they need to improve. Perhaps it's not a big deal anymore and if that's the case, that's sad because that means that they don't care how they're doing anymore. Actually, this is one of the reasons I left. Our opening team was great, cohesive, excited, team-oriented and fun. Once we started losing that original team and hiring new people, all that went downhill very quickly. People just didn't care like that opening team did. As a trainer, shift lead and key employee, I tried to coach them and make changes within the system, but you just can't make people care. So I left.
Unfortunately, I believe this happens with every restaurant. There's something special about a restaurant opening. Everyone wants to be there and is excited to make it the best. Once others come in, it's hard to transfer that excitement to them. A lot of times, it's just a job to them and that shows in the entire hospitality industry.
I always find it very interesting to review a place where I have previously worked. Usually unfortunately for the servers and staff, I know what the standards are and when they are not being met. Just for background: I opened this store as a server, became a shift lead, trainer, and key employee (which is a server/bartender that does managerial shifts). There is a four table per section maximum and I knew immediately by where we were seated, which tables were in our server's section. I had helped divide the dining room into the sections that they now use.
The door was held open for us by the host and she was very upbeat and happy. Perfect. The host that was behind the podium seemed to be concentrating very hard on the seating chart and never looked up at us or the other host. She also was not in a recognizable uniform. I saw other employees as well that it was hard to tell they were employees by the way they were dressed. It's possible that this standard could have changed since I worked there, but I think guests should at least be able to tell who the staff is. We were seated immediately in a half booth.
On the way to our table, I waved to a guy that had opened the store with me (Justin) and he waved back and came over and sat down with us. We had just started to catch up when our server came over to greet us. He excused himself and went back to taking care of his tables. He always was a good guy.
Our server was pleasant enough, but extremely inattentive. William ordered a Jack & Coke and I ordered a Cherry Coke. He said his drink tasted funny when it arrived and it seemed to me like the syrup on the Coke was low or out. Later, at one of the incredibly few times that our server actually checked on us, she asked him if he wanted another Jack & Diet. Maybe that's why it tasted funny.
Lisa, our server, gave us a couple of minutes to look over the menus, but when she asked if we wanted an appetizer, she didn't really wait for an answer, but went to the table next to us three times before she came back to us. At that point she had two tables including us. The other table left shortly after we got there.
When we were finally able to order, I oredered the Fried Mac & Cheese appetizer and the Sizzling Chicken & Shrimp. William ordered the Jack Daniel's Flat Iron Steak, medium, and a side caesar salad to start. His salad came out quick enough, but the breadstick was deep fried ( I know how to tell) and he said the salad wasn't very good. He only ate about half of it, then put it on the edge of the table. The standard is that whenever anyone walks by a table and there is a dish or empty glassware on the edge, they are supposed to take it back to the dishroom. Servers and hosts walked by about 15 times and noone even looked at it. It was the same when William finished his drink.
Our server was nowhere to be found at this point and we were her only table. We started wondering where our appetizer was, and I was thinking that if Justin walked by, I'd ask him to check on it for us. However, he never did and during the 20 minutes we were waiting for our entrees, I started to look around and noticed that they hadn't done any dusting of the artifacts, much less our lampshade, lately.
Lisa brought out our entrees and asked us if we needed anything else. I told her that she could just forget the appetizer as we had never gotten it. She seemed surprised and insisted that she rang it in, but that they would take it off the bill and we would get a card for a free appetizer on our next visit, too. The manager that dropped off the appetizer card informed us that the appetizer was never rung in, so someone was lying to us, but I'll bet it wasn't the manager. She was very sincere and apologetic.
Getting back to our entrees, William's steak was cooked perfectly in the middle, but overdone on the outside, which seems to indicate that the grill temperature was set too high. The mashed potatoes on both our plates were mushy, but I seem to remember that was how the consistency was when I worked there. My entree came out sizzling all right. Too much. It was spattering everywhere, which I know was a problem when I worked there, but I would never put it directly in front of someone, rather off to the side so they wouldn't get burned. It was also steaming and smoking so much that I couldn't see. This is unusual. By the time I was able to finally start eating, the bottom of the mashed potatoes and part of the bottom of the chicken were burnt, stuck to the skillet, and smelling horrible. I usually order this dish with a request to put the cheese on top of the chicken and shrimp, but I decided not to do any special instructions with this one because it's rare that I order something as is. The inherent problem with this dish is that the cheese gets put on a very hot skillet first, then the onions/peppers, then the chicken/bruschetta shrimp, then the mashed potatoes. The cheese ends up getting burnt to the skillet every time, so you don't get to eat much of it. That's why I usually order it with the cheese on top.
Meanwhile, another table had been seated in Lisa's section and, again, she was nowhere to be found. We were wishing we had gotten the server in the section next to Lisa's. She was very attentive to all her tables and even looked over at us a couple of times. I think her name was Ashley. Although, I think the next time we go, we'll ask who's working and request a server that I worked with.
Another thing I want to mention (and this could be a change in standards, too) is that our receipt had a Guest Satisfaction Survey on it. These were a big deal when I worked there and we had to present them to the table and explain how the survey works. At one point, the managers were the only ones that were allowed to present them to the table. This is used at many different restaurants and is how they measure performance: how they know where they are doing well and where they need to improve. Perhaps it's not a big deal anymore and if that's the case, that's sad because that means that they don't care how they're doing anymore. Actually, this is one of the reasons I left. Our opening team was great, cohesive, excited, team-oriented and fun. Once we started losing that original team and hiring new people, all that went downhill very quickly. People just didn't care like that opening team did. As a trainer, shift lead and key employee, I tried to coach them and make changes within the system, but you just can't make people care. So I left.
