at what point do you walk outta the restaurant? [mod edit title] (1 Viewer)

soupcan dan

just the salad please
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walk outta the restaurant?

heard great things about this mexican joint in town-----homecooked goodness, meals made to order........

first thing we noticed was they had no liquor license, no beer, no wine, but hey--how long can my lovely wife's quesadilla take along with my chile rellano?

after ten minutes miss glenna surmised that its gotta be good because we normally get served within five at any other joint in town.

tick, tick.

man i need a beer.

tick, tick.

thirty minutes

"how's our order doing"?

"coming right out!"

tick , tick.

forty.

"manager please"

"chiles are roasting, be right out."

man i need a beer!

tick, tick.

fifty. "manager please"

"could i please have some idea when our food will be served."

" sure, be right back"

sixty.


we scooted, the chips and salsa were much appreciated, but hey---


went to another joint a mile down the road---told them our story and was served dinner before i had three swigs outta my dos equis.

half tempted to call them for a chile rellano carry out order after our fine quick dinner.
 
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dan..i wouldn't trust a place that brought out food in 5 minutes time..however..60 mins is way to long to wait unless the place is packed in like sardines in a small tin can. i would say the average is maybe 20-30 mins..gives you time to chat and drink a swill before supper comes to the table. maybe it's my old age setting in..but i like things slow these days..and calm. i hate rush in any form. when i sit down to eat..i want to feel comfortable..relaxed.
p.s.-if a mexican place didnt serve margarita's...i would have walked out the door before i was even seated.
 
If you're ever in the Binghamton area, there's a great place called Los Tapatio's. Shrimp Quesadillas, Chicken Chimichangas, Steak Burritos, anything you want. Maybe not in five minutes, but certainly inside of fifteen.

I go there often enough (and tip the kitchen staff as well as my server) that my food is always as hot and fresh (not to mention larger servings) than my dear old abuela would make me.
 
I can't remember ever eating a Mexican restaurant meal without washing it down with beer. That no liquor license would have been a deal breaker for me right off the bat.
 
an hour is ridiculous.

That said. Horchata, my friends. Horchata.
 
please....those guys are amateurs at bad service...

The wife and I went out to eat last week. I ordered one of their appetizer combos for my meal, and she ordered the soup and salad. My combo comes out, and the runner looks at my wife and says "what did you have?" She says "soup and salad." The runner says, "ok, let me go get it."

A few minutes later, our waitress passes by, and we ask about her soup and salad. her response is "When the entrees are ready, the runners bring them out. It's not like I didn't bring it to you."

A few minutes later, my wife goes to the hostess stand, and asks for a manager. The hostess asks what's wrong, and my wife tells her. She says she'll get the manager. A few seconds later, the waitress passes the hostess. The hostess stops the waitress and tells her that we haven't gotten our soup and salad yet. She says, "I'll go check on it." Then, she walks to the next table over, and tells them about the specials, and takes their drink order. She doesn't say a word to us.

The manager comes over, and we explain the situation. The manager says, "I'll take care of it." She goes to the back and returns iwth my wife's soup.

A few minutes later, the waitress comes with my wife's salad, looks down at her soup and says, "Oh..she already brought it?" NOTE: There is no salad or salad plate on the table. My wife simply says, "Yeah, I already ate it."

We got the bill. The manager had taken the soup and salad off. But, neither the manager nor the waitress ever apologized for the problem. So, I gave the manager my debit card, and when she returend, I simply wrote "are you kidding??" In the spot for tip.
 
What place was this? They need to re-open Pachos(raise the flag restaurant ).
 
My restaurant mgr rant

Just my 2 cents, but how a decent manager not aware of an hour ticket time in his/her restaurant that is not very busy. All the great managers (we in N.O. are blessed with many) I worked with, always obsessed over ticket times. Perhaps the server was "weak" , but that is beside the point, it is up to the manager to save that table/guest. Because, any ole fool can stand around watch the front of the house/kitchen go down in flames, and say my staff sucks.

The city of New Orleans has the deepest restaurant talent pool of any city per capita in the country. Hospitality is a "Craft" in this city. Sadly, you do not find that everywhere. Don't make the guest suffer. The guest did their part.....they alerted the waitstaff/mgr of the food wait. This was the last opportunity for the restaurant to save that guest, and they failed. This is the troubling story of how restaurants go out of business.
 
forty.

"manager please"

"chiles are roasting, be right out."

.

Right here. Slap a ten, or whatever you think what you've gotten thus far is worth, and walk out.

Honestly, no liquor license would have ended the trip immediately for me, but if you're going to stay, 30 minutes for food at a Mexican restaraunt is overly long, but not outrageous if they're busy and paying attention to you. But you were right to be antsy past that mark, and if a manager isn't going to come over and scrap and bow because of the delay, you're just throwing good time after bad by continuing to wait. You wouldn't have a pleasant experience even once you did get your food because you'd be stewing still about the wait.
 
One hour is all I can take before I walk out. I've done it twice. Once at Boutin's on Bluebonnet in Baton Rouge. And right after the Fat Hen moved from Citrus to Dickory in Harahan.

I've walked out after 5-10 minutes multiple times because no one even takes my drink order. I cut bait on restaurants quick because in my experience, things go downhill, not up. And once you start getting ****** about the experience it'll ruin your meal and you're just wasting money at that point.
 

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