Christmas 2022

caseydog said:
Yes, purple is a good color.

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CD
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Or even:

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And the 2022 Christmas dinner was a total bust. Where to start…?

They don’t take reservations, but they allow calling in ahead of time and getting your name on “the list” a little early, so we did that.

Got there…not busy. First time ever. We’ve been going for about 15 years, two or three times a year for special occasions, and it never mattered the day of the week or whether we went at 5PM when they opened or later, like 9PM. Always packed.

Went in, expected to get seated immediately, but we were escorted to the bar. The bar is usually standing-room-only, but no problem with getting a seat. We had our choice, as there were only five other couples in there.

Ordered drinks (which was the only good part of the evening). Looking around we both commented that it wasn’t that busy and there sure seemed to be a lot of younger people working.

What I mean by that is that supper clubs, around here anyway, are rather known for their seasoned, professional staff. In the past, there wasn’t a member of the waitstaff under 50yo, and no one carried order pads to write orders down, it was all by memory, something of a hallmark of a decent waitperson.

Well, we saw a lot of 20-something’s running around, and writing down orders. For a second, I thought I was at Applebees. :eek:

First food-related thing that gave us pause - I ordered my salad with the house-made creamy peppercorn dressing, and she said, “I, uh, have a note here that says the, uh, chef made it extra spicy and recommends, um, having it on the side.”

“That’s fine, just put it on the salad, it’ll be fine.”

She brought it out…the creamy peppercorn was bright pink! One taste told me all I needed to know - whomever’d made the dressing miscalculated the cayenne (or else the spilled it) and instead of tossing it and doing it right, they decided to act like they’d done it on purpose. It was nearly inedible, and not because of the heat, but just because it was too much of a single ingredient, like if you over-salt something or put too much of any herb or spice in something - you may like that spice, but you don’t want a 1/2 cup of it when it was supposed to be a 1/2 teaspoon.

Next, she appeared with our main courses, at which time I had to point out we’d not gotten our appetizers yet. She stood there completely befuddled as to what to do next, and just stammered “Um…uh…er…um…” while holding our plates.

MrsT saved her, telling her not to worry about the starters, we’d just move on from there and take the meals, and to her credit, the young woman did come back a few minutes later and offered dessert on the house, so maybe things were looking up.

Uh…no.

There were problems with nearly every dish, too many to mention, and I’m an excellent “make-do” diner - I can generally put up with a steak that’s cooked a little under or over, or if I have to ask for a condiment twice, that sort of thing, but things were amiss left, right, and center, and with the service, she forgot to take our drink order for the main meal, then forgot to bring it.

But the low point had to be when MrsT found a large shard of clear plastic in one of her crab cakes. On top of that, our waitperson kept saying she thought it was a piece of shell, when it was plainly obvious it was a large piece of plastic, like from a tub of dip. You could tell it was part of the side and the top, where the lid would snap closed.

I went and got the manager (the young woman waiting on us was completely useless by that point) and she confirmed that, “Yeah, that’s definitely plastic…but I assure you, we don’t have a single piece of plastic in our kitchen.” - yeah, ‘cause it’s all in the 🤬 food.

At that point, we all agreed it was best we just part ways, at which point the manager very magnanimously announced that they’d go ahead and comp our drinks and salads. How generous!

The kicker was the poor waitperson. I 💩 you not, the last thing she said, as we were leaving, was “Um…do you want me to wrap any of this up for you to take home?” - god bless her, she really was trying.

So that was that. Horrible service, terrible food. I think we’re going to have to skip them for a few years until the waitstaff get some experience.

Drove around the corner to a taproom and finished the night with beer and loaded chili cheese fries. I’m going to see if I can get us in another supper club on Saturday as a surprise. I’m hoping we can squeeze in, but a Saturday just before Christmas…it’ll be a miracle, but it’s the right time of the year for that.
 
Also, no special holiday cocktail, recorded music instead of a live musician, and no Santa visiting with patrons, like in every other year. No Santa! C’mon!
 
Time to find a new restaurant, mate.When your favourites screw up , they do it big time - so never go back!
Shame for your Xmas dinner, mind you. Next time, look for a Korean, Thai, Vietnamese...
 
TastyReuben said:
And the 2022 Christmas dinner was a total bust. Where to start…?

They don’t take reservations, but they allow calling in ahead of time and getting your name on “the list” a little early, so we did that.

