Tonight I am irritated. I am SURE that most of you depend on me for your restaurant reviews and wouldn't dare go anywhere that I didn't recommend, so--remember I told you how fabulous Buckhead Colorado Steakhouse is? Well, forget that. Forget it completely and if you have a terrible time there, don't blame me, I'm trying to warn you.
The first time we went, the food was fabulous, the service was outstanding, the evening was great - so we wanted to go again. We went last Friday and there were signs taped all over the doors that they were unable to serve alcohol; they gave soft drinks/tea complimentary and you got 10% off your next visit. Fine, no problem: Alan doesn't drink anyway, and I can survive without a Martini. It was the venison-sausage stuffed mushrooms smothered in cheese that I was craving anyhow, not liquor. I mention this mainly to point out that they'd managed to lose/didn't have a liquor license (how much $$$ do you think they lost, Alan and I being in the minority?) and that disorganization has evidently proliferated.
Okay, so last week I can't have a preprandial adult beverage, no biggie. I'd been looking forward to those venison-sausage-stuffed mushrooms smothered in white cheddar anyway, not a drink. Then, Danielle the Fabulous Waitress either wasn't working or wasn't there any more (they were sort of vague on this) but okay, everyone deserves a chance - I'd hoped she'd be our server again but bring on the new waitron. We ordered flatiron steaks (a specialty cut, somewhere between a strip and a filet which we'd had last time and were delectable) but about 10 minutes after we ordered, we were told they were out of them. Uh, okay - so then while we are looking over the menu trying to decide on a second choice, the waitress comes by and says, "No, after all they're NOT out of them, they thought so because it's so popular so it's hard for us to always have them [?!] but we've just now got some flatiron steaks so if that's what you want they're available" - again, not really an issue so much as evidence of disorganization.
We have dinner but mushrooms through dessert, nothing is quite as good as our first visit; still, it's not BAD, not at all, just not as great as we were anticipating. Plus, to make up for the inability to serve alcohol (which didn't bother us anyway) they gave us a coupon for 10% off next visit so that makes things more palatable.
That next visit was tonight and it went from mediocre to bad. Danielle's still not there (not my preference but, I guess, forgiveable), they still don't have a liquor license so I don't get the Martini that I certainly didn't NEED, but sure could have used after some of the incidents of the work-week. We order cokes, venison-sausage-stuffed shrooms, Alan asks if they have the flat-iron steaks. The waitress looks at us like he's insane or something, and says, "Yes we have steak!" kind of snotty, like, "It's on the menu, ain't it?!?" I decide to try a different cut, in case we come back and they don't have the flatiron; instead of being disappointed I can think, "Well, the [NY Strip/Rib Eye/Prime Rib] is great, I'll just have that." So we order shrooms, salad, steaks, potatoes.
Then about 2 minutes after she brings our Cokes, our waitress reports that they're out of the stuffed shrooms. Disappointed, but we forego an appetizer and move on. Salads were fine. Alan's steak was fine, as were his fries. I'd ordered a Rib Eye and baked potato with butter and sour cream. The potato was okay, but there was a dollop of butter and, like, a...smear? whirl? of sour cream - seriously, it was less than 1/8 a teaspoon for a whole potato. What the hell? Alan's steak was fine, apparently, but mine was the weirdest cut of meat. If this makes any sense, the "grain" of the meat was sideways; it was the fattiest thing I'd ever seen. I managed about 6 bites that weren't bisected by gristle, surrounded by fat and grease and, despite that, tough as tennis shoes. It was FOUL. And the waitress never even asked if there was a problem, why I wasn't eating my huge-ass steak, never bothered to clear the stack of 4 - 6 empty glasses of ice/watery Coke fencing our table, never refilled our bread (which was all I could freaking eat), never tried to upsell dessert, took forever to collect the check/return our card...all of which was made exponentially worse by the fact that our first visit was so wonderful!
Do you ever feel like that? It wasn't so much that I had a bad meal at a restaurant, or that something to which I was looking forward turned out badly - it's more of a depressing, letdown sort of feeling - like when you find something new such as a cleaning product, a cosmetic, clothing, food, anything, that you really love, it's perfect for you, and as soon as you're settling in to how much you like it and counting on it being there, it's discontinued. GAAAAH!
The first time we went, the food was fabulous, the service was outstanding, the evening was great - so we wanted to go again. We went last Friday and there were signs taped all over the doors that they were unable to serve alcohol; they gave soft drinks/tea complimentary and you got 10% off your next visit. Fine, no problem: Alan doesn't drink anyway, and I can survive without a Martini. It was the venison-sausage stuffed mushrooms smothered in cheese that I was craving anyhow, not liquor. I mention this mainly to point out that they'd managed to lose/didn't have a liquor license (how much $$$ do you think they lost, Alan and I being in the minority?) and that disorganization has evidently proliferated.
