Moe's is Back

I remember Moe's.

When I first visited Moe's over 6 years ago my mind was blown. The cheerful employees, the unlimited number of options, the atmosphere was rich, alternative and hip. Moe's was cool.

As all of you know, things changed, food quality seemed to be a bit below par, the employees started grunting, "Welcome to Moe's" instead of joyfully shouting it and then the real kicker - a Chipotle opened across the street.

You all know this story.

My primary issues with Moe's have been and always will be: food isn't that fresh, not an extremely flavorful taste profile, and my biggest problem is that it costs the same or more than Chipotle (depending on what you order...throw the "must have" queso in and you're over $10). That would be like if a Kia cost the same as a Lexus. It's just not right.

Moe's Monday is famous - and a sweet deal. Burrito, Chips, Drink all for $5.55. While this makes Moe's a whole lot more affordable, it's still not enticing enough. The offer is only valid for dinner and on a Monday (not a night people typically eat out, unless you are enjoying the glorious college life in which you eat out every meal because you don't have a kitchen and if you have a kitchen you don't feel like "cooking").

For this reason late last week when I discovered that Moe's was offering a Joey Jr. Bundle for $4.99 my interest was definitely peaked. It almost seemed to good to be true. A little smaller burrito, chips and a drink for $5 available for lunch and dinner every single day.

I know what you're thinking as I thought the exact same thing: how small is this stupid burrito? Is it small enough for a child, but not big enough for a man? I was worried as I assumed that Moe's was trying to scam me, so I did a little investigative work before I went and tried it. Yes, although I looked like a freak I walked into our local Moe's last week and asked them how big the Joey Jr. burrito was, the employee held up the tortilla, said "8 inches" and then I walked out again.

As part of the $5 Showdown I decided to give it a try.

During lunch Moe's was very busy. I don't know if it was because there were so many people in line or because they were all jacked up on caffeine, but whatever the reason, the employees seemed thrilled - shouting Welcome to Moe's! to every person in line.

Much like me every other customer there seemed just as curious about the Joey Jr. In fact I over heard two people in front of me order it and the three people behind me get it as well.

I ordered: Rice, Chicken, Salsa, Jalapenos, Cheese, Extra Cheese, Extra Cheese again and lettuce.

Then I got asked the question......"do you want queso?" Grrr. That damn queso is so good. A "side" is 79cents. Usually I would say, no as I was likely to rack up a $10 check, but I did the math and this time I said, yes. After all, my meal was only $4.99 and included a drink.

Total cost? Just over $6 with tax. Again, let me remind you: burrito, chips, drink and queso. This amount of food at Moe's for this price is unheard of.

Many of you loyal Moe's fans might think this is a scam as one reader has written in telling me that Moe's has taken away the option for the kids meal since the Joey Jr. has been put in place. Essentially this is kind of the kids meal with no cookie and a bigger drink so I understand your anger.

Still skeptical as I haven't tried a Moe's burrito in a very long time, I sat down and opened the bad boy up.....after dunking it in queso and a few bites I was pleasantly surprised...actually I was thrilled. No it's not Chipotle. It never will be. They are not in the same category, that would be like saying Wal-Mart is the same as Target. But, it was good, really good for about $5.

The portion was well sized, filling enough but not too overwhelming so you felt like rolling out of the restaurant. Taste was good - I think adding the jalapenos helped and next time I'm just going to have them dump the queso right on the burrito.

As I sat there eating, listening to the music, the shouts of "Welcome to Moe's" in the background and thinking about how satisfied I was with my purchase, I remembered something.

I remembered the Moe's that once was.....and think they're back.

Quizno's Shouldn't be in Business

This just in: toasted subs aren't cool anymore.

Toasted subs don't make you original, unique or different than anyone else. Customers aren't surprised and delighted by toasted subs anymore.....it's expected.

So Quizno's.....how the heck are you still in business? As far as I can tell you don't really offer anything special at all aside from the fact that your subs are toasted. Wow. Toasted Subs........a revolutionary concept (10 years ago).

As part of the $5 Showdown I went to Quizno's today to get a taste of their new Value Menu that offers 20 subs for under $5. Sounds like a good deal right?

Eh, not really.

