Sunday, November 23, 2008

March On

Last night we had a very strange experience at a new local restaurant. I truly believe customer service is everything.

First we started off the evening when Teri & Frank came over. We opened a bottle of Two Oceans South African Sauvignon Blanc and decided where to go for dinner. We decided to try the March Hare which just opened by Arlington Liquors. I had eaten there for lunch and it was quite good. I gave them a call to see if there was a wait or we needed reservations. This was around 6:30p. The women I spoke to said, no problem, come over we, can seat you. I gave her my name and said we would be there in 5 minutes. When we arrived, there was a table set for 4 right by the door. I thought..that must be our table. There were 4 wait staff walking around, looking at us, and walking into a back room. They made eye contact with all 4 of us at different times. After 5 minutes, Paul and Frank decide to walk to the bar and get a glass of wine. At that time, the bartender comes up and tells us there is at least a 1/2 hour wait. I explained I had just called, but he didn't care. We turned around and walked out. We couldn't get over the lack of service and being ignored.

We went down to the Dubliner Irish Pub (guess we were in the mood for Irish food). We were greated the moment we walked in. The place was expremely busy, but the owner informed us it would be 10 minutes, put a cocktail table together for us so we could get a drink and wait.

This isn't the restaurant for a wine snob, but it did have a great selection of beers. I did start out with a glass of red wine - Cabernet to be exact. It was very grapy. After we got to our table a short time later, I did order a Long Trail to eat with my Shepards Pie.

We did have a nice evening.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is exactly why restaurant owners and employees have to realize the great importance of first impressions...they lost a sale today, and next time you are wondering where to dine, this place won't make the top 10... It's sad some places don't take care for the basics...
peace, mw