Are you picking a restaurant or doing your taxes?

[Getoutofmylobby]

My wife is a bit indecisive so i've trained myself to be polite and patient when it comes to people that take alot of time to decide on things. The world is full of idiots though that find some way to try that patience.

I had a customer, an older guy who kind of looked like Willie Nelson, except with more money and a stuck-up demeanor, walk up to the desk and ask me if there were any good places to eat in this town. It's St Louis, there are millions of them and i'm on the phone so i give the guy the city dining guide so he can look for himself. He reached over the desk (something else I hate) to grab a pen and after i'm done making a reservation, proceeds to interrogate me about damn near every restaurant in the book.

SC: "This Al Hrabosky's, is it any good?"
Me: "I wouldn't know, i've never been there." (The customer puts a ? next to Hrabosky's)
SC: "Do you know what kind of food they serve?"
Me: 'Well, looks like the book says its a sports bar."
SC: "Indeed... How about this 400 Olive place?"
Me: "Never been there either... I don't eat out much, they don't pay us well here." (He ignores the joke AND the subtle hint that i want him to go away and figure this out on his own.)
SC: "Do you know of any good fusion restaurants downtown?"
Me: "No."
SC: "How about the Boathouse, says its near Forest Park, is that a good place?
Me: "I'd just be guessing, it looks alright to me."

It goes on like this for honestly about 15 minutes with him making little notes in the book. And my answers get shorter and more vague and he still doesn't get the hint. All I want to do is get back to YouTube where i'm watching "Will it Blend?" clips. And he just keeps asking. Finally, i make a grave mistake...

SC: "Ever been to this Pujols 5?"
Me: "Uh yeah, once. Its a great place, especially if there's a Cardinals game on."
SC: "A breakthrough! Can you remember any good chicken-based dishes?"
Me: "No, i just remember the beer."
SC: "Did it have a good atmosphere?"
Me: "Yeah I suppose."
SC: "Well are there any other restaurants you can suggest?"

I go through my usual spiel and plug the usual restaurants and, in frustration, add "And i know of a fantastic White Castle just up the block."

Wrong thing to say. How dare I suggest a fast food dive to him! I get a sneer and he walks back to his room.

Well, maybe it was the right thing to say.

[Racket_Man]

I grew up on the south side of St. Louis in the Carondelet Park area and I did not know all of the little out of the way places like Cursoes a block from Cleveland High let alone some of the bigger name places on the Landing or or downtown or (a bit after I left ) Union Station or the Central West End. I ate at a few becaseu my aunt (rest her soul) took me out to eat occasionally. Just because I live in a city down not mean I know EVERY place, its menu, the service, kind of food and specific item ingredients

[earl colby pottinger]

I never ask

I go and look for myself when in a new city or even locally when it is an area I have not been in before. That means I have eaten at some real dumps, but at the same time I find great places that no-one has heard of because it is not where the in-crowd goes or talks about.

I really prize the small family ran eatery that serves great food, while being in a low rent district so they don't have to charge an arm and a leg to stay in business and rarely is packed with stylist people.

The best ones don't have menus in English as the large type, and even when I read the English sub-type I don't know half the items or more. Not understanding a word being said around me is a bonus!

[fma_fanatic]

Why didn't you send him down to Blueberry Hill? At least he'd get to deal with the Loop traffic and be out of your hair.

Or..down to Chesterfield Valley. At least then he'd be on the other side of the city and county and harass someone else. But I do feel for you. I get questioned all the time by out of town visitors about where's good to eat. I just send them down to the Valley so they can figure out if they want Lions Choice or some fancy place.

[Sliceanddice]

why didn't you just tell him the fast food place first

[siead_lietrathua]

this is what i love about small towns. there is only 3 or 4 resteraunts asidef from fast food. (and a great thai place! omnom) so it sin't too hard to direct the out-of-towners to their sustinance. (though i still get the people who would rather eat mc donalds than a decent fry-truck burger)

[Boozy]

Wherever he ended up going, he made some waiter's life absolute hell.