Unfortunately, I believe this happens with every restaurant. There's something special about a restaurant opening. Everyone wants to be there and is excited to make it the best. Once others come in, it's hard to transfer that excitement to them. A lot of times, it's just a job to them and that shows in the entire hospitality industry.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Grand Casino Mille Lacs, Onamia, MN
Actually, it's not in Onamia but it's the closest real postal address I guess. I give this place a low D (would've been higher if they at least made an effort).
Because Maryanne's treatments haven't been going so good for the last couple weeks, and there is a real possibility of her having to take some time off work for sets of more intensive treatments each week, I thought I would take her for at least one night somewhere out-of-town, out of the way maybe, where she can just relax and enjoy herself.
I decided on Grand Casino Mille Lacs. I would've gone to Hinckley instead but two things stopped me: 1) we've had two previous bad experiences at Hinckley, 2) The MS 150 was going through there the same weekend, and they were very booked.
I also decided that I didn't care what it cost, so I went for the biggest suite available and some extras. What I had reserved was the Arrowhead suite (4-person hot tub!) that has a nice view of the lake with the Romance Package add-on (price was about $350 with the package). The Romance package adds two $50 gift certificates (food and gift shop respectively), free valet parking, a whirlpool or fireplace suite, a gift basket full of 'goodies' and a later checkout time.
We arrived at around 2:30pm. I had deliberately kept Maryanne in the dark as much as I could about where we were going so as to surprise her. I was expecting a nice big room with a bunch of extras that would just make her happy.
What I got was a Northwoods Suite (jetted bath-tub for two but only big enough for one) with a nice view of the rear parking lot and street. The Romance Package actually gave us a wicker basket full of popcorn, chocolate covered peanuts, yogurt covered pretzels, a box of crackers and a couple of small tubs of cheese spread (no utensils of any kind were provided for the cheese spread). We did also get the gift certificates and we mostly used them (I'll get to that in a sec). I called the front desk right away about this screw up, and they right away transferred me to the general reservation line.
Turns out they had a different confirmation code than the one I was given (very different, not just one letter off) and said I was booked for exactly what I had. This was just the start of my disappointment for the weekend as it turns out.
Valet parking is free for all hotel guests I was told at the front desk, and I was a bit annoyed since the Package description made it sound as though Valet was free with a Package, not otherwise. The other thing was that I expected to pull up, get our bags from the car and have a valet come out, take the keys and park the car. Instead, I had to go to the front desk, and after checking in they called for a valet attendant (the little valet booth just inside the door was dark and empty) to come get my car.
After all that we went to the casino for a couple hours.
We had dinner Saturday night at the Woodlands, which is their fine dining establishment. The only entry is through the middle of the casino area, and I'd thought that it would be noisy and smelly in the restaurant because of that. I was happy to find that it was quiet and comfortable. Good thing since the food was not very good at all.
We ordered crab cakes for an app, she had french onion soup and I had a Cesar salad for starters. the cheese cover on her soup has burned in a couple spots, but she said it really was very good. My salad had about 2-cups too much vinegar in the dressing, so I only ate a portion of it and set it aside (good thing too). We both order the fillet Mignon; hers with Bearnaise (instead of bordelaise) and mashed potato, mine with mushrooms, bordelaise and baked potato. She had soda to drink and I had a glass of alcohol free wine (they serve no alcohol anywhere at this casino/hotel).
Her steak was bare on the plate, the sauce on the side as she requested. Mushrooms on the plate around it. Bordelaise on her mash potato like a gravy, though she said she didn't want bordelaise. She said her steak was a little undercooked but good. Everything was a bit cold for her taste.
My steak was also undercooked and quite tough. It *looked* as though it had been cooked quite well though on the outside. Lots of charred bits and burned patches. Inside was slightly warm and rare. My baked potato was plain (butter and sour cream provided) and uncut, and nicely warmed to the touch though it was also undercooked (it was almost crunchy in the center like a raw potato or apple).
I ended up eating less than half the steak, all of the potato and finishing with my salad. Our server asked us shortly after delivering the food how things were. I hadn't cut my steak yet (was still working on getting my potato set to eat) so I said I don't yet, haven't had a chance to try my steak yet. She said she'd come back in a few minutes and check again. She didn't.
When our server did come back it was to offer refills, clear our plates and ask about dessert. It was at this point that I became quite offended instead of just annoyed. She asked us what we would like, mentioned a couple things not on the menu and we were discussing options. I was going to get a plain cheesecake (not a fan of any berry sauces) and Maryanne ended up getting the Tiramisu that wasn't on the menu. The funny part is that after Maryanne ordered her dessert, our server walked away. She didn't ask me if I wanted anything, and didn't wait for me to say what I wanted. So, no dessert for me.
The Tiramisu was almost completely frozen anyway, and Maryanne only had a little bit of it.
I left a small tip. Maryanne took what was left of her steak back to our room (we had a mini fridge).
We also had a little incident with the host that seated us. He came by after we had been mostly finished eating our meal to check on us. He asked if I needed a refill on anything, and I said no. He then turned to my wife and asked if she needed anything to which she said she would like a box for her steak. He then waved his hand as if to dismiss her and walked away (he didn't say anything, just waved). She thought this was very rude behavior, and it was.
We spent a few hours in the casino before dinner, and I went back again after we'd spent a bit of time in the pool area (had to stop and get suits first, so we used our Gift Shop certificate for those). The air in the pool area was so full of chlorine and that chemical smell that we didn't stay long, maybe 30 minutes. She was feeling a bit tired after that and went to bed early. I went back to the casino for awhile, returning to the room around 1am and went to bed.