They do have a variety of subs true, but all of the ones that are under $5 really aren't any good. The only ones that even sparked my interest was the meatball marinara and the 5 Meat Stack - which is the sandwich I ended up ordering. Sure it's affordable, $5 or cheaper for any meal is pretty reasonable but somehow with Quizno's it just doesn't seem worth it. To keep things simple, below is a list of reasons why Quizno's shouldn't be in business:

- The restaurant is dirty. Napkins and crumbs were scattered all over the floor, 90% of the tables weren't cleaned.
-Two words, "Angry Staff" which don't even begin to describe the attitude of the employees. Not since Red Lobster have I witnessed such pissed of workers. They made building a sub seem like a task out of hell.
-Options? Don't exist. Don't dare try and change a single thing from the menu description of the item....you will receive dirty looks from everyone. The lady behind me wanted to substitute ham for more roast beef....she finally got her way after arguing with two employees that it was "fair" for her to do it. The guy in front of me wanted more than just one kind of mustard....not allowed, honey mustard is the only kind that comes on his sandwich.
- There is nothing significant that they offer. Every sandwich shop on earth toasts their subs and they do it with bigger portions, similar prices and pleasant employees.
-It takes forever. The toaster in the middle of the line makes absolutely no sense. The employees on the other end of the toaster get backed up and the result is irritated customers who have been waiting in line for 10 minutes......for a sandwich.
- Pissed and Unknowledgeable....the employee at the cash register didn't know how much or what my sandwich was and when I asked him how much a medium drink was he didn't know (and it wasn't posted anywhere in store).
-No sweetener...this is personal preference however, I just have one simple request: if you're going to offer fresh brewed iced tea in your restaurant, make sure you have lemon and some form of sweetener. When I asked for a Sweet and Low the manager told me they were out! How can you be out of Sweet and Low!?!

Here's the summary: dirty restaurant, angry and unmotivated employees, poor ability to be flexible, and no unique or special feature about the restaurant. I've done the math and it doesn't add up: how and WHY are these people still in business?

The most mind blowing part? The line was out the door!

Maybe it's just me, but I have been to Quizno's three times in the past few years and every time was awful. Sure, I got a sandwich for $4.50 but who cares when the whole experience was as irritating and dirty as mine was.

So somebody.....anybody! Tell me - why do people go to Quizno's?!

Chipotle Speaks

[Although we are in the middle of the $5 Showdown, I felt this particular post was too important to wait on, therefore the $5 Showdown resumes tomorrow.]

In a post a few weeks ago I wrote about Chipotle's rising prices and shrinking portions. We saw a fairly interesting response from a variety of people and one commenter in particular prompted a follow up post entitled, Value in the Mind of the Consumer.

In addition to writing here, I also frequently contribute to Creative Loafing (an online newspaper and blog here in Tampa). I submitted the same article, Chipotle's Rising Prices, Shrinking Portions to Creative Loafing today, and it received a very interesting comment from Joe Stupp from Chipotle.

Below is the text of his response:

"Dholm,

Hello there! It sounds like you have been a fan of our restaurants in the past, and we are glad for that. I’m sorry this hasn’t continued into the present. I work for Chipotle, so I hope you don’t mind a brief rejoinder.

It’s true that we did recently raise prices in many of our restaurants across the country, and we apologize for the sticker shock you are experiencing of late. Unfortunately, with the climbing costs of food, and also the overall uncertainties of long-term cost projections for food and transportation, many restaurants must raise prices these days - I am sure you have noticed this at your local grocery store too. We held off for as long as we could, but we could not wait any longer.

It's certainly not fun for us to know that we needed to raise prices, and we definitely understand that our customers don't like such things either. But unfortunately if we had kept our prices the same as they were, then we would eventually need to stop serving the high quality foods we serve now. We don't want to reverse those standards, not ever. "Food With Integrity," as we call it, has us looking at every ingredient we use and how we can get foods from more sustainable sources that raise animals and grow produce in ways that respect the environment, the animals, and the people who raise and grow the food. It's really a new perspective on eating.

Already, we serve more naturally raised meat (meat coming from animals that are raised in a humane way, never given antibiotics or added hormones, and fed a pure vegetarian diet) than any other restaurant in the world. All of our cheese and sour cream is made with milk from cows that are not treated with the synthetic hormone rBGH (used to stimulate milk production in dairy cattle). And an increasing percentage of the beans we use are organically grown (increasing as additional supply becomes available). And we keep pushing ourselves to learn more about all of the ingredients we use and how we can improve them. It's one of the ways we're changing the way the world thinks about and eats fast food.

