Well then. Yesterday, as Lovey and I were enjoying our last day of a long weekend, we decided to go grab a little late lunch. We had heard from a couple different sources about a new place that had opened up near us. It's a sports bar which is ALWAYS good for me since you just can never have too many places to go see the Stillers.
I didn't take any photos of the inside, but I kind of wish that I had. The space really is beautiful. Some sort of dark wood for the tables and the bar with a HUGE screen TV surrounded by approximately twelve (I didn't count) smaller, but still large screen TVs.
Before I proceed any further, let it be known that I want this place to succeed. I want to see it jam packed during football season and every other sports season. I realize that they've been open now for maybe two weeks, but I've also been in the industry and held every position from dishpit to manager so I have a decent idea of the inner workings of a restaurant. With that said, let's talk about our visit.
Upon our arrival, we wandered in looking for menus to see if we were really going to stay. None were readily available, and hey, that's okay. After a few minutes of deer in the headlights, we were approached by who would ultimately be our waitress. We looked over the menu and decided to stay.
The hostess took the menus from us and led us out to a table after asking if we wanted to sit inside or out and gave us a nice recommendation about where it would be the least breezy. Once at our table, the hostess returned the menus and our waitress came over.
The waitress, we'll just call her E, asked if she could get us drinks. I asked what they had on tap and her response was that they didn't have anything on tap. Okay. Fair enough. I probably would have draft beer in a sports bar, but hey, I don't own it and I don't think that the restaurant that previously occupied the building had drafts either. So, how about bottles? E replied, "Uh, Bud, Bud Light. And I think Corona." Hmmm, you would think one would remember that if there were only three available, but maybe that's just the bartender in me talking.
Taking a pass on the beer selection, I instead asked for a Grey Goose Citron and Sprite. Lovey asked for a regular Grey Goose and Sprite. We also ordered calamari. After a few minutes, E returned with her tray laden with glasses. In front of each of us she sat down a large drinking glass full of Sprite and a rocks glass full of vodka. I suppose that I must have made a face because E immediately said, "Oh, should those have gone in the same glass? I'm not a drinker; I have no idea. I guess I should have asked."
Yes, E, you should have. You also should have specified which glass had the regular vodka and which had the citrus, but maybe your bartender didn't tell you. Either way, I have my vodka, so I don't complain.
We placed our order and E was off in a flash. She was back just as quickly. "I just wanted to let you know that since I messed up your drinks, there won't be a charge for the Sprite." Thanks. You know, since you only charge for the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol in a drink anyway.
The calamari came out and it was very fresh. I like a little more breading, but that's just me. It was hot and that's good enough for us.
We played mixologist at the table and E returned. This time with a joke. It starts out like this:
"Do you want the good news first or the bad news?"
Lovey offered up bad news.
E told us that she was just kidding and there was no bad news. BUT, since we were the ONLY PEOPLE ORDERING FOOD, that our food would be out really quickly.
Hey, I'm all about my food getting to the table fast. I love a kitchen that keeps their ticket times down. But E, this isn't information that you should really be doling out to the guests. A simple, your food will be right out is more than sufficient. I get it, you're new at waiting tables. I can't hate. I'm a terrible waitress. But give me a bar five deep and I'll rock your socks off. But I digress.
Here comes our food! Which, by the way, was quite tasty.
Lovey had the pork sliders. He said that they were very good. Sorry about the photo quality, but the lighting was silly outside that day.
I opted for the mini pepperoni pizza which was equally as good.
Neither of us could finish it all, so we asked to have it to go. Trying to be a little environmentally conscious, we asked to have it put all in one box.
E gave us our check which was not outrageous. The food was reasonably priced and the vodka was actually very well priced at $9 for top shelp on the rocks.
I gave her a nice tip because, hey, times are tough and she's new. She'll get better, more than likely.
I do have to say that I was rather disappointed to not have seen a manager in the entire time that we were there. My personal opinion is that the manager should be working the floor, ensuring quality service for the guests. Especially when the restaurant is new AND empty. A 30 second table visit really can do wonders for a dining experience, this I know for fact.
We may give it another shot if we want to go watch a game at some time. I am hoping that as a little time goes by, they'll be able to work out the kinks and draw a crowd and stay open.
Oh, and I hope that E will come to realize that, when you pack someone's pizza to go, it's just wrong to put it in the box in sandwich manner so I have to be concerned about all the good stuff being on one side of the crust or the other when I go to reheat it.
I'm not going to name the restaurant because I'm not interested in giving them bad press because "all press is good press" doesn't fly in the restaurant business. And I guess if you lived here you might be able to figure it out, but there are so many new places going up at any given time, even that would be tough.
Best of luck to you. Your website name cracks me up, by the way.
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