The bed mattress was so hard, I wouldn't have noticed if I accidentally ended up on the floor. I'm not kidding, it was almost rock hard. Maryanne commented on the exact same thing that next morning when I ran into her again. It was so terribly uncomfortable that I only got a couple hours sleep in the bed. I ended up napping on the couch in the sitting area for an hour.
I ended up waking a few hours before Maryanne (which has been the norm for the last few months) so I went back to the casino for a couple hours (not much else to do here as it turns out). I went back to the room at 9am only to find that she wasn't there. I found her in the casino near where I had been playing for the last hour, and we went to the Grand Northern Grill for breakfast. We'd forgotten to use our $50food gift certificate for dinner, so used it on breakfast instead.
I ordered the Ranch Breakfast - 2 eggs (over medium), hashbrowns, toast and sausage. She had eggs Benedict with hashbrowns, toast and bacon. I also ordered some pancakes, and (forgive me) CHEESE CURDS! I love those things, and there's were pretty good with ranch or seasoned sour cream.
The rest of the food was less than good. Her eggs were undercooked, both of our hashbrowns were burned on one side (the bottom, go figure) as were parts of my pancakes. My eggs were nicely cooked on one side and almost burned on the other, so they ended up being very tough. The toast was also quite tough and chewy, almost like old (not dried) bread.
I ate half the pancakes, the eggs, the toast and part of the hashbrowns. My sausage was almost raw so I didn't touch it. She ate the eggs, ham and one piece of toast. Most of our food was cool or cold when it was brought to the table anyway.
We paid with the food gift certificate, and ended up getting the whole meal free since the price was less than the certificate (about $34).
We went back to the casino for another couple hours after that (we had a later than normal checkout time as part of our Romance Package). Right about noon we decided to go back to the room, pack up and relax for a bit before checking out.
We couldn't get back into our room. Someone had turned off our key cards, and housekeeping had to let us in (after the housekeeping people harangued us about letting them know when we had left so they could clean our room). When the hell did it become the guests job to tell Housekeeping when they were checking out? Didn't the Front Desk do that??
That was it for me, and I told her to pack it all in cause we're leaving right now.
About 15 minutes later we were at the front desk being told that we had additional charges to pay for our room and the Grand Northern Grill.
After a few minutes speaking with the girl (same girl that checked us in as I recall) she went and got a guy who looked at things a couple minutes, said we didn't owe anything other than the room and package charge, and apologized for locking us out of our room before our checkout time (she was calling Valet to get my car during this exchange). He said something about how the front desk clerks are supposed to change the checkout time in the computer when people with a Package check in and that they've been having a lot of problems with that lately. I didn't care, and I still don't. It shouldn't have happened in the first place, and what angered me is that they made attempt to remedy the problem. Actually, NO ONE ANYWHERE attempted to remedy any problem that we experienced anywhere in the hotel.
We had to wait outside for another 10 minutes for my car to show up (after spending between 12 and 15 minutes at the Front Desk). I think the Valet guy was waiting for a tip, and I didn't care. I was quite angry by this point and didn't give him a thing.
We left, driving back to the Cities hours earlier than I had planned to. We were going to stay and play in the casino for another couple hours after checking out, and maybe get a late lunch before leaving. Instead, we got fast food on the way home.
Grand Casino (either of them!) at this point is one of the last places I want to go for an evening or a weekend. We've had bad experiences now at both locations (overnight stays) and I won't be giving them anymore of my money. We haven't been back to Hinckley since the giant screw up they had on 7/7/07 and our weekend stay last year (which we've previously commented on), and I still have no intention of going back there. Now Mille Lacs is on my no-fly list too. The Mille Lacs casino was kinda tight anyway. We were up a few hundred at one point, but ended up down overall as Maryanne had no luck at all.
I'm beginning to think that the only way to get a real casino experience is to go to a real casino, like in Vegas. Either way, we're done with Grand Casino. We are players club members, but other than cashing in our session points for money I doubt we'll be back anytime this year.
One other thing I noticed here is that the casino employees, especially those involved with cleaning the casino, quite simply do not look where they are going. I lost count of how many times one of these people bumped me, backed into me, turned into me or just got right in my way as I was walking at the last possible second. Not once was any of them actually watching where they were going or looking to see if someone was coming or anything, and at no time did anyone of them apologize, ask to me excused or pardoned (most never even looked up or said anything). What happened to simple common sense and common courtesy?
Maryanne was not involved with the planning of this trip in anyway. I specifically wanted to surprise her with our destination, and I didn't want her to stress over any part or detail that ended up not meeting expectations. This resulted in my being extremely stressed and annoyed at check in, upon seeing our 'suite' (I hate calling it that cause it wasn't), upon seeing the extras the Romance Package gave us (room was just $172, package made it $350!!!) and at how poorly we were treated overall and at how poorly run the hotel and casino in general are.
Basically, I was very disappointed in the whole thing. Not remotely close to being worth what I spent; the room, the food, the extras are simply just very over-priced for what you actually get.
Maryanne was happy though. She wasn't happy about me being upset over everything that had gone wrong, but she was still happy to be away from the Cities with me for a couple days.
Next time we feel the need for a weekend get-away, we won't be doing it at Grand Casino (either of them).
UPDATE
June 10, 2008 0640:
Just got done looking at my credit card and bank statments (all online). I just found out that Grand Casino charged me twice for the room and package. So, our weekend at Grand Casino Mille Lacs wasn't just $350 but instead was $700! I've already called them and they '...don't understand why it would be charged twice." Gee, human error? They're going to call back at some point and let me know when they've taken care of it.