As for our portions, we definitely have not decreased them. They’re still the same, and we aim to keep it that way. While it’s true that occasional employees and restaurants of ours can make temporary mistakes, this is not something we have decided to do on purpose or anything insidious like that. We would be happy to discuss your concerns with our team at whichever restaurant you normally frequent, since again, there should have been no decreases in portions. Can you tell me please which of our restaurants this would be (I’m assuming it’s somewhere in the Tampa area)? We’ll get this fixed. And while it’s true that “double meat” will alas cost extra, a normal portion of meat should never cost extra, and you should be able to get as much cheese as you want without trouble.

I hope these things make sense, and we also hope you’ll give us another shot.

Sincerely,

Joe Stupp
Chipotle"

Wow. Whether you love or hate Chipotle, you have to admit this type of thorough, passionate and honest response is impressive. I doubt any other restaurant company would care enough to actively seek out negative comments about their brand and then respond in this sort of fashion.

It is clear now more than ever that Chipotle cares about their customers deeply. I will be the first to admit, I'm not thrilled about the prices rising and the recent trend in giving slightly smaller portions, however I can't ignore the fact they continue to somehow impress me. This sort of repose gives me hope that Chipotle is still the same company that I grew to love so deeply.

Oh, and this letter from Joe also means that we now have permission to ask for and receive as much cheese on our burritos as we can possibly imagine....just print this and take it as proof that you are entitled to as much cheese as you want.

To give Chiptole feedback on a restaurant concern that you have, click here.

7 Reasons for Domino's Oven Toasted Sub

Online Ordering should not exist. We don't need it.

My last experience with Pizza Hut was enough to make me want to throw my computer against the wall, when I tried ordering online today with Domino's my luck wasn't any better.

First my anticipation in trying the new Oven Toasted Subs at Domino's for $4.99 only made matters worse as it seemed I couldn't get through the steps fast enough. When I finally thought victory was around the corner I got an error message because Domino's doesn't deliver unless the order is at least $8.99 (mine was $4.99). Couldn't they have told me that at the beginning of the process?

About 30 seconds later, I had placed my order for a Spicy Italian by phone. (The way I should have done it in the first place).

Ever since Domino's launched with this new menu item a few months ago I have been itching to get my hands on one. The fact that they are now claiming their sandwiches beat Subway in a national taste test 2 to 1 is even more intriguing.

After my own personal taste test, below are 7 reasons why you may want to consider getting a Domino's Oven Toasted Sub over any place else:

1. It costs $4.99 - a great value.
2. Piping Hot - cooked at over 400 degrees this sandwich is nice and toasty.
3. Loaded with Meat - all of the sandwiches are stuffed with meat, unlike other sub places where there is more bread than meat.
4. It's served in a super cool box (consider it part of the experience)
5. Spice. Spice. Spice - with Domino's pepperoni, and green and yellow peppers this sandwich has some kick.
6. The Bread - soft and squishy and crispy on the edges. It's perfect. Some of the best bread I've had.
7. Baked, not Heated - unlike other sandwich restaurants this sub is actually baked in a real oven, not warmed in a microwave or run through a mini oven.

I'm not surprised Domino's sub beat Subway's everything about it is significantly better. No it's not a Footlong, but when you have something that tastes this good I don't think it really matters.

Now, if Domino's would deliver it without a minimum order amount and would either kill their online ordering or make it easier for customers to use, it would really be a perfect world.

Close Your Eyes at Subway

Close your eyes before you order.

It's the only safe way to eat Subway.

Many of you have stood in this spot before....it's the beginning of the line at your local Subway. The first thing you see is the bread. Yes it's a freakin shame they don't still cut their bread the "old way". But, they have a ton of variety and I must say I was rather pleased with all of my bread selections....what's your favorite bread at Subway?

The bread isn't the bad part...as you're waiting and gazing over the menu your eyes likely begin to wander...down the line...to the meat section.....eek!

It just looks a little off. Not fresh, not really the right color and who knows how old it is. But, for $5 you can't really go wrong.

