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Bf and I had a really bad dining experience last night. So much for our last night together before he goes on vacation 
Anyway, we're both certain that we didn't react too sucky, and what we tipped ($4 on $42 bill, that's about 10%, I think that's fair, considering that we normally tip 20% or better for good service). But read and go ahead and make your own decision.
We both had never been to this place before, we'll probably never go back, at least never again on a Friday night. I guess we should have known better, but the thing of it is, we usually do go out to eat either or both Friday and Saturday evenings and we are very patient and understanding when it comes to wait times and mishaps and mistakes. We both have been servers in the past, and I'd think bf and I are more understanding than the average person.
We were driving around looking for a place that wasn't too packed, and we were down by the mall and saw this sports bar/grill place named after a type of bear (not sure if it's a chain or local thing, only one I've ever seen before). There were a few open parking spots, so why not?
So we walk in and of course, there's a wait, but no problem. They take our name and we have a seat on the very fluffy couch next to the (fake) fireplace and it keeps us warm while the nearby door keeps repeatedly being opened with people coming and going. That we really liked, because this time of year, it's still too cold at night to be comfortable sitting in any place nearby a door that's always being opened.
The majority of the other people waiting were couples and trios. One large table was called and they walked away with the host. Several other couples walked in after us and sat down. We had a mental idea of when we'd be called.
This trio of an overly loud mother and her two high-water pants-wearing baby-faced 20something sons walked in. It was impossible to not hear this woman bellowing, so it wasn't like I was purposely eavesdropping (ok fine, I do it all the time, but she was so loud, I didn't have to try). It became apparent that the boys had came home for spring break from college, and mumsy in her icky Mom Jeans (name brand, though, of course) was going over some financial talks with them. Aww, mommy pays your tuition. How sweet. But she can't seem to be able to afford you pants that cover your entire leg.
*Warning, this is JUST for story-telling value, and should NOT be discussed therein after*
Anyway, we wait and wait and the obnoxious cow starts rambling with her sons (them listening attentively) about how this "situation" in Wisconsin has gotten completely out of hand, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE!!!!!!) is "FURIOUS!" (she used that word, honestly, over and over and over. It's my new word of the week, just to mock the dumb cow. Last week was "winning", thanks to Charlie Sheen, now I have a new one!). Then she started going on and on about how "Just you guys wait and see, we are going to recall that Walker bastard and all of those good for nothing Republican senators that have destroyed worker's rights in Wisconsin. People are FURIOUS. This is NOT going to be tolerated!"
What an appropriate place to start a political rampage. There's enough bullshit going on in this state right now that is tearing friends and families apart because of political differences. DO NOT RUIN EVERYONE'S FRIDAY NIGHT WITH YOUR FLAPPING GUM SYNDROME!
Anyway, then the annoying family gets called to be seated.
Wait. There is three of them. They walked in easily 10 minutes after us. I said something to bf, and he said "Well, I don't know, maybe they need a bigger table or something or asked for a special place to sit." So I figured ok, we'll give the benefit of the doubt here. Fine, they can go ahead. At least it gets the bitch and her rambling away for a second.
Then a couple who came in after us got called. Wait now. Now two groups of people who came in AFTER us got seated. I started to get a little pissed. But ok, we will give it one more chance, and if they call one more group that came in after us, we are saying something or leaving.
Then they call us. Ok, good.
So we sit. And it's easily 10 minutes before the server even shows up. Bf asks for a margarita (oh great, that'll take even longer, dummy!) and I order a soda. We already wanted to order an appetizer and figured it'd be best we ordered it before the food so we didn't have to wait too much longer, but the waitress disappeared before we could even say anything other than our drink order.
They had just cleaned the table before we arrived, so we had no napkins or silverware.
A food runner or a different server came up a few minutes later and said "Enjoy some of our house bread while you wait!", set it on the table, and walked away before we could ask for napkins or silverware.
Our drinks came a while later, and we asked for napkins and silverware before she could run off again.
She never brought them.
We asked a host bussing a table, and he brought them right and away and apologized. We said no problem.
We got our appetizers, and then seriously, not even 5 minutes later, our meals.
They gave my bf a SOUP SPOON to eat his pasta with.
He asked the waitress for a spoon when she checked back a few minutes later to check on us. She didn't even look concerned that he'd been given a SPOON to eat pasta with. I asked her for a refill on my soda.
She came back with a fork and another margarita for my bf. He didn't ask for one. Now, it'd be one thing if it was a soda, because those are generally free refills, but margaritas are NOT. Most places, they are $5-$8 each. Oh well, bf didn't care, he said he'd drink it, he loves margaritas. I asked a host if I could get a refill on my soda.
The server finally came back with the refill and acted snooty about it.
Then, when we were nearly done eating, bf asked for a box, which surprisingly, she actually brought right over in anticipation of the need. She left the bill.
And then never came back.
And this is a place where you pay the server at the table.
This happens quite frequently, but we normally blame it on management or corporate on telling servers to do that on purpose so they don't "rush" customers. But after everything that happened, we figured she was just being a dumbass and being careless.
We finally flagged her down as we were walking out and bf paid in cash.
Really, I think there was no excuse for almost all of the incidents in the story. There is busy, and there are mistakes, this was just being careless and unable to keep up, or not caring to keep up.
I hope we weren't overly sucky in the 10% tip, but wow......what a bad experience. The food was great, though, if that helps at all.