Because Maryanne's treatments haven't been going so good for the last couple weeks, and there is a real possibility of her having to take some time off work for sets of more intensive treatments each week, I thought I would take her for at least one night somewhere out-of-town, out of the way maybe, where she can just relax and enjoy herself.
I decided on Grand Casino Mille Lacs. I would've gone to Hinckley instead but two things stopped me: 1) we've had two previous bad experiences at Hinckley, 2) The MS 150 was going through there the same weekend, and they were very booked.
I also decided that I didn't care what it cost, so I went for the biggest suite available and some extras. What I had reserved was the Arrowhead suite (4-person hot tub!) that has a nice view of the lake with the Romance Package add-on (price was about $350 with the package). The Romance package adds two $50 gift certificates (food and gift shop respectively), free valet parking, a whirlpool or fireplace suite, a gift basket full of 'goodies' and a later checkout time.
We arrived at around 2:30pm. I had deliberately kept Maryanne in the dark as much as I could about where we were going so as to surprise her. I was expecting a nice big room with a bunch of extras that would just make her happy.
What I got was a Northwoods Suite (jetted bath-tub for two but only big enough for one) with a nice view of the rear parking lot and street. The Romance Package actually gave us a wicker basket full of popcorn, chocolate covered peanuts, yogurt covered pretzels, a box of crackers and a couple of small tubs of cheese spread (no utensils of any kind were provided for the cheese spread). We did also get the gift certificates and we mostly used them (I'll get to that in a sec). I called the front desk right away about this screw up, and they right away transferred me to the general reservation line.
Turns out they had a different confirmation code than the one I was given (very different, not just one letter off) and said I was booked for exactly what I had. This was just the start of my disappointment for the weekend as it turns out.
Valet parking is free for all hotel guests I was told at the front desk, and I was a bit annoyed since the Package description made it sound as though Valet was free with a Package, not otherwise. The other thing was that I expected to pull up, get our bags from the car and have a valet come out, take the keys and park the car. Instead, I had to go to the front desk, and after checking in they called for a valet attendant (the little valet booth just inside the door was dark and empty) to come get my car.
After all that we went to the casino for a couple hours.
We had dinner Saturday night at the Woodlands, which is their fine dining establishment. The only entry is through the middle of the casino area, and I'd thought that it would be noisy and smelly in the restaurant because of that. I was happy to find that it was quiet and comfortable. Good thing since the food was not very good at all.
We ordered crab cakes for an app, she had french onion soup and I had a Cesar salad for starters. the cheese cover on her soup has burned in a couple spots, but she said it really was very good. My salad had about 2-cups too much vinegar in the dressing, so I only ate a portion of it and set it aside (good thing too). We both order the fillet Mignon; hers with Bearnaise (instead of bordelaise) and mashed potato, mine with mushrooms, bordelaise and baked potato. She had soda to drink and I had a glass of alcohol free wine (they serve no alcohol anywhere at this casino/hotel).
Her steak was bare on the plate, the sauce on the side as she requested. Mushrooms on the plate around it. Bordelaise on her mash potato like a gravy, though she said she didn't want bordelaise. She said her steak was a little undercooked but good. Everything was a bit cold for her taste.
My steak was also undercooked and quite tough. It *looked* as though it had been cooked quite well though on the outside. Lots of charred bits and burned patches. Inside was slightly warm and rare. My baked potato was plain (butter and sour cream provided) and uncut, and nicely warmed to the touch though it was also undercooked (it was almost crunchy in the center like a raw potato or apple).
I ended up eating less than half the steak, all of the potato and finishing with my salad. Our server asked us shortly after delivering the food how things were. I hadn't cut my steak yet (was still working on getting my potato set to eat) so I said I don't yet, haven't had a chance to try my steak yet. She said she'd come back in a few minutes and check again. She didn't.
When our server did come back it was to offer refills, clear our plates and ask about dessert. It was at this point that I became quite offended instead of just annoyed. She asked us what we would like, mentioned a couple things not on the menu and we were discussing options. I was going to get a plain cheesecake (not a fan of any berry sauces) and Maryanne ended up getting the Tiramisu that wasn't on the menu. The funny part is that after Maryanne ordered her dessert, our server walked away. She didn't ask me if I wanted anything, and didn't wait for me to say what I wanted. So, no dessert for me.
The Tiramisu was almost completely frozen anyway, and Maryanne only had a little bit of it.
I left a small tip. Maryanne took what was left of her steak back to our room (we had a mini fridge).
We also had a little incident with the host that seated us. He came by after we had been mostly finished eating our meal to check on us. He asked if I needed a refill on anything, and I said no. He then turned to my wife and asked if she needed anything to which she said she would like a box for her steak. He then waved his hand as if to dismiss her and walked away (he didn't say anything, just waved). She thought this was very rude behavior, and it was.
We spent a few hours in the casino before dinner, and I went back again after we'd spent a bit of time in the pool area (had to stop and get suits first, so we used our Gift Shop certificate for those). The air in the pool area was so full of chlorine and that chemical smell that we didn't stay long, maybe 30 minutes. She was feeling a bit tired after that and went to bed early. I went back to the casino for awhile, returning to the room around 1am and went to bed.
The bed mattress was so hard, I wouldn't have noticed if I accidentally ended up on the floor. I'm not kidding, it was almost rock hard. Maryanne commented on the exact same thing that next morning when I ran into her again. It was so terribly uncomfortable that I only got a couple hours sleep in the bed. I ended up napping on the couch in the sitting area for an hour.
I ended up waking a few hours before Maryanne (which has been the norm for the last few months) so I went back to the casino for a couple hours (not much else to do here as it turns out). I went back to the room at 9am only to find that she wasn't there. I found her in the casino near where I had been playing for the last hour, and we went to the Grand Northern Grill for breakfast. We'd forgotten to use our $50food gift certificate for dinner, so used it on breakfast instead.