You already know what you want, how often do you adventure into something different at Subway? So the only known solution to enjoying your experience is to just close your eyes and point. If you don't do this you are bound to do what I did today.....stare hopelessly at all of the different mystery meats wondering if it's actually meat. (The chicken made me the most uncomfortable as it was stark rubbery white). It's like a mole or a butt crack in public....you just can't look away.

I went with something that I considered fairly safe and on the $5 Footlong Menu - the Spicy Italian. She slopped my meat on (perfectly portioned, never any extra) and then "toasted" err....microwaved it to make it hot.
The veggies are a little better than the meat, but it still wouldn't hurt to close your eyes. Lots of options and a great variety of sauces to add on top - spicy mustard is always good.

Total cost was $5.35 with tax, once I sat down and looked at what I had I was pretty satisfied. The portion obviously was huge and when it's combined all together it tastes pretty darn good (even if I don't really know if it's meat or not).

The Italian cheese bread just added to the experience and suddenly Subway seemed a little more "gourmet" then I ever imagined it could. It was nice and hot, and took me longer than 30 seconds to eat. In all honesty, if you have a friend you could get one sub, split it and only eat for $2.50 each....that would be classy.

The bottom line? It really only tasted good because it was $5....but, you have to close your eyes.

The $5 Showdown continues tomorrow and I have a feeling that there is something better out there than Subway.

$5 Dollar Showdown!

The jingle for "$5 Footlong" has likely been running through your head nonstop for several months now.

Subway was genius when they started this promotion last year and now every major "fast casual/sandwich restaurant" has followed their lead. If you have watched TV lately you have noticed that everyone is promoting a price point, many of which are meals for $5.

This is what's currently happening:

Subway $5 Footlong
Quizno's "Under" $5 Sandwiches
Domino's $4.99 Subs
Arby's 4 for $5
Moe's Joey Jr. Combo for $4.99

All of these options clearly present a problem - which restaurant has the best $5 deal?

Most of the options are sandwiches, however Moe's recent plunge to offer menu prices at $5 makes things much more interesting. Not to mention Domino's latest attempt to shut down Subway by claiming their oven toasted sandwich beat Subway's 2 to 1 in a national taste test has to make everyone wonder how good this sandwich actually is.

I've been debating it and wrestling over this for quite some time....lots of $5 choices....but where do you go?

It's time to get dedicated to the higher cause and have a $5 Showdown.

Over the next week I will be journeying to the unknown and will eat every $5 meal I can get my hands on. It should be interesting and I'll be sharing with all of you full details of my experiences. About a week from now we should know who has the tastiest, most satisfying, $5 meal out there.

Let the showdown begin! (let me know if I'm missing any restaurants)

The Beginning of The End

We all pay taxes....and most of us aren't too thrilled about it.

Sales tax, property tax, etc etc the list goes on and on.

As if things weren't painful enough as it is, the state of Massachusetts is preparing to implement something far more horrifying than anything we have seen before: extra tax at restaurants.

Sounds ridiculous right?

It's insane, yet sadly true. In this story from Nations Restaurant News the Governor of Massachusetts is proposing a 2%-3% tax in addition to current sales tax for customers at restaurants. This measure is an attempt to help the state recover from enormous debt.

A lot can be said here. First, restaurants are suffering enough. They don't need the additional baggage of an extra tax to get put on to their customers. Second, this is frightening. Massachusetts is just the beginning, if this goes over smoothly who knows how fast it could be encouraged in other states. Soon, we will all be paying extra just to eat at our favorite restaurant.

I'm sure there are other ways to fund government programs and make up for ongoing debt. The solution isn't to put more pressure on peoples' already tight budgets. Let's all hope this fails miserably.

Say My Name, Say My Name

Starbucks started it.

Then Panera followed their lead.

It's a simple, small task that has a big impact.

It's.....a name.

Your name to be exact, and when they say it, you feel special.

You order your coffee, they ask for your name and then moments later the barista shouts it boldly and gives you your drink. Panera takes your order and once it's ready they say your name clearly over a microphone. (I have been known to give Panera false names to see if they can pronounce it, one in particular I like to use: Gine, feel free to have some fun and use it yourself.)