Anyway, we're both certain that we didn't react too sucky, and what we tipped ($4 on $42 bill, that's about 10%, I think that's fair, considering that we normally tip 20% or better for good service). But read and go ahead and make your own decision.
We both had never been to this place before, we'll probably never go back, at least never again on a Friday night. I guess we should have known better, but the thing of it is, we usually do go out to eat either or both Friday and Saturday evenings and we are very patient and understanding when it comes to wait times and mishaps and mistakes. We both have been servers in the past, and I'd think bf and I are more understanding than the average person.
We were driving around looking for a place that wasn't too packed, and we were down by the mall and saw this sports bar/grill place named after a type of bear (not sure if it's a chain or local thing, only one I've ever seen before). There were a few open parking spots, so why not?
So we walk in and of course, there's a wait, but no problem. They take our name and we have a seat on the very fluffy couch next to the (fake) fireplace and it keeps us warm while the nearby door keeps repeatedly being opened with people coming and going. That we really liked, because this time of year, it's still too cold at night to be comfortable sitting in any place nearby a door that's always being opened.
The majority of the other people waiting were couples and trios. One large table was called and they walked away with the host. Several other couples walked in after us and sat down. We had a mental idea of when we'd be called.
This trio of an overly loud mother and her two high-water pants-wearing baby-faced 20something sons walked in. It was impossible to not hear this woman bellowing, so it wasn't like I was purposely eavesdropping (ok fine, I do it all the time, but she was so loud, I didn't have to try). It became apparent that the boys had came home for spring break from college, and mumsy in her icky Mom Jeans (name brand, though, of course) was going over some financial talks with them. Aww, mommy pays your tuition. How sweet. But she can't seem to be able to afford you pants that cover your entire leg.
*Warning, this is JUST for story-telling value, and should NOT be discussed therein after*
Anyway, we wait and wait and the obnoxious cow starts rambling with her sons (them listening attentively) about how this "situation" in Wisconsin has gotten completely out of hand, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE!!!!!!) is "FURIOUS!" (she used that word, honestly, over and over and over. It's my new word of the week, just to mock the dumb cow. Last week was "winning", thanks to Charlie Sheen, now I have a new one!). Then she started going on and on about how "Just you guys wait and see, we are going to recall that Walker bastard and all of those good for nothing Republican senators that have destroyed worker's rights in Wisconsin. People are FURIOUS. This is NOT going to be tolerated!"
What an appropriate place to start a political rampage. There's enough bullshit going on in this state right now that is tearing friends and families apart because of political differences. DO NOT RUIN EVERYONE'S FRIDAY NIGHT WITH YOUR FLAPPING GUM SYNDROME!
Anyway, then the annoying family gets called to be seated.
Wait. There is three of them. They walked in easily 10 minutes after us. I said something to bf, and he said "Well, I don't know, maybe they need a bigger table or something or asked for a special place to sit." So I figured ok, we'll give the benefit of the doubt here. Fine, they can go ahead. At least it gets the bitch and her rambling away for a second.
Then a couple who came in after us got called. Wait now. Now two groups of people who came in AFTER us got seated. I started to get a little pissed. But ok, we will give it one more chance, and if they call one more group that came in after us, we are saying something or leaving.
Then they call us. Ok, good.
So we sit. And it's easily 10 minutes before the server even shows up. Bf asks for a margarita (oh great, that'll take even longer, dummy!) and I order a soda. We already wanted to order an appetizer and figured it'd be best we ordered it before the food so we didn't have to wait too much longer, but the waitress disappeared before we could even say anything other than our drink order.
They had just cleaned the table before we arrived, so we had no napkins or silverware.
A food runner or a different server came up a few minutes later and said "Enjoy some of our house bread while you wait!", set it on the table, and walked away before we could ask for napkins or silverware.
Our drinks came a while later, and we asked for napkins and silverware before she could run off again.
She never brought them.
We asked a host bussing a table, and he brought them right and away and apologized. We said no problem.
We got our appetizers, and then seriously, not even 5 minutes later, our meals.
They gave my bf a SOUP SPOON to eat his pasta with.
He asked the waitress for a spoon when she checked back a few minutes later to check on us. She didn't even look concerned that he'd been given a SPOON to eat pasta with. I asked her for a refill on my soda.
She came back with a fork and another margarita for my bf. He didn't ask for one. Now, it'd be one thing if it was a soda, because those are generally free refills, but margaritas are NOT. Most places, they are $5-$8 each. Oh well, bf didn't care, he said he'd drink it, he loves margaritas. I asked a host if I could get a refill on my soda.
The server finally came back with the refill and acted snooty about it.
Then, when we were nearly done eating, bf asked for a box, which surprisingly, she actually brought right over in anticipation of the need. She left the bill.
And then never came back.
And this is a place where you pay the server at the table.
This happens quite frequently, but we normally blame it on management or corporate on telling servers to do that on purpose so they don't "rush" customers. But after everything that happened, we figured she was just being a dumbass and being careless.
We finally flagged her down as we were walking out and bf paid in cash.
Really, I think there was no excuse for almost all of the incidents in the story. There is busy, and there are mistakes, this was just being careless and unable to keep up, or not caring to keep up.
I hope we weren't overly sucky in the 10% tip, but wow......what a bad experience. The food was great, though, if that helps at all.
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