What a waste of time it was to eat here - or at least attempt to.
We were in town from MN for the week and decided to stop in Deadwood for some sites, souvenirs, and suds/grub and decided to stop here because it looked good, but as you know looks can be deceiving.
We got to our table around 5:10 and placed our order at 5:22 (I know that because the EXTREMELY SLIMY SNAKE OIL SALESMAN MANAGER LADY TOLD US -I'll explain later) and waited..... And waited...... And waited....... (you see where this is going??).
It wasn't until around 6:05 that our server (who in the beginning was very friendly and helpful) came over and told us there was a "glitch" in the ticket system and our order was never actually ordered, but she assured us it would ONLY be another 5-10 minutes more. REALLY? WTF?? Our parking meter was to run out at 6:15 and we didn't figure it would take more than an hour to eat. (Mind you my wife is a bartender at a very busy bar in Minneapolis and knows how to treat customers and she said the wait should have been addressed LONG AGO to give us some idea of what is going on, but it wasn't until now that we hear about this). Not to mention the whole time we are sitting with empty glasses around the table (we had our two kids with us) sitting on our thumbs wondering what to do. We couldn't figure out the dilemma considering it didn't seem that busy and the staff seemed plentiful. When the server said 10 more minutes I said nope, we will settle up for what we drank and we would leave and find some other place to eat. At that point she left the the manager came back. Oh this is where it gets good.
The manager lady (seemingly her first time managing ANYTHING) came over and said (word for f###ing word), "sorry, I see the ticket says 5:22 for your order, but there was a glitch in the system and your food wasn't ordered correctly, but don't worry, I'll take care of your food, you just pay for your drinks". I'm thinking that's a standup proposition and a nice (but definitely appropriate) gesture. I said thank you, but out meter will expire soon. She said no worries, it's only a $5 ticket and that she would pay if we actually got one. I thought ok, cool, we will stay.
Now we get our food around 6:25 and start eating vigorously (remember we've got hungry kids and we are trying to avoid a ticket, even though the snake oil salesman says she'll pay it). We are half way done and ask for our tab (to expedite the rest of this already drawn-out process of eating out), and much to our surprise the food (that we were told would be taken off) was on the bill. Oh but there was a $5 discount. We told the server that snake oil salesman manager lady was going to comp the meal since it was well over an hour since we got there. She said she would talk to her and come back.
The manager gets over to our table in a hurry (first time ANYONE hurried the whole time we were there) and starts laughing and says, "I told you I would comp your food if you left, not if you stayed. I already took $5 off (BIG F'ING DEAL) for your meter". I honesty didn't know what to say, I was dumbfounded. Was she really that naive to think we would pay if we left without eating??? Did she really think she was doing is a favor my taking $5 off?? I think her excessive use of Aquanet hairspray had gotten to her little head because this was the most unprofessional remedy to an already exhausting situation I've EVER dealt with.
It is now after 6:45 and as much as we wanted to stiff the server (she did drop the ball by not conveying the problems with tickets earlier) we tipped her only 10% (we usually top 20-25%) and said it was due to her manager (or lack there of) that her tip wasn't bigger.
Suffice it to say, we have many friend going out to Sturgis and they will undoubtedly frequent Deadwood while in the area. We have already warned them (and everyone else we know vacationing in SD) of our POOR experience here. read more