Earl of Sandwich, the "all American sandwich shop" doesn't say your name. If you have ever been to Earl before you likely know that their sandwiches are flippin delicious. Large portion, nice and toasty and they combine flavors that other sandwich places don't. One small problem however....it.....takes.....for...ev.....er.

It's a three wait line restaurant. First you wait in line to order, then you wait in line to pay and finally you wait in line to get your food. Even though their sandwiches are delicious, I have stopped going back because it takes so long.

That's not even the worst part. You get an "order number", which you forget unless you keep your receipt and then employees are left stranded shouting endless numbers.

On my last visit however, something changed. The service was better and they updated their menu to make it cleaner and easier to read. The best part though? When I ordered my sandwich, they asked for my name. Long gone were order numbers. I didn't have to keep a receipt and when my sandwich was ready the employee stepped up with pride, said my name and handed me my toasty sub.

It's really rather ridiculous, after all it's just someone saying your name. But somehow, it adds a unique jolt of personality into a usually corporate restaurant chain. It makes you feel nice and cozy inside, and it makes you want to come back.

Maybe Beyonce said it best, Say My Name, Say My Name....

An Open Letter To Hostesses Everywhere

If you have ever been to a casual dining restaurant before you might have realized that the hosts/hostesses run the entire restaurant. Lately however things have changed and what used to be a pleasant encounter has turned irritating. Below is an open letter to every host/hostesses in the world.

Dear Hosts and Hostesses:

You have no idea how much power you have.

I know what you're thinking....after all you are just an hourly employee who gets bossed around all night by a disgruntled manager, but you have enormous control. With the single sweep of a pen or highlighter you can change lives.

I mean think about it - you control time. Who else can control time!? Not the managers, not the servers, not even the Pope.

You have a gorgeous, solid throne that you stand behind every single night. You sip on drinks that are so carefully hidden away on one of the shelves of your host stand/throne, and you doodle in the kids coloring books during most of your shift. More or less....you're royalty.

With so much power, so much control, so much authority......why do you always seem mess it up?

Before you go jumping down my throat and texting your friends to tell them what a maniac I am....I know how complex your job is - I used to be one of you.

Now that I have got that off my chest I think we can dive into how things always get screwed up at the hostess stand.

The stand, your highlighter and you are the nerve center of the restaurant. When it falls apart the entire restaurant goes burning down in flames.

It seems that customers are always the victims of this burning inferno.

We're told a wait time of 15 - 30 minutes. Can you be a little more specific? And why do we end up waiting 35 minutes?

We're walked to a table that's still dirty and then a busser comes and cleans it up with our threatening eyes watching.

We're taken to a table where people are already sitting and then walked around the restaurant looking for an empty table.

We're told it's our turn to get sat and then find out that the other host took another party to the same table.....and then have to wait 10 more minutes.

Why does this keep happening?

Maybe it's not your fault. Maybe it's because you're not treated right or you hate having to dress nice and then stand up for 6 hours straight. Or, maybe you just don't think you're job important.

Whatever the case is, it's time for you to start using your authority to do good for the customers. Start simple: tell us the correct quote time, check to make sure our table is clean before you walk us there, and then before you seat us, confirm it's our table.

Simple steps for such powerful people.

I know you can do it.

Thanks,

Dan

Eating from the Trough

Do you ever loathe something for no good reason at all?

Maybe it's a certain sports team or that kid from high school. Maybe it's off brand cereal or Geico commercials. Either way we all hate something even if there is no logic associated with it.

With that said, I hate Sweet Tomatoes. I don't have a good reason other than the fact that their entire concept is built on a cafeteria like salad bar.

The last time I was there I felt like a cow. (Not because I ate so much)

I felt like a cow because I walked in the door and then waited in line to walk up to a trough (the salad bar) to get food. There we all stood like a bunch of wild animals with our plates out demanding extra toppings as an attempt to make our "fresh" salad taste good.

Then we walked down the line with our full plate, paid and then moved out into the fields (the dining room) to find a place to sit in the cafeteria.

Whenever you go to trough (buffet) style restaurants you feel obligated to get second or thirds because you paid like $10 for unlimited amounts of food. So only acting naturally I chowed down my salad (threw most of it away) and went up to see what else I could find.

Ya, nothing really. Except the soft serve ice cream.