Got there…not busy. First time ever. We’ve been going for about 15 years, two or three times a year for special occasions, and it never mattered the day of the week or whether we went at 5PM when they opened or later, like 9PM. Always packed.

Went in, expected to get seated immediately, but we were escorted to the bar. The bar is usually standing-room-only, but no problem with getting a seat. We had our choice, as there were only five other couples in there.

Ordered drinks (which was the only good part of the evening). Looking around we both commented that it wasn’t that busy and there sure seemed to be a lot of younger people working.

What I mean by that is that supper clubs, around here anyway, are rather known for their seasoned, professional staff. In the past, there wasn’t a member of the waitstaff under 50yo, and no one carried order pads to write orders down, it was all by memory, something of a hallmark of a decent waitperson.

Well, we saw a lot of 20-something’s running around, and writing down orders. For a second, I thought I was at Applebees. :eek:

First food-related thing that gave us pause - I ordered my salad with the house-made creamy peppercorn dressing, and she said, “I, uh, have a note here that says the, uh, chef made it extra spicy and recommends, um, having it on the side.”

“That’s fine, just put it on the salad, it’ll be fine.”

She brought it out…the creamy peppercorn was bright pink! One taste told me all I needed to know - whomever’d made the dressing miscalculated the cayenne (or else the spilled it) and instead of tossing it and doing it right, they decided to act like they’d done it on purpose. It was nearly inedible, and not because of the heat, but just because it was too much of a single ingredient, like if you over-salt something or put too much of any herb or spice in something - you may like that spice, but you don’t want a 1/2 cup of it when it was supposed to be a 1/2 teaspoon.

Next, she appeared with our main courses, at which time I had to point out we’d not gotten our appetizers yet. She stood there completely befuddled as to what to do next, and just stammered “Um…uh…er…um…” while holding our plates.

MrsT saved her, telling her not to worry about the starters, we’d just move on from there and take the meals, and to her credit, the young woman did come back a few minutes later and offered dessert on the house, so maybe things were looking up.

Uh…no.

There were problems with nearly every dish, too many to mention, and I’m an excellent “make-do” diner - I can generally put up with a steak that’s cooked a little under or over, or if I have to ask for a condiment twice, that sort of thing, but things were amiss left, right, and center, and with the service, she forgot to take our drink order for the main meal, then forgot to bring it.

But the low point had to be when MrsT found a large shard of clear plastic in one of her crab cakes. On top of that, our waitperson kept saying she thought it was a piece of shell, when it was plainly obvious it was a large piece of plastic, like from a tub of dip. You could tell it was part of the side and the top, where the lid would snap closed.

I went and got the manager (the young woman waiting on us was completely useless by that point) and she confirmed that, “Yeah, that’s definitely plastic…but I assure you, we don’t have a single piece of plastic in our kitchen.” - yeah, ‘cause it’s all in the 🤬 food.

At that point, we all agreed it was best we just part ways, at which point the manager very magnanimously announced that they’d go ahead and comp our drinks and salads. How generous!

The kicker was the poor waitperson. I 💩 you not, the last thing she said, as we were leaving, was “Um…do you want me to wrap any of this up for you to take home?” - god bless her, she really was trying.

So that was that. Horrible service, terrible food. I think we’re going to have to skip them for a few years until the waitstaff get some experience.

Drove around the corner to a taproom and finished the night with beer and loaded chili cheese fries. I’m going to see if I can get us in another supper club on Saturday as a surprise. I’m hoping we can squeeze in, but a Saturday just before Christmas…it’ll be a miracle, but it’s the right time of the year for that.
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I haven't seen a Super Club since the early 70s. Of course, that was in Cincinnati. Well, it was actually across the river in Kentucky, but had a California name... Beverly Hills Supper Club.

Sorry you had a bad exerience, but at least you got out alive. 🔥

CD
 
TastyReuben said:
Also, no special holiday cocktail, recorded music instead of a live musician, and no Santa visiting with patrons, like in every other year. No Santa! C’mon!
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Sounds like they have quitely got a new owner, I've seen several restaurants ruined that way in my life. Sad to leave on such a sour note! Sorry your night was ruined.
 
And these were some Christmas freebies with points collected depending on what you'd spent during the promotion period.

The plan is to upgrade the picnic set from IKEA children's plastic bowls, plates and cutlery to something a little nicer.

So far I have 2 plates, 2 pasta bowls and 2 sets of cutlery. I've another 45 points already so that's either another set of cutlery and 10 spare points or perhaps some glasses? I can get 2 long drinks glasses for 25 points.

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