More Crabby Customer Service

Today I had the privilege of having lunch with my lovely wife after she went for an ultrasound for our overdue baby (41 weeks and counting!). Being in Northeast Philly, we decided to go to an old haunt that we haven't visited in a while-- Chickie's & Pete's on Roosevelt Boulevard. For those of you who have never been there, it's a sports bar that specializes in sandwiches like hot roast pork, as well as crab legs, and crab fries with cheese dipping sauce. Good food, plenty of booze, and always a packed house during any weekend or televised local sporting event, but pretty quiet for a weekday lunch.

So we opened the menus and found a lunch special page. For $8.99 you can get a sandwich, a choice of one side (e.g. fries), and a beverage. Without specifically asking for the lunch special, I ordered a soda, a sandwich, and fries, which I said I would split with my wife since the baskets of fries are quite large. My wife got a sandwich and soda. (Okay, so we didn't fare too well on the healthy eating options scale, but hey, we might not get back there for ages, so why not splurge today, right?)

The meal is served, we scarf it down and enjoy it all. Then we get the bill. Now, mind you, I/we probably could have been more specific when ordering, but the receipt listed each individual item we ordered separately, as opposed to it showing one (or arguably two) lunch specials. As a result, the total cost came out to about $21, rather than $18 ($8.99 x 2). So we pointed this out to the waiter and he says "since you split the fries it doesn't count as a lunch special," or something to that effect, and that if we had specified the lunch specials, we actually would have gotten two baskets of fries (which would have been way to much for us). In sum, we paid more for less.

I wasn't in the mood to argue over a couple of bucks, or call over the manager and make a big scene, so I just let it be. But common sense, or a customer-first attitude, would have sparked one of two options in this young man's brain:

1. When we ordered, he saw that we were looking at the lunch specials page, so he should have asked if we wanted the lunch specials, or he should have said, since you're both ordering sandwiches and sodas and one basket of fries, you can get another basket of fries added on, all for about equal or less money.

2. Or, that not having had happened, he could have said, "Yes, you are correct, let me fix that bill for you."

Neither logical situation crossed through his head, so instead we wound up leaving annoyed, and he wound up with a less generous tip than he otherwise would have earned. So it goes with customer service.

Next time, when I take my wife AND soon-to-be son there, I hope it will work out better!

Goodbye to "Good Nights"?

Just got back from dinner a few minutes ago. Went with my lovely soon-to-be-wife to Champps, a sports bar and grill chain. Had a tasty meal and an enjoyable night out. Even able to walk there and back because the weather was so pleasant. All in all, it was a nice little "date" that didn't break the budget.

Now for the "but". At this restaurant, there must be at least 20 people working during dinner time. And I couldn't help but notice that as we walked out we passed at least 5 or 6 employees and not one of them looked at us or said, "Thanks for coming" or "Good night". Indeed, when I had mentioned this fact to my fiance during our walk home, she even noticed that too.

So does this mean I will never go back to this particular restaurant because a handful of people didn't acknowledge us on the way out? No, it's far from being a dealbreaker. But with countless restaurant options within a five-mile radius of my house, it does mean that every little bit of hospitality goes a long way for each establishment. A red carpet and rose petals at my feet is not necessary, but feel free to give me a smile and a salutation! The old adage is true-- it's the little things that count.

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant, Meadowlands Style

Today I ventured with two co-workers to a meeting with a client in Moonachie (pronounced Moo-nock-ee), NJ, near the Meadowlands. After conducting business for two hours, we were hungry and headed out to lunch. We wound up at an Italian restaurant called Dolce Novita, which roughly translates to "Disco Inferno," although my Italian is a bit rusty.

But anyway, here's what caught my eye at this particular joint:

• Overall comfortable ambience
  
• White table cloth tables and waiters wearing jackets and bowties
• Fresh warm bread with olive oil was served to get us started
  
• Nice selection of Italian food on the menu-- pastas, seafood, etc.
• "Business Lunch Specials"-- each dish included soup and salad and was reasonably priced
• Fully stocked bar with a disco ball

Wait.... Say what?

How, exactly, does a disco ball get thrown into the mix at a fine-dining Italian restaurant? That was a glaring decorative faux pas. I'm guessing somebody missed the first class of Italian Restaurant Design 101 in college. Or perhaps somebody wanted to take a risk and be different. Or maybe that's just a North Jersey thing that I just wouldn't understand. In any event, it left a weird impression in my mind.

Ironically, the disco ball symbolized the overall inconsistency with the restaurant. Some other things I noticed were that the outside was very blah (click here for a photo and review of the food, which was all in all pretty good at least), the waiters didn't come around to fill up drinks, there were three different air fresheners in the bathroom (and none of them seemed to work, if you smell what I'm cookin'), and the Business Specials menu contained mainly dishes with red sauce that could easily be disastrously messy.

Ok, perhaps I've gone too far. I'm not trying to bash the restaurant, it was actually better than average, but I just happened to pick up on those little quirks, not really a big deal. After all, the place is Stayin' Alive, isn't it?