So, this one was a real doozy of a visit. The drinks were fair, with our order being a Goose Island…read moreIPA, Long Island iced tea, and a pomegranate martini. The service and food, on the other hand, were quite a mixed bag. We ordered a margherita pizza, pancake tacos, steak and eggs, and French toast with a side of sausage--the pizza, at least, was good. However, the "French toast" was more like an anemic panini press trying to pass as French toast. The steak and eggs comprised of a fairly well-cooked (that is, it was the right temperature) yet underseasoned steak of a relatively dubious cut, underseasoned home fries, and eggs done wrong (sunny side instead of over easy). The lattermost was the start of the problem, as I was willing to give it a shot, but found the texture off-putting. In light of this, I brought the problem to our server Adalia, who brought it to her manager Elvia. Thankfully I had someone else with me to tell me what happened: Elvia came over without addressing me on their error, silently took a look at my plate and instructed Adalia to have the kitchen put the eggs back on the fire. She takes my plate to extract the eggs, and brings them back (unsurprisingly) completely overdone, first in Elvia's hands, then in Adalia's for her to serve; we send for a refire, and they come back correct 7 minutes or so after I've already finished eating. Considering the hassle it took to get them, I couldn't trust it enough to eat, leading them to waste as well. After all was said and done, the GM Amer comes over to see how things were, and was thankfully helpful and understanding of our situation.
Here's the rub: I was initially willing to overlook the steak, the home fries, and even the eggs if the error was properly ameliorated. Adalia and Amer both did very well, and I'm grateful for them for that; Elvia, on the other hand, managed to break the chain of competent customer service by directing the server to handle the problem in a way that was set up for failure (if you mess up an egg, it's an immediate refire because of how the egg cooks in the first place -- Amer also arrested to that policy) all without addressing us and taking accountability, due to negligence or whatever else. Not only that, but when sending the incorrect eggs over the second time, she couldn't even bring it to us herself--it would have been easy, seeing as she was the one that originally had them--and left Adalia and her tip to potentially take the fire if the patrons happen to be angry. Mistakes are fine--everyone makes them--but I'd describe this as cowardly more than anything else, and I take issue with that in particular from a leadership standpoint. While Amer graciously extended an invitation for a better experience next time, I can't say I'll be taking him up on the offer when their service and food are this misaligned; unfortunately, a disappointment overall.