Sweet Tomatoes....it's just annoying. Why do people go there? The service is non-existent, the food tastes like food you got at school and the atmosphere is everything but delightful.

It amazes me that trough (buffet) style restaurants are even still in business. With society's current trend in spending you would imagine that if people are going to go out they are going to go for the best experience they can get at the price they can afford.

On the other hand, maybe people go to trough restaurants because they think they are getting the most value for the price they are paying = unlimited food.

To me though, it's an entirely different story. When I drive by Sweet Tomatoes or Golden Corral I shudder and then under my breath quietly mumble....Mooo.

5 More Thoughts for Restaurants

As an added bonus to 27 Thoughts for Restaurants, here are 5 more thoughts for you to consider:

They say, 'We're out.'
I say, 'My refrigerator is out. That's why I came here. Never, never never run out.'

They say, 'Do you need a refill?'
I say, 'My glass has been empty for 6 minutes. I should have had a refill when I was half done with my first drink.'

They say, all of our soups are made fresh.
I say, 'fresh' doesn't mean it came out of a bag.

They say, it's extra for 'that' side.
I say, a side, is a side, is a side. Is my extra 25cents going to save your business?

They say, it's natural, organic and green.
I say, does that mean it's good for me or that it just costs more?

Get 27 Thoughts for Restaurants, the new manifesto that tells you what to demand at your favorite restaurant by clicking here.

Race to Wait

You can see it before you even get in the parking lot.

Like a jaguar you can sense it, feel it and watch it unravel right before your eyes.

From behind the glass of your windshield you shudder at the thought of what lays ahead. Once you finally manage to find a parking spot at your favorite restaurant, you quickly fumble with your seat belt, you have to get out........now.

As you open the door to your car you can see in the distance 6 other people all quickly walking to the front. It becomes clear that they have seen the wait too, and they're trying to beat you.

The crowd of people in front of the restaurant doors appears to be getting larger and larger every time your foot hits the pavement. Sweat is starting to form above your brow. Dancing numbers of wait times and vibrating pagers start floating through your head....how long will it be? 20 min? An hour?

The other 6 people who are racing you to the front appear to be picking up pace....none of them are sprinting, after all, that would be awkward to do in public. But it does appear that they have started to speed walk a little faster than normal. Every person that beats you to the hostess adds precious minutes to the wait time.

You start to merge in closer to the door slowly but surely cutting the people off who are racing to the front....you get to the door first.....and jump to the hostess stand. You made it. Congrats....now you have to wait 45 min.

This short fable may seem rather familiar....all of us have done it before. Just yesterday I found myself jumping excitedly out of my car desperately trying to beat people inside in order to put our name down to wait.

There is nothing worse than having to wait at restaurants. Sure you get to people watch but most of the time I just find myself thinking that it's not worth it.

We need to solve the wait problem.....how should we do it?

27 Thoughts for Restaurants

Now is a good time to start thinking differently.

Every day you spend money at restaurants in search for a great meal and a memorable experience. Sometimes it's just not good enough.

This new year presents an opportunity for you to start viewing your experience at restaurants in a whole new light. If you run a restaurant or just visit one on a regular basis, I think this new manifesto: 27 Thoughts for Restaurants will set the stage for a new way of thinking.

It's short, sweet and presents 27 different ideas on ways to make your next dining experience remarkable. Download it now for free by simply clicking here.

Enjoy and share with friends.

Just Not Enough

After a group decision, we ended up at Chili's a couple of weeks ago.

I don't love Chili's, and I don't hate it either. They have lots of great things about them (like free chips and salsa when you eat in the lounge - classy tip). However they are not one of my top 5 restaurants.

Based on past experiences I traditionally have extremely low expectations when I go to Chili's, however when I walked in this location in Orlando I was shocked by the intense remodel of the inside of the restaurant. Long gone were the dangling toys, unusual signs and giant peppers everywhere.

The ugly 1991 tile, lamp shades and booth seats have all been replaced with new contemporary colors. The changes in the bar are the most significant with baby blue seating and brand new leather blue bar stools (see the pic on the right).

It's impressive, sexy and finally makes Chili's a more contemporary restaurant.

Suddenly looking forward to this experience, we all take our seats at what seems to be the only clean restaurant in the table. There we were sitting in a beautiful new restaurant with three dirty tables on either side of us (how lovely)....about 8 minutes later are rather sloppy server showed up and took our drink order.