I ordered the Ranch Breakfast - 2 eggs (over medium), hashbrowns, toast and sausage. She had eggs Benedict with hashbrowns, toast and bacon. I also ordered some pancakes, and (forgive me) CHEESE CURDS! I love those things, and there's were pretty good with ranch or seasoned sour cream.
The rest of the food was less than good. Her eggs were undercooked, both of our hashbrowns were burned on one side (the bottom, go figure) as were parts of my pancakes. My eggs were nicely cooked on one side and almost burned on the other, so they ended up being very tough. The toast was also quite tough and chewy, almost like old (not dried) bread.
I ate half the pancakes, the eggs, the toast and part of the hashbrowns. My sausage was almost raw so I didn't touch it. She ate the eggs, ham and one piece of toast. Most of our food was cool or cold when it was brought to the table anyway.
We paid with the food gift certificate, and ended up getting the whole meal free since the price was less than the certificate (about $34).
We went back to the casino for another couple hours after that (we had a later than normal checkout time as part of our Romance Package). Right about noon we decided to go back to the room, pack up and relax for a bit before checking out.
We couldn't get back into our room. Someone had turned off our key cards, and housekeeping had to let us in (after the housekeeping people harangued us about letting them know when we had left so they could clean our room). When the hell did it become the guests job to tell Housekeeping when they were checking out? Didn't the Front Desk do that??
That was it for me, and I told her to pack it all in cause we're leaving right now.
About 15 minutes later we were at the front desk being told that we had additional charges to pay for our room and the Grand Northern Grill.
After a few minutes speaking with the girl (same girl that checked us in as I recall) she went and got a guy who looked at things a couple minutes, said we didn't owe anything other than the room and package charge, and apologized for locking us out of our room before our checkout time (she was calling Valet to get my car during this exchange). He said something about how the front desk clerks are supposed to change the checkout time in the computer when people with a Package check in and that they've been having a lot of problems with that lately. I didn't care, and I still don't. It shouldn't have happened in the first place, and what angered me is that they made attempt to remedy the problem. Actually, NO ONE ANYWHERE attempted to remedy any problem that we experienced anywhere in the hotel.
We had to wait outside for another 10 minutes for my car to show up (after spending between 12 and 15 minutes at the Front Desk). I think the Valet guy was waiting for a tip, and I didn't care. I was quite angry by this point and didn't give him a thing.
We left, driving back to the Cities hours earlier than I had planned to. We were going to stay and play in the casino for another couple hours after checking out, and maybe get a late lunch before leaving. Instead, we got fast food on the way home.
Grand Casino (either of them!) at this point is one of the last places I want to go for an evening or a weekend. We've had bad experiences now at both locations (overnight stays) and I won't be giving them anymore of my money. We haven't been back to Hinckley since the giant screw up they had on 7/7/07 and our weekend stay last year (which we've previously commented on), and I still have no intention of going back there. Now Mille Lacs is on my no-fly list too. The Mille Lacs casino was kinda tight anyway. We were up a few hundred at one point, but ended up down overall as Maryanne had no luck at all.
I'm beginning to think that the only way to get a real casino experience is to go to a real casino, like in Vegas. Either way, we're done with Grand Casino. We are players club members, but other than cashing in our session points for money I doubt we'll be back anytime this year.
One other thing I noticed here is that the casino employees, especially those involved with cleaning the casino, quite simply do not look where they are going. I lost count of how many times one of these people bumped me, backed into me, turned into me or just got right in my way as I was walking at the last possible second. Not once was any of them actually watching where they were going or looking to see if someone was coming or anything, and at no time did anyone of them apologize, ask to me excused or pardoned (most never even looked up or said anything). What happened to simple common sense and common courtesy?
Maryanne was not involved with the planning of this trip in anyway. I specifically wanted to surprise her with our destination, and I didn't want her to stress over any part or detail that ended up not meeting expectations. This resulted in my being extremely stressed and annoyed at check in, upon seeing our 'suite' (I hate calling it that cause it wasn't), upon seeing the extras the Romance Package gave us (room was just $172, package made it $350!!!) and at how poorly we were treated overall and at how poorly run the hotel and casino in general are.
Basically, I was very disappointed in the whole thing. Not remotely close to being worth what I spent; the room, the food, the extras are simply just very over-priced for what you actually get.
Maryanne was happy though. She wasn't happy about me being upset over everything that had gone wrong, but she was still happy to be away from the Cities with me for a couple days.
Next time we feel the need for a weekend get-away, we won't be doing it at Grand Casino (either of them).
UPDATE
June 10, 2008 0640:
Just got done looking at my credit card and bank statments (all online). I just found out that Grand Casino charged me twice for the room and package. So, our weekend at Grand Casino Mille Lacs wasn't just $350 but instead was $700! I've already called them and they '...don't understand why it would be charged twice." Gee, human error? They're going to call back at some point and let me know when they've taken care of it.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Chili's Maplewood
Her perspective: D
This is the third bad experience we've had at this location, so we will not be returning. We will be trying other locations.
We were seated almost immediately, but it took quite a while for the server to greet us. So long, in fact, that we were both ready to order. I ordered a Cherry Coke, Classic Nachos appetizer and the chicken fajitas. William ordered a Presidente margarita and the Honey BBQ Sirloin with mashed potatoes/gravy and seasonal vegetables.
My Cherry Coke tasted like the syrup was running out on their pop machine, so I had to ask her to check it and get me another one. When we got our nachos, we were given appetizer plates, but no napkins or sliverware. We had to ask for them, and it was extremely hard to get anyone's attention when we needed things our entire visit. William's margarita was pretty tasty apparently, and the only thing they got right in this visit.
