Thursday, September 11, 2014

Road trip to the dinosaurs!

This blog will be a little different than the rest. We went out to Drumheller on Sunday and stopped for a beer and some lunch on the way home. It was such a bad experience that I filled out the pub's 'Concact Us" feedback form online. I didn't intend for it to be so large, but hey - it doubles as a blog entry! So without further ado...

Where do I start? This was probably one of the worst pub experiences I've ever had. I'll preface this by telling you that I am a server. I've been in this industry for 15 years. I've worked in everything from pubs to fine dining. So yes, I'm biased, but I'm also concerned. How can a restaurant operate like that? We were there about 215 on Sunday afternoon. The parking lot didn't indicate that it would be very busy, so we were surprised to walk in and see it nearly full. We assessed the "empty" tables and decided just to sit at the bar. I say "empty" because even though there weren't any customers the tables were still full of dirty dishes. What a horrible first impression. We get up to the bar and there’s a plate and a glass - not sure if anyone is still sitting there.... but I figure not so I move them out of the way. Oh wow, the bar is sticky… That’s great. At this point I’m finding it concerning.... where is the bartender? Why are there 3 trays of empty glassware sitting in the server station? Alright, maybe it’s the end of the lunch rush and they’re catching up. I get it. So we wait. Awkwardly watching the tv’s that are too high up for comfortable watching positions. And we wait. And we wait some more. I’m pretty sure paint dried. Oh, good, someone comes over who looks less than impressed with seeing us sitting there and asked what we want to drink. Ok, we’re making progress I think to myself. Oh look, she even got us menus. While she handed them to us she pointed out that they are only serving appy’s and pub fare. Hey that worked for me, but I wonder why. I look around and think I might have figured it out…. It’s either the salad guy didn’t show up for work – or because Tough Mudder was in town they are trying to “pair down” the menu to not crash the kitchen. Could have been a solid plan – except that it failed horribly. Our beer was fine, nothing wrong there. But by now we’re done our beers and haven’t seen our server (bartender?). The chaos in this pub is outstanding. I comment more than once to my husband that this place is a disaster. Why did you not have a bartender on????!! Mind Blown. There are systems in place that a restaurant needs to implement to run smoothly. You never should have 5 different servers on the floor and behind the bar – pouring their own drinks, making change for people…. I literally am shaking my head as I write this. I can’t wrap my head around this. Where is the manager?? There are people constantly walking in the doors and there are guests sitting there with no drinks, no menus. One lady was behind the bar and actually yelled – yelled! – At a table behind me “has anyone come over to you? What do you want to drink?” Are you serious? She interrupted my personal ear drum space, and those guests she was yelling at were probably a little embarrassed. 


 So at this point, we think it’s pretty humorous actually. We are watching people sit at empty tables and then get up and leave because no one has come over to them. I watch one guy come up and throw his money on the bar and say “I was tired of waiting for you”. Later, a different, older gentleman comes up and needs to pay and someone takes his money. But not before he gets in a snide “I’ve been waiting forever to pay you”. I look at my husband and shake my head. We FINALLY get our server to come back over and she takes our food order. (Side note: you really need to change the menu description of “nacho cheese” – that gives people the impression you are using packaged or canned cheese dipping sauce like what comes on your nachos at the movies or a ball game. Doesn’t make your food sound very appetizing). So she clarifies that it will be real shredded cheese and rings in our food. Guess what happened next? We got our food. In a timely manner and it was pretty tasty. Maybe a little on the greasy side, but its nachos with cheese and beef – I expect it to be greasy. But, and I just thought of this.. the portion was a little underwhelming. For $16 dollars including the beef this portion should have been at least 50% bigger. But hey, no matter. I have food and beer, I’m happy. So when we are eating we spot someone who looks like a manager type come around the bar, huffing and puffing and looking pretty stressed out. I try to remind myself that maybe the restaurant side was really busy, maybe the lunch rush was crazy because of Tough Mudder. But I can’t. That is no excuse for sure horrible service. You knew months in advance that this Tough Mudder competition was coming to your town and that there will be a huge increase in business. HUGE! You staff everyone you have. You have two bartenders and 5 servers. You have every cook, and busboy working. Unacceptable to have such staffing levels that your guests notice your deficiencies. 

 I went to the washroom, and while there was still toilet paper, the ladies’ was out of paper towels. I like to dry my hands on my jeans, its okay. So I stick my head into the restaurant side… I count 3 tables. So, if the restaurant is managing itself, where is the focus on the bar side? Someone take an extra-long smoke break? Maybe Bartender ran off with the cook? I went to the washroom at 3:40, this is important, trust me. We had finished our nachos around 330, and our beers were empty. When I got up to go my husband said do you want another drink? I didn’t know and said I’ll decide while I’m gone. He then said – what about food, are we staying? That was going to depend on how fast our server came back around to take our order. She sure was attentive to the three guys sitting at the end of the bar, but we were invisible to her. We decided that if she doesn’t come back to ask us about food by 4pm then we are leaving. That’s pretty generous, don’t you agree? 20 minutes for our server to come back over and ask… sure is to me. She lucked out, by coming by before 4 pm, but by now we’ve had enough. We just want to leave. She brought us our bill and wandered away. A new girl had just come on shift, and I’m thinking she might have been the elusive bartender. We got her to break our 20 dollar bill for us, as our server hasn’t been back around to take payment. I was thisclose to just walking out on our bill, but I couldn’t. It’s not her fault that this restaurant is run so poorly. 

 Your reviews online are atrocious. Do you ever read them? Take into consideration how your guests feel? I didn’t think so. You certainly aren’t winning any new business, and I’ll never darken your doorway again. Maybe this is the wakeup call that you need. There’s a Boston Pizza in the same parking lot as you and I was still thirsty. We gladly left your establishment and went immediately next door. We sat at the bar and were served instantly, by a smiling young gentleman who you could call a bartender. They had a buffet set out for any restaurant/bar guests as they had the forethought to do a set menu only. I saw the manager on the floor helping everyone out. They were busy and everyone was having a great time – the customers and the staff. Imagine that. Feel free to contact me, although I highly doubt that you will.
So in closing, no we will not go back ;)

O'Shea's (Drumheller) Eatery & Ale House on Urbanspoon

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