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Two questions for the ages - or other diners:
Dee Dee Flavin writes:
“I often read of folks complaining about waiting for as much as an hour to be seated at a restaurant on a slow night/complaining of waiting an hour for food to be served or being ignored by staff. I just have to ask, with all the terrific restaurants in Houston, why are people tolerating such poor service?”
Carolyn Stone writes:
“I love reading Whine + Dine and look forward to it weekly. I routinely learn about some undiscovered gems in the Houston area. While I don’t have a whine about a restaurant, I do (have a complaint) about the “whiners,” specifically the writer featured (Nov. 29) regarding Cafe Caspian.
“While I know absolutely nothing about this restaurant, it baffles me that a patron who claims this is ‘one of his family’s favorite neighborhood restaurants,’ where they have dined many times, held family events there and get food for takeout, will no longer patronize the restaurant due to one bad experience.
“This seems to be a theme with many ‘whiners.’ Instead of playing a ‘passive aggressive game’ and complaining about an issue indirectly, it makes more sense to approach the management of the establishment. This allows the complaint to be used as a training tool and further allows the bad situation to be remedied, thus allowing the patron to continue dining at his ‘favorite restaurant.’ Even the Chronicle food critic bases her overall review on multiple visits and not one experience. By all means, if you have a favorite restaurant or enjoyed some great meals and service, don’t just slam them based on one bad experience.”
Like humans, every restaurant will have off-nights when the ambiance, service, food, or all royally suck. If you're a repeat customer for any period of time, you know to expect this. A brief word or two to the management about your specific concerns should let them know you're not happy. A concern expressed from a regular patron should be more than enough for them to address the problem. The management at some restaurants, however, don't seem concerned in the least about a customer's complaints. After speaking to a manager/owner about a regular food item (BBQ beef brisket) disappearing off their Thursday menu or being sold out by only 1-2 PM, the manager at Steak Kountry on the Katy Freeway, for example, has told me, "If you don't like the food or the service, then you don't have to come back." Not all experiences are like this. I guess this guy must have trained in New York City and I must be a masochist at heart, but attitudes like his positively frighten me.
Had he been trained in New York, he would not have said that.
"...I must be a masochist at heart..."
Perhaps. Now get back to scarfing down your gristle-filled Steak Kountry "ribeye". You'll eat it all and like it.
I assume that's a clever joke about masochism. Good one!
I suggest you only dine at places that you are very confident that your expectations won't be challenged. Eventually each one of these will betray you also. The only place left will be your home, where when you are disappointed again, the proprietor could care less.
KurtVR, if you think poor service or an unconcerned manager are a product of New York City, then it's quite obvious that you've never dined there.
"After speaking to a manager/owner about a regular food item (BBQ beef brisket) disappearing off their Thursday menu or being sold out by only 1-2 PM, the manager at Steak Kountry on the Katy Freeway"
Steak Kountry, really, I mean honestly?????
I can't wait to hear your next complaint, who is it going to be, Pancho's Mexican Buffet???
Thumbs-up plus 1,000 on the above! Very well put.
TM - I don't understand why any establishment that people frequent and pay good money to should be exempt from customer dissatisfaction including Steak Kountry. I recently had an experience at Don Carlos. I have always loved that place. I had some crispy beef tacos that didn't taste right and I contacted management on their web site. I haven't heard a word from them. That makes me not want to go back there, not the off tasting taco. Some people at work told me that they had lunch at Don Carlos today. I mentioned that my tacos tasted "funny" recently and they told me that their beans tasted bad today. I'm not the only one that has noticed.
Sounds like the temperature is off on their pre-cooked foods. You may want to call the health department, especially if you felt sick afterwards. The only time foods taste "funny" is if they are stored at the wrong temp.
Why would you wait to contact the management on their web site? Was this a take-out order? The management should have been contacted immediately either in person or by telephone.