When we got our food, my side plate with the fajita fixings on it had hard, crusty cheese and very little of it, and the sour cream was spongy, like it was old. I finally got our server's attention and asked her to replace it. She did so promptly, and it did look better, but she never once asked how our meals were, much less check on William for anything other than another drink.
William's steak was very over-done, which wasn't hard because it was so very thin. His mashed potatoes were crusty, like they were the dried out remains of the pan. By the time the server checked with us to see if we wanted dessert or anything else, I was mostly done eating and William was just so frustrated that he didn't even want to wait for them to cook another steak. Like I said, it was very difficult to get anyone's attention (we were back in a corner) and our server didn't bother to even look our way if she had gone to another table in her section. The server asked if he wanted another steak or if we wanted it taken off the bill or if we wanted her to have the manager stop by and William told her that taking it off the bill would be fine. She went to go do that and we saw her go to another table twice before the manager came over. He offered to buy the steak, another drink, the appetizer... William just told him to take the steak off. The manager came back with our bill and told us that he had taken the nachos off. We were confused since it was the steak that was the problem. The manager tried to make small talk asking us if we had been there before, which steak William usually likes, etc. It was rather annoying. After he left the table, I looked at the receipt to find out that he had taken both the steak and the nachos off the bill.
I appreciate the effort the manager made to try to get us to come back, but, like I said before, after three bad visits in a row, we won't be back to that location.
One more note: William had planned on staying there for a while after we were done eating to continue to drink, so they not only lost the money from the comps on the bill, but the other sales they would have had. We are generous tippers where we get even at least decent service, so the server lost quite a bit of money on her tip, too, much less the additional tip on the additional sales we would have given them had we stayed. This tends to be the case when we are disappointed in the service and/or food.
I hope you stay away from Chili's in Maplewood. We'll update our review with other locations, I'm sure.
This is the third bad experience we've had at this location, so we will not be returning. We will be trying other locations.
We were seated almost immediately, but it took quite a while for the server to greet us. So long, in fact, that we were both ready to order. I ordered a Cherry Coke, Classic Nachos appetizer and the chicken fajitas. William ordered a Presidente margarita and the Honey BBQ Sirloin with mashed potatoes/gravy and seasonal vegetables.
My Cherry Coke tasted like the syrup was running out on their pop machine, so I had to ask her to check it and get me another one. When we got our nachos, we were given appetizer plates, but no napkins or sliverware. We had to ask for them, and it was extremely hard to get anyone's attention when we needed things our entire visit. William's margarita was pretty tasty apparently, and the only thing they got right in this visit.
When we got our food, my side plate with the fajita fixings on it had hard, crusty cheese and very little of it, and the sour cream was spongy, like it was old. I finally got our server's attention and asked her to replace it. She did so promptly, and it did look better, but she never once asked how our meals were, much less check on William for anything other than another drink.
William's steak was very over-done, which wasn't hard because it was so very thin. His mashed potatoes were crusty, like they were the dried out remains of the pan. By the time the server checked with us to see if we wanted dessert or anything else, I was mostly done eating and William was just so frustrated that he didn't even want to wait for them to cook another steak. Like I said, it was very difficult to get anyone's attention (we were back in a corner) and our server didn't bother to even look our way if she had gone to another table in her section. The server asked if he wanted another steak or if we wanted it taken off the bill or if we wanted her to have the manager stop by and William told her that taking it off the bill would be fine. She went to go do that and we saw her go to another table twice before the manager came over. He offered to buy the steak, another drink, the appetizer... William just told him to take the steak off. The manager came back with our bill and told us that he had taken the nachos off. We were confused since it was the steak that was the problem. The manager tried to make small talk asking us if we had been there before, which steak William usually likes, etc. It was rather annoying. After he left the table, I looked at the receipt to find out that he had taken both the steak and the nachos off the bill.
I appreciate the effort the manager made to try to get us to come back, but, like I said before, after three bad visits in a row, we won't be back to that location.
One more note: William had planned on staying there for a while after we were done eating to continue to drink, so they not only lost the money from the comps on the bill, but the other sales they would have had. We are generous tippers where we get even at least decent service, so the server lost quite a bit of money on her tip, too, much less the additional tip on the additional sales we would have given them had we stayed. This tends to be the case when we are disappointed in the service and/or food.
I hope you stay away from Chili's in Maplewood. We'll update our review with other locations, I'm sure.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Day by Day Cafe - August 5, 2007
477 7th Street West
St. Paul, MN 55102
Ok, I know the blog title is An EVENING in the TC, but sometimes you just gotta write a place up regardless of the time or location.
In this case, we stopped in for breakfast at the Day. We've been here a few times previously (and recently) but today was an exception.
I used to rate this place as one of my top 5 favorite places to eat (not always the best places). In the last year it moved to the top 10. Today it got bumped off the overall top 25 (and I really do have a list).
His Perspective: D
Where to start...
There is usually a line on Sunday mornings. Some days the line is shorter than others and you get seated rather quickly. Today was short, and we were seated perhaps 10 minutes after arriving. We ordered drinks right away.
The drinks arrived a few minutes later, and we placed our orders. Maryanne specifically asked for peanut butter with her meal when we ordered. She ordered a short stack of french toast, I ordered my fav meal there called the Heart Stopper: 3 eggs, 4 bacon or sausage, hashbrowns with cheese and toast. Got mine this time with sausage.
25 minutes later our food was delivered... They were busy but not overly so, and the food we ordered was generally rather quick to prepare, so I can't figure out why we had to wait 25 minutes for food. Other people arriving and being seated after us were served their food before us, so maybe there was just a mix up in the kitchen. Regardless, that generally shouldn't happen.
