Weekly Restaurant Report
2-15-2006: We still have been taking it easy on the eating
out recently so not much new to report. I did want to mention that little bakery
that I wrote about in earlier posts (see the 8-11-2006 post). The bakery, Bread
Craft, is still there and operating in what seems to be a successful manner. I
am very happy to see this. They had a very complimentary article in the Roanoker
Magazine and their products must be getting out there more and more. I did
notice that their "Open" sign comes on much earlier than before so
maybe they are getting some more foot traffic going through there. I wish Bread
Craft the best of luck!
I wish there was more to report on as far as a restaurant review. I can say that
the local restaurant scene is very volatile with establishments opening and
closing all of the time. Chefs seem to just come and go around here as quickly,
which totally amazes me but then again, I guess nothing surprises me any more.
01-07-2007: Happy 2007 to each and every one of you in Chef-Land! 2006 ended on a very busy not with the prospect of much change to happen in the new year. We just have not eaten out very much the past few months so I wish there was more to report. We did eat at Abuelo's Mexican Food Embassy twice and I have great praise for the food and mixed feelings about the service. On our first visit, the waiter was awesome and took plenty of time explaining things and pointing out recommendations and favorites. He was great and we were very impressed with the food.
On the second visit, the waiter this time was not attentive, asking very little questions, and just not personable. He did give good and proper service but it was not what we were expecting or hoping for. So I give you this: The difference between a 15 percent tip and a 25 percent tip is living up to the expectation of the customer. You do the job and you do it will with little extras and you get the 15 percent. You do the job but go the extra step, yard, mile and you get the 25 percent. There are guarantees. It was nice to finally see some great service, at least one time.
11-04-2006: I think Roanoke is having a SERVICE EMERGENCY! When a person goes out to eat; there is a certain expectation for that restaurant. What do you expect when you eat a McDonalds? A Hello, may I help you? Thank you very much and have a nice day!" is about all and that is usually fine. If you go into a Four Star establishment, there is the expectation that certain things will take place like drink refills, food being delivered to your table, the waiter checking back on you, and so on as everything should be.
This morning, we decided to get an early start and do a little shopping but on the way, spot for a little breakfast at Golden Corral. Everything was going great in the restaurant until we went to sit down. A waiter was standing near our table and I said hello to him. We went and got out food and returned to the table and started eating with no approach from him or any other waiter. As other tables sat down, they were addressed immediately but not us. We both were in the mood for coffee but is hard to get when you can not get attention. After eating, we decided to go ahead and leave. We did not leave a tip, because there was NO SERVICE! On the way out, we did speak to the manager and told him what happened. He apologized and asked for our receipt. I said no, we are not here for a free meal but this was really bad. He said he would talk with the waiter.
For the record, we are very good tippers. I will tip as much as 50% if warranted. I more than often leave more than 20 %. At Golden Corral, I have left a $5 tip on a $19 meal and this is buffet style. You take care of me, I take care of you! Expectation from this restaurant: Say hello, refill our drinks, refill plates if needed, and that is really about it. We did not even get that today.
11-02-2006: It is a SHAME!! I really have not been compelled to write much here because we just do not go out to eat very much. We do hit a few of the same inexpensive restaurants from time to time and unless there is something exceptionally great or bad, it goes unmentioned. Also, we are not great fans of chain restaurants. They are all not bad but the cookie cutter, same old same old gets just old after a while. One of our favorites was TEXAS Steak House. It was a consistent and good restaurant and I really do not know what happened between a few weeks and tonight but that place is going down in flames!
First...I hate getting seated and sitting there for minutes and minutes, with servers and the manager walking by with out any acknowledgement at all. I get even more mad when other tables are seated and waited on while we are still sitting there. I also hate being told we are an after thought. "Oh, I am sorry, I saw yall just sitting there and figured I had better take care of you." At least there was a Sorry mentioned.