Our drinks eventually came, the server disappeared and a little later he magically reappeared to take our food order. I was feeling a little adventurous so I ordered something I never had before, the new Crispy Chicken Tacos.

I only got one refill, we had to beg for our chips to be replenished, and once our food was dropped off we didn't get checked on.

The food, surprisingly was great. My tacos had a unique, crispy, spicy flavor and it was a good sized portion. They were a refreshing twist to a sometimes rather unexciting menu item.

Once we were done we sat around for awhile waiting for our plates to be cleared and the check to be dropped off. After we paid we got up and walked out...the tables that were dirty when we sat down were still dirty....

So a brand new restaurant, fairly good food, decent prices and awful service. Is it enough?

It seems to me that if you're going to spend the time and money to completely renovate your restaurant you should start by reinventing your staff first. A restaurant, without an empowered staff is just an empty, lifeless room.

Not enough.

The Battle of Ghirardelli Part 2

Miss the first party of this story? Click here.

.....He turned from behind the counter and said, "I understand you have been waiting a long time however we did have several employees call in today and when we are busy it's our standard to deliver ice cream to our guest in about 20 minutes."

(Can we just stop for a moment to reflect on how absolutely ridiculous this guy sounded? It's STANDARD for it to take 20 MINUTES to deliver ICE CREAM!?!!? This is not a gourmet meal - it's scoops of ice cream in a bowl!)

Unsatisfied with his answer I reiterate that it has taken 25 minutes so far and we still don't have any ice cream! Clearly I was getting on his nerves so he gave me the same speech over again and told me he couldn't do anything about it.

I stormed back to our table and joined my loyal side kick and the rest of our party. As I was done retelling what had just happened at the front with The Manager, FINALLY our ice cream was delivered.................melted.

Melted! Maybe it's because they hate me, or maybe it's because they put ice cream in a steaming hot glass, or maybe it's because they let it sit out too long.....whatever the reason is - it was melted. Runny. Not worth $31.

My dream had already been crushed by the 25 minute wait and the poor attitude of the employee, supervisor and manager. The fact that my fantasy peppermint ice cream was melted in my bowl was just icing on the cake of this awful experience.

Our party ate mostly in silence, irritated that it took so long and disappointed with the final product. I sat boiling in my chair baffled by the lack of care or interest in our problem from the manager.

When everyone was finished they gathered their stuff and walked outside. I, however hung around for a minute looking for Tom The Manager. I wanted to tell him that his delicious ice cream was delivered to us melted like soup.

After a few moments of glancing around I found him at the cash register with a long line of customers waiting to place their order. At this point I didn't care too much how big of a scene I made so I walked in front of all the people and cut Tom off mid-sentence with another customer.

"Tom, just so you know, not only did we wait 25 minutes for our ice cream but it was melted too!"

He glanced over in horror and realized that he hadn't gotten rid of me earlier and told me to hold on a moment while he finished with the customer. I waited patiently.

Once he was finished with the customer, I again told him that this had been one of the worst restaurant experiences I had ever had, that his attitude along with his staffs' is unacceptable and that it was insane to have to wait 25 minutes for melted ice cream.

Then I finished with saying, "Tom, I know you run a busy restaurant, but don't you think in times like these you should be grateful for every customer that walks through the door? You don't really seem to care."

Most likely shocked at how passionate I was about melted ice cream and looking for a way to get rid of me, he asked me what we had ordered. I recited our order and about 2 minutes later I walked out with $33 in my hand. Through a strange twist of fate I had somehow made $2 off of this experience - clearly he rang it up wrong, but I wasn't complaining. His reasoning for giving me my money back? A long wait is ok, but melted ice cream isn't.

Basically he just wanted me out of my face. I guess I got what I wanted, although I wasn't really looking to get my money back. I was looking for an apology and some ownership over what had happened to us.

Many times when we go through an awful experience either at a retail store or in a restaurant, it's not always about the money. More times than not it's about authentic understanding and an apologetic response from an employee.

So I got my money back and still left annoyed - I will never go back again.

The Battle of Ghirardelli Part 1

I had been waiting for months. My mouth watering, my mind spinning. I knew it would be one of the happiest days of the entire year.