Food was delivered, Maryanne had to ask again for peanut butter.
Being a general gentleman, I waited to start eating until she had everything she needed and started eating her meal.
10 minutes later, she was angry enough to go find someone to get her peanut butter for her. She started asking two different waitresses, but they both turned and walked away while being asked. That's rather rude in my mind, and very poor customer service regardless. Maryanne ended up walking over to the cashier and asked. They walked back into the room we were seated in and Maryanne was given two cups of peanut butter from the cabinet in our room, not 15 feet from our table.
She had to ask 5 people for something that was already in our room, easily within reach.
Now I understand that by waiting for her my food got cold, but I can still tell if something is under or overcooked. My eggs were overcooked, sausage and hashbrowns were undercooked.
Her short stack of french toast was more like a loaf of french bread (more the shape of the loaf actually) sliced horizontally down the middle. She had two of these slices, one half the size of the other. I thought the menu said 'stack'.
I had to wait for a drink refill more than 15 minutes.
We had to wait 20 minutes to pay our bill (pay at the table, but the neither the waiter or waitress that were serving us seemed interested in stopping back, not even to check on the food). He asked if we needed change, and I said 'Absolutely yes we need change.' Our bill was $19.05, and we paid with a $20 bill. He counted out our change and walked away.
To be honest, I wouldn't have minded the long waits for things if the service was even close to spot-on. Instead the service only highlighted all the other flaws in our meal, and actually made us both rather angry and quite eager to leave.
If you're a regular, you'll get better service because the wait staff knows your face or knows you by name, and tends to serve you better. If your an infrequent customer or first timer, try not to go during regular meal times when they are busy. That perhaps might get you adequate service. Also, we always sit inside the building instead of the outdoor area in back of the restaurant, and I've always noted faster service outside than in. Perhaps in a few months we might go back again, and if we do I'm sitting outside weather permitting.
If you like the food, then go to Mickey's instead. Same food (or better), faster service.
St. Paul, MN 55102
Ok, I know the blog title is An EVENING in the TC, but sometimes you just gotta write a place up regardless of the time or location.
In this case, we stopped in for breakfast at the Day. We've been here a few times previously (and recently) but today was an exception.
I used to rate this place as one of my top 5 favorite places to eat (not always the best places). In the last year it moved to the top 10. Today it got bumped off the overall top 25 (and I really do have a list).
His Perspective: D
Where to start...
There is usually a line on Sunday mornings. Some days the line is shorter than others and you get seated rather quickly. Today was short, and we were seated perhaps 10 minutes after arriving. We ordered drinks right away.
The drinks arrived a few minutes later, and we placed our orders. Maryanne specifically asked for peanut butter with her meal when we ordered. She ordered a short stack of french toast, I ordered my fav meal there called the Heart Stopper: 3 eggs, 4 bacon or sausage, hashbrowns with cheese and toast. Got mine this time with sausage.
25 minutes later our food was delivered... They were busy but not overly so, and the food we ordered was generally rather quick to prepare, so I can't figure out why we had to wait 25 minutes for food. Other people arriving and being seated after us were served their food before us, so maybe there was just a mix up in the kitchen. Regardless, that generally shouldn't happen.
Food was delivered, Maryanne had to ask again for peanut butter.
Being a general gentleman, I waited to start eating until she had everything she needed and started eating her meal.
10 minutes later, she was angry enough to go find someone to get her peanut butter for her. She started asking two different waitresses, but they both turned and walked away while being asked. That's rather rude in my mind, and very poor customer service regardless. Maryanne ended up walking over to the cashier and asked. They walked back into the room we were seated in and Maryanne was given two cups of peanut butter from the cabinet in our room, not 15 feet from our table.
She had to ask 5 people for something that was already in our room, easily within reach.
Now I understand that by waiting for her my food got cold, but I can still tell if something is under or overcooked. My eggs were overcooked, sausage and hashbrowns were undercooked.
Her short stack of french toast was more like a loaf of french bread (more the shape of the loaf actually) sliced horizontally down the middle. She had two of these slices, one half the size of the other. I thought the menu said 'stack'.
I had to wait for a drink refill more than 15 minutes.
We had to wait 20 minutes to pay our bill (pay at the table, but the neither the waiter or waitress that were serving us seemed interested in stopping back, not even to check on the food). He asked if we needed change, and I said 'Absolutely yes we need change.' Our bill was $19.05, and we paid with a $20 bill. He counted out our change and walked away.
To be honest, I wouldn't have minded the long waits for things if the service was even close to spot-on. Instead the service only highlighted all the other flaws in our meal, and actually made us both rather angry and quite eager to leave.
If you're a regular, you'll get better service because the wait staff knows your face or knows you by name, and tends to serve you better. If your an infrequent customer or first timer, try not to go during regular meal times when they are busy. That perhaps might get you adequate service. Also, we always sit inside the building instead of the outdoor area in back of the restaurant, and I've always noted faster service outside than in. Perhaps in a few months we might go back again, and if we do I'm sitting outside weather permitting.
If you like the food, then go to Mickey's instead. Same food (or better), faster service.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Perkins, Cottage Grove - July 8, 2007
Her perspective: F
His perspective: F
We stopped here for brunch on our way to Treasure Island on Sunday and got there just before noon. We were seated right away, but the host told us our server's name as she was walking away from the table with her back to us. The table we were seated at was extremely wobbly and we had to push it hard against the wall so we would be able to eat. The A/C was either turned off or wasn't working and the fans were not able to keep up with the heat since it was 97 degrees outside.