"What do you suggest for wine? Any good cabernets? Merlots? I'll need a map of the wine regions of the world, please."

"Should I order medium rare or just rare? Can I borrow that pen? I should really work this one out on paper."

"Could you please go over the merits of paying with credit card versus paying with cash?"

...and so on.

[Kilamon]

Did he give the pen back? That's theft if he didn't!

[Kiwi]

I learnt something when I worked at the craft store, I would be honest about if something would work or not. I would try to inform my customer on the limitations of the products they were buying... you cant dye polyester with this dye, if you use this glue on this item it will melt....

my coworker Karen hated her job with more passion than I have ever seen, they always screwed up her pay (and im talking week after week), she was still in highschool and this was a very part time thing for her, anyway. Karen would flat out lie to the customers, when asked will this work she always said yes, no matter what, even if she KNEW it wouldnt she would lie the them anyway.

And the saddest part about that, the customers didnt want to hear my honest opinon, they didnt want me to provide them with a better and most often cheaper choice or that what they wanted just didnt exsist in our store. They would hear my answer (one they didnt like) and ask her and she would roll her eyes and say "yes it will work" and then after they had left the store she would ask me why I even bothered. Customers didnt want to hear the truth, they wanted to hear what they wanted to hear, reality didnt figure into that equation.

By the end of my time there, I lied to customers... will this work, yes it will work. My life became a whole lot easyier. Is it a good moral thing to do, nope of course not, will it make your life easyier, yes it will. Next time someone wants you to recommend a resturant, just flip open the book and praise it to the sky! They dont want you to be honest, they just want to be told what they want to hear.

[Hobgoblin]

The Loop is always a good place to tell people to go. I'd talk up Soulard next time. There are some fantastic places there (especially Frazier's Traveling Brown Bag--right accross 55 from the brewery). Speaking of breweries, Schlafly's Taproom is a good choice as well.

And the guest was an ass. If he's gonna ignore your hints and all, send him to Sauget or Alton. You know, someplace far away. Or one that could be offensive to him, like the Hustler Club.

[ArenaBoy]

I go and look for myself when in a new city or even locally when it is an area I have not been in before. That means I have eaten at some real dumps, but at the same time I find great places that no-one has heard of because it is not where the in-crowd goes or talks about.

The best ones don't have menus in English as the large type, and even when I read the English sub-type I don't know half the items or more. Not understanding a word being said around me is a bonus!

I also ask friends where to go if they've been to a place before and what they have to say. I tend to do the same things you mentioned also and yes, not being able to understand a word being said around you is a bonus.

[Rabegwynn]

Why didn't you send him down to Blueberry Hill? At least he'd get to deal with the Loop traffic and be out of your hair.

Or..down to Chesterfield Valley. At least then he'd be on the other side of the city and county and harass someone else. But I do feel for you. I get questioned all the time by out of town visitors about where's good to eat. I just send them down to the Valley so they can figure out if they want Lions Choice or some fancy place.

I love those parts of St. Louis! I didn't realize there were St. Louis people here. Up until last year, I lived within an hour and a half from St. Louis on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. During high school and college, St. Louis was like my home away from home. Now I'm stuck in California, albeit in an overpaid government job that's 4 hours away from the beach.

[Andara Bledin]

I like being "stuck" in California. So, which part of my fair state are you stuck in?

^-.-^

[bigjimaz]

Part of the fun for me is discovering places on my own in cities I visit. I can't remember ever asking locals about local food. I look for someplace clean that has a lot of cars in their parking lot. I prefer "mom and pop" restaurants as opposed to chain restaurants. I like restaurants that have a cook as opposed a chef. I've only been disappointed a couple times.

[Rabegwynn]

I like being "stuck" in California. So, which part of my fair state are you stuck in?

^-.-^

Central Valley California....not too far away from the Sierra Nevadas. On a good, smogless day, one can see them outside my windows pretty upclose. At the very least, the foothills are usually visible. I don't like smog.