FYI Steak Kountry USED to have a "chalk" board out front advertising their daily food specials. Thursday was the day for BBQ beef brisket. Like many, I am a creature of habit, but after several times of going to the restaurant on Thursdays at 1 PM, 1:30 or 2:30PM, you notice there's no more BBQ brisket. When you ask "Where's the [BBQ brisket] beef?," you're told "We ran out." It's a buffet, please, how can you run out, but soon you get the message it's obviously a higher end item (I'm also selective and ignore the gristly excuses for steak) and these guys are cutting corners on costs. One day I show up on Thursday at 11AM, right as the restaurant opens. No brisket! Why? Surely you can't be sold out already, you've only been open for fifteen minutes! No, no brisket today. Yesterday, I am informed, was the 4th of July, so we decided to serve the brisket on the 4th instead of today. Did management ever think they could serve the brisket on both the 4th of July AND Thursday? No such deep decision-making here. Soon thereafter you notice the daily special "chalk" board is no longer displayed and soon too you notice "BBQ" pork shoulder with an oily sauce which only faintly tastes like BBQ sauce has been substituted for the beef brisket. For around $10, you get exactly what you pay for at Steak Kountry. Their chicken fried steaks are so-so, at best, and fried fish is embarassingly bad. If you're a fan of limp french fries, this is your place! For me it's a place to (selectively) eat, then take in a movie at a nearby cinema. Steak Kountry is never going to go high end. For what it is, it rates a solid "C+."
PS. When I first moved to Houston in the mid 70's, I did try Pancho's. As a gringo from the upper South, their food was ok, but I had no real frame of reference. Eventually I came to call it "Pancho's Plastic Mexican Food." I honestly love (and miss)Ft. Worth based Pamex Foods'(the then-owner of Pancho's) other restaurant chain, Spanish Galleon. It was a nice, moderately priced place to eat.
I've eaten at Steak Kountry 4 times, and each time the service was worse than the last time, and the food went from mediocre to awful. Needless to say, if a server had told me "if you're unhappy with (FILL IN THE BLANK)", I and my wife would never have even sat down.
I WISH that I could FIND a Pancho's. While the food wasn't the equal of Hugo's, say, it was always fresh and tasty for the most part.
I will never understand customers raising their Blood Pressure or getting so upset that they ruin dinner for their families or even others within earshot of their complaining and losing sleep over such trivial things...No BBQ? Eat something else or go else where for the BBQ? Unless an employee or manager gets in your face or calls you name's (and if they did you probably deserved it) really what's so unusual for an off day for an establishment or gasp.... a human being! And if your food regularly taste "funny" at a place you frequent and frequently complain about everything...Well, you know.
happy, one can only wonder about how bad Houston restaurants would be if all of their customers had the same servile attitude you have.
Agreed - that's why the restaurant biz is called a "service" industry. You are serving the public, and they are free to vote with their dollars if they wish to patronize you again.
Some people forget that little piece of advice, on both sides of the counter.
Sure, one should take their business elsewhere but it never hurts to at least voice your complaint, its the least one can do and it lets them know they are losing business. I will do this if the food is good but I have a problem with the service. Sometimes they don't care, sometimes they are rude, and then there are times when they apologize and take action. I also find that when I try a place and find it has sub par food and/or service, they are almost always closed after a few months anyway. Certainly there are so many great places in Houston to eat, there is simply no need to settle...and O-M-G!!! A person likes Steak Kountry? (never heard of it but the name says it all)...You can imagine my eyes rolling behind my hipster douche bag glasses...
I think people who share their experience good and bad online is very helpful. Saves me time and money.
Texmex01 and the central etc-- why be so snarky? not everyone can afford Tony's or even wants it. In this economy anyone who can afford to go out at all is lucky. Shame on you for being so sarcastic.
I agree. Everyone deserves a good meal and good service, no matter what the price point of the restaurant. There's no need to insult commenters for their dining choices.
Agreed.
If I go to a low end place I expect the service to be on par with the meal, its just a reality in today's market....
and BTW, sarcasm is way to be nice when you are thinking not so nice things.....
"Sarcasm is way to be nice when you are thinking not so nice things."
I simply LOVE that one, Texmex01! You hit it right out of Minute Maid Park. Mind if I steal it?
all yours!
"hitting it out of Minute Maid Park" - not a high benchmark these days...
No, it's a really obvious way to be rude. And your expectations have nothing to do with common decency, cleanliness, etc. You think people who can't pay more should be treated badly. You may follow some long way around to it, but it's the conclusion you reach. It's a bad one.
You could not be any more off base, if I find myself at a McDonalds, I don't let my day get ruined if the kid behind the counter is rude, If I am sitting at the bar at a Chili's at the airport waiting for a flight, I don't let it spoil my trip if the bartender is having a bad shift and it affects his service, I just roll with it because of where I am, so my "sarcasm" is spot on, so move along Sihaya, move along....