Okay, so last week I can't have a preprandial adult beverage, no biggie. I'd been looking forward to those venison-sausage-stuffed mushrooms smothered in white cheddar anyway, not a drink. Then, Danielle the Fabulous Waitress either wasn't working or wasn't there any more (they were sort of vague on this) but okay, everyone deserves a chance - I'd hoped she'd be our server again but bring on the new waitron. We ordered flatiron steaks (a specialty cut, somewhere between a strip and a filet which we'd had last time and were delectable) but about 10 minutes after we ordered, we were told they were out of them. Uh, okay - so then while we are looking over the menu trying to decide on a second choice, the waitress comes by and says, "No, after all they're NOT out of them, they thought so because it's so popular so it's hard for us to always have them [?!] but we've just now got some flatiron steaks so if that's what you want they're available" - again, not really an issue so much as evidence of disorganization.
We have dinner but mushrooms through dessert, nothing is quite as good as our first visit; still, it's not BAD, not at all, just not as great as we were anticipating. Plus, to make up for the inability to serve alcohol (which didn't bother us anyway) they gave us a coupon for 10% off next visit so that makes things more palatable.
That next visit was tonight and it went from mediocre to bad. Danielle's still not there (not my preference but, I guess, forgiveable), they still don't have a liquor license so I don't get the Martini that I certainly didn't NEED, but sure could have used after some of the incidents of the work-week. We order cokes, venison-sausage-stuffed shrooms, Alan asks if they have the flat-iron steaks. The waitress looks at us like he's insane or something, and says, "Yes we have steak!" kind of snotty, like, "It's on the menu, ain't it?!?" I decide to try a different cut, in case we come back and they don't have the flatiron; instead of being disappointed I can think, "Well, the [NY Strip/Rib Eye/Prime Rib] is great, I'll just have that." So we order shrooms, salad, steaks, potatoes.
Then about 2 minutes after she brings our Cokes, our waitress reports that they're out of the stuffed shrooms. Disappointed, but we forego an appetizer and move on. Salads were fine. Alan's steak was fine, as were his fries. I'd ordered a Rib Eye and baked potato with butter and sour cream. The potato was okay, but there was a dollop of butter and, like, a...smear? whirl? of sour cream - seriously, it was less than 1/8 a teaspoon for a whole potato. What the hell? Alan's steak was fine, apparently, but mine was the weirdest cut of meat. If this makes any sense, the "grain" of the meat was sideways; it was the fattiest thing I'd ever seen. I managed about 6 bites that weren't bisected by gristle, surrounded by fat and grease and, despite that, tough as tennis shoes. It was FOUL. And the waitress never even asked if there was a problem, why I wasn't eating my huge-ass steak, never bothered to clear the stack of 4 - 6 empty glasses of ice/watery Coke fencing our table, never refilled our bread (which was all I could freaking eat), never tried to upsell dessert, took forever to collect the check/return our card...all of which was made exponentially worse by the fact that our first visit was so wonderful!
Do you ever feel like that? It wasn't so much that I had a bad meal at a restaurant, or that something to which I was looking forward turned out badly - it's more of a depressing, letdown sort of feeling - like when you find something new such as a cleaning product, a cosmetic, clothing, food, anything, that you really love, it's perfect for you, and as soon as you're settling in to how much you like it and counting on it being there, it's discontinued. GAAAAH!
3 Comments:
Oh, sweetie, I feel you, I have had it happen over and over again. So much so that my friends call me "the kiss of death" when it comes to bars/restaurants, if I decide I like a place, it is so going south within the next month.
Don't know what it is, but in the meantime I have decided to never say i like a place :^)
By
maria, at 12:03 AM
One of my friends is the curse of facial products. Whenever she finds something like cleanser, scrub, moisturizer, etc. that she likes, the manufacturer is moments away from taking it off the market or changing the formula completely.
By
Helly, at 12:14 PM
I am almost afraid to mention how great the new Longhorn's (here in your hometown) was. Service was impeccable, food outstanding. I've always liked Longhorn's but this one seemed (scuse me) a cut above the norm. Like you, if I ever praise a restaurant and get to go back, it's never the same - except Bugaboo Creek. If you recall, you and I had really slow/bad service once (but only once) and I have never had food there that was anything but great. Even Olive Garden, which used to be 'our regular spot' disappointed us on occasion.
hmm
mom
By
Anonymous, at 10:02 AM
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