Wow, thats suprising at chilis, The one out near me s usually very quick with GREAT wait staff.

I have a freind who will put an empty glass 4 inches from the table edge, each time our waiter passes, it moves an inch closer. Never at chilis, but at other places, the glass has shattered on the floor...

AT chains like chilis, ablebee's olive garden, If im there more than 25-30 minutes I'm asking someone WTF is going on.

At nice steakhouses and places where you truely get 5-7 courses, a longer wait (hugo's in LV comes to mind) is expected.

One time, in college, Domino's screwed up my order for chicken kickers 2 pr 3 times. I complained on thier website, and the next day, the local manager stopped by with voucher for 30 or 40 of the kickers......

Lastly, If a waiter busts thier *** for me, have a sensde of humor, dont rush me, and NEVER LET MY GLASS EMPTY I'll leave a great tip (25%), if they're ok,, 15%, and if they suck, They're gonna know about it.

 

I grew up in a restaurant family, and have worked as a busboy and waiter. The stories I could tell...

I use a 30-minute rule when it comes to waiting: I will NOT wait more than 30 minutes for a table, and it should NEVER take more than 30 minutes to be served your meal. If it's going to take longer, your server should notify you after ordering WITH AN EXPLANATION ("we got swamped just before you came in, that party of 40 over there refuses to leave, the chef just dropped dead of a heart attack...").

Fortunately, there have been no horror stories posted by any of my FTE customers while they were here to pick up their vehicles. I guess I know how to pick restaurants...

 

I've given up on Hooters. They finally opened one in Spokane and after the first trip I realized why it took so long to open a franchise here. Kind of hard to staff Hooters when you've got none. Most of the girls there had no business wearing short shorts (yes, I'm shallow). A few months later we had some FTE guys coming to visit so we made another trip there. I order a pitcher of beer: $13! The eye candy there ain't worth a $13 beer. Then we're in the middle of a conversation when the waitress sits at our table and tries to join in. She's not taking orders, she's trying to include herself in our conversation which is really none of her business. So now I'm annoyed by the fact that I paid $13 for a beer and the waitress thinks she can stroke our egos for a big tip. When we finish eating she sets some pies on the table and tells us to enjoy our desert. I asked if anyone had ordered any desert . . . nope. So when she came back by I told her to take them with her. "You don't want any pie?" to which I so badly wanted to say "Not unless you want to be a plate" but I just sent her on her way. I'm not quite so desperate that I need to spend waaaaay too much money on beer and food so I can have someone sit at my table and flirt with me. So I'm not going to Hooters again. Unless of course someone else wants to pay in which case I couldn't turn it down.

In all fairness the service was fast. No, not like that either.

 

Well, first off, I don't go to franchise chains anymore, for all the reasons stated. Poor service, long lines, declining food quality, rising prices, ect..

But what I have to ask is, doesn't anyone have any locally owned restaurants near them anymore? I mean, I couldn't list on one page all the great places to eat around here, there's really no need to go to any of the franchise places. And I'd far rather my dollar be spent in a place where the owners and staff really appreciate my dollar. In my experience, you usually get better food, more of it, better prices, and far, far better service in a smaller, privately owned restaurant than any chain. There's just nothing any of them serve, that I can't get better quality down the road.
Even when it comes to fast food, if it's at all convenient, I try to go to one of the small, locally owned drive-in's rather than McShoeLeather, MistakeKing, ect. Now, there's no Sonics in the area, so my experience with them is limited, but I can't complain.

Matter of fact, the only chain place I will even willingly set foot in anymore is 99 Restaurant. At least the one locally, anyway, seems a little better than the rest, so if I must be dragged into one, I always aim for that.

Then again, I too grew up in truck stops, and remember what good service was, and how it was impossible to empty a cup of coffee or a glass of sweet tea (not that I can get that ANYWHERE in NY without someone putting Lemon in it...).

I'm with others, if at all possible, I'll eat my own cooking. At least I know how long it's gonna take, and the only goon spitting in it is me...

 

Yes, but most of them are EXPENSIVE. So, they get a visit from me once in a while.

The sole exception is a local bar/ restaurant that is unique. I've been going there for years, at least once a week, and once they recognize you, it's no longer a restaurant. The regulars are part of a great, big extended family, and the owners are as close to me as members of my own family. We've laughed and cried together over the years (watching them bury their daughter, who died of a brain tumor, was just heart-breaking), and they've never disappointed me with a mediocre meal. In fact I ate there last night, and I had: shrimp scampi over angel hair pasta (must have been 10 good-sized shrimp) with a side vegetable, cup of soup (best french onion I've EVER had), tossed salad, and dessert (there's always about 10 choices, I went with the Boston cream pie). Cost? $10.95 For the life of me, I don't know how they make any money. I mean, their bar business isn't THAT good, but maybe that doesn't matter. They sure have a good time serving everyone; maybe THAT'S why they do it.

So, if I may, if you're ever passing through the west side of Rochester, stop off in Churchville and pull into Stone's Countryside. Tell Ted and Lois (or Danny or Don or Barb or Val or, well the list goes on and on) that I sent ya, and you'll be treated like family!

 

I'll have to remember that the next time I'm in WNY.