As we were looking through the menus, we noticed that they were dirty. It took our server quite a while to greet us. So long, in fact, that we were both ready to order by the time she got there. We could tell that she only had four tables including us, so we wondered why she was too busy to even stop by. However, she was friendly, attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. That is the only good thing I can say about this visit.
After we ordered, we started noticing that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING on the table was dirty and sticky: the dessert menu, the caddies that hold the jelly and sugar, and the salt and pepper shakers. We also noticed that the window that divided us from another section was quite dirty as well.
When our server brought out our food, she couldn't remember what each of us had and kept putting William's plates in front of me. Since there were only two of us, it shouldn't have been hard to remember what each of us ordered. When I adjusted my plate's position on the table, I noticed that the underside of the plate was quite dirty and one of William's plates was dirty on the top as well.
My Eggs Benedict tasted fine, but they put WAY too much parsley on it. It's supposed to be just a garnish. If I had wanted a salad, I would have ordered one. William's bacon was undercooked in some parts and burnt in others. His toast was just barely toasted and his pancakes were not only way undercooked and very wet, but he found a piece of plastic in one of them.
During our meal, the host decided that it was a good time to vacuum the floor. So, we had to listen to the roar of the vacuum while we were eating. It was extremely annoying. We then listened to our server lie twice to the table behind us. They had been seated before we got there, yet we got our food before they did. The server apologized about the long wait for their food, but told them that everything was taking a long time. This was not true considering we had gotten our food promptly. She lied a second time to them by telling them that they don't do chocolate chip pancakes on Sundays because it ruins the grill. Huh? Not even a hint of truth to that one. I think she just didn't want to order them for some reason.
Once we finally got the check, the server explained that she had circled the total at the bottom, but that there were separate totals for each of us as well. Now, I know that as a server, you shouldn't assume anything about who will be paying the check. However, 99% of parties where there is a male and a female are couples (unless it's lunch on a weekday) and only one person will be paying the whole check. It was quite obvious that we are married and we were offended that she thought we might be splitting the check.
We went up to the register to pay, and the host asked if we would like the check back to take their guest satisfaction survey. We both replied yes in tones of voice that should have tipped her off that we were NOT at all happy. She processed my credit card and gave me my credit card receipt, but then I had to ask her to give me the check so I could take the survey. In the 60 seconds it took her to run my credit card, she had forgotten. I snatched the check out of her hand, spun on my heel and walked quickly out the door. Usually, I would try to talk to a manager when things go bad, but it was so bad that we just wanted to get out of there.
Today, I tried to take the survey on line, but the printing on the check trails off where the store number is supposed to be printed, so I can't even take their survey to let them know how horrible our experience was. We won't be back.
His perspective: F
We stopped here for brunch on our way to Treasure Island on Sunday and got there just before noon. We were seated right away, but the host told us our server's name as she was walking away from the table with her back to us. The table we were seated at was extremely wobbly and we had to push it hard against the wall so we would be able to eat. The A/C was either turned off or wasn't working and the fans were not able to keep up with the heat since it was 97 degrees outside.
As we were looking through the menus, we noticed that they were dirty. It took our server quite a while to greet us. So long, in fact, that we were both ready to order by the time she got there. We could tell that she only had four tables including us, so we wondered why she was too busy to even stop by. However, she was friendly, attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. That is the only good thing I can say about this visit.
After we ordered, we started noticing that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING on the table was dirty and sticky: the dessert menu, the caddies that hold the jelly and sugar, and the salt and pepper shakers. We also noticed that the window that divided us from another section was quite dirty as well.
When our server brought out our food, she couldn't remember what each of us had and kept putting William's plates in front of me. Since there were only two of us, it shouldn't have been hard to remember what each of us ordered. When I adjusted my plate's position on the table, I noticed that the underside of the plate was quite dirty and one of William's plates was dirty on the top as well.
My Eggs Benedict tasted fine, but they put WAY too much parsley on it. It's supposed to be just a garnish. If I had wanted a salad, I would have ordered one. William's bacon was undercooked in some parts and burnt in others. His toast was just barely toasted and his pancakes were not only way undercooked and very wet, but he found a piece of plastic in one of them.
During our meal, the host decided that it was a good time to vacuum the floor. So, we had to listen to the roar of the vacuum while we were eating. It was extremely annoying. We then listened to our server lie twice to the table behind us. They had been seated before we got there, yet we got our food before they did. The server apologized about the long wait for their food, but told them that everything was taking a long time. This was not true considering we had gotten our food promptly. She lied a second time to them by telling them that they don't do chocolate chip pancakes on Sundays because it ruins the grill. Huh? Not even a hint of truth to that one. I think she just didn't want to order them for some reason.
Once we finally got the check, the server explained that she had circled the total at the bottom, but that there were separate totals for each of us as well. Now, I know that as a server, you shouldn't assume anything about who will be paying the check. However, 99% of parties where there is a male and a female are couples (unless it's lunch on a weekday) and only one person will be paying the whole check. It was quite obvious that we are married and we were offended that she thought we might be splitting the check.
We went up to the register to pay, and the host asked if we would like the check back to take their guest satisfaction survey. We both replied yes in tones of voice that should have tipped her off that we were NOT at all happy. She processed my credit card and gave me my credit card receipt, but then I had to ask her to give me the check so I could take the survey. In the 60 seconds it took her to run my credit card, she had forgotten. I snatched the check out of her hand, spun on my heel and walked quickly out the door. Usually, I would try to talk to a manager when things go bad, but it was so bad that we just wanted to get out of there.
Today, I tried to take the survey on line, but the printing on the check trails off where the store number is supposed to be printed, so I can't even take their survey to let them know how horrible our experience was. We won't be back.
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