Besides BAD service the whole time, the food is different. Our steaks had not even a hint of seasoning. Here is the kicker...! I used to say that Texas had the best crab cakes in town. Full of crab with little filler, no red peppers (which every restaurant in town put into their crab cakes. Please stop that!), and a wonderful crab flavor. Tonight, and this is no joke... The crab cakes were basically Stove Top Stuffing. Yes, that is right. Some person some where came up with this brilliant idea to mix a scant amount of crab with a boxed stuffing mix. Oh goodness that was so bad. Terrible in fact.
We were going to complain to management but could never get her attention. The waitress would barely come and give us service, while trying to speak up and say something. Sorry Texas Steak House; we will not be traveling your way any time soon!
I usually try not to list the names of restaurants here. The reason was for marketing. The hope is that you as a restaurant person might read this and think to yourself, "Am I working at that place?" but I think that is going to stop. I am going to start naming names so watch out Roanoke!!
10-13-2006: We still have been taking it easy on eating out, not really going any where special. Last night, we did have a very bad experience. We met my wife's fellow employees at a restaurant for a good-bye party for one of the girls. There was a reservation mix up and a little confusion about how many people would actually be in the party. Everything was sorted out and we were finally seated. Some of the party arrived late so we were not making it easy on this restaurant for sure. But the service was terrible. I really mean horrible. The wife and I ended up leaving early because we just could not take the lack of service. The waiter was really bad; drinks were late. After being there for 1 and a half hours, she still had not taken our dinner orders yet. She kept walking by us with out a word. OK, the restaurant was busy, there did seem to be some confusion. No excuse for this experience. Needless to say we will not be going back there for a long time. The Bisque was pretty good, the only thing we ate there. Was this YOUR restaurant??
9-15-2006: We have not eaten out very much the past few weeks. Things have been very busy so there has not been much exciting to report. I did go to a fast food restaurant drive-thru last weekend and had a horrible experience. They were out of some items and they forgot to put a part of the order in the bag. So I went inside to get the order fixed. They were not busy but the manager was having a difficult time with an employee. As I got up to the counter, asked him how it was going and he said do not ask. I just left; was not worth giving him more bad news oven something valued at $1. Another bad thing about the visit. As I was sitting and waiting for my order, one of the cooks/employees was walking by the fry station and kept taking French fries out of already portioned servings and eating them. That is a pretty bad situation if you ask me. We do have a new favorite eatery here, Panera Bread Co. Is a nice little place to eat but they are always pretty busy so make plans for that.
8-19-2006: We ate at a new Chinese style restaurant tonight. Was pretty good actually. Good soup and good entrees. Service was a little timid but not bad over all. This place could do well even though it is small. Should place plenty of concentration on take out.
8-19-2006: Follow up to the bakery from below. I had one of my scouts go out there and check it out. They have been open for a few weeks and state that their main business is going to be selling to restaurants, little front door retail business. My scout reported back that they had a limited selection of breads and the place smelled, and not like bread. The scout did not even purchase a loaf because of the turn off from the smell. Too bad!
8-11-2006: This is less of a report on a restaurant than a business situation. A new business (bread bakery) has opened just down the street from where I live. They open their doors at 10:00am and close the doors at 5:00pm. I have a hard time understanding these hours for a retail business. My thought is that most people leave for their work between 8 and 9am. Most people leave work to come home at 5pm. Unless they are banking on doing bread service for restaurants, how will this bakery succeed? They have been open for a week. I give them 3 months open max before they close their doors. I stopped by there on my way home today and it would of been nice to pick up a fresh loaf. Their store front does not even look like it is ready for business. There is an Open sign but that tells me very little. I wish them luck! If I was running this business, I would stay open until 6:00pm with out a doubt, and count on making that one hour work in my favor. Have noticed that many retailers in Roanoke have these same hours.
8-9-2006: I returned to a seafood retailer this afternoon to get my money back from a pound of jumbo lump crab meat I had purchased the day before. The crab was rotten and rancid. Put a real damper on the cooking class the night before. I did get my money but not until he tried to give me another pound of crab. Not even an apology. Very sad state of affairs in the city of Roanoke.
7-31-2006: Tonight, we ate at a restaurant and had an over-cooked hamburger and ok service. Nothing to write home about. The hostess was not friendly at all, rude as a matter of fact.