What I was shooting for, I guess, was locally owned diners, smaller places, where the food is on par to the fried-from-frozen, right-off-the-Sysco(read Kraft)-truck fare of any of the chains, but with less "Are you sure you didn't cook the cardboard box by mistake?"

I mean, doesn't anyone else know of the "best place" in their area to get breakfast, or where to get the great burger&fries lunch special, or the $10.99 prime rib anymore?
I know it's not isolated to north-eastern NY, I've been all over the NE, and elsewhere, and always managed to find somewhere better to eat dinner than B.K...

I guess folks just go for convenience. They know that the chain places are open, they know their right next to WalMart, so it's quicker and easier...
But doesn't that dissapear when the lines start forming, and the food goes to pot?

 

Basically, no. I'm at the University of Maine, and it's a pretty big school in a pretty small town (Orono). I have yet to find a little coffeeshop type place, other than Dunkin' Donuts. There are a few good pizza places, though, it IS a college town.

Bangor (nearest big city, about 10 miles) is as franchised as you can get. You can hardly find an independent business anywhere, and I have yet to find a decent, family-owned restaurant.

 

Anyone tried Ruth's Chris Steak House? The absolute best steak I have ever eaten! Incredible food, and the service is top notch. They really treat you like royalty. Pricey, though (dropped $150 on dinner with the wife, and neither of us had alcohol), but well worth it for a special occassion. We're going again next week for our anniversary.


We eat at Lonestar Steakhouse quite often (3 or 4 times/ month) and have our favorite waitresses that treat us good. Did have one bad night there, when the food took an exceptionally long time, but the waitress kept apologizing to us and the manager gave us a break on the tab, so the question is, if you have a place you visit regularly, do you forgive the occassonal faux paux (sp?)?

 

no youre not, sex sells, you know it, I know it, hooters knows it

 

I think it must depend somewhat on the state/province & area that one lives in. When I lived in the west it was mostly chains & five-star kind of places. The cost of living and presumably of running a business in the west is SO HIGH that the local guys offering breakfast for $2.99 just can't make it. We had a similar discussion in another thread about house prices and taxes and I think the guys down the west coast can confirm this.

In the three months I've been back to small-town Ontario I've been to a dozen or more of the local places (as well as half-dozen or so major truck stops on the 20 mile stretch of freeway near me). Some of the towns here are too small to attract the big chains. Went to dinner on Sunday night to a mom'n'pop place that had been open for 40+ years and the 60 yr old daughter is now the cook and the middle-aged grandson waiting tables wearing a plaid shirt, mullet & goatee and looking like he should be a welder instead of a waiter. Food was great, service was spectacular.

Ruth's Chris is awesome as is Gibson's in downtown Chicago. Five star places would never make it if they didn't have the service because no-one pays $40 for an entree if the service isn't good.

And as a female myself, I agree with you guys about Hooters. The waitresses better look good in short shorts and we women are probably even harder on them than you guys are . Tried it once - food sucked, service sucked, girls were so-so.

 

The only problem with just leaving and not going back is that they don't know they were doing a bad job. I'd make sure somebody noticed me, and I'd rip them a new one. No necessarily creul, but I'd professionally say that they suck.

 

If that was me I would have got up and left telling them we are not longer hungry & it is almost bedtime ...*do this with a huge grin*.... so you can find someone else to eat it
Good Night !

 

Small, locally owned places? Sure, I could write a book, and close to home I don't go to the chains much (the exceptions being Sonic 'cause there just aren't any other drive in's nearby, and Pizza Hut or Mazzios, again because there are no "local" pizza places). Service varies quite a bit in some of those places, too, though. No doubt though, the best meals I've eaten (in restaraunts) come from local places, not chains.

I think a big part of what makes the chains so succesful is that no matter where you go, you can dine in a place where you're familiar with the food and the atmosphere. That's important sometimes, like for us and our 3 kids - ages 12, 6 and 6 (twins). Kids tend to be kind of picky eaters, and can be even more difficult to please when they're tired (as they often are when traveling), so it's nice to be able to go where you know there's something they'll eat... I think maybe some adults are alot the same way.

 

duc_grrl- "I think it must depend somewhat on the state/province & area that one lives in. When I lived in the west it was mostly chains & five-star kind of places. The cost of living and presumably of running a business in the west is SO HIGH that the local guys offering breakfast for $2.99 just can't make it. We had a similar discussion in another thread about house prices and taxes and I think the guys down the west coast can confirm this."

Amen. We're fortunate to have a few places locally- but they've all been owned for ages. You couldn't afford to start out fresh today on the West Coast.

ramblincowboy "I think a big part of what makes the chains so succesful is that no matter where you go, you can dine in a place where you're familiar with the food and the atmosphere. That's important sometimes, like for us and our 3 kids - ages 12, 6 and 6 (twins). Kids tend to be kind of picky eaters, and can be even more difficult to please when they're tired (as they often are when traveling), so it's nice to be able to go where you know there's something they'll eat... I think maybe some adults are alot the same way."

My wife calls me garbage-gut- I'll eat anything. Actually, I could enjoy eating my way around the US on a roadtrip. Wife and kids are not like that at all- when they're hungry and tired, they don't want a suprise on the dinner plate.