My friends and I used to go here regularly, then we stopped when the nice waitress we liked wasn't…read morethere anymore. The service wasn't the same without her.
So now, years later, I take a new friend there for a beer. Everything looks differently. It's lighter, not as cozy as it once was. Prices went up. Service went down.
First, the waiter didn't even greet us. I hate to be critical, but saying Hi is the most basic politeness -- on the same level as thank you. Kindergarten. It's not asking too much. So he asks us for our order and I'm like, "Hi." I'm genuinely being nice at this point and not making it obvious to him. I'm just pretending like I didn't hear that the first words coming out of his mouth did not contain a greeting. So then we ordered our beers after he greeted us back. And mind you, the place was virtually empty. He wasn't busy or something. I would be a little more understanding then.
I got a Duckstein, my friend some Hefeweizen (Herrnbrau). Both of us, familiar with what we ordered, are eagerly anticipating their refreshing taste. As soon as they came (and it took a while) we wasted no time and got to drinking. But at the same time both of us were repulsed and couldn't drink any more. Something was off about them. In fact, the head was quickly gone and virtually no carbonation was visible in either of our beers. They were flat looking and tasting.
We were hesitant to say anything until I saw the waiter pass with 5 gorgeous looking pilsners full of head and spritz. I asked as he came back what they were. House beer. I told him our plight, and he said I'm the first to complain. And I'm thinking, 'seriously dude? Am I complaining? I was very neutral and matter of fact about it. And you're gonna be like that?' But okay, I went easy on him. I played meek and kindly pleaded my case once again, presenting the evidence: the flat appearance of our beers, compared to what he just passed us with. He insisted there was nothing wrong with them (although he himself honestly admitted he isn't a beer drinker). But I explained to him that my friend and I on the other hand are quite familiar with beers, and have never complained about a Duckstein. And my friend is practically an alcoholic, so he's also not going to complain unless it's really really bad. He said they're both from the tap and they serve so many [number drop] per day. (But that only means more can go wrong! The quality of bottled beer is better controlled than their tap system.) He wouldn't yield. He kept defending and giving me the feeling of being the exceptionally difficult customer. So to end the pointless squabble, I just asked him straightforward if he could switch mine out for the house beer. He kindly agreed. Okay, great.
I must say I demonstrated remarkable patience for an American. Most of my kin would not have let him off so easily after putting up such a defense.
The house beer was indeed much better. Something was definitely wrong with the other tap. But Germans have a hard time admitting fault. Typical defensive service attitude here. What happens when you live in a rich city. And the waiter wasn't even a native German! But this attitude rubs off. Alas! I digress.
Now the bill. *Dun dun duuuuuh*
It still included the more expensive Duckstein beer.
He charged me the 3.90 for a 0.5l Duckstein that I gave back compared to 3.30 for the 0.5l house beer. I'm like, "Hey, you're still charging me for the Duck?" He unapologetically responds, "I couldn't change it." "Ah ha," I said. And that was that.
I exercised restraint, because making a fuss most likely wouldn't have changed anything. It's north Germany, infamous for this kind of service. And had I successfully insisted, would it have been worth embarrassing my guest just to save 60 cents? I think not. So I let him win the 60 cents for his boss, plus this fantastic review!
Never. Again.
I'm a regular at Feuervogel down the street and I shoulda just gone there as usual.
