Georg and I had a terrific time at the rubber duck race this morning with D. and S. I took lots of photos.
Afterwards we all went to Watts Grocery for lunch. The food was excellent. I had a chicken sandwich and everyone else had breakfasty things. S. got the grits bowl (choose three toppings, I think she had bacon, cheese and salsa) which looked so good I think I'll order it next time.
The service ... well the service reminded me why I never go to restaurants right after they open. Things went fairly smoothly, just a few minor glitches, until we tried to pay. They rang up our check with the wrong amount, and then spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how to refund Georg's credit card so they could do it again. I know people always overestimate time spent waiting, but I looked at my watch and it was a good 20 minutes from the time we noticed the error until we left.
Mistakes do happen, especially in the first few days, and I wouldn't give them a hard time about it. Except that it was handled very poorly. They pretty much completely ignored us during the whole problem. We sat there, watching the waitress struggle with the computer while the manager wandered over, wandered away to schmooze other customers, then wandered back. Most alarming were the times they both wandered away, leaving Georg' credit card sitting on the bar unattended. It would have gone a long way if they'd given us a little something, like a dessert maybe, for our troubles while we waited. Or offered to knock a few dollars off the check. Even just refilling our drinks, that would have been nice. Coming over and explaining what was going on would have been the bare minimum, and we didn't even get that.
The manager did come over and apologize eventually, while explaining that he was not able to void the charge and was going to have to do it "from the office." Then they went back to ignoring us, and didn't say goodbye as we walked out, right past them. We left without much confidence that the charge will actually be removed; luckily Georg can check online in a couple of days.
I have to say, if this had happened in a restaurant that had been open three months, I would never go back. But these guys have been open, what, three days? So I will cut them some slack. After all, the food was excellent. (Next time we'll pay cash.)
ETA: I just got a very thoughtful and apologetic email from the chef of Watts Grocery. I'm kind of surprised that she found this post, and very happy that she took the time to write to me. It speaks well of their concern for problem resolution, and I'm very much looking forward to going there again.
(Now I just hope they add the pastrami reuben to the weekend brunch menu so I can try it!)
Maybe it's a good idea to forward them (some form of) this post?
Not as a complaint, more sort of as a 'hey, this might help improve your new business' sort of thing.
I've found most people don't mind pointing out what could be better, if it's worded right, and it might help them get more aware of this sort of stuff.