It seemed like forever before it finally got here, but then before I knew it Christmas time was had come and I found myself at Downtown Disney in Orlando standing before Ghirardelli Ice Cream.

You may be familiar with Ghirardelli chocolate, it's soft, creamy and utterly delicious. The ice cream though is waaaay better. There aren't many Ghirardelli ice cream stores across the country however if you're lucky enough to be near one I hope you have tried it.

I was particularly excited on this occasion because I knew it was time for their famous pink peppermint ice cream to be available. Huge pictures of the peppermint ice cream sundae were on display all over the store.

If you have ever visited this Ghirardelli ice cream location in Downtown Disney you know that there are about 3.5 tables for people to sit at and it's always packed. Due to this reason I sent my loyal sidekick to find a table for what soon would be a party of 5.

Knowing what everyone wanted and with cash in hand I walked up to the register to place my order: 1 peppermint sundae, 1 waffle cone with 1 scoop of mint chocolate chip, 1 dark chocolate sundae, 1 waffle cone with 1 scoop of espresso chip ice cream. Total cost? $31.

I paid, took my number and found my loyal sidekick at our table in the crowded seating area. A few minutes later our party joined us and we began to wait for our ice cream creations.

The process at Ghirardelli is streamlined and simple. Employees take the order, it gets sent behind the ice cream making line and then runners deliver ice cream based on the order number.

I checked the clock anxiously, knees jittering, face sweating....after all I had been waiting ages for this sundae and it only comes once a year.

Tick, Tick, Tick.....10 minutes had gone by. No ice cream yet. The conversation at the table started to dwindle and our attention began to focus on how long it was going take for the employees to scoop our ice cream and bring it to our table.

5 more minutes went by. Lots of ice cream was being delivered to tables around us and none of it was ours. As I looked over the dining room people who had ordered after us had gotten their ice cream, yet we were still left sitting, waiting, and getting more and more irritated.

My loyal sidekick was especially getting frustrated. I won't reveal her true identity but just know that often times in her day to day tasks she gets rather warm, sweaty, and dramatic. The fact that we were in a crowded dining room, had been waiting over 15 minutes for ice cream and were starving wasn't helping. My loyal sidekick reached a breaking point and couldn't take it any longer.

She turned to me and said through her gritted teeth, "what is taking so long, it's been almost 20 minutes!". Before I could mumble an answer she went stomping up to the line to interrogate the hourly employees.

The conversation didn't look pretty and she came back looking more upset than when she had left. She turned to our table and reported that they had lost our order. She barked at me to give her the receipt and this time thinking she couldn't handle it alone I went up to talk to the employees with her.

When I arrived I questioned the one scooping ice cream and said, "We have been waiting 20 minutes for our order. Do you know what's going on?"

"We thought we lost it, but now we have it." she said.

"Ok, I responded, so you're going to make it now?" She mumbled disgustedly, "yes".

My loyal sidekick and I went back to our table a little relieved that they hadn't completely lost our order and that we would be getting our delicious sundaes soon.

Tick....tick....tick. A few more minutes go by and we see 3 more orders get delivered to other tables, none of which were ours. Thinking this was getting a little ridiculous I went back up to the counter to question what happened to our order.....since I was under the impression that our ice cream would be coming out next.

When I went to ask the same employee who said she would be making ours next she didn't even respond to me, just nodded her head as I asked if she was going to make our order. Dissatisfied with her lack of interest in this severe service error I went on a search for the manager.

I stumbled instead upon the Supervisor. Who was on the other side of the ice cream line. I explained the situation saying we had been waiting for over 20 minutes for our order of ICE CREAM and that the employee on the other end making them wasn't accommodating or helpful.

He didn't apologize but instead made excuses saying that a bunch of employees had called in today and they were short staffed. He also told me that they were really busy and he couldn't do anything about it.

What? You're short staffed? You're busy?

If you are so unable to operate your restaurant properly then why did you even bother opening?

Clearly this supervisor wasn't any better than the employee so I went looking for his boss. Then about 2 minutes later I met Tom, The Manager with his official black ear piece in and I questioned why it was taking over 20 minutes to get scooped ice cream, why his supervisor was making excuses and why all of his employees are disgruntled.

He turned from behind the counter and said........to be continued.