ZING!!! Texmex01, I should buy you a drink for that one.
Sarcasm isn't rolling, it's stopping to say something in order to convey how disgusted you are in an unreasonable manner. You shut down all argument by presenting your emotion in a facetious manner rather than reasonably presenting the facts, so you can tell yourself that you've 'won.' It's just rude.
Sarcasm is rolling, stopping and making a point of it is whining, b*tching,moaning or whatever the term of the day is...
As for winning, that just a bonus....
I love reading the food nazi's snide remarks. Everyone is supposed to like the same food and if you don't you are EVIL. But seriously if management is not interested in politely stated grievances do not return as they are not going to last. Houston is a great food city and highly underrated. The choices are enormous and there are so many gems just waiting to be tried why get freaked out over a few duds. Move on to the next one and give them a try.
Well put, BeBe. And if there's a place you know and love, TELL them. Express to your waiter, hostess, bartender, maitre'd et al that you really like the place and you look forward to dining there. Trust me, it makes all the difference in the world. They'll bend over backwards for you.
It always seems as though we like to criticize the negative aspects of dining in Houston, but it's rare that we accentuate the positive.
Opinions are like bellybuttons...everybody has one and most of them stink.
Y'all should remember that personal tastes and point-of-view varies...because they are SUBJECTIVE OPINIONS.
I am surprised, and disappointed, at the mean spirited degradations y'all throw out merely because someone doesn't think the same way you do!
How long does it take to see my comment posted?
avoid whataburger 610/Main if you do not care for a cold bun and onion rings. This is the worst of the three in our area that we frequent.
Honey, this thread is about poor SERVICE, not your fast-food whine. OK?
And for the record, I don't go anywhere near 610 and South Main unless I'm headed to a Texans game. I especially avoid the eateries there.
Tequila Mockingbird...
I don't think the poster went behind the counter and made their own order, so cold food of any type would essentially involve poor service from an establishment. You can get poor service at fast food restaurants also, believe it or not.
Pretentious
If your waitstaff gave you bad service, don't tip them. This is how I treat "bad service" after being waitstaff for almost 10 years. They have to earn it. Tips are not mandatory.
I have paid 50% tips for wonderful service and I also have paid $0 tips for terrible service.
Complaints don't work sometimes or some waitstaffs don't even care at all. Nothing is going to be as hurt as you received $2 tips on $150 tab.
Well put!!! No Entitlement....Obama doesn't live here.
Carolyn Stone,
If you'll read the comments section on Syd's excellent article about oysters you'll see that just because you engage restaurant management while you are at the restaurant doesn't mean you'll get an appropriate response. If I have a concern I do normally engage with my wait person or management and the vast majority of the time the issues were addressed appropriately.
But there have been a couple of times where the overall service and experience has been so poor and that I instinctively knew trying to engage anyone at that point in time would bring little to no resolution. When a manager is going a little bit crazy due to a full restaurant and missing employees, he or she really isn't going to take the necessary time to deal with one ticked off customer when he has a restaurant full of them.
And going to a restaurant can be like a friendship. As long as your not too demanding and your friend is getting what they want out of the relationship, your relationship seems to be great. But as soon as there is a problem you can see the inviduals true personality and how little they really care about you. So if I had been frequenting any establishment and was overall happy with the service, but the first time I complain they tell me to take a flying leap, you can bet I won't be back.
I usually blame the waitstaff. The food might be ready to be taken from the window but my server is no where to be seen! The cooks do a great job but the server fails a lot of the time. Servers can make a big difference on a good or bad experience.
One of the problems with service in Houston, and many other American cities, is that the staff is not professional. Unless you go to an upscale resteraunt Most affordable resteraunts in Houston employ young folks who have no intention of making their current job a career. When I lived in Montreal almost any resteraunt we went to had experienced, professional staff. Makes a big difference in the whole eating out thing when the chefs, waitpersons and reception are in it for a career.
I had several bad service experiences at Kata Robata (typically involving being ignored by the waitstaff, but also by the sushi chef). The first couple of times, I just didn't tip the waitresses, but after getting it from the sushi chef, I stopped going altogether. It's a shame, because that restaurant consistently gets great reviews, but given what they charge, it was unacceptable to me.
Seems like you developed a "rep".
People put up with poor service because it's so common. It's rare to have good service.